Open-ear earbuds can be great tools! They may be a solid option for you on outdoor runs, or for that open office co-working space, or if you work in a warehouse and need your ears to be unobstructed by a silicon or memory foam ear tip lodged inside your ear canal. My issue with them has always been a phenomenon called “auditory masking.” Simply put, when listening to a pair in a quiet environment, they may sound great but as soon as you introduce city traffic noise, or indoor cafe/restaurant noise, those new sounds tend to drown out the music. Bass response all but goes away. Vocals become hard to hear. Traditionally, those have been the trade-offs for having nothing sitting in your ear canal.
With the release of the new Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, I decided to revisit the product category. And, WOAH I’m glad I did! In this collection are the best open-ear earbuds in this category, each for different reasons. There was one which stood out from the rest for a number of reasons. And there was even a close runner-up which made me seriously consider which one I’d give the title of “best overall” to. I’ll tell you about those later on, but first, check out all the best picks to consider!
Meet the best open-ear earbuds
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Best overall
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds’ feature an extremely comfortable, eye-catching design, and their “Immersive Sound” setting blew me away! Battery life is rated for seven and a half hours but one of their best features, Immersive Audio, cuts that almost in half to four and half hours. A quick 10-minute charge in the case gives you two hours of playtime. No wireless charging or multipoint.
Best for outdoor adventures
Shokz OpenFit Open Earbuds are the only pair in this collection which carry both a dust and water resistance rating, IP54. Call quality is very good, and they feature multipoint pairing, allowing you to be connected to two devices simultaneously. Though in a different form factor, I find these to be nearly as comfortable as Bose’s offering. Battery life is rated for seven hours, depending on listening conditions.
Best budget pick
The JLAB Open Sport open earbuds get you decent sound in a very flexible form factor. There’s no companion app and the touch controls are very simple and intuitive. Best for glasses wearers because you can slide the hooks off and exchange them for a pair of included clips, then mount them directly to the arms of your glasses.
Best workout earbuds
1MORE Fiti Open Earbuds S50 have the longest name of the bunch and the second longest battery life, rated for 11 hours of use. They're the best for workouts because of their IPX7 water resistance rating. This means they’ll handle the sweatiest workouts, some light rain and some submersion. Some folks may experience fit issues with the ear hooks if they have smaller ears.
Best battery life
The Soundcore AeroFit Pro open earbuds will get you an impressive 14 hours of playback time with a total of 46 hours if you include the case charging. Since my review, the AeroFit Pro's received an update, adding a new EQ called "Volume Booster" which greatly improved the sound quality at lower volumes. The included, detachable neckband makes them great for gym use as well.
Open-ear, auditory masking, picking what works for you
Auditory masking is the biggest issue you’ll encounter when deciding which open-ear style earbuds you’re going to rock with. To test this collection of earbuds, not only did I wear them in my daily walks through the city, or at a block party style flea market event I went to, but I also sat in front of my home speakers with 75dB of city street urban noise blasting at me from YouTube. I used a dB meter to confirm that number. You’re going to be listening to these earbuds at lower volumes so that you don’t dull your situational awareness so it’s important that they perform well under those conditions.
1MORE’s Fit S50 and Soundcore’s AeroFit Pro’s performed admirably under these circumstances because of how they’re positioned over your ear canal. I had to crank the Bose Ultra a bit more when I was at the flea market because there was competing music being played at that event. Those conditions weren’t really “fair” though because I doubt most users will be wearing these at an event where music is blaring, as they’re also trying to listen to music through the ‘buds. For my city traffic test, Bose Ultra held up equally well to the previously mentioned units, as did the Shokz OpenFit which I didn’t have at the flea market block party.
I think that what sets Bose apart in terms of situational awareness is that they don’t cover your ear canal at all, allowing for the most unobstructed environmental sound. Since open-ear style ‘buds are so niche, I think the primary consideration in choosing a pair is likely going to be battery life. Since 11 to 14 hours is far more than you’re going to get out of any active noise canceling ‘buds, some shoppers may look at those with battery life comparable to the best ANC earbuds and ask, “What’s the point?”. A fair question.
Though Bose had the shortest battery life with Immersive Audio turned on, I still gave them Best Overall because with it off, they get seven and a half (depending on listening conditions), and only 10 minutes in the case gets you two more hours of playback. So, even at four and a half hours with Immersive Audio on, 20 minutes of case time gets you four more hours, getting you through an eight-hour workday. If you don’t want to fuss with that though, you have my insights and battery stat info to power your purchasing position.
