While noise-cancelling headphones are great for cutting yourself off from the world, the best open-ear headphones let you listen to your music and podcasts while remaining fully aware of your surroundings. They’re ideal for outdoor exercise – or for anyone who simply doesn’t like the sensation of in-ear headphones – and use flexible clips or hooks to hang just outside your ears, projecting audio into the ear without creating a seal.
Because of their open design, there’s an unavoidable dip in sound quality compared to in-ear and over-ear headphones, but you’d be surprised by how dynamic the best models sound. They tend to offer better sound quality than bone-conducting headphones while ensuring that you can hear outside noise.
However, because they’re designed to let ambient noise float in, they naturally struggle in consistently loud environments – open-ear headphones are best for avoiding hidden dogs and cyclists on your morning run, rather than disappearing into a podcast on your morning commute.
The best open-ear headphones offer complete situational awareness while mitigating as many of these downsides as they can, and in recent years, the tech has massively improved. Fashion-forward designs like the Bose ultra open not only sound great but look smart too, while fitness-focused earphones like the Shokz OpenFit 2 use secure and comfortable silicone hook designs to cope with more vigorous outdoor workouts.
How we tested
I assessed each of these in-ear headphones for sound quality, comfort, battery life and overall value. I wore them on our outdoor runs and walks, as well as at home, listening to a range of music genres and podcasts to get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses. I also considered the size and convenience of charging cases, app usability, EQ options and additional features.
Why you can trust IndyBest
Steve Hogarty is a tech critic for The Independent. He’s interested in anything with a microchip, from laptops and robot vacuum cleaners to ereaders and headphones. Steve always has one eye on the latest developments in tech, which means that if there’s something exciting and innovative in the world of audio, Steve will know about it. Now, in his review of the best open-ear headphones, Steve has gone beyond technical specifications to what it’s actually like to use the headphones in the real world.
Shokz OpenFit 2
Better known for its excellent range of bone-conduction headphones, Shokz made its first foray into true wireless open-ear designs with the original OpenFit. Launched earlier this year, the OpenFit 2 improves on things with better sound quality, a more comfortable fit, extended battery life and button controls.
Flexible nickel-titanium ear hooks keep the speaker floating just in front of your ear canal, letting you hear outside sounds while working out to music and podcasts. As with all open-ear headphones, there’s an inevitable trade-off in audio quality versus traditional in-ear designs, but the OpenFit 2 are the best-sounding I’ve tested. Bass frequencies don’t sound overcooked on the default EQ setting, and there’s decent detail and clarity in the vocal range for podcast fans. Even at full volume, the OpenFit 2 can be drowned out by loud noises around you, but that’s true of all open-ear headphones – there’s no getting around physics.
My average-size ears found the OpenFit 2 comfortable to wear for hours on end. Whatever particular set of curves and angles Shokz is using, the OpenFit 2 brace themselves securely with no jiggling during sprints. The button on each earbud means you’re not blindly fumbling around to pause and skip tracks either. The button can also be used to answer calls, which sound remarkably clear at both ends thanks to dual microphones and some generous noise filtering.
Rounding off this competent package of features is an impressive battery life. Back off from playing your music at full volume and avoid bass boost, and the OpenFit 2 will last more than ten hours on a single charge. The case will fully recharge the buds three or four times over before needing some juice, while quick charging with USB-C gives you two hours of battery life in ten minutes.
Buy now £169.99, Amazon.co.uk
Soundcore C40i
The Soundcore C40i are a pair of affordable, comfortable and decent-sounding clip-on earbuds, hitting the mark in terms of price, audio quality and wearability. They look bulky and feel a little more plasticky than you’d hope for a pair of £99 earbuds, but pop them on and their lightweight construction gives them a surprising airiness – it’s easy to forget you’re wearing them.
While not as secure as an ear hook, the firm yet flexible C-shaped clips are reassuringly sturdy without pinching, and a set of large and medium ear grips lets you adjust the fit. If you’re in the market for a dedicated pair of running earphones, I’d steer towards the Huawei FreeArc (£99.99, Amazon.co.uk), which offer a more secure fit and better protection against grime and sweat. Designed for more everyday wear, the Soundcore C40i are more lightweight and stylish, all while offering similar audio and call quality.
Unlike the Soundcore AeroClip, you get a physical button on each earbud rather than fidgety touch-sensitive controls, so you’re less likely to accidentally mess around with your music when adjusting them on your ears. The battery life is average at seven hours, extending to around 20 hours with the case, but like the Shokz above, fast-charging will give them two hours of playback in just ten minutes.
Buy now £99.99, Amazon.co.uk
Bose ultra open earbuds
The Bose ultra open earbuds are the most stylish of this bunch, using a neat clip-on design that snugly grips the edge of the ear. They feel precarious at first, as though they’re liable to fly off at any second, but I’ve taken them on runs with zero issues. The flexible silicone arm is secure without pinching, they’re light enough that you can forget you’re wearing them, and they’re one of the few buds that genuinely look good on your ears.
Bose is renowned for its audio quality, and the ultra open don't disappoint. Despite the open-ear design, music sounds clear and dynamic without any EQ fiddling, with maybe a touch of over-emphasis on bass to compensate for the lack of a seal. Bose's proprietary OpenAudio technology delivers surprisingly rich and clear sound, and there’s the option of 3D spatial audio, which creates the eerie illusion of your music emanating from a fixed point somewhere in front of you, even as you turn your head left and right.
The controls are handled by a small physical button on each bud, which is hugely superior to finicky touch controls, and battery life is decent at around seven hours, with the charging case providing about three full recharges. The main drawback is the premium price tag, which is tough to justify compared to some of the more affordable options on our list. However, if you value situational awareness and don’t want to compromise on sound quality, the Bose ultra open earbuds are your best bet.
Buy now £249.95, Amazon.co.uk
Nothing ear (open)
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Nobody makes tech quite like Nothing. The fashion-forward tech brand is known for its distinctive transparent design language, which lets you peek at all of the aesthetically pleasing circuitry packed inside its range of excellent smartphones and headphones. The Nothing ear (open) are the company’s open-ear headphones, featuring an on-brand transparent central chamber, with comfortable white silicone ear hooks ending in a small and lightweight battery barrel.
The Nothing ear (open) sound great, using a custom diaphragm and specialised drivers to pump out remarkably full-bodied bass without distortion. Mids and highs are clear and vibrant, delivering an audio experience on par with the more expensive Bose ultra open earbuds (£249, Amazon.co.uk). Sound leakage is managed reasonably well at sensible volumes, but crank them up in a quiet office and your colleagues will get a hint of your playlist.
Those silicone ear hooks are surprisingly comfortable for extended use but secure enough for runs and frantic gym sessions. By shifting the battery to the end of the ear hooks, the speaker section is left nice and thin too, giving the Nothing ear (open) a light and airy feel. The call quality is great, with suppression effectively overcoming environmental noise, and the battery life is decent at eight hours, while AirPod-style pinch controls mean there’s no chance of accidentally pausing or skipping songs.
The long and thin, Twix-sized charging case is a bold design choice that won’t be for everyone. It doesn’t bulk out your pocket like a chunky, box-shaped charging case – and it looks beautiful, the transparent plastic lid proudly displaying your earbuds like gallery pieces – but it’s a slightly awkward thing to carry around. Still, for the money, they look stunning, sound brilliant and are remarkably good value.
Buy now £124.00, Amazon.co.uk
Huawei FreeArc
The Huawei FreeArc earbuds are the brand’s sportier and more affordable take on the open-ear concept, following the fashion-focused FreeClip. They’re a competitive alternative to pricier rivals like the Bose ultra open (£249, Amazon.co.uk), aimed squarely at runners, cyclists and anyone needing to stay aware of their surroundings.
Using a flexible, silicone-coated titanium hook, the FreeArc fit comfortably and securely around the outside of the ear, leaving the speaker section floating just outside the ear canal.
They’re chunkier than clip-on style earbuds, as all of the tech and battery is crammed into the speaker section, but they’re very well balanced. I found the fit surprisingly stable, even during vigorous runs and bike rides, though the hook design can get uncomfortable after more than a few hours of wear.
Naturally, the open design means some sacrifice in bass compared to sealed earbuds, but Huawei does an admirable job compensating. Sound is clear and vocals are distinct, with enough low-end presence to keep music engaging. Sound leakage is well-managed thanks to what Huawei calls a "reverse sound waves system", though, like other open-ear designs, they can be drowned out by loud city traffic, even at full volume.
An IP57 rating ensures they’ll withstand sweat and rain, and the battery life is solid at around seven hours per charge, boosted to 28 hours with the case. The touch controls are fiddly – feeling around for the earbuds often results in accidental taps – but overall, the Huawei FreeArc earbuds deliver impressive comfort, decent sound and excellent value for money in the open-ear category.
Buy now £79.99, Amazon.co.uk
Soundcore AeroClip
The newest entry in Soundcore’s open-ear range, the AeroClip earbuds nail the basics while keeping the price low. A flexible, memory-titanium ring gently grips the outer ear like an ear cuff without too much pressure, providing a secure and balanced fit even after hours of wear.
The sound quality is decent for the price. Like most open-ear headphones, the default EQ overcompensates with virtual bass to avoid sounding tinny, but vocals sound surprisingly rich for open-ear headphones, and the titanium-coated drivers offer clean mids and highs across music genres. The call quality is impressive too, thanks to four beamforming mics and Soundcore’s AI-boosted signal processing, which effectively blocks wind sounds and other background interference.
The box includes two additional pairs of ear grips to help you get the best fit – that’s useful, as straight out of the box, the AeroClip aren’t the most comfortable open-ears I’ve tested. They’re bulkier than the Bose ultra open, too. Sound leakage is minimal at moderate volumes, but like all open-ear headphones, they can struggle to be heard clearly in very noisy environments.
Battery life is respectable at around eight hours per charge, with the charging case providing a total of 32 hours. The IPX4 rating means they can handle sweaty workouts and light rain. Touch controls are finicky and prone to accidental taps when adjusting the buds on your ear – a problem shared by most earbuds with touch controls. For the price, however, the AeroClip earbuds punch above their weight with surprisingly crisp audio, multi-point connectivity for switching between laptop and phone, and good all-around comfort.
Buy now £129.99, Amazon.co.uk
The verdict: Open-ear headphones
Delivering a top audio experience and decent comfort at a mid-range price, the Shokz OpenFit 2 are the best open-ear headphones I’ve tested. Despite the inherent shortfalls of the form factor – some sound leakage and poor performance in loud environments – they’re proof positive that open-ear headphones don’t have to compromise on sound quality.
The excellent Bose ultra open track just behind Shokz’ buds, but only because of that premium price tag. The most stylish clip-ons by far, they deliver Bose-quality audio that seems near-magical coming from such tiny earbuds. For more affordable clip-on style earbuds, the Soundcore C40i not only sound great but cost less than £100.
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