If you want open earbuds that are excellent for workouts, still great for daily use, and don’t cost a ton, then you want the Anker Soundcore AeroFit 2 earbuds. At half the price of the Shokz OpenDots, they’re a good way to try open-ear headphones to find out if you like them, though be warned that the hook design doesn’t feel as secure as clip-on-style earbuds.

Once you start to get to the budget-friendlier end of open earbuds, you realize that it’s not a given that they sound decent. Peaking becomes more common, you lose even more of the detail of a song, and audio leaking is more rampant. We didn’t have those problems with the Anker Soundcore AeroFit 2 earbuds.

The newer release from the brand improved upon the older model by making the ear hook adjustable. While most ear hook earbuds come with some degree of flexibility, the AeroFits offer four locked-in angles, making them the most comfortable (and snug) open-ear hook buds we’ve tried so far. Despite sitting in the large case that comes with the ear hook territory, Soundcore’s version here is at least lower profile.

As for their performance as workout earbuds, the AeroFit 2s have the best IP rating of any of our picks, being both dust-protected and able to survive jets of water. They have 10 hours of battery life per charge, so even distance runners would be hard-pressed to run them down in one use. The touch controls also hit the right mark for sensitivity, making them great to easily pause and play music (if you prefer, you can also turn them and their sound cue off entirely).

These earbuds surprised us most with their AI language translation feature that you can use through the companion app. Either in real time or with a push-to-talk function, the earbuds were able to accurately translate French and Mandarin to English. Soundcore advertises that it can translate into over 100 languages. While we weren’t able to get the real-time translation to work to facilitate a back-and-forth conversation, the push-to-talk allows you to speak in English, and the translation in the opposite language comes out through your device’s speakers. The other person’s dialogue comes through as text on the app and in audio through your earbuds, with only a slight delay. While the use cases for this feature might be more limited, we found it a clever way to leverage the open-ear design that lets you engage with another person while still wearing earbuds.

Read our full review of the Sony LinkBuds Clip.

If you’ve had your eye on the Bose Ultra Open earbuds but can’t quite stomach the $300 price point, the Sony LinkBuds Clip are another excellent pair of cuff-style open earbuds with truly excellent quality. Aside from the Bose buds, if you’re looking to get some of the most detail-rich sound out of a pair of open earbuds, you don’t need to look any further.

Bose’s open earbuds have been the ones to beat, and Sony’s 2026 addition to its open earbuds line may just be the one to do it. While we do want to talk about the Sony buds on their own merit, it’s worth mentioning that in Mashable’s head-to-head comparison to the Bose Ultra Open earbuds, the Sony LinkBuds Clip came out holding their own — and cementing themselves as likely the better option between the two for most people.

Why? For starters, they’re the first to truly rival Bose’s rich soundscape. While the Sony earbuds can lean a little on the quiet side (both Mashable’s reviewer, Simon Cohen, and I noted we needed to sit around the 80 percent volume mark most of the time), what you can hear is crisp, clear, and dynamic. You won’t get quite the same performance with open buds as you would with in-ear buds, but Sony’s buds certainly narrow that gap.

As for how they wear, the on-ear controls are simple — touching the band twice or three times activates playback, song selection, or listening modes. These controls had a bit of a learning curve for one of our testers, and another one of our testers found the assigned actions limited, but overall, they do their job and work with gloved hands, which is a huge plus for cooler weather.

Another bonus is their nine-hour battery life, and 37 additional hours found in the case. It’s not quite the best battery life on this guide, but it far beats out Bose. For $229.99, they have some flaws, but overall, for some, they may be easier to overlook than the Bose buds, especially for the $70 price difference.

Read our full review of the Bose Ultra Open earbuds.

If you want to use open earbuds but don’t want to sacrifice having the best sound quality possible, the Bose Ultra Opens easily compare to in-ear options. You’ll just have to shell out. And as you’d expect from Bose, they’re more comfortable than the alternatives.

It’s hard not to be at least a little floored the first time you try the Bose Ultra Open earbuds — they simply sound way better than any pair of open earbuds has a right to. Sure, they can be a little more distant depending on the angle (easily adjustable) and have less of a booming bass than some in-ear designs (a plus for some people), but despite their quirks, they more than deliver on the sound front. Mashable contributor RJ Andersen writes in her review, “The sound was well-balanced, and even with my ear completely uncovered, I didn’t notice any issues with the audio sounding distant or muddy. Instead, the Ultra Open Earbuds sounded clear, natural, and pretty lush.”

While they sound great out of the box, Bose gives you the option between stereo and Immersive Audio (aka Bose’s spatial audio setting) once you connect it to the companion app. Of course, you’ll also have access to four equalizer presets and one custom equalizer setting. For $300, we expected to be impressed, and based on the sound alone, we were.

But Bose didn’t stop there. Although the Ultra Opens share the same cuff-like design as our top pick earbuds, we didn’t find any uncomfortable pinching or squeezing, even after hours of wear. They stood out as the most comfortable pair of open earbuds we tested. The design thoughtfulness extended to the on-ear controls, which feature a button at the top of the battery barrel that sits on the outside of your ear. The result was a control that was just as easy to use as a touch control, but way less likely to be triggered by accident.

For all their good, the Ultra Open earbuds aren’t quite perfect. Their battery life is on the lower end, their mic quality wasn’t great on calls, and their IP rating makes them the least outdoor workout-friendly. (As IPX4 earbuds, they have an unknown amount of dust resistance and splash resistance, meaning they can handle sweat fine, but might not fare as well if you’re out in heavier rain). Still, while they’re not the most rugged pair, they are the most premium-sounding — if you mainly work out indoors, and don’t find yourself on extra-long runs all that often, these drawbacks are workable.

Read our full review of the Shokz OpenFit Pro earbuds.

The standout feature of the Shokz OpenFit Pro is definitely their noise reduction, which lowers the volume of the world around you to let your music come into focus. Not to be confused with noise cancellation, this feature balances awareness and sound quality in a way we haven’t experienced on another pair of open earbuds.

With that said, these earbuds are the right choice for anyone who often finds themselves using earbuds in busy environments or simply wants their music to sound the best it can in most situations.

Great as the Bose and Sony open earbuds sound, the ear cuff design isn’t for everyone. An ear hook can offer even more stability during exercise, or simply be more comfortable for the wearer.

With that in mind, we’ve been on the lookout for an open earbud with ear hooks that impressed us with its sound quality, and we found that in the Shokz OpenFit Pro. In addition to the noise reduction — which is adjustable — Shokz optimized these earbuds for Dolby Atmos and offers head tracking, meaning the wearer can really customize their spatial audio experience. (And this spatial audio was noticeably missing any hollowed out sound or overuse of resonance — huge pluses in our book). Further customization comes in the form of a 10-band equalizer, which beats the customization we’ve seen on more premium in-ear buds (including Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra 2 earbuds).

Apart from the listening experience, Shokz nails the design. The case feels surprisingly sleek considering the size of the earbuds. The buds themselves feature a soft silicone on the hooks, and well-placed tactile controls that make it easy to adjust settings without opening up the app (which comes in handy for any exercise scenarios). Speaking of exercise, the IP55 rating makes them suitable for sweating and running — plus, it offers more protection than you’ll find on the Sony and Bose buds. Their battery life with noise reduction is decent, at about six hours per charge, but toggled off, you’ll squeeze out 12 hours.

Read our full review of the Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro.

Can’t imagine carrying around a pair of earbuds without any noise-cancelling capability, but don’t want to keep track of two different pairs of earbuds? Soundcore’s got you covered with the AeroFit 2 Pro, which can function as both noise-cancelling earbuds and open earbuds, depending on how you wear them.

It really was only a matter of time before a brand figured out how to combine open and noise-cancelling earbuds, but we’re glad Soundcore was the one to do it.

Though these earbuds aren’t perfect, they do perform what they set out to do, and with a price point that feels not only stomachable, but fair (a rarity in today’s day and age). Here’s how they work. The ear hook on these buds has five different positions it can lock into. Depending on the position, the earbuds will either function in their noise-cancelling or open mode.

Let’s start with the performance on the former. In the ANC mode, these earbuds work as a semi in-ear bud — think the AirPods 4 or classic EarPods (sans silicone ear tips). For some wearers, this is more comfortable, but it does limit the amount of noise cancellation you reasonably eke out. Think better than the noise reduction on the Shokz OpenFit Pro, but not quite up to par with a good pair of budget noise-cancelling earbuds.

Their open wear is relatively standard, but still pleasing — no surprise, considering our experience with the other Soundcore AeroFit earbuds on this list. The ear hook requires some fiddling, but a noticeable click designates each locked position, which is a nice touch. They sound great out of the box, but fine-tuning with the equalizer nets you a great-sounding pair of open earbuds.

If you crave versatility above all else in your earbuds, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where these earbuds don’t check a lot of boxes for you. Just keep in mind: they lean jack of all trades, master of none.