Ultimate headphone buying guide

Headphones are more than just a way to listen to music, they’ve matured into a wearable device, a way to augment your smartphone experience. It can be hard to decode all of the specifications and even harder to understand the importance of some software features over others, especially if you’re new to buying headphones. We’re here to reduce the feeling of analysis paralysis with our ultimate headphone buying guide. Now, you dedicate less time to research, and more time to music enjoyment.

Editor’s note: this article was updated on March 1, 2023, to add a studio headphone section, and a note on trying before buying.

What kind of headphones do you want?

Headphones cover a wide range of audio peripherals, and take on different shapes and sizes, with different connection types, and so on. The most basic breakdown of headphones includes over-ear headphones, on-ear headphones, in-ears, and true wireless earbuds. We’ll cover the pros and cons of each headset type, and their ideal use cases to help you narrow your search.

Note: there are exceptions to nearly every rule. Use this for what it is: a guide, not a book of law.

Over-ear headphones

Physically speaking, over-ear headphones are the largest of the main headphone types. Over-ear headphones are probably what most of us picture in our mind’s eye when someone says the word “headphones.”

Why should you get over-ear headphones?

Generally speaking, over-ear headphones have an easier time reproducing accurate audio across the frequency spectrum, from sub-bass to treble notes. These large drivers, typically dynamic, can move more air at once. This is key to loud bass notes, something smaller headsets like earbuds struggle to do without introducing multi-driver systems.

Over-ear headphones also more effectively recreate a realistic sense of auditory space than in-ears; this is often referred to as a “soundscape.” The way the ear pads rest around the entirety of the ear means that the sound waves hit your ears and use their anatomy to funnel the waves down to your ear canal. This is akin to how we regularly transfer sound to our brains for processing.

Another advantage of the larger footprint is greater comfort and better battery life than smaller options. The all-encompassing ear cups distribute weight more comfortably around the ear, and across the headband. Since the housings are roomy, there’s plenty of space to throw in some large li-ion batteries too.

Why you might not want over-ear headphones

As with the pros, the cons of over-ear headphones have much to do with their size. Headphones take up much more room in your bag than a pair of wired or wireless earbuds, and they can’t compact the same way as on-ears can. Another rare inconvenience is that a premium pair of wired headphones might require an external amplifier. This is generally reserved for enthusiasts and headphones that are extremely specialized.

Studio headphones

If you’re going to be mixing music, or creating podcasts and other audio content, you might want to consider what’s called “studio headphones.” This type of over-ear headphone isn’t very flashy and you might initially balk at the price for what you’re getting, but these headphones are purpose-built for professional applications over consumer ones. These products aren’t generally something we recommend for general listening—though they’ll work just fine for that. Typically, they’re either meant to use to listen to mixed tracks in a studio, or get abused by performers in a sound booth. Consequently, these headphones are frequently built around sound reproduction and durability.

In general, studio headphones will have a sound that’s closer to “flat” or somewhat restrained ranges of emphasis. That way, you’re not going to accidentally add too much bass or treble to your recordings if you mix things correctly. Some people prefer this kind of sound, and it’s similar to what you’d find in higher-end or “audiophile” headphones.

Most studio headphones are pretty basic, with a wire to connect to your sources instead of going with Bluetooth—but an increasing number of these headphones are opting to allow both. In theory, the sound shouldn’t change much between the two connection methods, though it’s not impossible.

On-ear headphones

Another popular type of headphone are on-ear headphones. Unlike over-ears, these sit directly on top of your ears.

Why should you get on-ear headphones?

The on-ear design is great for listeners who want many of the benefits of over-ear headphones, without all the added heft. These aren’t quite pocketable as tiny in-ears, but they often include rotating or collapsible hinges for storage.

Just as their over-ear brethren, on-ears house large drivers for consistent audio output. Again, because there’s still some leftover space in the on-ear headphone compartments, manufacturers can stuff large batteries into these headsets. Heck, some on-ears run circles around over-ears when it comes to playtime.

Why you might not want on-ear headphones

Proper isolation, the ability for a headset to block out background noise, is difficult to maintain with on-ear headphones. An innocent wiggle of the ear could set the whole fit off-kilter, and let in all of the environmental noise around you. This is a bad position to be in, because good isolation yields optimal audio quality.

Alternatively, an on-ear headset may provide very effective isolation but at the expense of comfort. This is true for the Beats Solo Pro noise cancelling on-ear headphones, which feel like a wearing a vice grip. Another disadvantage: even though they’re easier to carry than over-ear headphones, they’re still cumbersome relative to earbuds.

Wireless earbuds, wired earbuds, and in-ear monitors

Earbuds go by plenty of names, but however you call them, they’re an audio mainstay. Every MP3 player and early smartphone used to come with a pair of wired earbuds, just to get you started, and the debate still rages on about the value of the headphone jack.

Why should you get earbuds?

Whether you purchase wired or wireless earbuds, these are extremely easy to transport. You can shove them into a pocket without a second thought, or roll them into a purse and go about your day. Passive isolation is generally very good with earbuds, unlike on-ears, because they seal to the ear (or most do, anyway). The silicone or memory foam ear tips create a physical seal that blocks out background noise, and when you fit them properly, they can be almost as effective as some noise cancelling options. Take the Shure SE215, a pair of $100 USD in-ear monitors (IEMs) that completely isolates the listener from their surroundings.

True wireless earbuds (aka wireless earbuds) may be the runt of the litter, but they’re also the most portable option around. True wireless earbuds are to credit, or blame, for how we understand earbuds today: as an extension of our smartphones. Apple, in particular, popularized the technology with its AirPods, and other companies have since made great AirPods competitors that provide ample software features. Wireless earbuds offer plenty of user control, as you can often reconfigure the touch or button controls, toggle features like ambient passthrough, and more.

Whether you pay $50 or top dollar for wireless earbuds, all models include a case that doubles as a way to charge the buds. Since this kind of headset is wire-free, they’re perfect for athletes. More specifically, wireless earbuds are ideal for exercise enthusiasts. There are plenty of workout earbuds that feature some sort of IP rating, which is a must-have feature for any athlete. Another great benefit of buying earbuds: they’re affordable, or can be anyway.

In-ear monitors

Similar to other earbuds, in-ear monitors are generally used to monitor music as you’re performing, or (more commonly) to provide a high-end solution for in-ear enthusiasts. The vast majority of in-ear monitors are wired to avoid the latency issues introduced by wireless communication, but it’s not a necessary quality. In short, an in-ear monitor is just that: an audio product that seals in your ear canal.

By that token, you’ll see lots of in-ears referred to as this type without many common features. Just remember that while “in-ear monitors” have always meant something that goes in your ear, “earbuds” used to mean something that sat outside it. Much like the overuse of “literally” got the dictionary folks to add the ironic definition of the word to their compendia, people referring to anything that touched ear canals as “earbuds” has unfortunately stuck.

Why you might not want earbuds

Consistent audio output is harder for engineers to achieve when working with the physical size limitations of in-ears. There are plenty of audiophile earbuds, but they cost a lot more than the standard listener wants to pay. Again, to the credit of in-ear headsets, the sound quality to price ratio has improved greatly, but headphones still edge out earbuds for most listeners’ realistic budgets.

Wires get tangled or broken, which isn’t something many of us care to deal with anymore. Few earbuds include replaceable cables with MMCX connectors, which shortens the lifespan of your favorite earbuds. You can always repair those frayed cables with a few basic tools and some time.

When searching for wireless earbuds, you’ll quickly learn that wireless earbud batteries don’t last. These tiny earbuds house proportionately tiny battery cells. Compound that with the constant charge-deplete cycle of the headset, and you have a recipe for battery life disaster. Headset longevity aside, wireless earphones don’t offer great standalone playtime either. Sure, there’s your rare case of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus or Beats Powerbeats Pro, but most earbuds fall between 4-6 hours of battery before you have to charge them.

Another somewhat common issue that plagues true wireless earbuds is connection stability. Most companies remedy this with Bluetooth 5.0 or later; others have even gone so far as to create their version of Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus. But some earbuds still struggle to maintain a connection outside, and others hiccup when a wall is between the earbuds and the source device.

Gaming headsets

Gamers have their own category of headphones to consider, and gaming headsets are a dime a dozen, making it much more difficult to separate the good from the gimmick. Whether your console of choice is a PlayStation 5, an Xbox Series X, or a Nintendo Switch, a gaming headset can improve your experience, and that of your teammates.

Why should you get a dedicated gaming headset?

Gaming headsets offer value to casual and professional gamers alike. They may look silly, but plenty of useful hardware and software features lie beneath those glowing LEDs. Surround sound is a popular feature among gaming headsets, and sometimes it’s baked into the headset, and other times you have to download proprietary software. Regardless of how it’s enabled, surround sound often gives you the edge over non-headset using gamers, because it makes it easier for you to locate auditory cues. This could be the difference between virtual life and death in games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

Most all gaming headsets are over-ear headphones with an external boom mic, which may not have you completely sold on the idea of shelling out for one. But a good gaming headset is well worth it, because it’s priced as a bundle, and often is much cheaper than if you bought a pair of headphones and an external USB microphone.

Why you might not want a gaming headset

Not all gaming headsets are made well, and tons of junk gaming headsets aren’t worthy of anyone’s desktop. If you purchase without doing enough research, you could end up wasting hundreds of dollars. While it’s less so the case now, gaming headsets often follow a distinct design full of RGB lights and geometric shapes. This may be your flavor or not, but this standard appearance makes it hard to walk into public with a Bluetooth-enabled gaming headset.

Should you go wired or wireless?

Like other connection types, there’s no “better” or “worse” when it comes to wired or wireless headphones, just trade offs. However, wireless connectivity adds another layer of pros and cons to your buying decisions, and it may not be much of an option if your phone lacks a headphone jack altogether. You might decide that dongle life isn’t worth the hassle, and you prefer to reserve wired listening for the home.

What should you know about audio before buying headphones?

There’s a lot of technical jargon regarding headphones, but it’s worth your while to understand it if you want to invest in a nice pair of headphones. These are some of the most common terms thrown around when talking about audio in headphones.

You’re going to want to try before you buy

Sure, it can be a pain to go out into the world, but considering how important fit and sound quality are to your experience: we always recommend trying headphones before you buy them. Not only is it good to ensure that the products you buy will, y’know, actually fit you: it’s important to figure out if you’ll even be able to use them in the first place without eating a costly restocking fee.

If you live in an area with a HiFi shop or other electronics store that allows you to listen to headphones in-store, you should be able to figure out if on or over-ears will fit you well. Unfortunately for a number of reasons, you’re not going to be able to demo in-ears except in very certain circumstances. Block out an hour or two to check out the headphones on a day off, and primarily focus on how comfortable the headphones are, and if they sound okay enough for you to listen to for a while. You can get used to minor changes in audio quality, but you’ll never quite get over a set of headphones that are too heavy, or put too much pressure on your head.

When buying online, you won’t be able to try on headphones before you buy, so read as many headphone reviews as you can about your target product! While it won’t reflect your experiences exactly, reading multiple reviews can help you get a better picture of how well a product does what it’s supposed to, or how it will fit you.

Bluetooth codecs impact wireless audio quality

We’ve living in the golden age of wireless headphones and earbuds, which means there’s another specification for us to understand: Bluetooth codecs determine how Bluetooth media is transmitted from your smartphone to your headset. The best Bluetooth codec for your setup is the one that provides optimal audio quality and connection stability.

iPhone owners are best off with wireless headphones that support AAC, which is the only high-quality Bluetooth codec that iOS supports. It optimizes audio quality and reduces lag-time on Apple devices. Android encodes AAC with varying degrees of efficiency, depending on your hardware, so you’re better off with an aptX headset or even a pair of LDAC headphones. Some Android smartphone manufacturers have their own proprietary codecs. Samsung’s Galaxy Buds series of earphones support the Samsung Scalable Codec, which constantly scales bitrate according to signal strength.

What is a frequency response, and how does it affect your music?

Frequency response specifications are typically included on the packaging and look something like 20Hz-20kHz. This informs you of the range of sound that a headset can reproduce, and is the most popular range because the accepted range of human hearing is also 20Hz-20kHz. Just because a headset can reproduce these frequencies doesn’t mean it sounds good, though.

There are different types of frequency responses, many with their nicknames, and the platonic ideal is a neutral, or “flat,” frequency response. It’s only an ideal though, as physical limitations prevent a headset’s drivers from being able to produce a uniform response across the frequency spectrum. In theory, a headset with a “flat” frequency response reproduces all notes with equal loudness, allowing you to hear your music exactly as the mastering engineers intended. Many people shell out plenty of money for this sound, but others prefer something that deviates from the ideal.

Most consumer headphones amplify bass and treble notes, which adds the familiar and beloved oomph to your songs, while making it easier to perceive detail from things like vibrating violin strings. This is typically referred to as a “V-shaped” sound profile, but if bass notes are too amplified, it can be hard to hear harmonic detail from your music.

Should you get closed- or open-back headphones?

Closed-back headphones are easier to come by, and the headphone casing completely protects the internal components. This design is more versatile, because you can take closed-back headphones anywhere, without your music leaking into the public sphere. The drawback to closed headphones is that they generally have a harder time recreating a realistic sense of auditory space, relative to their open-back counterparts. Open-back headphones feature grilles that expose the drivers. This constant flow of air in and through the headset creates a more “spacious” sound, but can’t be taken outside of a quiet environment.

What other features should you consider before buying headphones?

There are plenty more factors to consider: should you buy headphones online or at a brick-and-mortar store? Should your headphones come with a mobile app? Is the microphone quality good enough? Let’s run through these questions right now.

Software updates and features are important for wireless headsets

Almost every wireless audio product comes with a headphone app, and this may seem like a roundabout way to collect data from you, but some apps offer useful features too. The most important feature a headphone app can offer you is access to firmware updates. Some companies have a bad habit of gatekeeping access to updates, but most companies keep their apps OS agnostic.

If you have an iPhone, you’re likely familiar with the Apple AirPods line of earbuds and headphones. You can only update a set of AirPods if you own an Apple device; Android users can still use the headset, but it’s more like a hindered pair of earbuds than a seamless experience.

Software features and mobile companion apps are great for more than just basic firmware updates. The useful apps let you access various features like virtual EQ modules, onboard control customization, find my earbuds, and more. The Sony Headphones Connect app even lets you decide whether you want the app to prioritize connection stability or audio quality.

Headphones may collect data from you

If a headset comes with a companion app, it’s quite possible that the app collects data from you and even sends it to third parties. Bose has been embroiled in lawsuits, and Google is always under suspicion. All companies flirt with data collection to some degree, whether they bury liability clauses throughout novel-length terms of service agreements, or force you to accept certain agreements before fully knowing the app’s features. In all fairness, not every company is out to get you, or sell your data for profit. Some use apps for internal marketing purposes, and to better their online services.

Virtually every major headphone manufacturer, including Google, lets you opt out of certain data collection to some degree. Sure, it may take some digging, or a few emails to a customer support agent, but you can almost always opt to decouple your personal identifiers from data collected from your app-related interactions. For instance, those who live in the EU have much more liberty than US residents, especially those who don’t reside in California.

Headphone data collection is no joke, and we implore you to read, or at least “CTRL+F” through the end user license agreement and terms of service for your chosen headphone app. You might find that you don’t feel comfortable allowing headphone companies that much access to your data.

Noise isolating vs Active noise cancelling headphones

This is one of those things that sound similar, but mean very different things. Noise isolation means that the product physically sits between your ear and outside sound, thus blocking outside noise from entering your ear.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) works differently: products with ANC have tiny microphones that pick up outside sounds; sometimes these include inward-facing microphones that combat inner-ear resonances. The headset’s processor then sends a signal to another set of microphones to produce the opposite sound wave (destructive interference) to cancel out the noise. It’s all based on physics and waves properties so as you can imagine, it’s not an easy thing to accomplish.

If noise cancellation sounds like it’s for you, there are some great options. Don’t expect every little sound to magically disappear, but you’d be surprised how much sound a good pair of headphones can remove.

Battery life matters, but only so much

Depending on what variant of wireless headphones you purchase, battery life may or may not be a huge concern. On- and over-ear headphones have much longer standalone battery life than wireless and true wireless earbuds. Most wireless headphones provide at least 18 hours of playtime on a single charge, and most traditional wireless earbuds provide at least 8 hours of playtime. True wireless earbuds average 4-5 hours of listening on a single charge.

All kinds of wireless headphones and earbuds usually support fast charging. Usually, you’ll see a specification that cites something like 10 minutes of charging provides an hour of playtime. Most headphones support a more efficient version of fast charging, which can supply hours of listening after just 10 minutes of charge.

Athletes need a water-resistant headset with an IP rating

If you exercise frequently, you should buy a pair of dedicated workout headphones or workout earbuds. It may seem like a waste of money to buy a headset reserved for the gym, but no one wants a water-damaged headset. You should look out for a product that merits an Ingress Protection (IP) rating. A common IP rating is IPX4, where the “X” marks a placeholder for dust resistance. Rock climbers and training gymnasts should get a headset with a dust-resistance rating because the chalk particles can damage internal components if a headset isn’t treated properly.

If you spend all your days in conference calls, invest in headphones with a good microphone

Microphone quality was once an afterthought when you purchased a headset, but today it’s a highly sought-after feature now that so many of us are relegated to remote work. The headset with the best microphone quality is one with an external boom mic, like a gaming headset, but there are plenty of great headphones for conference calls beyond the gaming arena. Perhaps you have a large desktop space, you may even find it worthwhile to purchase a dedicated microphone.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro microphone demo (Ideal):

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 microphone demo (Ideal):

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless microphone demo (Ideal):

Shure MV7 (USB/XLR microphone)

Frequently asked questions