Weve found the 9 best headphones of 2025 after extensive testing

There are hundreds of different headphones and earbuds in varying shapes, sizes, styles, colors, and, of course, prices. And these days, you can grab a random pair off the digital shelf without too much research and find that they do the job just fine.

However, if you're tired of settling for "just fine", then it's worth investing in the best headphones available. Through hours and hours of listening, we sorted through dozens of headphones to find the very best models.

How to choose the best headphones

We won't beat around the bush: There's no definitive "best" product here. Sure, elite headphones brands like Bose, Sony, and Apple put out high-quality products across the board, but even within each of those brands, you'll find different tiers of products. Some will deliver better value, and some will deliver better hardware and performance.

All this to say, the best pair of earbuds or headphones largely comes down to personal preference and how you plan to use them. Some listeners swear by over-ear headphones, while others prefer the minimalism of earbuds — one is not necessarily better than the other. Athletes who like to use headphones at the gym will appreciate waterproof materials and certifications, while frequent fliers will prefer devices with long battery life, comfort, and portability. Finally, music lovers and audiophiles will want to invest in premium features like a custom equalizer, spatial audio, or best-in-class active noise cancellation.

To help you pick, we tested all of the headphones in this guide (and a lot that didn't make the cut) to bring you the best for noise cancellation, music, budget shoppers, and wired connections. So, read on to find the best new pair of headphones or earbuds for you.

What are the best wireless headphones of 2025?

With the exception of the Marshall Mode earbuds, we focused primarily on wireless Bluetooth headphones and earbuds in our testing. While wired headphones have their fans, wireless headphones are just more convenient for most of us.

Below, you'll find our favorite Bluetooth headphones picks for different scenarios — whether you want exceptional noise cancellation, mind-blowing sound quality, or all-day comfort.

Other headphones we've tested

You might notice that the Apple AirPods Max are missing from our top picks. It's not that we don't like them — in fact, we think they sound and look great. But when we reviewed them (in their original Lightning cable form), we found that they didn't have a practical storage option, they never really turn off (thus draining the otherwise long battery life), and are just too expensive to justify a wholehearted recommendation. While we appreciate that they now (finally) come with lossless audio, they're too behind on most basic features (like battery life and having a power button) for us to recommend them.

We also tested the Marshall Major V headphones and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 headphones, both of which had excellent sound profiles and easy-to-navigate custom equalizers on their companion apps. Ultimately, they didn't make the cut on our final list for a couple of reasons. With the Major V headphones, we love that their claim of 100+ hours of battery life held up under our testing, but we found them to get uncomfortable after a couple of hours. We also would have appreciated ANC at their $149 price point.

For the B&W headphones, we loved their design and premium feel in addition to their truly impressive sound, but we found that their ANC was only so-so. If you're willing to spend $399, you can find a better balance of sound and ANC in the Sony XM5 headphones.

We've also tested the Sonos Ace headphones and Dyson OnTrac headphones. And while we loved them both for sound quality and noise cancellation, they fare in the way of AirPods Max — left out of our recommendations for their high price points.

In the testing pipeline

For our future updates, we're testing out more budget noise-cancelling earbuds. Right now, we're considering the Skullcandy Method 360 ANC and Sony WF-710N earbuds. We'll also be testing open earbuds from Bose, Shokz, Anker Soundcore, and Nothing, and will update this guide accordingly once we determine which is the best.