The best open earbuds that sound great and give you an idea of ​​the world around you

Noise-cancelling earbuds are a popular choice for many, but if you are someone who wants to hear the world around you or find it uncomfortable to have an in-ear design, there is a better option there: open earbuds.

Although open earplugs share common features of sitting outside the ear, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from clip models to ear hook models. Some are more suitable for exercise, while others are more suitable for daily use. Below, we compiled some of the best open earbud models available in 2025. This guide is an ongoing work, so we may shift (or extend) the recommendations as we continue to test pairs.

What are open earplugs?

The open earplugs allow you to get as close as possible to the feeling of not wearing earplugs at all. Unlike in-ear earplugs (as stated in the name) that sit in the ear canal, the open earplugs sit outside the ear. Some models hold the speaker assembly in place, while others choose ear sleeves.

There are three main reasons why people usually choose to open earplugs:

1. They provide a private listening experience while making you almost fully aware of the world around you. Just like the best transparency mode you’ve ever used.

2. For some people, earplugs without them are usually more comfortable.

3. Hooks and cuffs (and general awareness of the surroundings) make them an excellent choice for keeping them in place and staying alert.

What are the disadvantages of open earplugs?

As you might collect from the above section, open earbuds usually don’t get rid of with active noise. This is mainly due to how much sound they make (by design) and the difficulty of canceling the sound without covering the actual ear canal.

Similarly, these will not become audiophile earbuds due to the entire open headphone condition. That’s not to say that open earbuds sound bad- if you’ve never tried it, we guarantee they sound much better than you think, but you’ll get some nuances in the song without really losing the earbuds.

That said, many Gemini still have equalizers on their companion apps to help you make them sound the best. Our upgraded choice, the Bose Ultra Open earbuds, even feature spatial audio, which surprisingly works well.

Most open earbuds will also have some form of special technology to prevent them from leaking too much sound. While these pairs do a great job of keeping sound to you, most pairs (including our choices) are prone to leaks, especially in higher volumes.

Finally, some open earplugs (mainly hooked earplugs) tend to have larger cases. If you want to travel with light lights, this is worth noting.

What about bone conduction headphones?

Bone conduction earplugs work exactly as their name suggests – they use your skull for sound waves instead of projecting sound into your ears like most trials. Typically, the band runs from both sides of the user’s head to help hold the headset in place.

Shokz is the brand behind our top picks, a popular manufacturer of these earphones. While we did consider their open earplugs, we have not tested any bone conduction earplugs yet – be aware of this update in the future. At this point:

What’s next for our test pipeline

The open earbuds market is expanding rapidly, so we will do more testing as we can master them. Next, we’ll try budgeting for open earbuds under $100, and more pairs from Shokz.

In addition to making the final guide for the earbuds in May 2025, we also tested Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds ($149), Sony Linkbuds Open ($199.99), Anker Soundcore Aeroclip earclip earbuds ($169.99), and Shokz OpenFit Air ($119.95). While none of the above methods are bad earplugs, we found that our choices outperform them with comfort and sound quality, especially when considering their respective prices.