Greatest new open earbuds with an modern clip-on design
Bose Extremely Open Earbuds
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Greatest worth earbuds with hooks
Soundcore by Anker X20
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Greatest open earbuds with ear hooks
Shokz OpenFit
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Greatest open earbuds with ear hooks from Anker
Anker Soundcore AeroFit Professional
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Greatest new earbuds with hooks below $100
JBL Endurance Peak 3
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High-sounding open-style earbuds with hooks
Cleer Audio Arc 2 Sport
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Greatest voice-enabled earbuds with hooks
Skullcandy Push Lively
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Greatest Beats ear-hook model sport earbuds
Beats Powerbeats Professional
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Greatest modern charging case for earbuds with hooks
OneOdio OpenRock Professional
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Greatest eye-catching design on earbuds with hooks
Oladance OWS2
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What are the perfect true wi-fi sports activities earbuds with ear hooks?
Generally earbud suits your state of affairs higher than even the perfect over-the-ear headphones can. For lively folks, it is a lot simpler to run, swim, cycle or carry out many different workout routines with earbuds in as a substitute of over your head. Generally, earbuds are lighter and simpler to hold round. Nonetheless, what could come to thoughts when eager about these actions is the earbud falling out of your ear. Misplaced earbuds are frequent. Fortunately, earbuds with ear hooks can resolve this downside. The hooks present further assist for holding it onto your ears, making for a safe match and offering a greater, worry-free expertise when exercising with plenty of fast actions.
Given the number of fashions out there, it is arduous to call one mannequin as the perfect general, however just a few stand out from the pack. As an illustration, the Bose Extremely Open Earbuds — which hook in your ears, not over them — and the Shokz OpenFit are our high picks for his or her sound, design and match. I additionally like the brand new Soundcore by Anker X20 and 1More Match SE S30 as top-value picks.
When you’ve misplaced plenty of AirPods, ear hooks could also be your greatest guess. Not everybody will take pleasure in carrying earbuds with ear hooks, however they provide an additional stage of safety as a result of their around-the-ear design can preserve them from falling off your head. This is a crucial characteristic in case you put on earbuds for working, biking, swimming, dancing and different actions that contain a certain quantity of head jostling. That motion can result in a bud slipping out of your ear and probably getting misplaced, which is usually a expensive affair.
I’ve spent years testing dozens, if not a whole lot, of sports activities headphones and earbuds whereas working. When selecting the perfect, we have to have a look at fashions designed to remain in your ears or in your head, even whenever you’re shifting at a quick tempo. The flexibility to suit snugly is essential, and so is your security, which is why we search for headphones and earbuds that may allow you to hear the surface world and visitors.
Here is a have a look at the perfect earbuds with ear hooks, all of which we have examined. Most of them are reasonably priced, with most costing lower than $100. We’ll replace this record as new sports activities earbuds hit the market.
Learn extra: Greatest exercise headphones
Greatest sports activities earbuds with ear hooks of 2024
The Bose Extremely Open Earbuds have some of the uncommon designs of any earbuds I’ve examined over the past a number of years. They actually clip onto the facet of your ears, sort of like earrings, and their open design has micro audio system that fireplace sound into your ears whereas nonetheless with the ability to hear what’s occurring round you. At $299, they’re considerably overpriced, however in any other case, there’s lots to love about them, together with a surprisingly snug, safe match and superb sound high quality for open buds.
Watch this: Bose Extremely Open Earbuds Assessment: Audio Earrings
The Soundcore Sport X20 has some good upgrades over Anker’s authentic Soundcore X10 earbuds. They embrace an improved design, adaptive noise canceling, superior battery life, barely higher sound and multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Just like the earlier mannequin, these have an fascinating design with rotating swiveling ear hooks. They do not swivel as a lot because the X10’s ear hooks, which is an efficient factor (they stayed on my ears very securely). I additionally appreciated that the charging case has a smaller footprint than plenty of buds with ear hooks.
Absolutely waterproof and dust-proof with an IP68 score, the X20 has barely bigger drivers than the X10 (11mm as a substitute of 10mm). So long as you get a good seal from the included ear ideas (you get 5 sizes), they’re capable of ship good sound with punchy bass and good element. They lack a little bit of readability, significantly at greater volumes (there was a contact of distortion), and the noise canceling is not pretty much as good as Sony or Bose’s noise canceling. However the buds are reasonably priced and worth general.
As for battery life, it is rated at as much as 12 hours with noise canceling off and seven hours with it on. Voice-calling efficiency can be respectable, athough not exceptionally good.
Shokz, the corporate previously often known as AfterShokz, has lengthy been the chief in bone-conduction headphones. Fashions just like the OpenRun Professional, which ship sound to your ear by your cheekbones, are widespread with runners and bikers who like to depart their ears open for security causes. Nonetheless, Shokz’s new OpenFit mannequin, the corporate’s first true wi-fi earbuds, does not use bone-conduction expertise. They’ve an open design that fires sound into your ears utilizing customized speaker drivers, which Shokz dubs “air conduction” expertise.
I used to be impressed by how light-weight (8.3 grams) and comfy they’re. They’ve the most effective ear-hook designs I’ve tried (Shokz calls it a Dolphin Arc ear hook). It is gentle and presents simply the correct quantity of flexibility to adapt to the form of your ear, with “dual-layered liquid silicone that gives a pliable match,” in keeping with Shokz. The earbuds additionally sound fairly good for open earbuds, though not fairly pretty much as good as Cleer’s Arc 2 Open Ear Sport earbuds which even have an ear-hook design.
1More makes a few open sports activities earbuds with ear hooks. The Match S50 buds are the flagship ($120) and have a bit of higher sound than the Match SE S30, have a extra premium design and are totally waterproof (IPX7 score). I just like the match a bit of higher on the step-down S30, which is IPX5 splash-proof (can maintain a twig of water) and prices half the worth, making it a greater worth.
The case is cumbersome and feels a bit of low cost (the lid is flimsy) however the buds themselves appear sturdily constructed and the ear hooks are good and versatile. They’ve 14.2mm drivers that output respectable however not nice sound (there is a little bit of distortion at greater volumes), which is par for the course for a lot of these open buds that sit on high of your ears and fireplace sound into them. They’re additionally good however not nice for voice calling. A companion app for iOS and Android permits you to tweak the sound with an equalizer and you may replace the buds’ firmware. The buds can be found in black or white and supply as much as 10 hours of battery life at reasonable quantity ranges.
The Soundcore by Anker AeroFit Professional are among the many greatest open-ear “air conduction” earbuds, with a premium feel and look, and are snug to put on. (I had no downside holding them on my ears whereas working or understanding.) On the draw back, they’re costly, however they do characteristic sturdy audio high quality for a lot of these earbuds, with ample bass and quantity, plus respectable readability. They’re good for making calls (they do a fairly good job decreasing background noise discount) and likewise supply sturdy battery life, as much as 14 hours at reasonable quantity ranges.
Whereas they do not have ear-detection sensors, I appreciated that they’ve bodily buttons to regulate playback and likewise include a twine, must you wish to flip them into neckband-style wi-fi headphones. It is also value noting that they’ve a spatial audio characteristic and supply the LDAC audio codec for units like Android smartphones that assist Bluetooth streaming.
Anker’s commonplace AeroFit match mannequin ($100) has smaller drivers (14mm versus 16.2mm for the Professional), so it does not sound fairly pretty much as good and likewise has a battery life score of 11 hours. Nonetheless, these buds are totally waterproof with an IPX7 score, whereas these are splash-proof with an IPX5 score.
JBL has upgraded its ear-hook model sport earbuds for 2023. Accessible in black or white, the Endurance Peak 3 buds supply higher battery life (as much as 10 hours with 4 further costs of their case) improved voice-calling efficiency and an IP68 score that makes them totally water- and dust-proof. Additionally they have an Ambient Conscious transparency mode and Speak Through mode that may robotically decrease your music’s quantity stage and open up the buds to the surface world. Which means you’ll be able to have a dialog with somebody with out eradicating the buds out of your ears.
They stayed on my ears very securely throughout runs and I believed they sounded fairly good, although they do have a little bit of bass push (i.e. they’ve highly effective bass). Simply remember that if you do not get a good seal, sound high quality will likely be considerably worse. Additionally, like different earbuds with ear-hook designs, the case is on the beefy facet. That mentioned, the buds do appear sturdy and in case you get match, they’re a superb and fewer expensive various to the Beats Powerbeats Professional. I additionally thought the contact controls labored effectively; I used to be simply capable of toggle by the sound modes.
Cleer’s authentic Arc earbuds had been strong sport earbuds that featured respectable sound for open-style buds that sit on high of your ears and fireplace sound into them. This new-for-2023 mannequin steps up the sound high quality and presents extra refinements and have upgrades, together with a brand new “enhanced” charging case with UV sterilization and multipoint Bluetooth connectivity (Bluetooth 5.3), all of which make for a considerably improved product.
Cleer says the Arc 2 Sport buds characteristic “higher flexibility for improved consolation,” and I did discover them extra snug to put on than the unique Arcs. That mentioned, not everybody loves this model of open earbuds, which lets sound in so you’ll be able to hear ambient sound round you for security functions.
With a brand new six-axis movement sensor, you’ll be able to really management the buds with head gestures — you reply calls by nodding and skip tracks ahead by turning your head to the proper and skip a trackback by turning your head left. Fortunately, these movement controls may be turned off in case you do not wish to use them.
These are among the many first buds to assist Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless format in case you’re one of many few to have an Android gadget that helps that audio codec (loads of Android telephones assist aptX Adaptive). Since these aren’t high-end noise-isolating earbuds, you most likely will not have the ability to inform the distinction in sound high quality — I could not — however all that apart, these do sound superb for open-style earbuds. They lack a little bit of oomph to their bass however they’re punchy sufficient, supply good readability and do not distort at greater volumes. Additionally they performed sufficiently loud.
They’ve an IPX5 water- and sweat-resistance score, which implies they’ll stand up to a sustained spray of water and battery life is excellent at as much as eight hours on a single cost. As well as, there are a bit of greater than three extra costs within the slim however nonetheless considerably cumbersome charging case. It is massive in comparison with an AirPods charging case, however svelte in comparison with different instances that home this model of earbuds.
These supply respectable efficiency for voice calls, however callers did say they heard a certain quantity of white noise after I spoke to them from the noisy streets of New York — that whooshing sound is the by-product of the earbuds’ noise-reduction efforts.
With so many new wi-fi earbuds and headphones being launched on what appears seemingly a weekly foundation, it is not straightforward for corporations to distinguish their merchandise within the market. Skullcandy hopes its new voice-driven platform, Cranium-iQ Good Function Know-how, will just do that. Just like the Apple AirPods’ “Hey Siri” characteristic, Skullcandy’s model permits you to say “Hey, Skullcandy” to concern hands-free voice instructions with out touching a button. Cranium-iQ debuts on the sports-oriented Push Lively, and the $100 Grind Gasoline, which will likely be firmware updatable through the Skullcandy App.
With their ear-hook design, they’re basically a extra reasonably priced model of the Beats Powerbeats Professional and so they match my ears barely higher than the Powerbeats Professional. I am not often a fan of ear-hook model buds, however this is likely one of the higher ones.
The Push Lively True earbuds are outfitted with Bluetooth 5.2, are IP55 splashproof, have built-in Tile Discovering Know-how and are rated for as much as 10 hours of battery life on a single cost at reasonable quantity ranges.
The Beats Powerbeats Professional earbuds have been in the marketplace for a number of years however stay widespread and at the moment are out there in a number of colour choices. Their jumbo charging case is a notable disadvantage, however they provide most of the similar options as Apple’s authentic AirPods Professional (they’re outfitted with Apple’s H1 chip) however have higher sound as long as you get a good seal (they need to match most — however not all — ears effectively). There isn’t any lively noise canceling however battery life is powerful at as much as 9 hours and so they’re IPX4 splash-proof.
Word that the Powerbeats Professional are often on sale, so it is best to solely purchase them in the event that they’re considerably discounted.
The OpenRock Professional buds aren’t so completely different from plenty of open sports activities earbuds with ear hooks that price a bit of greater than $100, however their charging case is completely different. Most of a lot of these buds lie flat of their charging case. These slide vertically into their charging compartments and the case closes from the highest — a bit of like a Zippo lighter.
They’re sturdily constructed, snug to put on and have good sound for open ear buds with ample bass because of 16.2mm drivers. Voice-calling efficiency can be respectable — they’ve 4 microphones. Accessible in black or silver, they’re IPX5 waterproof (they’ll stand up to a sustained spray of water) and have glorious battery life — as much as 19 hours at reasonable quantity ranges.
There are a number of open earbuds on Amazon with an ear hook design that is much like that of the Oladance OWS2 buds. However these buds feel and look a bit of extra premium than a lot of these. This second-gen mannequin contains some upgrades, together with Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint Bluetooth pairing capabilities and elevated battery life (as much as 19 hours on a single cost at 50% quantity).
I discovered them snug to put on and so they have a bit of bit larger sound than a few of these open sport buds (they’ve 16.5 mm drivers), although they do distort a tad at greater volumes. I additionally appreciated their shiny end within the orange colour I attempted. The case is slim however a bit lengthy, and the buds are a bit of expensive at $150, however general they carried out effectively and appear sturdy. They’re IPX4 splashproof.
Oladance additionally makes the newer OWS Professional, which have a lighter design and a smaller charging case, however these buds price $230.
Price range
Earlier than anything, you will wish to determine how a lot you are prepared to spend on new wi-fi sports activities buds with ear hooks. The standard of value-priced earbuds and headpones continues to enhance, so you could find good reasonably priced sports activities buds for lower than $75. The premium fashions, which provide higher construct high quality and efficiency, are likely to price greater than $100 and typically greater than $150.
Noise-isolating or open design
Sports activities buds with ear hooks can be found in a few types. Some include silicone ideas which can be designed to create a good seal in your ear and preserve sound out (they’ve a noise-isolating design). Others have an open design with the buds resting on high of your ears, firing sound into them. The noise-isolating model sometimes provides you higher sound with stronger bass whereas the open design has the benefit of permitting sound in for security causes.
Match, aka consolation
It is key that sports activities earbuds suit your ears not solely comfortably however securely. They need to supply a cushty match that permits you to put on the earbuds for lengthy durations with none irritation. Since all of the buds on this record have ear hooks, they need to keep in your ears effectively. Some will suit your ears extra comfortably than others.
Sturdiness
You need sports activities buds that maintain up effectively over time, so search for fashions that we observe have sturdy construct high quality and water-resistance score.
Return coverage
It is important to purchase your sports activities at a retailer that has return coverage, in case you’ve got purchaser’s regret. Some people who find themselves having hassle deciding between two fashions typically purchase each, strive them out for just a few days after which return one.
Present extra
We check true-wireless earbuds primarily based on 5 key standards, evaluating equally styled and priced fashions. These standards are design, sound high quality, options, voice-calling efficiency and worth.
- Design: We assess not solely how snug the earbuds match (ergonomics) however their construct high quality and the way effectively the controls are carried out. We additionally have a look at water- and dust-resistance rankings.
- Sound high quality: We consider sound high quality by listening to a set playlist of music tracks and evaluating the earbuds to high competing merchandise of their value vary. Sonic traits comparable to bass definition, readability, dynamic vary and the way pure the headphones sound are key components in our evaluation.
- Options: Some great-sounding earbuds aren’t loaded with options, however we do have in mind what further options are on board. These embrace all the things from noise-canceling and transparency modes (ambient sound mode) to particular sound modes to ear-detection sensors that robotically pause your music whenever you take the headphones off your ears.
- Voice-calling efficiency: Once we check voice-calling efficiency, we make calls within the noisy streets of New York and consider how effectively the earbuds cut back background noise and the way clearly callers can hear your voice.
- Worth: We decide worth after evaluating the energy of the earbuds towards all these standards and what the buds are capable of ship in comparison with different fashions of their value class.
Present extra
Baseus Eli Sport 1: The Eli Sport 1 may be had for round $70. Whereas they might not sound fairly pretty much as good as a number of the premium open earbuds on the market — there is usually a contact of distortion at greater volumes with bass-heavy tracks — they sound fairly respectable for his or her modest value and I discovered them snug to put on. They appear extra premium than their value would point out. They’ve 16.2mm drivers, are IPX4 splash-proof and are rated for as much as 7.5 hours of battery life at reasonable quantity ranges.
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE: Carrying a listing value of round $80, Samsung’s 2023 Galaxy Buds FE characteristic a single driver (Samsung is not saying what dimension it’s), three mics on every earbud and lively noise canceling. They cost in a case that is the identical dimension and form as what you presently get with all of Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds, together with the Galaxy Buds 2 and Galaxy Buds 2 Professional. They usually look lots like an up to date model of Samsung’s discontinued Galaxy Buds Plus earbuds, which additionally got here with a set of swappable fins that helped create a safe, snug match. Like these buds, the Galaxy Buds FE are sweat-resistant with an IPX2 water-resistance score that protects towards splashes.
Bose Frames (Tempo): The Bose Frames are a type of merchandise it’s a must to attempt to totally respect — or dismiss. The idea is that you just’re getting a good pair of sun shades with a pair of headphones that do not really go in your ears. Moderately, built-in micro audio system in every arm direct a beam of sound to your ears. That design might be interesting to individuals who do not like having headphones in or on their ears and likewise presents a level of security for runners and bikers who need their ears open to the world.
Jabra Elite 8 Lively: Outfitted with six microphones as a substitute of 4, barely improved adaptive noise canceling and wind-reduction expertise together with the next sturdiness score, the Elite 8 Lively seems, feels and performs like a modestly upgraded model of the Elite 7 Professional and Elite 7 Lively. Jabra is billing them because the “world’s hardest earbuds,” and primarily based on our checks (they survived a number of drops with no scratch), that will very effectively be true.
Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS: What makes these Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS buds particular is that they sound surprisingly good for open earbuds — they’re fairly near what you get from Apple’s AirPods 3 for sound. On high of that, they assist Sony’s LDAC audio codec for units that supply it. Not too many low cost open earbuds have good sound, however these Soundpeats have good bass response and readability. They’re additionally good for making calls and have a low-latency gaming mode. Battery life is rated at 5 hours at reasonable quantity ranges, and these are IPX4 splash-proof.
Present extra
Are earbuds with ear hooks higher than earbuds with wingtips for sports activities?
What are the downsides to earbuds with ear hooks?
How is the battery life for earbuds with ear hooks?