Our experts tested more than 170 headphones from popular brands including Sony, Apple, Bose, Beats, Sennheiser and more
We assess key factors such as sound quality, noise cancelling, comfort, durability and battery life
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Poor-quality headphones can make even Led Zeppelin sound more like your kid brother’s garage band.
Whether you’re enjoying your carefully curated playlists, catching up on podcasts or watching YouTube videos on the go, a decent pair of headphones can be a lifesaver.
But a poor pair of headphones can render your favourite playlist unlistenable. And if the noise cancellation’s no good, you might not be able to hear which song is playing anyway.
This is why it’s worth doing your research, especially given how expensive some brands can be.
Fortunately, CHOICE has done the hard work of testing them so you don’t have to. Our audio experts have reviewed the most popular products on the market from Apple, Sennheiser, Skullcandy, Sony, Beats, Bang & Olufsen, JBL, Jabra and more.
“We’ve listened to $500 headphones that rate worse than pairs half their price – sometimes from the very same brand. Paying more doesn’t guarantee a better quality product, so it pays to shop carefully.”
We’ve listened to $500 headphones that rate worse than pairs half their price – sometimes from the very same brand.
CHOICE expert Peter Zuluzny
We’ve recently remastered our headphone testing, so our review covers all headphone types, from petite in-ear models through to noise-cancelling over-ear cans with all the features.
You can filter by type (in-ear, over-ear), price, brand, noise cancellation options and more to find the perfect pair for you. Whichever type you’re looking for, we don’t want you to end up with a dud buy, so here are the products that scored lowest in our lab tests.
Consider becoming a CHOICE member to see the best performers.
On-ear and over-ear headphones: What’s the difference?
On-ear headphones don’t look especially different to the over-ear variety, but they don’t completely surround your ears. Instead they sit on the outside of your ears, allowing more airflow around them.
This generally makes them smaller and therefore easier to store and transport, but they don’t block as much ambient noise. They also press on your ears, so poorly made models can get uncomfortable pretty quickly.
Are noise cancelling headphones better?
This is a matter of personal preference, according to Peter. “A good pair of noise-cancelling headphones can provide a great listening experience while you’re on the go, as they’re designed to filter out environmental sounds,” he says.
“But just because some headphones have this feature doesn’t necessarily mean they sound good. In fact, poorly implemented noise-cancelling technology can make your music sound worse, which is why we test audio quality with it turned on and off.
In-ear headphones tend to trade optimal sound quality for compact convenience, but that doesn’t mean they have to sound bad. These buds fall well short of the competition with some of the worst audio quality results in our test.
Soundcore C40i
1. Soundcore C40i
CHOICE Expert Rating: 37%
Sound quality score: 26%
Price: $190
Type: In-ear (true wireless)
Active noise-cancellation: No
Headphones have one job – to play audio. The brief is simple and yet somehow, Soundcore manages to get it very wrong.
The C40i earbuds have the dual honour of being not just the worst sounding headphones in our test but also the lowest scoring pair overall. Cheap and nasty almost seems too kind.
The C40i earbuds have the dual honour of being not just the worst sounding headphones in our test but also the lowest scoring pair overall.
Nothing really rises above mediocrity here. Comfort, battery life, ease of use and microphone quality (for phone calls and so on) are all very average.
The one area where these buds do themselves proud is durability, which our experts scored as excellent. So at least you can safely throw them across the room after hearing the awful audio quality.
Hundred-dollar headphones sound pretty appealing if you’re after an affordable way to enjoy music or podcasts throughout the day. There’s nothing wrong with going basic, but headphones that sound this bad are never worth it – even for $100.
Not only do they sound plain awful, they’re uncomfortable as well. Performance in those areas is almost unforgivable and a bit of a waste when they’re actually not half bad otherwise.
Headphones that sound this bad are never worth it – even for $100.
Battery life? Pretty good. Durability? Very good. Normally both positive points but in this case, potential drawbacks. After all, you’ll probably want these buds to break as soon as possible so you can buy a better pair.
There’s no real reason to consider the Wave Flex 2 earbuds over headphones from other brands. Even the original (albeit now discontinued) Wave Flex buds from JBL are cheaper and better overall.
Sports headphones like these put a big emphasis on comfort, fit and durability. Unlike most earbuds that can get dislodged during vigorous movement like running, these try to hold firm with additional protection from sweat, light rain and so on.
In this regard, The Epic Open Sport earbuds are OK. Comfort and ease of use aren’t bad and the IP55 weather sealing protects them from light water pressure (e.g. from a hose jet) and other fluids, as well as dust and dirt.
Sound quality is barely better than poor and battery life is bad by current standards at just over four hours.
But they fail to deliver where it counts. Sound quality is barely better than poor and battery life is bad by current standards at just over four hours. While this is probably suitable for most workouts, that’s nowhere near enough charge for a whole day.
If only JLab had put a bit more effort into honing the sound quality and extending the battery life, these buds wouldn’t be on this list.
Old school over-ear headphones can be pretty cumbersome compared to earbuds, but they have the space for larger speakers and bigger batteries. This means better sound quality and longer battery life – in theory.
But the biggest issue with these headphones to avoid is durability. All those extra moving parts are susceptible to wear and tear and many of these models just aren’t built to last.
JLab JBuddies Studio
1. JLab JBuddies Studio
CHOICE Expert Rating: 44%
Sound quality score: 41%
Price: $60
Type: On-ear
Active noise-cancellation: No
These low-cost headphones aren’t exactly shooting for the stars. They’re a cheap option designed to keep kids happy before their ears have developed discerning tastes.
Even with that in mind, you’re better off buying a pair of second-hand headphones for less or hunting around the house for some hand-me-downs. Sure, your kids are unlikely to complain about the sound quality, but why waste $60?
Sure, your kids are unlikely to complain about the sound quality, but why waste $60?
Plus, comfort and durability are only OK. Since kids are famously not very gentle with their belongings, they’ll probably end up in landfill sooner than you’d like.
Bone conduction you say? Well that sounds funky and futuristic! Well, kind of, but all the cool tech in the world can’t save an audio device that doesn’t sound good.
We say ‘audio device’ because these aren’t headphones in the traditional sense. Instead, they basically sit adjacent to your ears and transmit audio by stimulating the bones in your ear canal.
All the cool tech in the world can’t save an audio device that doesn’t sound good
Does it work? Yes, but at the expense of sound quality in this case. They earned poor results in our audio quality test and ease of use is not much better.
According to Shokz, these bone conduction headphones are designed for sports and everyday use. This kind of makes sense as the wrap-around design isn’t at risk of falling out of your ears. But at the end of the day, you still want your headphones to sound decent and these simply don’t deliver.
Expensive headphones like these veer away from the consumer market towards audiophile territory. Rightly so, because not only do these studio grade cans sound good, they don’t offer wireless connectivity at all.
As far as sound quality goes, the MM-100 cans are aiming for the higher-end of the market. Everything runs through an old-school cable, removing the risk of audio compression that can come with Bluetooth. This also reduces latency (lag) when watching videos or playing games.
All sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, these headphones are about as durable as a wet paper bag, earning poor results (28%) in this part of the test. You’d think $680 would get you something at least a little more robust.
Unfortunately, these headphones are about as durable as a wet paper bag.
Meanwhile, the included carry case is just a fabric bag which isn’t enough to protect these fragile headphones against anything more than a scratch. It’s probably best to just keep these headphones at home – in fact that might be the intention.
But if that’s the case, then don’t expect to spend hour after hour kicking back with some tunes on the couch. The MM-100s are not very comfortable to wear with a borderline score of 53%.
Credit where credit is due, Audeze did a good job with the sound quality. It’s just a pity that the MM-100s fall short in all other respects.
These on-ear headphones from JBL have pretty decent audio quality and they’re among the most affordable cans with good (70%) noise-cancellation around. So what’s the problem? Durability.
JBL’s headphones earned a measly 22% in this part of the test. In other words, they can feel wobbly, they’re easily damaged and seem poorly made overall. Your brand-new headphones may just break before you know it.
Your brand-new headphones may just break before you know it.
For $200, you could forgive a few cut corners here and there, maybe some missing features and even slightly lower sound quality. But the very poor build quality goes well beyond what’s acceptable for budget headphones. Despite the name, they’re unlikely to be alive for very long.
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
Peter Zaluzny is a Content producer in the Digital home team. He covers everything from home entertainment and personal safety devices to tech for your car and mattresses.
Peter enjoys cutting through the nonsense to help people understand the products they’re considering to buy. He helps consumers make educated, informed decisions.
Peter has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wollongong. LinkedIn
Peter Zaluzny is a Content producer in the Digital home team. He covers everything from home entertainment and personal safety devices to tech for your car and mattresses.
Peter enjoys cutting through the nonsense to help people understand the products they’re considering to buy. He helps consumers make educated, informed decisions.
Peter has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wollongong. LinkedIn
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