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Through the years, your favourite pair of headphones or earbuds can grow to be simply as important to your every day life as your smartphone. For those who’re like me, forgetting your AirPods at house can wreck your day. It is vital to think about all of your headphone and earbud choices, as the suitable ones for one individual could not work for one more.
That is why, at ZDNET, we evaluation loads of headphones and earbuds for all functions and budgets. Completely different headphones and earbuds have completely different use instances, and our testing strategies align with these use instances. We regularly publish long-term critiques and revisit a headphone’s efficiency after steady use to find out which options excel and which of them fall flat.
How we take a look at headphones and earbuds in 2026
Our consultants sleep, work, run, swim, hike, watch motion pictures, and take heed to music to check headphones and earbuds. Throughout testing, we place our every day drivers of their carrying instances and use the evaluation unit in our on a regular basis lives to see how the gadgets carry out in real-world conditions.
Normally, we obtain evaluation models from producers earlier than they’re accessible to the general public. We use the interval between receiving the product and publishing our evaluation to spend as a lot time as attainable placing the evaluation unit by every day use and wear-and-tear. We additionally take a look at the product’s software program options and observe up with producers if wanted.
This is a common overview of our headphones and earbuds testing methodology, so you possibly can higher perceive how a pair of headphones or earbuds makes it to certainly one of our lists of suggestions.
How we determine which pair to advocate
A pair of headphones or earbuds is ZDNET Advisable when our testing concludes that the system is above common in not less than certainly one of our testing classes. As soon as we have made that willpower, we add headphones or earbuds to certainly one of our purchasing guides, that are tailor-made to these in search of headphones serving a selected objective.
We perceive that everybody has completely different makes use of, desires, and desires when in search of headphones and earbuds. Our mission is to advocate a spread of merchandise that greatest serve everybody’s particular person preferences.
Some headphones could excel in design and luxury however fall quick in noise cancellation. Regardless of that product’s shortcomings, we perceive that some folks don’t need headphones with sturdy noise cancellation and like ones that supply better consolation. We deal with all metrics equally throughout testing, however we make a degree of letting our readers know when a product will not serve their greatest pursuits. Listed below are the highest elements we contemplate when testing headphones and earbuds.
Consolation and design
Your headphones and earbuds ought to supply hours of consolation, particularly for those who plan to put on them whereas working, finding out, or touring. Like many headphone and earbud benchmarks, consolation could be subjective as a result of everybody has completely different head and ear shapes.
To stay as goal as attainable, we put on headphones and earbuds for hours on finish and be aware in our critiques after they grow to be uncomfortable.
Headphones and earbuds are available in varied materials finishes. Some are largely fabricated from plastic, whereas others are constituted of extra sturdy supplies, like aluminum and chrome steel. As a result of headphones and earbuds accompany you all through your every day actions, we put on them for prolonged durations to evaluate their sturdiness.
We consider whether or not headphone earpads tear, rip, or crack, decide how nicely a pair of headphones or earbuds can stand up to drops, and bend and fold headphones to pay attention for any creaking or unnatural noises.
Noise cancellation
Noise-canceling properties are much less subjective, because the variety of decibels a pair of headphones or earbuds cancels could be measured on a noise-level chart. Nevertheless, a few of our readers could also be much less serious about a chart and extra involved with how headphones or earbuds carry out in particular environments.
To provide the greatest concept of how nicely a tool cancels noise, we put on noise-canceling headphones and earbuds in environments with various noise ranges, together with grocery shops, places of work, trains, planes, gyms, and occasional outlets. We report which noises we are able to hear and that are masked or considerably dampened to indicate you which ones noise-canceling headphones or earbuds will carry out greatest in your every day life.
Sound high quality
Sound high quality is essentially the most subjective metric when testing and reviewing headphones and earbuds. Everybody’s ears understand sound in another way, and listening to is a spectrum. Moreover, headphones and earbuds can sound completely different relying on whether or not noise canceling is enabled, your most well-liked music streaming service, your listening system’s working system, and which Bluetooth codec your headphones or earbuds could use.
To see this subjectivity in motion, learn certainly one of our headphone critiques, evaluate our skilled opinions with our contemporaries’ views, and observe the variations in sentiment. We describe how we hear the sound come by a pair of headphones or earbuds and clarify which elements could contribute to our conclusions.
Our consultants take a look at sound by listening with transparency and noise-canceling modes, which allow us to notice any variations in sound. We additionally pay attention on iPhones, Android telephones, laptops, TVs, and tablets to doc noticeable sound distinctions. There could be noticeable variations in sound high quality when listening to Apple Music versus Spotify, so we take a look at for that, too.
Moreover, we take a look at wi-fi headphones with their included wires to find out whether or not a pair could be listened to actively or passively.
Battery life
Battery life is an goal benchmark when testing headphones and earbuds, however it may be affected by a number of elements. Battery life can differ from the producer’s claims relying on how loud you take heed to headphones or earbuds, whether or not noise canceling or spatial audio is enabled, the size and frequency of telephone calls taken whereas sporting the headphones, and the settings of your listening system.
We monitor battery life through the use of the entire headphones’ options to gauge how nicely they match the marketed variety of hours of steady use.
Distinctive use instances
Some headphones and earbuds are higher fitted to particular use instances than others, and it is our job to let our readers know which pair will greatest swimsuit them. To take action, we watch motion pictures, take heed to music, journey, work, and train whereas sporting the headphones and earbuds we take a look at to see which actions they carry out greatest in.
We contemplate software program limitations and distinctive options to make sure you understand how nicely a pair of headphones or earbuds integrates together with your private system ecosystem.
We evaluation many headphones and earbuds for all use instances and budgets to indicate you your choices. Nevertheless, shopping for a pair of headphones or earbuds is a extremely personalised choice, and it is best to contemplate your desires and desires earlier than buying. Right here are some things to think about earlier than making a purchase order.
Assess how typically you may put on headphones to find out how a lot steady battery life you want. For those who plan to put on headphones typically in public, put money into ones with sturdy noise cancellation. Think about how a lot you are prepared to spend on headphones, as we have reviewed and really helpful headphones starting from $60 to $1,000+.
