We probably don’t need to tell you that the right pair of headphones can be genuinely life-changing.
We know — a bunch of tech is designed to make your life better, but in the case of headphones, it’s not hard to see how: A pair of noise-cancelling or regular headphones can be what helps you find focus at work, distract yourself during a long workout, or get into your favorite songs in a way that a phone or laptop's built-in speakers just won’t allow.
There are a ton of reasons a person might want headphones, and as such, the market is huge. You can find a pair of budget earbuds for under $20 and professional-grade over-ear headphones for more than $600 — our goal is to test as many of them as we can.
Why you should trust us
Determining a pair of headphones or earbuds to be “good” can be incredibly subjective, so how do we make that call? The short answer: our recommendations are the results of hours of testing, comparing headphones directly against each other, and where possible, combining the testing results of different testers (in an effort to eliminate any personal bias that may come up).
So who’s actually doing the testing? That would be Mashable shopping and tech reporters, editors, and on occasion, Mashable contributors. In recent years, Lead Shopping Reporter Bethany Allard and Shopping Reporter Sam Mangino have done the majority of Mashable’s headphones and earbuds testing — Allard has been covering the beat for two years, while Mangino has been on the beat since she started at Mashable in early 2024. In that time frame, they collectively tested around 30 pairs of headphones and earbuds, a number which is continuing to grow. Mangino has tested every model from Bose, and additionally focused on specialized headphones for working out. Allard has tested everything from $25 Anker Soundcore earbuds to $400 Bowers & Wilkins noise-cancelling headphones.
When testing, to get the best sense of which headphones can actually be great to use in everyday life, we do exactly that — use them in our everyday lives. Typically, we test headphones from a week to up to a month. In our approach, we combine standardized testing that you might find in a lab with using the headphones and earbuds around our homes and outside in the cities we live in to determine which headphones are actually the best.
Alongside Allard, Deputy Editor of Shopping and Reviews Miller Kern and former Mashable Shopping Editor Jae Thomas collaborated to create a methodology and rubric that every writer must follow when analyzing a pair of headphones or earbuds for coverage at Mashable.
Below are the questions that guide our process:
Is the sound quality actually clear, well-rounded, and worth the asking price?
Standardized sound testing: As we have several Mashable team members testing headphones, we want to make sure we’re looking at the same features, so we created a playlist of
bangerssongs from a wide variety of genres. Our testers listen to this playlist both on the headphones or earbuds we’re testing, as well as our daily drivers. This test helps determine where a pair of headphones might shine — maybe the bass comes through great, while highs start to come out thin.How our favorites sound: If a pair of headphones doesn’t make your favorite song sound great, they’re simply not going to work out. Of course, this is a highly subjective test, but by listening to songs that we’re very familiar with, our testers can hear more of the minute differences between headphones. We also listen to a podcast, stream, YouTube video, or audiobook to see how standard vocal narration comes through.
Noise leaks: Ideally, we perform this test with two people. The main tester wears the headphones and plays music at varying volumes while another person stands nearby — say, as close as you might be standing to someone on a train — and determines if they can hear sound coming from the headphones. If two people aren’t available, the tester follows the same protocol but records on another device.
How does the noise cancellation perform in different environments?
Most headphones these days in the $100 and up range come with active noise cancellation, if not passive noise cancellation.
ANC indoors: A lot of people use their noise-cancelling headphones in their home or office, so we do our best to intentionally recreate common situations you’d find in both settings. We also pay extra close attention to how the headphones perform with our day-to-day external noises. For instance, we’ll play a song or video on an external device at different volumes to see how much sound gets in. We see if the sounds of our dishwashers or washing machines break through, if we can hear someone else when they talk to us, or if we’re lucky enough to have noisy neighbors, we see how well we can hear them with the headphones.
ANC outdoors: While exercising a certain degree of caution, we pay attention to how headphones perform when we’re walking down busy streets we’re familiar with. We note if the buzz of a crowd breaks through, or if we can hear car horns, sirens, or construction sounds. If the headphones have an automatic transparency mode, we test to see if it switches seamlessly — and when it changes back to ANC, if it impedes how well the ANC was working.
Different ANC levels: These days, not many popular ANC headphones have highly adjustable ANC (RIP to the Bose 700 headphones). However, ANC will obviously work differently with and without music playing. We examine how wide that gap is, and if the headphones are susceptible to any hissing sounds with the ANC on (you’ll usually find this on less expensive models).
Are the headphones comfortable and functional in their design?
Headphones can look and sound as great as they want, but if they’re not comfortable enough to wear, all of that is moot.
Wear time: It’s a straightforward test — how long can we wear the headphones uninterrupted? Does that change if you’re wearing glasses or earrings? When they start to hurt, we look at where the pain points are, whether they’re squeezing or too heavy, and if there are ways to adjust the headphones that allow for a longer wear time. Though we likely can’t wear the headphones for the entire workday five days in a row, we try to perform this test several times and take the best average.
Adjustability: Speaking of the above — what can you do to the headphones out of the box, without any additional purchases, to make them more comfortable? For earbuds, this might include different sizes of eartips. For over-ear headphones, this might be how much you can change the positioning of the headband.
Thoughtful design: The design can involve many different features. Perhaps the earcups are swappable, making over-ear headphones more future-proof for when they inevitably break down over time. On a pair of ANC headphones, maybe they seal just right. For headphones with touch controls, the sensitivity may be just enough to register well without being so much that a brush of hair pauses your music or hangs up your calls. Headphones marketed for working out might have some level of water resistance or waterproofing, and materials that are easy to clean. Features like all of the above earn headphones points in the thoughtful design category.
Is the experience of connecting the headphones and using any companion apps seamless?
Most of the headphones and earbuds we test out are wireless, and many from that group come with companion apps that allow you to customize your headphone experience.
Bluetooth connectivity: Headphones that don’t pair easily aren’t headphones you’ll want to use. We look at how easily headphones connect to a device upon startup and throughout the time we use them. When they have features that allow them to connect to both Apple and Android devices well, we’ll make note of that and test how easily they connect to both types of devices if possible.
Multipoint pairing: Most people use their headphones with more than one device. That’s why we always check how well multipoint pairing works, as the claim that it is technically available doesn’t always pan out in practice. For example, while Bose makes excellent noise-cancelling headphones, the multipoint pairing offered on some models can cause spotty audio at times, or at other times keep the headphones from connecting at all.
Equalizer: Companion apps often include an equalizer. We make sure to test out any and all presets, noting how differently the audio comes through. Wherever applicable, we also play around with any custom equalizer settings and look at how apps can make those adjustments accessible to the less audio-savvy among us.
Control customization: Touch controls on headphones are common, and having the ability to specify them to the settings you use most can be the difference between using them or not. We’ll look at what settings apps allow a user to adjust, from volume to playback controls, and if users can turn off controls altogether. Of course, we test each customization and make sure they actually work as intended.