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The best open ear headphones, also known as the best air conduction headphones, are designed to deliver quality sound while keeping you aware of your surroundings. They work by not placing any tech within your ear canal. This means open ear headphones are a solid choice for outdoor runners or anyone else who wants to hear what’s going on in their immediate environment. They’re also a good idea for people who don’t like the feeling of buds or silicone tips in their ear canals.
Open ear headphones aren’t new. But only recently have they become a major focus for a number of audio tech and fitness tech brands, so although the category is emerging, there isn’t a great deal of choice just yet. A few of the earbuds in our guide perform well, but aren’t perfect – they certainly won’t give the best earbuds a run for their money in terms of sound. There are also teething issues with design; open ear buds aren’t anchored in place with an in-ear bud, which means new design choices are being made with earhooks, headphones and even clamps.
Although there may not be many open ear headphones to choose from, we’ve selected several of our top picks below. We’ve had chance to test many of these headphones ourselves, but if you can’t find a link to a full review it’ll be coming soon. So if you’re looking for an alternative to the best running headphones or best bone conduction headphones, then read on to find out which open ear headphones are right for you.
The quick list
Best premium
An innovative design and Bose’s signature excellent sound make these the top option if you don’t mind paying premium.
Best for battery
You’ll get 19 hours of battery from these buds, 46 hours with the case, making these the best choice for all-day wear.
Best budget
We enjoyed the clear sound of these buds, but the fit wasn’t quite right. They’re a cheaper option, so good for small budgets.
Best for calls
One of the most comfortable designs with solid voice quality and clarity, they’re our top choice for podcasts and calls.
Best for stability
This headband-style design is made with athletes in mind and makes these buds a good choice if earhooks don’t appeal.
Best open ear headphones for most people
Shokz is known for creating some of the best bone conduction headphones, but the OpenFit buds prove it’s just as adept at air conduction tech. In our review, we said that these earbuds are capable of “delivering quality audio almost as good as in-ear buds” but with plenty of awareness of your surroundings.
Unlike similar designs, the earhooks are soft and flexible, providing a stable fit. This fit wasn’t perfect – especially when I was wearing glasses – but they stayed put throughout most workouts. The Shokz OpenFit are not the cheapest option in this guide, but if you’re looking for a dependable pair of air conduction earbuds that fit well and deliver solid sound, you can’t go wrong here.
Read our full Shokz OpenFit review
Best premium open ear headphones
Bose is one of the best audio tech brands in the world, so it’s no surprise that its first pair of open ear buds, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, are seriously impressive. We haven’t had chance to put these buds to the test properly yet. But in our review, we found they tick all of the boxes – but obviously come with a premium Bose price tag to match.
Unlike other buds in this list, the Bose Ultra Open buds hook onto the side of your ear’s helix. The battery cylinder then tucks behind your ear. During our testing, we thought they felt a little wobbly but never fell off – they might just need a bit of getting used to, which we’ll find out in our full review that’s coming soon.
As you’d expect from a pair of Bose buds – even those with an open ear design – the Ultra Open sound great. These truly seem like the best air conduction headphones to beat, but they’re significantly more expensive than rivals so will only appeal to those who can pay premium.
Read our initial Bose Ultra Open hands-on review
Best open ear headphones for battery
One of the older pairs of buds in our list, the OpenRock Pro from OneOdio have an earhook style, similar to the Shokz OpenFit at the top of the guide and the 1More S50 below. During our testing, we found this design to be comfortable. We even said they’re among the best-fitting workout buds we’ve tested, which is really saying something.
We commented that audio quality isn’t the best here, but will do for most people. They’re our top pick for battery life, which is among the best of the bunch at 19 hours from the buds themselves and 46 hours with the case too. This makes them a great choice if you’re considering open ear buds for more than just working out. These will see you through from commuting, a day at the office and a workout.
Read our full OneOdio OpenRock Pro review
Best open ear headphones on a budget
The 1More Fit S50 deliver good quality sound, we were impressed with the clarity of voices, bass and volume that they delivered during our testing. We’ve also got a design built for workouts here, thanks to an IPX7 sweat-resistant rating.
However, we felt let down by the fit. Although the earhook design delivered when we tried the Shokz OpenFit – as well as in early tests of the Emeet AirFlow below – we couldn’t achieve a stable and consistent fit with the 1More Fit S50. There’s a chance they’ll fare better for those with biggers ears that don’t wear glasses, however.
They’re cheaper than most rivals on this list, which is why they’re our budget pick. But only consider them if you’re already a fan of an earhook-like design.
Read our full 1More Fit S50 review
Best open ear headphones for calls
We’re currently testing the Emeet AirFlow and will be publishing a full review over the next few weeks. So far, we’ve been really impressed with the design. Earhooks are rarely perfect, but these feel firm and stable. We’ll update you once we’ve taken them running and to the gym.
Audio performance doesn’t shine as much as the buds at the top of this list, but we’re already enjoying these buds for clear voices, both during calls and when listening to podcasts. These might be our favorite option if you want open ear headphone that aren’t just made for the gym, but will suit walking, commuting and using regularly at the office, too.
Best open ear headphones for stability
We haven’t tested the Oladance OWS Sports headphones ourselves yet, but we’ll have a review to share within the next few weeks. Until then, we have high hopes that the Oladance OWS Sports will be our top choice for more intense workouts, running and overall stability. This is thanks to the neckband/headband-style design, which makes them look similar to the best bone conduction headphones.
These sports headphones also boast a high water-resistant rating, 5 hours of battery life, muti-point pairing and a slick, nice-looking design. We’ll let you know if these buds are as good as they sound when we test them.
How to choose the best open ear headphones for you
Air conduction tech and open ear headphones have been around for several years, but only recently have audio tech companies both big and small pumped significant time and energy into releasing open-ear devices.
This means there isn’t a huge amount of choice about which air conduction headphones and open ear buds to buy. It’s not like the best wireless earbuds or best noise cancelling headphones in which most audio brands have at least one pair and there’s a massive range to suit all budgets and preferences.
Having said that, our guide above proves there is some choice depending on what you’re looking for – and your options will only grow as more brands enter this space.
The first thing to consider is whether open ear buds are for you. As you can tell from many of our reviews above, there’s a trade-off here in terms of sound quality and fit for an open ear design, which means you need to care about hearing what’s going on around you.
As always, one of the other major factors to consider is your budget. We don’t have a huge range of choice at present, but there are some cheaper options. Having said that, the cheaper options on this list are the ones we had most fit issues with, like the 1More S50.
You’ll see that, at least at the time of writing, air conduction tech comes in several different form factors. There are devices that stay in place with earhooks that fit around the back of your ear, like the Shokz OpenFit. Then there are those that fit around the outer ear in a different way, take a look at the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, which “clamp” on the side of your ear. Finally, there are devices that look similar to the best bone conduction headphones and they have a band around your neck connecting them and keeping them in place.
These designs aren’t all that common, which means we don’t expect you to immediately know which will suit you. But consider whether you’ve got on well with earhook designs in the past – these can cause problems for those with smaller ears or anyone who wears glasses. And if you’ve tried a pair of bone conduction headphones before, you’ll know whether you like the headband.
Otherwise, it is worth pointing out that you’re taking a gamble on whether the fit of the different buds are right for you. This means if you don’t have money to spare and only want a reliable fit, it might be worth trying some of the best workout headphones or best running headphones. Bone conduction headphones don’t have the same method of conducting sound, pumping it through your temples with transducers rather than blasting sound through the air around your ears, but you may want to give those a go instead.
How we test the best air conduction headphones
We’ve had chance to test several of the best air conduction headphones in this guide. We’ve made it clear which we haven’t had chance to review yet, but rest assured that all of the ones mentioned here will be tested over the next month.
This means we know what to expect from the best air conduction headphones when it comes to key features, design and fit, battery life, audio performance and more.
During our testing, we focused a lot on fit. Open ear headphones face a unique challenge in that they need to stay put on your ear and yet don’t have a snug over-ear design or in-ear bud to keep them in place. Brands have compensated for this with ear hooks, headbands or other methods, but they don’t always suit everyone.
With this in mind, we paid close attention to their fit in a range of scenarios, including working, commuting, walking and working out. We made sure to put all of the headphones above through their paces with several different gym workouts, outdoor runs and exercises given that many are created to appeal to amateur athletes and outdoor runners.
You’re never going to get the kind of immersive sound you’d expect from the best noise cancelling headphones with these devices, but that’s not the point. We were keen to assess the buds for audio quality, checking whether there’s decent sound and clarity on offer, even if it’s not immersive. We also weighed this audio performance up against the amount of ambient noise you can hear and whether each pair of buds made us feel more aware of our surroundings, as they’re designed to do.
Finally, we’re not at the point where one pair of open ear headphones tick all of the boxes like you’ll find in other TechRadar headphone buying guides. But we also considered the whole package and whether some of these buds deserved higher ratings based on handy design choices, like water resistance, longevity, like battery life.
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