The 9 best headphones to buy in 2026, tested and reviewed

Sometimes I think the world gives us too many choices. Too many Netflix shows, too many Pop-Tart flavors and way too many headphones. Allow me to help. Netflix : Travelers , Fisk , Derry Girls , Atypical . (All bangers, trust me.) Pop-Tarts: Brown Sugar Cinnamon, no further notes.

Headphones: trickier. There are dozens upon dozens of brands and products, with prices ranging from $50 on up to $550. This pair is good at bass. That one has above-average noise-canceling. These have the longest battery life. So how do you possibly choose? Is there just a single best headphone?

Nope. But there are lots of great ones — some better than others in terms of features, comfort and usability, but honestly it's hard to make a bad choice; every headphone here is pretty splendid in its own way. Read on to discover our top picks, then read a little further for frequently asked questions, testing methodology and more.

By the way, if earmuff-style over-the-ear headphones aren't your cup of audio tea, check out our roundup of the best wireless earbuds . We've also covered the best open-ear headphones , which have exploded in popularity in recent years.

The best headphones overall

How we tested headphones

First we gave them a written. Haha, kidding. It was oral. Kidding again; it was aural : We tested these headphones in exactly the ways you'd expect, by listening to lots of different kinds of music (pop, rock, classical, etc.) at different volumes with different settings applied. Just note that I'm not an audiophile, not here to deep-dive on things like "tonal balance" and "imaging." (See FAQ, below.)

Instead, I mostly listened in the background while working, doing house chores and so on, focusing as much on usability as anything else: Could I find the playback and ANC controls easily by touch? And were they logically designed so I could remember which button did what? If I had to revisit the instructions, were they comprehensive and easy to read? And was the companion app designed so that a regular human could understand it?

To test ANC, I parked myself next to a large, hotel-style HVAC unit to see how much fan and motor noise each headphone could eliminate. I also played various YouTube videos: lawn-mower sounds, airplane engines and so on.

Next under the microscope: comfort. I wore each pair for at least an hour (uninterrupted) to make sure it didn't feel too heavy or tight. But even this is subjective, because head sizes vary and so do tolerance levels for anything that exerts pressure.

I don't like making sweeping judgments about any of these factors. What sounds amazing to me might lean more toward "meh" for you. An overly tight headphone for me might offer perfect comfort for you. I do think the vast majority of users would be happy with any of the products listed above.

Headphone FAQs

Headphone shopping includes a lot of confusing acronyms, abbreviations and terms. What do they mean?

• ANC:Active Noise-Cancelling, the magical technology that uses sound waves to block other sound waves. Unfortunately, this doesn't afford total silence; ANC mostly reduces lower frequencies, like bus and airplane engines.

• Driver size:Put simply: How physically large is the little speaker inside each earcup? Typically you'll see 30-40mm, and while bigger is usually better, it doesn't tell the whole story.

• Multipoint Bluetooth:Older headphones could connect to only one device at a time. With multipoint, you can pair with two or more sources: a phone and a laptop, for example.

• LDAC:Often pronounced, "El-dack," this high-resolution audio-compression technology promises better sound because it can transmit three times as much data over Bluetooth. LDAC is is available only on Android phones.

• Lossless audio:With or without LDAC, Bluetooth audio involves some compression of the signal, meaning some loss of fidelity. True to its name, lossless audio — usually achieved via a wired connection — preserves the original quality of the recording.

What's the biggest mistake people make when shopping for headphones?

Putting too much emphasis on sound quality. (Hear me out!) I think most of us listen to music while working, studying, commuting, walking or working out at the gym. Do you need to hear every subtle nuance of every note during those activities? Do you care about resolution or imaging or soundstages? I think most of us just want sound that's pleasing and well-balanced, with some options for fine-tuning (read: equalizer) if desired.

Every headphone here more than satisfies those metrics. Yes, some are better than others at noise-cancelling, which is important for travel, commuting and noisy offices. But unless you're a real audiophile, someone who cares deeply about "studio fidelity" and all that, don't get hung up on sound quality. Even cheap headphones will sound really, really good to average listeners, and tweaking the equalizer settings in the app (which many, if not most, now offer) goes a long way to improving specific genres of music.

What's the best headphone for travel?

If you spend a lot of time in planes, trains and automobiles, look for headphones with these strengths:

• Battery life:You don't want to be charging when you could be listening. Look for headphones that can last at least 30 hours on a charge (with ANC active).

• Strong ANC:Travel can be loud; good ANC helps keep the roar to a low murmur, the better to keep your stress levels low as well (and protect your hearing).

• Folding design:If space is at a premium in your carry-on (and when is it not), choose folding headphones. The best example of this is the Soundcore Space One Pro , the most compact folding headphone we've seen.

• Comfort:You'll likely be wearing these for long stretches of time, so look for lots of padding in the headband and earcups.

What's the best headphone for commuting?

This is just another form of travel, right? There's definitely some overlap here, but also a few other areas of importance:

• Strong ANC:To drown out the engine drone of your bus or train, as well as your fellow commuters' yakity-yak.

• Call clarity:If you need to be in touch with the office while traveling to and/or from the office, look for headphones that have multiple microphones and call-specific noise-cancelling capabilities.

• Easy-access transparency mode:You don't want to miss an important announcement, so it's good to have a transparency mode you can engage with a quick touch (like on the Sony and Soundcore headphones). That lets you instantly toggle the ANC off and let the outside world in.

What's the best headphone for work or studying?

Once again, strong ANC is a priority here, as you'll want to focus as much as possible without outside-world intrusions. Also look for:

• Comfort:You'll likely be wearing these for long stretches of time, so look for lots of padding in the headband and earcups.

• Non-fatiguing sound:This isn't always easy to quantify, but basically you want to avoid music that sounds harsh or piercing. That means looking for headphones that have detailed equalizer settings, the better to adjust the treble, mid-range and bass for a smoother, gentler tone.

What's the best headphone for gaming?

I'm not a gamer, but in a future update we'll loop in someone who can make an informed recommendation. That said, here's what to look for in a gaming headphone:

• Low latency:You don't want any delays between what you're seeing onscreen and what you're hearing. Some headphones have a dedicated low-latency mode to better bridge that gap.

• A noise-filtering microphone:You don't want the sound of your clicky keyboard or squeaky chair annoying your fellow gamers, so look for headphones that can reduce outside sounds in the microphone.

Update, April 27, 2026: We checked all product prices and availability. The Nothing Headphone (a) replaced the Baseus Inspire XH1 as our top pick for battery life.