They are super comfortable, but not designed for immersive listening
Weindependently evaluateall of our recommendations.
If you hit links we provide, we may receive compensation.
I test earbuds constantly.
Open earbuds are growing in popularity because they allow situational awareness.Lifewire / Jerri Ledford
I’ve even tested over-the-ear options and found they have some solid uses.
Most recently, I’ve been testing another pair released in October.
Here’s what I learned.
Even my go-to earbuds get uncomfortable after a few hours of wear.
I can sometimes wear earbuds for 6 hours or more during work days.
Open earbuds alleviate the soreness because of the pressure of the earbuds on my ear canals.
They’re also often more comfortable to wear when I’m out in public.
I find that with open-ear earbuds, I have better spatial awareness, which alleviates some of that anxiety.
But the Sound?
The downfall of open earbuds is that they don’t necessarily offer the best sound.
The ones that I’ve tested so far all have some benefits.
The sound, however, isn’t the same as it would be if you were wearing in-ear earbuds.
It comes down to what you’ll use them for.
And maybe it’s time to consider that you need more than one pair of earbuds.
