Here at TechRadar, we test dozens of pairs of headphones every year. And while we've been won over by many an ultra-pricey set of cans, we also love a cheap pair of headphones that punches above its price tag. This article is dedicated to showcasing these wallet-friendly wonders. I asked TechRadar's audio specialists which headphones they'd recommend to buyers on a budget, and you'll find their suggestions below.

If it's true wireless in-ears you're after, you'd struggle to do better than the Nothing Ear (a) buds, which Audio Editor Becky Scarrott awarded a perfect five stars, calling them "a resounding home run" for the British startup and praising the noise cancellation, sound quality and battery life in particular. In the current Amazon Prime Day deals, they're unbeatable value at under $55 / £50.

In the over-ear arena, standouts are the CMF Pro and the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51, both of which earned 4.5 stars in our tests. The former were put through their paces by Becky, who was impressed with the "superb" sound quality in general, and was pleasantly surprised to discover "the sort of... personal sound profile curation [we're] more used to seeing in headphones much higher up the food chain". The latter were reviewed by our review's team's resident headphone specialist Harry Padoan, who praised the "adept audio, noise-crushing ANC and eye-catching design". Both are even better value than usual right now, too, thanks to those Prime (and rival-Prime) deals.

Read on for more budget-maximizing buys — and hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought of them in our tests, plus links to the full reviews.

Top cheap earbuds and headphones

My relationship with the best headphones has been quite a trial-and-error experience over the past few years, and I've gone through so many popular models — but investing in the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones solved all of my problems.

At the time of release, we deemed them as 'the best in the business' in our review, but that also came with a rather eye-watering price tag at launch. Thankfully, that's what Amazon Prime Day is for.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

If you've been putting off purchasing these headphones because of their high price point, Prime Day is your chance to score them for $198 down from $399.99 in the US, or £179.54 down from £279 if you're in the UK — stellar price drops for Sony if you ask me.

Today's best Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones deals

Although there are deals on the newer Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, they're still almost double the price of the WH-1000XM5 discount and outside of the foldable ear pads, there's really not a huge difference feature-wise.

If there's one thing I've taken away from my time with my WH-1000XM5 is that they were built for longevity. I've been using the headphones for almost four years, and they're still working like I've just taken them out of the box for the first time.

They're also totally reliable. One of the biggest problems I kept running into with wireless earbuds was that they'd completely crash on me for unknown reasons after short periods of time, leaving me with one dead and one functioning earbud before that one would eventually give up.

These aren't the only reasons why I've stood by them; they're packed with a ton of handy features that make your listening experience just that bit more convenient and enjoyable. For one, these headphones have incredibly smart ambient sound controls, which they can automatically adjust based on your location.

So if you're in a busier area, the headphones can enable ambient settings to let outside noise in to help you be more aware with your surroundings. I like to enable this feature when I'm listening to music and podcasts while on walks — nature noises are just so soothing.

The headphones can also connect to two devices simultaneously, which is an added bonus if you float between your phone and laptop.

That said, the active noise cancellation works wonders for shutting out unwanted conversations for when you want an interrupted listening session, a setting I use more often than ambient mode. especially when traveling — because who wants loud conversations and roaring train sounds blaring while you're trying to listen to the new Olivia Rodrigo album for the tenth time?

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Sennheiser Momentum 5: two-minute review

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 are noise-cancelling headphones with lossless connectivity, spatial audio, and a promised battery life of 57 hours of battery life per charge with ANC engaged. They also offer heaps of sound personalization features, a smooth sliding scale between 100% noise cancelling and 100% transparent and customizable Sound Zones that allow you to automatically apply sound profiles and ANC settings when you enter predefined locations.

The Sennheiser Momentum 5’s look is clean overall, even if it’s not that adventurous a design, with a build mostly fashioned from plastic with metal highlights. The cushioned headband and faux leather ear cups do feel super comfortable, although I did find the slight ridge inside the cup made my ear to ache during long listening sessions. Otherwise though, they fit well and feel solidly built.

I’ve got to be honest though: when it comes to performance, I found the Sennheiser Momentum 5’s sound out of the box to be on the disappointing side, compared to the best headphones out there. Bass feels decent enough — I dropped Listen by Pola & Bryson & goddard. and not only did that distorted, snarling bass sound substantial, but the synths felt well rounded and there’s some good sub there, especially if you slip the headphones Bass Boost on.

However, when it comes to higher frequencies, the Momentum 5 too often felt like they were pulling punches. Rosewood by Bonobo sounded unusually muffled in the higher mids, with the usually punchy percussion and hats sounding really inert to me. Meanwhile, treble is similarly milquetoast, with the rhythmic static loops of The Gloaming by Radiohead lacking the crispness I’d expect and feeling unnecessarily rolled off.

Fortunately, this is something you can fix, thanks to the Momentum 5’s powerful EQ tools. There are eight EQ presets to choose from, including everything from Rock to Hip-Hop, but I found I was able to get far better results out of whipping up my own tunings.

Both Sound Check presets and Sound Personalization started the same way, allowing me to pick my favorite tweak by listening to three alternative tunings five times. Where they diverge is how you tweak the resultant profile, with the former letting you adjust it based on an eight-band EQ and the latter a matrix that lets you independently boost or duck bass and treble. With the latter I was able to get pretty great sound out of the Momentum 5, feeling warm in the low end while feeling crisp and dynamic in the high end — I just wish it didn’t require so much tweaking to get the Momentum 5 to sound their best.

On the plus side, the Momentum 5 offer an excellent soundstage. They give real breadth even to stereo mixes, with each instrument meticulously well positioned in the stereo field. And the headphones deftly handle Dolby Atmos — don’t get me wrong, some masters still feel a little hollow in this kind of spatial format, but Sennheiser’s cans do a fine job of situation each element in the space around you.

Speaking of being surrounded by sound, another area the Momentum 5 didn’t quite live up to my expectations was their noise cancelling. Now, not every set of headphones can quite live up to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones’ commotion-quashing capabilities but I found Sennheiser’s often struggled to fully hush everyday conversation or completely stifle traffic noise. Sadly, they can’t compete with much of the market on this front.

Elsewhere, though, the Momentum 5’s features are more impressive. Connectivity is strong — they’re Bluetooth 6 ready, with the standard due to to come to the headphones in a future update, and they offer aptX Lossless, which means those with compatible phones can effectively stream CD quality sound on the go. And Sennheiser's Sound Zones is also a fun feature, allowing you to set the Momentum 5 to switch to certain EQ and ANC profiles automatically based on your location.

One last thing that warrants a special mention is the Momentum 5's battery life. While the Sony WH-1000XM6 offer a decent 30 hours and the AirPods Max 2 offer a pretty disappointing 20 hours with ANC on, Sennheiser's headphones blow right past them, offering up to 57 hours. This was consistent with my testing, meaning you can absolutely rely on these cans to last you days and days without needing a top up.

All told, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 are a solid set of noise-cancelling headphones, with some impressive features, long-lasting battery and spacious high-quality sound. But they’re also frustrating, as without certain missteps like their unbalanced default tuning and weaker ANC, they could be something truly remarkable. As they stand, they’re a good pair of headphones for their price, particularly once you’ve tailored their sound to your taste, but they won’t topple the best noise-cancelling headphones out there.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: price and availability

• Launched June 16, 2026
• List price of $399.95 / £329 / AU$749
• Available in Black, White, and Denim

Launched on June 16, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 are available now. They’re available for a list price of $399.99 / £329 / AU$749 — that definitely puts them in the higher-end bracket, although they’re obviously nowhere near as premium as the $549 / £499 / AU$999 AirPods Max 2 or the $649 / £550 / AU$999.95 Sony 1000X The Collexion.

They come in three colorways: Black, White, and Denim. Before you get too worried about having to match that last one to your outfit, don’t: it’s really just a dark indigo hue. All three colorways look decent enough to me, although I definitely think Sennheiser could have given us a little more choice here — at least one stand-out option like mauve or mint might have just helped provide an option for those that like to stand out from the crowd.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: specs

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: features

• aptX Lossless compatible — but no LDAC or ALAC
• Versatile EQ & sound personalization
• Sound zones

First off, let’s take a look at what they’ve got going on under the hood. The Momentum 5 are rocking the same 42mm transducers as their predecessor — that’s a considerable step up compared to something like the Sony WH-1000XM6’s 30mm dynamic drivers and even an improvement over the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2’s 40mm. Hopefully that should mean the Momentum 5 can muster up more substantial bass and a broader soundstage.

Connectivity is very strong on the Momentum 5 too, especially if you’re listening from an aptX compatible device. Not only do they currently run Bluetooth 5.4, they’re Bluetooth 6.0 ready, with it due to arrive by a future firmware update. It’s compatible with AptX Lossless, which gives you access to near CD-level quality playback — although sadly not ALAC or LDAC, which means you won’t be enjoying lossless audio on your Apple or Samsung device.

The Momentum 5’s touch controls are easy enough to use and feel pretty intuitive. A single tap to play / pause, swiping forward and back to skip forward and back, up and down to increase / decrease the volume, each control is intuitive and easy to activate… in fact, possibly too easy to activate. As can often be the case with headphones that rely on touch control, it’s really easy to trigger functions on the Momentum 5 when you’re adjusting them or removing them from your head and I’d often pick them up from my desk and realize I’d already set them playing.

The touch controls aren’t the only way to control the Momentum 5 though. Once you’ve paired them with your phone, Sennheiser’s SmartControlPlus app gives you more granular control over many of the headphones settings. As well as switching Dolby Atmos content on and off, you can also use it to tailor noise cancelling to your preferred level — it offers a smooth slider that allows you to gradually shift from 100% ANC to 100% transparency, as well as offering a toggle to turn on Anti-Wind mode in ANC.

You can use one of eight EQ presets from Dance to Jazz or you can create your own using its eight-band EQ. More unique though is Sennheiser’s Sound Check EQ presets: basically it allows you to pick which you prefer out of multiple different profiles like an eyetest for your ears. After you’ve selected your preferred option five times, it shows you the resultant preset. This feels like a really neat idea, allowing people who aren’t au fait with tweaking audio frequencies to still create their own custom sound.

But even more flexible in my eyes is Sennheiser’s Sound Personalization feature, which has been carried over from the Sennheiser Momentum 4. It runs you through the same setup as the Sound Check EQ but rather than presenting you with a range of EQ bands to adjust after, it instead presents you with a matrix that allows you to independently boost or reduce the bass and treble frequencies to polish your own preferred sound profile. That feels nicely intuitive and seems far easier to tweak on the fly than a standard graphic equalizer.

Lastly, the inclusion of customizable Sound Zones isn’t unique to Sennheiser’s cans — for example, being offered by the last few generations of Sony’s WH-1000 line — but it still feels like a pretty neat feature. Being able to automatically set noise-cancelling to maximum when I hit the office, switch up to a bassier sound profile when I hit the gym or increase the transparency when I’m out of the house saves a lot of effort. While it’s not necessarily trailblazing, it’s useful and really helps to make the Momentum 5 feel very fully featured.

Finally, the Momentum 5’s battery life is seriously impressive, with Sennheiser claiming they’ll last you up to 57 hours with ANC enabled. To test out its claims, I set the Momentum 5 to play music continuously with ANC on at 50% volume for six hours, during which time their battery dropped just 10%. As a back of the envelope calculation, that would put their total life at 60 hours — even though battery discharge curves are rarely linear, 57 hours seems very credible to me.

All in all, the Momentum 5 has a very strong feature set. Perhaps none of them are truly groundbreaking but when taken together, they make these cans feel very well appointed and ensure that you’re getting a great user experience.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: sound quality

• Disappointing default tuning, with weak treble
• Impressive soundstage and Dolby Atmos
• Ineffectual ANC

As an audiophile, I’ve been a loyal user of Sennheiser’s headphones for years. A good part of the reason for this is that the brand’s cans are known for having a reliably balanced frequency balance, meaning that whether I’m listening to music or producing it, I’ve come to trust that Sennheiser headphones will give me a largely accurate picture of how recordings should sound.

In light of this, I’m a little surprised at how uneven I find the neutral tuning of the Sennheiser Momentum 5. I know preferences vary and some like more bass or more treble, say, but for me this goes beyond simple differences in taste. The default sound here feels like it has some actual deficits, which I find odd from a brand of Sennheiser’s pedigree.

Let’s focus on the most positive stuff first. Bass is pretty creditable here: for example, when listening to No Skin by Frameworks & Mild Minds, I found that the Momentum 5 gave its sustained bassline some wonderful warmth and while there wasn’t quite as much sub as you’ll get from the most premium headphones, it still felt dynamic and punchy enough, especially with the Momentum 5’s bass booster on.

Higher up in the spectrum though, things feel more unbalanced. Playing You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon, all of the elements are present and correct but feel slightly muffled — particularly the toms and the exuberant brass section feel slightly rolled off, with their upper-mid frequencies feeling like they’ve been sanded off. And this is even more noticeable in the treble range: in 236e jour by Marc Leclair: the bouncing, scrape-edged synths end up feeling far duller than they should, while the shuffling hats just lose a little of their cut through.

Now you can obviously go someway toward ameliorating this using EQ. While I found Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac to be pretty dull in places on the neutral tuning, with the vocals in particular feeling totally enfeebled, I was able to cast around in the EQ settings to improve it. The Rock preset, if anything, made the problem worse, making the sound even more baggy and focused around the middle. But creating a Sound Check EQ profile, I was able to crisp up the high-end a little and reintroduce some of the presence it had lost.

By far the best results I achieved though was when using Sennheiser’s Sound Personalization algorithm. After running through the five steps, sound already felt a little more balanced — but it was during fine tuning that I was able to add a bit more warmth to the bass and a soupçon more brightness to the treble. The difference was like having my ears syringed: Outside (Parra for Cuva Remix) by Henry Green suddenly sounded like the sustained bassline was more resonant and satisfying, while the snare and hats punctured through the mix far better.

So the Sennheiser Momentum 5 can absolutely sound strong for their price, if you’re prepared to put the work in. But I do find it a little frustrating that they require you to spend so much time redressing sonic missteps in their engineered sound when other headphones in this price bracket like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 put their best foot forward with their default sound.

Once I’d found a sound profile I was happy with though, my experiences of the rest of the Sennheiser’s audio quality was far more positive.

For example, the audio feels very clear and expressive, even over lower quality connections. Even using the lossy AAC codec via Apple Music on my MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro, the vocal, strings and piano of Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar shared the spotlight graciously, avoiding sounding over-compressed. But when listening to it using aptX Lossless via Tidal, it feels like there’s even more dynamic range, allowing far more space for that gorgeous vocal to rise up above the rest of the mix without smothering the rest of the instrumentation.

The Momentum 5 also have a really impressive soundstage, even compared to headphones like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 that are known for their agile handling of mixes. When I listened to Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons: Spring 1 (2012) by Max Richter, Daniel Hope, Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin & André de Ridder, the way the stirring, dancing strings are spread out across the stereo field is stunning. It genuinely does feel a lot like being sat right in front with the orchestra pit spread out in front of you.

And this extends to their handling of Dolby Atmos mixes. For example, Blue Monday (2023 Digital Master) by New Order sounds appropriately immersive, with its drum rolls scattering around you and its riser-style FX before the final drop swirling a full 180 degrees. All in all, its spatial audio effect is probably even more pronounced than that of the AirPods Max, although the latter doesn’t succumb to the one shortcoming of the Momentum 5’s Atmos: a slight void that opens up in front of you, a not uncommon effect on some headphones when elements from a stereo mix are spatialized.

So the Momentum 5 do still have some serious talents when it comes to making noise. However, it’s a shame that they’re not as talented at its antithesis: nixing background sound. Their ANC can just about cope with typing noise or reducing my boiling kettle while I’m streaming content while cooking. But riding the bus home from work a few days ago, I was subjected to every detail of a conversation about the sex lives of some of my fellow passengers’ colleagues. C’mon, Momentum 5: you’re supposed to protect me from things like this.

This isn’t an isolated event either: I can often overhear fellow TechRadarian’s conversations in the office, even with noise cancelling dialed up to 100%. Even the AirPods Max, not known for their unimpeachable noise cancelling, recently totally saved me at a festival by silencing the enormous Funktion-One rig I was camped 100 feet from, whereas the Momentum 5 struggle with conversations some 50dB quieter.

• Sound quality score: 3.5 / 5

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: design

• Refined if unadventurous looks
• Super-flat profile
• Wearing for long sessions made my ears ache

Unlike the huge redesign from the Sennheiser Momentum 3 to the Momentum 4, there’s not been a massive revolution when it comes to the Momentum 5’s looks. The oval-shaped groove that ran around the exterior side of the earcups has been banished, giving them a cleaner look. Meanwhile, Sennheiser’s logo has been updated with a circular badge, while the grilles covering the ANC mics have been picked out in metal. But if you’ve spent any time with the Momentum 4, you largely know what to expect here.

Broadly speaking, I really like the look of the Momentum 5. Don’t get me wrong: they’re not going to win any prizes for originality, having a slight whiff of Sony’s WH-1000XM6 about them. But this is a common trope in the headphones space — if you disagree with me, see how you get on with our spot the difference between the Sonos Ace and the Sony 1000X The Collexion. And the Momentum 5 still have the most refined look Sennheiser has given its wireless headphones to date, so I’m definitely here for it.

Both the padded faux leather ear cups and cushioned headband feel pleasantly soft, while they have sufficient clamping force that they felt stable on my head without applying excessive pressure. Adjusting their fit is also super easy, even while they’re on your head — their arms extend smoothly and can cater for a wide range of head sizes, whether you’re more new potato or pumpkin-headed.

However, an ongoing issue I have with Sennheiser’s headphones is that they tend to make my ear cartilage ache during extended wear, thanks to odd lumps on the inside of the earcup, and the Momentum 5 are no different. None of the mid-range headphones from other brands I’ve used over the last five years have suffered from this issue, so it does make me wonder why Sennheiser continues to stick weird ridges and hard lumps on the inside of its cans.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with headphone cases. They seem to veer wildly between the neat — the Sony WH1000XM6’s handy magnetic holder — and the ridiculous — the AirPods Max’s ludicrous handbag. So when I say I’m a big fan of the Momentum 5’s case, know that’s high praise indeed.

Like the AirPods Max, the Momentum 5 don’t so much fold up as fold flat, but, thanks to the earcups’ low profile, that is really rather flat indeed. As a result, even though they don’t concertina up into a compact package, their case has a very slim profile, making it much easier to slip alongside your laptop and tablet in your bag. It doesn’t have loads of padding, so you might not want to be slinging your bag around like it contains a bunch of bricks, but the case should protect your headphones from most damage.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Sennheiser Momentum 5?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Sennheiser Momentum 5 review: also consider

How I tested the Sennheiser Momentum 5

• Tested over two weeks
• Tried them out with a wide range of genres
• Tested different bit-rates and listened to multiple Dolby Atmos mixes

I tested the Sennheiser Momentum 5 over the course of several weeks. When it comes to sound quality, I made sure to test them out with a range of different quality streams, from aptX Lossless from Tidal to AAC from Apple Music. To get a sense of how they performed with a wide variety of frequencies, I made sure to try them out with a wide variety of genres across the TechRadar testing playlist and my own go-to testing tracks, whether that’s rock, EDM or classical.

To try out the Momentum 5’s features, I spent a lot of time trying out different EQ and sound personalization profiles with different artists. I assessed Dolby Atmos performance by listening to a variety of Spatial Audio tunes from Apple Music, and I tested their noise cancelling in a range of settings, from TechRadar’s chatty offices to walks along busy roads. Finally, I tested their battery by playing music constantly with ANC on for 6 hours and using how much battery they lost to extrapolate how long they could last.

In terms of personal experience, I’ve spent years assessing the performance of audio gadgets, with a particular focus on headphones and speakers. On top of this, I produce music in my free time, which has given me a keen understanding of balancing frequencies and how to assess the dynamic performance of audio.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: June 2026

When I finish testing a gadget (especially headphones, sadly), usually the kit gets returned to the company or put on a 'reference shelf' deep within TechRadar headquarters to gather dust. But occasionally I get to keep using a review sample until someone checks the shelf, and that's the case with these cans. They were released earlier in the year and for this money, they're an outright steal.

After writing our Soundcore Space 2 review and giving the set a highly-commended four-star review overall, I've found myself returning to these noise-cancelling over-ears ever since. That's been especially true of late, after I finished testing the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro in-ears and was fully in Anker mode (Soundcore is an Anker sub-brand).

I was gearing up to write an article recommending the Space 2 over Prime Day, until I discovered that they're already enjoying £20 off in the UK.

• See all early Prime Day deals at Amazon UK

I started seriously using the Soundcore Space 2 again when some earbuds I was testing proved incredibly unreliable at sticking in my ears; I wanted something that would stay on my head when I was on walks without me having to hold them there.

More so than most over-ears, these things are really comfortable. They're soft, so ear ache is out of the question. And they're light, too. This also helps when I want to fold them into my bag, or wear them around my neck.

I really like the look too. They're a bit more interesting than your generic over-ears.

In my review, I was a little critical of the sound quality, but now that I'm not using the Space 2 for an analysis, I have to say that I really don't mind it as much. And the noise cancellation for the money is outstanding.

I also criticized the price hike over their predecessors, and that's where a Prime Day discount is a great thing. This lower price is closer to the Soundcore Space One release price, thereby eradicating one of the 'Cons' from my review.

There will undoubtedly be plenty of headphone discounts over Prime Day, and I can't say that this Space 2 one will be the absolute best. But it's here early, on a pair of headphones I really like. My advice? You could do a lot worse.

More Early Amazon Prime Day deals — quick links

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Father's Day: up to 50% off gifts & drinks
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

OneOdio Studio Max 2: Two-minute review

Despite the number in the name, I’ve taken to considering the OneOdio Studio Max 2 to be more like a ‘pro’ version of the originals rather than a completely new pair of headphones. I’ve been testing them for several weeks, and the experience doesn’t feel hugely changed (even though the price is).

The originals upon which they are based were released in early 2025, and after I finished my review, I found myself using them daily. They’re always plugged into my guitar amp or keyboard for when I want to do some music practice; a few select features made them uniquely handy for making music.

The OneOdio Studio Max 2 are, mostly, a very similar proposition. They’re not designed for audiophiles so much as DJs, studio musicians and other music-makers — but they have enough of a consumer-friendly bent that they’re not just for the studio. If you’re an amateur musician or music producer, and want cans for the task in hand but also for general use, you’re the target audience.

Like their predecessors, I wouldn’t strongly recommend these for general use, though. They’re big and chunky, so I felt self-conscious wearing them in public, and the fit was unreliable, so they shook when I was walking. On top of that, the audio quality is pretty poor, and you won’t get noise cancellation. There’s a reason the old pair stayed tethered to my instruments.

That sounds like a deluge of criticism, and an odd one given the score above, but the Studio Max justify themselves with their tools for professionals or music creators.

These puppies connect to other devices in four ways: there’s both a 3.5mm jack and a 6.35mm one, so you’ve got more cable versatility than most other cans. Of course, you’ve got Bluetooth, but there’s also an audio transmitter included in the box that can connect to any analog source.

With the transmitter, you can get 9ms latency between the headphones and audio source. This is OneOdio’s pitch for why they’re great DJ headphones — with no transmission delay, you won't miss your bass-dropping cue. OneOdio isn't the only brand to offer this feature, but crucially, its headphones are the cheapest to do so.

Upgrades to this transmitter also form the main upgrades over the original Studio Max. The latency has been halved from 20ms and the bitrate has been increased, but the transmission distance has been halved to 10m. Given that the price has increased, though, it might not be a tempting upgrade for many buyers of the original.

For music producers or performers, the foldable form factor is appreciated, as is the massive 120-hour battery life over Bluetooth (and the battery life when using the transmitter has been doubled to 50 hours in this model). I can see it being particularly useful for touring musicians for this reason, who can’t charge regularly — although IEMs will still rule supreme for that.

More so than most headphones I test, the OneOdio Studio Max 2 are situational, and niche. I wouldn’t recommend them to people on the market for the best headphones for general use, nor would I suggest professionals buy them over specially-designed studio kit.

But there’s a small overlap in the Venn Diagram between those groups, in which the cans may find appreciative buyers. That's included me, as a dedicated user of the original model — but check the price of the original OneOdio Studio Max 1 before you buy, though, because if it gets price drops, it might be the better-value buy.

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Price and release date

• Released in May 2026
• They sell for $189 / £179 (about AU$360)
• Come with carry case as well as cables and transmitter

The OneOdio Studio Max 2 were unveiled on May 11, 2026 — that’s a year and three months on from the release of their predecessors.

The official price of the Studio Max 2 is $189 / £179 (about AU$360, but they don’t seem to have enjoyed an Australian release at the time of writing).

In the box you get the headphones, transmitter, various cables (loads of cables) and a handy carry case. It’s the complete package, and I’ve never felt the need to root around in my drawers for other wires.

For context, the original Studio Max released for $169 / £135 / AU$275, so there’s been a price hike here, which varies quite a bit by region.

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Specs

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Features

• No noise cancellation, and basic phone app
• Massive 120-hour battery over Bluetooth
• Many connection options including low-latency transmitter

Let’s address the elephant in the room, or lack thereof: there are some features missing here, which some music listeners might miss. There’s no active noise cancellation, for example, and the app is quite barebones. It has three EQ presets (normal, monitoring and bass), and a 10-band custom mode, as well as a few extras such as wear reminders, volume limiters, and a way to pan the sound to the left or right ear cup only.

What you do get is pretty rocking though. Take the battery life: 120 hours equates to five straight days of music playback. No, not five hours. Five days. That figure matches the original pair, and I can’t name another option which lasts that long.

Another key feature is the range of connection options. Naturally, you can connect them via their 3.5mm port, or the 6.35mm jack so they can connect to professional audio kit easily. The Studio Max 2 support Bluetooth 6.0, allowing for more reliable wireless connection than the old pair.

But perhaps the key selling point here is the transmitter, which comes included in the box. Using OneOdio’s RapidWill+ 3.0 technology, this transmitter lets you cut the response time between your source and the Studio Max 2 to just 9ms. It uses 2.4GHz connectivity, and all you need to do is plug it into your output device, and your headphones can pick it up.

All the cables you need are included in the box, so it's a plug-and-play style situation. The transmitter needs to be charged via USB-C, and lasts for 50 hours per charge.

• Features score: 4 / 5

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Sound quality

• Uses 45mm drivers
• Music is muffled and tinny
• EQ doesn't help fix things

OneOdio has used a 45mm driver in each Studio Max 2 cup, and the headphones are certified for Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless, with LDAC compatibility too. Unfortunately it's not quite the recipe for success it would appear to be on first glance.

The Max 2 sound muddy and muffled, with rumbly and ill-defined bass stomping over over lines of a song. Any semblance of a soundstage is forgotten, instead presenting your music as one amorphous sonic boulder.

Glorious by The Hoosiers is presented like a confused mush of synths, and the bass in Charlie Mars' She Ain't Coming Back veers between drowning out everything else, and being inaudible.

They also offer a sound that's tinnier than anything else at this price point, with noticeably compressed hi-hats and distorted guitars that really shouldn't be distorted. I'd usually cite a song here as an example, but you can basically insert any song that has instruments here.

Usually I'd turn to an equalizer to try to fix problems like this, but you've got three options: the default, a Bass Mode (that's not going to fix the problem), a custom EQ and Monitoring Mode. Those latter two both gave music a crunchier feel, so I stayed far away.

It's worth noting that criticism I levelled here, I also put against the Studio Max 1. As far as I can tell, the sound hasn't changed much.

• Sound quality: 2.5 / 5

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Design

• Industrial look
• Rotatable cups and foldable arms
• Plenty of ports and dials

Don’t buy the Studio Max 2 if you’re looking for svelte, lightweight or fashionable over-ear headphones. They’re bulky and large, with a design that’s quite industrial. You’ve seen the pictures, you know what they look like, and I felt self-conscious wearing them outside the house.

The cups and headband are pretty soft, yet they weren't too comfy to wear, perhaps because of their 353g weight. At least they're good at at catering for different shapes of head, thanks to how versatile they are: the cups rotate around different angles. This also makes them easily-foldable for bags, and handy to form for review pictures.

However, and likely as a natural side-effect of the size, they didn't stick in place reliably. If I was walking, they'd sway a tiny bit, and I imagine they'll wobble if you're an active DJ enjoying your own set.

Adorning each Studio Max 2 cup is a range of buttons and ports. The left cup has a 6.35mm port, while on the right you're getting volume up, volume down and power buttons, a 3.5mm jack, a slider to toggle between Bluetooth and ultra-low latency, and a USB-C port for charging too.

Two things to point out that images don't convey. Firstly, these things creak quite a bit; I'm used to this being a symptom of cheap plastic used in the design, but it doesn't feel like the case here. I think the many moving parts are to blame. Secondly, the back of the cups are grooved to resemble vinyl records; a neat touch, but if my previous pair are any indication, they can be huge dust magnets.

• Design score: 3 / 5

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Value

• Too expensive to be consumer cans
• Value for money if you need transmitter

If you’re looking at the OneOdio Studio Max 2 as consumer-friendly headphones, it’s hard to argue that they offer you good value for money. There are great cans for music fans at a third of the price — from OneOdio itself, as well as other brands.

That’s also true if you’re looking for general studio headphones, for that matter.

What you’re paying for is the transmitter, to allow for low-latency wireless music from any source, including instruments. If you need a gadget like it, the Studio Max 2 undercuts its rivals — if not, then these aren’t the cans for you.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the OneOdio Studio Max 2?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

OneOdio Studio Max 2 review: Also consider

How I tested the OneOdio Studio Max 2

• Tested for one month
• Tested alongside PC, guitar amp, synth, smartphone
• Used all connection options

I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 for roughly a month before writing this review.

During the testing process, they were connected to a wide variety of devices including my guitar amp, my keyboard, my PC and my smartphone. Across this board, I used every connection option possible.

Mostly, the testing was done for music playback, but I also used it for a variety of other tasks including audio mixing, video editing, playing my own music and, for one weekend, audio recording alongside a field recorder and boom mic.

I've been reviewing gadgets for TechRadar since early 2019, and in that time have tested plenty of audio products including the original Studio Max 1 (the number is in the name, I've not added it!).

• First reviewed in May 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• Upcoming Beats headphones show up, again
• They have appeared around neck of World Cup player, again
• Fans are trying to come to terms with that color

When currently-unannounced Beats headphones were spotted in social media posts from Spain player Lamine Yamal ahead of the 2026 World Cup, I said "there's a good chance we'll see more of them". Well, I called it, because it happened again.

A series of Instagram posts from South Korea midfielder Lee Kang-in, posted to celebrate the team's 2-1 victory over Czechia in its first match of the tournament, gives pride of place to the same Beats headphones as we saw before.

This time though, instead of a rose hue, they come in white and... a neon yellow I'll politely not refer to as 'Sourz vomit', although it looks like the result of one too many alcopops. How to describe it other than 'slime' or 'puke' though?

I know what you're thinking: maybe they gave it to Lee to match his team's colors? Nope, South Korea plays in red and black, with an occasional violet-slash-lavender away kit for the 2026 World Cup.

Some commentators are using this peculiar color combination as evidence that the cans will have replaceable cups, clearly hoping that Beats will let them ditch the pads for something else, but that feels like grasping at straws.

There's no actual evidence of this, and the faint hint of a yellow headband behind Lee's neck suggests that these are just two-tone cans, instead of it being a choice on his part.

The vantage gives us a better look at the rounded build of these new cans, which swaps out the noughties-chic of Beats' previous cans with a CMF Headphone-looking tiered build. Beyond the choice color options, they actually look pretty suave.

The most appealing part of the redesign to me is the band, which looks much thinner than before, and circular, so it'll potentially be much more comfortable to wear. We'll have to see, but a launch will likely come hot on the heels of this World Cup catwalk.

Has anyone outside of a World Cup squad used them yet?

Just like when we saw them alongside Lamine Yamal, Lee Kang-in doesn't get snapped actually using the new Beats headphones, although he does keep them closer to his person.

While Yamal kept them at arms' length, hooking them to his bag and only being photographed with them around his neck once, Lee has them around his neck several times.

Neither of these soccer players has been seen actually using the new Beats headphones. Maybe owning, but not actually using, headphones is the fashionable thing to do. Or maybe they saw our critical Beats Solo 4 review and want to keep the new pair at arms' length.

It's unlikely that Apple has chosen two specific players out of hundreds to give its headphones to, so as the group stages of the World Cup progress, we'll probably see more sightings of the Beats.

We've glimpsed pink, and white-yellow, and hopefully we'll see a few more color options show up.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: Two-minute review

Anker's Soundcore sub-brand may not have a reputation for releasing the best earbuds that everyone raves about, but they tend to be solid pieces of kit. We gave the Soundcore Liberty 5 (yes, take care, because that's not these — and there's also a Pro Max to swerve in favor of these) a 3.5-star score, and that tends to be par for the course. Until now, that is.

With the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, there's been a change: it really feels like the brand is coming into its own, and it knows what buyers really want.

These are incredibly feature-stuffed headphones, with an app that'll boggle your mind given how many tools it offers. And they're all useful too: the ANC is very good, the listening test is handy and the array of array of little extras is impressive.

Particularly special is the quiet calling feature, so people you're speaking to on the phone can't hear what's going on around you. I hear many brands boast about their buds’ quiet call quality, with algorithms and microphones designed to wipe background sound from your voice in calls. Most of the time it’s bluff and bluster, but the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are the real deal.

I know this because, part-way through the review process, my mother called me while I was in a busy coffee shop. I apologized for the pop music being blasted over the speakers – I could barely hear myself think for Outkast’s Hey Ya! – and she asked me what music I was talking about. She’d have had no idea I was in a noisy space, had it not been for my telling her. If two thumbs up from my mom isn’t a glowing endorsement of tech, I don’t know what is.

I'd be remiss not to mention the Soundcore's fit too. The buds are nice and lightweight, with a ridge to help them lock in your ear. I never had any fit problems with them, and they stayed in place during runs and workouts.

What about the sound? The buds offer warm, bass-heavy music that'll please people who like thumping heavy rhythms. The audio quality won't endear the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro to audiophiles (do wireless earbuds at this level ever excite audiophiles?) but nevertheless it isn't at all bad. Sound quality may not be the highlight of these buds, but I still enjoyed listening to them during my testing.

My main gripes with the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro bypass the earpieces and their talents and really only concern the case. It has a small touchscreen strip, but it doesn't do enough to justify its existence (nor is it responsive enough for that). And the case is bigger than it should be as a result; I would've loved to see it lose the strip and shrink a little.

At least it's not the Liberty 5 Pro Max, with a giant case and big touchscreen. I tested that too, and you can read more about it later, but it's decidedly more of a professional-targeted device. Most buyers looking for some great earbuds would do better with these Pro-only earbuds: they're cheaper and you're only missing a few features — ones I think you may not use anyway.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Price and release date

• Released on May 21, 2026
• They sell for $169.99 / £149.99 (about AU$300)
• Sitting between Liberty 5, and Liberty 5 Pro Max

The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro were announced alongside a slew of other Anker products at the brand’s annual Anker Day, on May 21, 2026.

You can pick them up for $169.99 / £149.99 (about AU$300), so unlike many of the brand’s other pairs of earbuds, they’ve crept over the line: these aren’t budget buds, rather solidly mid-range ones. For a little context, the non-Pro model launched for $129 / £99 / AU$169, but went on sale a year prior, so have seen some discounts.

They launched alongside the Liberty 5 Pro Max, which sell for a fair bit more: $229.99 / £199.99 (roughly AU$400). We’ll get into these a little later; it’s best to treat them as a ‘Pro’ model to the Liberty 5 Pro (despite that being a little confusing), with a few extra tools for professionals, but no major advantage.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Specs

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Features

• Impressive noise cancellation and clear calling
• Middling battery life, at 6.5 hours
• Absolutely loads of features via app

In the introduction to this review, I already waxed lyrical about the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro's quiet call tools. Suffice to say, it's just as impressive as it was when you read about it a few minutes ago: a real stand-out feature of the buds.

Quiet calls is one of the many benefits brought from the use of Anker’s Thus chip, with the brand’s decision to home-brew its own internals, and thus get to design its software and hardware in tandem, paying dividends.

Another example is noise cancellation, as the Liberty 5 Pro has some of the best I’ve used in a set of earbuds at its price point. It is able to eradicate the low, rumbling background hum of life, and drastically reduce louder sounds too — it even took a big chunk out of my coffee shop’s streaming of Hey Ya!.

In theory, battery life is another department that should benefit from Thus, and Anker puts the listening time per bud, with ANC on, at 6.5 hours. From my own testing, that’s an optimistic figure — my own listening time was a little south of that mark. The same is true with the overall case battery life, which Anker states as 28 hours. Don’t get me wrong: the battery life here is fine, but it’s nothing to write home about either.

If that sounds like a nice little haul of features already, just wait until you download the Soundcore app. If my editor didn’t think this section was too long already, just wait until we list what else you get with the buds.

This has all the basics: the ability to change between noise cancelling modes, customizable touch controls, Dolby Atmos, EQ presets, multi-point connection, fit tests, find-my earbuds, and an eight-band custom equalizer.

But you get a whole lot more: there's a listening test for custom EQ, a load of ambient soundscapes and listening modes, and even a built-in chat-bot called Anka which can give you suggestions for settings to change. There's a lot going on.

If anything, the app's a little confusingly laid out. If you select your earbuds, where most apps would put all the settings, you can only see a few. To find more, you need to press a little Settings cog which is easy to miss. And for many more options, you have to back out all the way to the main menu.

• Features score: 4.5/5

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Design

• Kidney bean-shaped bud with tip and fin
• Reliable in-ear fit
• Touchscreen-toting case is a little bulky

Anker has opted for a kidney bean-shaped look for the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds; they bring to mind Samsung’s bean buds, but with a tip that you can use to put them in your ear. You can pick them up in blue, pink, white or black, and the buds and case come in the same hue.

Each earbud weighs 7g, is made of a solid-feeling plastic, and the other design feature of note is a little wing at the top to keep them locked in your ear. To be clear, the fit is much better than those older Samsung buds. That little wing works magically, and I took them to the gym and on countless runs without any inkling of them falling out.

The buds are IP55 protected, which means they’re protected from dust and low-pressure water jets (like rain or sweat) but aren’t suitable for swimming. You get touch controls on each bud, but you need to tap multiple times to achieve anything, and I found them unreliable for multi-tap commands.

Now onto the case; the 0.96-inch display on the front isn’t as much as selling point here as the Pro Max’s larger one is, but it’s not as much of a gimmick as to put off people who aren’t interested.

It sort of makes the case look like a very small '90s alarm clock. You can use its screen to quickly check the charge of the buds and enabled certain features; I found it pretty unresponsive and gave up using it for music control quite quickly, but perhaps a more patient user could persevere. I can see the quick access to EQ presets being pretty handy for certain people.

Due to its touchscreen, the Liberty 5 Pro's case is a little larger than most rivals', even if at 70g it's not unduly heavy. I found it a little on the large side to slip into my pocket; not perfect for people who like a tiny case. The sliding mechanism to reveal the buds felt quick and easy, but I'm curious about how long it'd lasting in the long term. Even over several weeks of using the buds, the sliding plane started to feel a little wobbly.

• Design score: 4/5

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Sound quality

• Using 45mm drivers
• Music is muffled, and tinny
• EQ doesn't help

Anker has put 9.2mm drivers in the Liberty 5 Pro Max, which I'm inclined to believe are the same pieces of kit that it used in the non-Pro buds. As with those other models, these aren't audiophile earbuds — the sound is way too warm for that — and instead they give the people what they want.

That's to say, they're bass-heavy and energetic buds, focused more on snappy lower frequencies and tender higher ones than an objectively natural, integrated hi-fi sound. Given how commonly this kind of sound profile is used in affordable and mid-range buds, I'm inclined to say it's popular, and Soundcore's done a great job hitting that target.

If you like lower-end clout in your sound, you'll be happy here. Any genre I tried, from rock to pop to dance, fared well. It was even solid for listening to genres that don't revel in excess bass, like classical, acoustic and jazz.

Bass injection is clearly the name of the game here, but for the most part, trebles and mids are just as forceful, offering an enjoyable amount of detail. Shane Smith & the Saints' Coast has a lovely delicate timbre in the acoustic guitar which you often miss, and some lovely harmonies in Last Sunrise In The Wasteland by At The End Of Times, Nothing came to the fore.

I'm not going to claim that these buds are perfect. At lower volumes, the Liberty 5 Pro lose trebles and mids at a disproportionate rate.

But the real 'problem' will likely come from the sound being divisive. The Liberty 5 Pro's bassy sound might not please everyone. It's right on the border of 'too much', sometimes offering a lovely thumping sound, but occasionally stepping over the line.

In songs like Gabriel Kelley's You Kill Me, bass guitar can overstep its role as an accompanying instrument, and step to the fore in a way that throws the song out of whack. At other times, it can just override some of the more sensitive instruments. More so than in most earbuds I test, you're going to have to get familiar with the EQ presets, and use them depending on which genre you prefer to listen to.

If that wasn't a problem for audiophiles, perhaps the relative lack of Bluetooth codec support is. You're getting Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification, but seemingly no bone thrown for LDAC, aptX or anything similar.

• Sound quality: 4/5

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: how about the Pro Max?

• Pro Max cost a little more
• Sound quality and battery life are identical
• Pro Max has larger case, one or two extra tools

Beyond being an absolute mouthful to say (or, in this case, write), the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max are very similar earbuds to the Pro. So much so, that instead of writing an entire separate review on them, I decided to give them a section of the Pro review. And why not the other way around? That's because the Pros are, in my opinion, the best buds for most people.

The Pro Max earbuds are exactly the same as the Pro's, in terms of design, sound quality, battery life and feature set (mainly). The Max comes in thanks to two additional features: you can use the case to record audio and provide quick transcripts, and for instant voice translation.

They're solid features, all right, but with more limited appeal. I can see them being handy for business users, but not so much for the average buyer.

Your other upgrade here is in the carry case: its display now takes up the entire top of the buds, and it offers loads more features. You can add a custom wallpaper, and use it for various tools, settings and modes, including (but not limited to) the aforementioned extra features.

Again, useful additions, but at the cost of an even larger carry case. It wasn't comfortable to keep in my pocket, that's for sure.

I'm not disputing that the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max are better earbuds. But for most people, I don't think they're enough to justify the extra cost. Only consider these if you'll really use

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Value

• Too expensive to be consumer cans
• Value for money if you need transmitter

The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are reasonably priced, but you get what you pay for. There’s nothing wrong with that, but a good discount would tip these into the ‘amazing’ value for money camp.

The noise cancellation, sound quality and feature set are all really good for the price… but there are loads of other rivals at around the same price point that all offer suites that are good for the price. I've tested a few earbuds for even less, that impress me just as much.

At least the Anker Liberty Pro are better value money than the Pro Max. You’re paying more money, and getting a very similar product. For business users maybe, but I can’t see myself recommending them to most people, when the Pro is right there.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: Also consider

Want to see what other earbuds your money can get you? Here are some alternatives for roughly the same price.

How I tested the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro

• Tested for three weeks
• Paired with Android phone for variety of tasks
• Also used alongside Pro Max

I used the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro for three weeks before writing this review. I tested them alongside the Pro Max model.

During the testing process, the earbuds were connected to my Android smartphone. I used them for streaming Spotify Lossless music as well as Tidal and Apple Music, playing various games, streaming videos, conducting voice calls and going on video chats.

That listening went on at home, while at the gym, during runs, and on walks around my neighborhood. For certain areas, like ANC and sound quality, I have reference tests I conduct which lets me compare various earbuds.

I've reviewed earbuds and headphones for TechRadar for many years, including previous Anker products like the Space 2 over-ears earlier this year.

• First reviewed in June 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

The 2026 High End audio show is in full swing in Vienna. The show is a key fixture of the hi-fi enthusiast's calendar, and was previously held in Munich — this year, it made the big move over to the Austria Center on the banks of the Danube, and TechRadar followed it.

We've had our audio team on the ground, rapidly learning how not to get lost in the new layout and exploring the mix of returning companies and new players who've jumped on board as part of the change.

We explored as many listening rooms and headphones booths as we could, to identify our favorite products in the audio areas we cover here on TechRadar, so naturally we've got a mix of speakers, streamers, a soundbar-that's-not-a-soundbar, and headphones, rather than hi-fi cables and pre-amps.

So here, in alphabetical order, are the products our team picked as the products that really stood out to us at the end of the show days, all chosen based on listening to their performance.

Astell & Kern SP4000T and Clarus

Let's start with a double winner — we got to test these together, and while each seems phenomenal, the combination was the most impressive part. The SP4000T DAP is an upgraded version of the already fantastic A&K SP4000 player, now packing four vacuum tubes for a taste of the analog.

The Clarus are wired earbuds with nine drivers per bud, using a bunch of different technologies, each targeting different frequencies.

The combination of the two really leans into the 'clarity' suggestion in the Clarus' name — we were instantly taken by the pin-sharp attack in their dynamic range, and the fine detail that they were able to bring out of the music, all while giving every listener a huge sense of scale that feels well beyond something handheld or that fits right in your ear conch.

Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5

Bowers & Wilkins is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so what better time to release its new flagship 801 D5 loudspeaker? This model features B&W's famous Diamond Dome tweeter and an upgrade to its internal Matrix bracing, including a new Space Frame Bracing extension.

The aim is to deliver even more incredibly natural, generous, and immersive sound. During our demo with the 801 D5, we were blown away by life-like vocals, brilliantly regimented deep bass, and super-defined treble, as well as its sophisticated soundstage and spacious presentation.

Cabasse Pearl Pelegrina Édition Atelier

The High End show is always full of bonkers speaker designs, and Cabasse's spherical Pearl design is old news to hi-fi fans — but we can't help but be taken by the Pelegrina version's 'alien eyeball squid has come to Earth to negotiate a new intergalactic peace' design — and what's new this year is the Atelier system, meaning that you can have any finish you want on them, to make them fit your spaceship listening room perfectly.

But what's most important is the astoundingly powerful sound from a speaker cabinet that's actually amazingly compact. The front driver is a tri-coaxial system, meaning it's actually three drivers nested inside each other, and there's a hefty custom-design woofer on the rear capable of especially high excursion.

The end result is a set of speakers that look like an art installation, but can party like a warehouse rave. They can thump the low-end with the best of them, while delivering super-rich and detailed sound that wraps across the room despite their compact 'pupils'. And they're active speakers, so you can put them wherever you want in your home and just start playing.

Cambridge Evo 300

This is the artist formerly known as Cambridge Audio's new, more powerful compact streaming amp — if you've got a really beefy speaker. Still, if you don't want to dedicate too much space to components, then the 300W per channel you can get from the Evo 300 might be exactly what you want.

That's paired with Cambridge's excellent, super-comprehensive streaming platform and digital skills, so you've got easy access to Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, and Deezer, with various casting options from your phone and aptX Bluetooth if you prefer. There are two sets of speaker outputs, plus a sub out; for input, you've got XLR, HDMI eARC, and analog options including an MM phono input.

It's just the ultimate all-in-one modern amp if you've got big speaker ambitions — and here in 2026, why shouldn't you?

Canvas Hi-Fi Canvas L

This is basically a pair of floor-standing speakers disguised as a soundbar for Halloween. You've got a stereo setup where each side has a tweeter, a midrange driver, and an 8-inch bass woofer with a matching 8-inch passive radiator. There's 1500W of amplification behind that, as well a necessarily well-braced cabinet — all of which are designed to attached to the rear of your TV using a mounting bracket, with the speakers sitting underneath the screen.

And it's in this list because it sounds like two excellent floorstanding speakers. It delivers unbelievably deep and resonant bass for a floating speaker bar, with the low end dispersed well throughout the room. There's phenomenal texture and realism to vocals, and it's all brilliantly musical and full of excellent rhythmic energy. It's delicate when it needs to be, but our overarching takeaway from listening to music is just how firm and 3D every instrument feels.

We didn't get to try it with music, but this is the first time we've heard something claim to be an audiophile soundbar and responded, "Yep, that's fair". It was electric, musical, and kind of addictive.

iFi iDSD GR 2

The iFi iDSD GR2 portable DAC is a considerable upgrade on its beloved predecessor, the venerable xDSD Gryphon, in a number of ways. It delivers far more amplification power, longer battery life, and even a touchscreen for a more user-friendly experience.

After trying it out at the show, we loved how it more seamlessly helps you to bring the very best out of a pair of premium headphones, and with K2HD tech for enhanced harmonics alongside a whole load of connectivity options, the GR2 has just about everything an audiophile needs, whether listening at home or on the go.

Meze Audio Arta

These new planar magnetic headphones come from a brand known for bringing high-end sound to a very reasonable price — but this time, Meze Audio just went all out, price be damned.

The result is one of the biggest and most cohesive soundstages we've ever heard from a pair of headphones. From the tinkliest treble with heavy sub-bass, these headphones deliver it all with total control and clarity, all at the same time if they have to. It's that cohesion that stands out, partly because it means individual parts don't stand out — everything sounds simply 'correct' in a way that deeply satisfies the brain. They deliver total audio order — a perfect, seamless whole.

Noble FoKus Artemis

These are wireless active noise-canceling headphones, from a company that most people will probably know best for putting improbably powerful driver arrays into earbuds. Well, it's now put an improbably powerful driver array into over-ears, including a dynamic driver, a planar driver, and a balanced armature — and somehow, the end result is pretty lightweight and comfortable, with a 50-hour battery life.

The end result is probably the most revealing noise-canceling headphones we've ever tried. They're utterly impeccable at picking out every nuance of instruments, even in the most dense mix, and even with the ANC mode activated (which is pretty good too).

There's a huge dynamic range, and really steep level of attack to them: every drum is hard, and every plosive is picked up with precision in a voice. The sound is maybe a little cooler than most people will be used to from ANC headphones, but that will be exactly their strength — they create the silence, and then fill it with tiny details you'd never heard before.

Ruark R710

The Ruark R710 streaming amplifier blends a beautiful retro-style look with an expansive suite of modern features — as well as some not-so-modern ones that we very much welcome. It builds on Ruark's previous R610 in a number of ways, packing in more power for the speakers, along with an integrated CD player, which has apparently been included by popular demand (and is hidden in the handsome wooden front grille, making it a fun secret touch).

When listening to the streamer alongside Ruark's new Talisman R speakers, we were impressed by the warmth and tonality of vocals, the high caliber of instrument separation in the mix, and the striking power of the overall presentation from a compact box.

Yamaha NX-70A

Yamaha's new active speakers have a very sleek and stylish look, but generally seem quite unflashy and demure — though in our demo at the show, they seemed like something of a wireless wonder.

They offer a lively, precise sound with really well-honed handling of transients, which helps them to build an excellent stereo spatial presentation. The diffusion of ambient sounds into the room while holding the tension on the sharper central sounds makes them a really exciting listen. There's so much detail, creating a really physical sense of texture to something like the hum of a saxophone reed. Add the pleasingly weighted bass response, and you get a set of active speakers that really grab your attention, in the best way.

• Sennheiser launches Momentum 5 wireless headphones
• Improvements to ANC, feature set and repairability
• Price bumps up against Sennheiser's premium cans

Better late than never, eh Sennheiser? The legendary audio brand took four years to bring its much-anticipated Momentum 5 Wireless to market, but they're finally here — and perhaps just in time to show the recently-released Sony 1000X The Collexion how it's done.

These new cans succeed the five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which we loved all the way back in 2022, and are still in use today by several members of the TechRadar team. Perhaps the brand was just waiting for its tenancy on our list of the best headphones to end, so it could reclaim the top spot.

Releasing in June 2026, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless are due to cost $399 / £329 / AU$749, which represents a little price hike from their predecessors. It's much less than Sony's fancy newest headphones — but it's basically right in line with the price of the Sony WH-1000XM6.

It puts them quite close to my favorite headphones from the company, the Sennheiser HDB 630, which sell for $499 / £399 / AU$999 — and I'd personally be tempted by the HDBs. But maybe I'll feel differently once we've actually tried the Momentum 5 Wireless and their new features.

Momentum? You barely know 'em

Sennheiser has given the Momentum 5 a 42mm driver again, like the Momentum 4, but has added certification for Hi-Res Audio, Snapdragon Sound and aptX Lossless codecs. The app also now has an EQ and presets, as well as a listening test.

Improvements come to active noise cancellation (which is now influenced by four microphones, over two in the last pair — but far fewer than the 12 employed by Sony), while Bluetooth is version 5.4 out of the box, but Sennheiser promises an upgrade to 6.0 in the future.

Other features include Dolby Atmos spatial audio with head tracking — we love this on the Sonos Ace, so hopefully it's just as good here.

The battery life is slightly lower than the previous model at 57 hours, but that's only three hours less than the Momentum 4's lasting power, and is still nearly double the 30 hours promised by the Sony XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen.

Sennheiser's making a point of repairability for the Momentum 5: apparently, it's easy to use a Phillips screwdriver to remove and replace an ailing battery. Since the battery is often the aspect of gadget which will stop working first, this will hopefully ensure your headphones keeping lasting for years.

There are three color options for the Sennheiser Momentum 5: black, white and blue (or 'Denim', according to the brand). Whichever you buy, you'll get a carry case, USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm headphone cable.

No matter how you shake it, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 don't look like huge reinventions of the fourth-gen model, but that's no bad thing. You can't argue with a perfect review.

Instead, it seems to update some of the Momentum 4 features which haven't aged well in four years, and if the sound's had a tune-up in the right places, we expect these to be pretty damn competitive.

When I first saw the Sony 1000X The Collexion headphones — the company's new higher-end cans designed to offer a more spacious and natural sound with better comfort compared to the Sony WH-1000XM6 — I had an immediate thought, and I wasn't alone among the audio journalists I was with: these look a lot like the Sonos Ace.

Both headphones go for a super-clean look, internal mechanisms for the headband arms, slim-profile earcups, chrome-finish detailing, and a mottled faux leather material.

So I had an idea: I took them to our photography studio and got some close-up photos taken of both headphones, and I made a quiz. I pixelated the photo of them at the top to avoid giving anything away, but if you to see the headphones before you play (Easy Mode, if you like), then I'll put the original image of them side-by-side after the quiz.

Are you enough of a headphone aficionado to tell two of the best noise-cancelling headphones apart? I'll admit, I built the damn quiz, then only scored 9/10 when testing it…

Scroll a little further if you're looking for that side-by-side image — I didn't want accidental spoilers.

Let us know in the comments how you did — the first two players on the TechRadar team (other than me) scored 3/10 and 8/10 respectively, so we've had a range of scores even among tech experts (though not necessarily headphones experts).

If you want to read more about Sony's new headphones, you can read our full 1000X The Collexion review, or you can read in-depth about the five key upgrades and three unexpected downgrades in The Collexion compared to the XM6 headphones, including Sony explanation of why there are compromises.

Still have questions? I’ll be answering everything you want to know about Sony’s most expensive wireless headphones ever in a live Q&A tomorrow (May 20) at 12pm ET / 5pm BST, alongside Harry Padoan, who tested them.

Now, here's that image of them together:

• TechRadar is running a live Q&A about Sony's new wireless headphones
• We've been testing the Sony 1000X The Collexion for close to two weeks
• Our reviewers will be available tomorrow, May 20, from 12pm ET / 17:00 BST

Sony announcing a new pair of headphones would've easily been enough to grab most people's attention, but the new Sony 1000X The Collexion aren't just any new headphones — they're the company's most expensive wireless headphones to date at $649 / £550).

We know you have burning questions about them. What exactly makes them worth the step up from the Sony WH-1000XM6? Are these effectively the Sony WH-1000XM7? Can they really match equally expensive audiophile rivals? These are some of the questions we've already heard, which is why we're running a live Q&A tomorrow, May 20, at 12pm ET / 5pm BST.

For one hour, our expert reviewers will be on-hand to answer everything you want to know about Sony’s new headphones. And you don’t need to wait until the livestream begins, you can submit your questions right now in the comments below, and we’ll answer them during the session.

Joining the live Q&A will be senior staff writer Harry Padoan, who awarded them four stars in his Sony 1000X The Collexion review, where he described the sound quality as being on par with Apple’s AirPods Max 2.

We’ll also have managing editor of home tech Matt Bolton on hand. Matt recently spoke with Sony’s team about the thinking behind the headphones, which the company described as "a collection of 10 years of our accumulated knowledge".

Matt and Harry spend all year testing the best audio gear on the market, so they’ll be able to answer your questions about the Sony 1000X The Collexion’s specs, price, features, sound quality, design, and how they compare with rival premium headphones.

Already read our review and our interview with Sony insiders about the new wireless headphones? Great! Now we want to hear from you. Drop your biggest questions in the comments box above, and let us know what you think of the headphones by voting in our poll.

Sony 1000X The Collexion: Two-minute review

The Sony 1000X The Collexion headphones arrive 10 years since Sony released the first set of headphones in its 1000X series, and to mark the occasion the Japanese tech giant has delivered its most expensive pair of wireless headphones ever. These are an ultra-premium pair of over-ears that are aimed squarely to be a rival to Apple’s AirPods Max 2.

And the Sony 1000X the Collexion really do feel like Sony’s attempt at going for the AirPods Max's popularity without the restrictive nature of that model’s iOS-centric feature-set. Everything from the sound signature through to the flatter design feels like a challenge to Apple, and, on a number of fronts, I’d argue that Sony has risen to said challenge.

Let’s start where it matters most and discuss sound quality. The Collexion (as I will call them) have an incredibly expansive, spacious soundstage, which provides plenty of room for individual instruments to express themselves.

Vocals and instruments are expertly separated, and there’s a fantastic degree of balance across the frequency range, resulting in nuanced, articulate sound. Combine that with using LDAC or lossless wired audio, and you’re in for a very detail-oriented listen.

The broad, roomy sound will certainly appeal to fans of the AirPods Max and their successor, although on a personal level, I did prefer the tighter and punchier sound signature of the Sony WH-1000XM6.

In terms of features, The Collexion riff heavily on what the XM6 had to offer, with impeccable touch controls, a 10-band custom equalizer, and third-party integrations like Spotify Tap and YouTube Music Quick Access. But there are some notable differences.

Here, users can access DSEE Ultimate for upscaling lower-quality files to 96kHz and 32-bit. This is enabled by a new V3 chip, which also powers some 360 Upmix audio modes for Music, Cinema, and Gaming, although these are unfortunately pretty poor, meaning I barely ever touched them. This is a shame, especially as the headphones have a dedicated button for such modes.

Noise cancelling is very good on The Collexion, and a 12-microphone system provides a solid barrier against traffic noise, surrounding chatter, and the like. Sony has been clear that the XM6 are more ANC-focused, and this came across in my testing, with a few more sounds seeping in with The Collexion — but what’s here still competes well against models like the AirPods Max 2 and bests the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2.

Something that has taken a substantial step down, however, is battery life. You’re only getting 24 hours now (with ANC on), which is a fair bit less than most of the competition. 30 hours is essentially a standard for premium wireless headphones now (in no small part thanks to it being Sony's usual benchmark), although The Collexion can still outlast the AirPods Max 2, which only manage about 20 hours of playtime.

I think these headphones largely nail their more luxurious design, though. They have a gorgeous faux-leather headband and earcups which both look and feel amazing, while titanium details also offer a nice contrast to that material, and make The Collexion stand out clearly over the more unified look of other models in the 1000X line, such as the Sony WH-1000XM5.

Generally, the headphones also feel very sturdy, and although they have a fair bit of weight to them, they’re less hefty than the AirPods Max 2. The Collexion are also exceedingly comfortable, and I felt happy using them for hours on end without ever feeling the need to adjust them.

All in all, then, the Sony 1000X The Collexion are a great pair of headphones that, on the whole, justify their asking price. Factors like their luxurious build, spacious sound, and solid feature-set mean they fare well against competitors in this price range.

There are some downsides, such as lower battery life and ANC power compared to the Sony WH-1000XM6, as well as the underwhelming 360 Upmix modes, but all in all, these headphones are worth considering for any who loves the feel of Sony headphones but wishes for a more revealing sound profile.

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Price and availability

• List price of $649 / £550 / AU$999.95
• Released in May 2026

The Collexion were officially unveiled in May 2026, about 10 years after Sony released the first set of headphones in its 1000X series. They’re the most premium wireless headphones on Sony’s roster, and have a list price of $649 / £550 / AU$999.95, meaning they’re $200 / £200 / AU$300 more expensive than the Sony WH-1000XM6.

This puts them close to the AirPods Max 2 — though Apple has them undercut by a good $100 in the US, and £50 in the UK (they cost the same in Australia). Other notable competitors include the Dali IO-8 for £499 in the UK and AU$899 in Australia, though these cost a hefty $899 in the US. There's also the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S2 for $799 / £629 / AU$1,299.

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: specs

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Features

• ANC and battery life can’t match the XM6
• Best-in-class touch controls
• DSEE Ultimate for upscaling, plus LDAC and wired lossless available

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Sony 1000X The Collexion have a very similar featureset to the Sony WH-100XM6 — although there are some things that are exclusive to this pricier model, and some things they don’t do quite so well.

Let’s start with the new stuff. One brilliant addition is DSEE Ultimate. This technology is enabled by a new Integrated Processor V3 chip, and has never featured in a pair of Sony headphones until now (only in its music players).

DSEE Ultimate uses AI tech to upscale the sample rate of a lower-quality audio file (including stuff that's being compressed down for Bluetooth transmission) to 96kHz / 24-bit resolution. When using this on Spotify, a lot of the tracks I listen to regularly sounded a touch more detailed, and I highly recommend keeping this setting on.

On top of this, The Collexion bring high-resolution to the table via both wireless and wired means. First of all, these headphones feature LDAC for higher-res Bluetooth listening. This tech is still inherently lossy, but if you want to take a step up, you can connect the headphones to your listening device via a 3.5mm connection for wired lossless audio.

Something else enabled by the V3 chip is The Collexion’s 360 Upmix spatial audio modes. Although there’s no Dolby Atmos support, there are Music, Cinema, and Game modes, all of which take a standard audio signal and convert it into a more expansive format.

Unfortunately, I found that these upmixed modes produced poor audio quality, so even though the feature is enticing in theory, I barely made use of it — more on that later.

Still, there are plenty of great features on board, such as The Collexion’s top-tier touch controls. These are the same as on the XM6 — you can swipe to skip tracks and adjust volume, cover the right earcup to enable transparency mode on the fly, and double tap to play or pause your music.

The touch controls are incredibly responsive, and the decision to use a double tap to pause means I never accidentally triggered a command.

Call quality is also strong once again, with four feedback mics on the inside of the headphones. There’s also a 10-band equalizer and presets for personalized audio, multi-point connectivity, voice assistant compatibility, and third-party software integrations like Spotify Tap and YouTube Music Quick Access.

A lot of these settings are available in Sony’s Sound Connect app, which is relatively easy to use, but some settings are buried deep in numerous sub-menus, which can be a irritating at times.

Anyway, let’s talk about the most important feature of all: active noise cancellation. Again, you get the choice to use full ANC, a transparent ambient sound mode, or no noise cancelling at all. There’s also adaptive sound control, which switches settings depending on your environment and behaviour.

Just how good is the ANC here, though? Well, Sony was clear with us that The Collexion are less centered around ANC than the WH-1000XM6 — despite also containing the QN3 processor and 12-microphone system, just like those headphones.

And although noise cancelling is still very good on The Collexion headphones, with surrounding chatter and traffic noise kept quiet even at medium listening volumes, I could certainly tell the difference compared to the XM6. While listening to music, some higher-pitched sounds, like typing and taps running, as well as louder sounds like doors closing, could still be heard.

If you want best-in-class ANC, I’d stick with the XM6 — or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 — but otherwise, you’ll likely be satisfied with the noise cancelling available here.

One other feature that’s received a downgrade from the XM6 is battery life. You only get 24 hours here, which Sony says is a result of The Collexion’s flatter design in the earcups compared to the XM6, which offer 30 hours of playtime.

But let’s be honest: 24 hours just isn’t very good. It’s enough to last you through a long flight, and will likely get you through a few days at the office, but avid listeners will still have to charge their cans fairly regularly.

Ultimately, the standard in this bracket is 30 hours, although Sony still outdoes Apple here, with the AirPods Max 2 only able to manage 20 hours.

• Features score: 4 / 5

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Sound quality

• Expansive, open sound is striking
• Sensational attention to detail using LDAC and wired lossless
• 360 Upmix modes are best avoided

If you’re looking for a pair of headphones that offer the sort of expansiveness that Apple’s AirPods Max 2 can, with all mod-cons available to you, but you don’t want the restrictions those impose on non-Apple devices, then I’d argue that The Collexion are the closest thing available.

These headphones conjure up an incredibly wide, spacious soundstage — using them, it feels as if you’re listening to music inside a large virtual room. They use a new 30mm driver, which has been redeveloped with soft edges and a harder center for enhanced detail and balance.

Listening to Voyager by Daft Punk, the airy synths sounded pleasantly forward, while the percussion occupied its own individual pocket, with plenty of room to express itself. Bass then entered the fray with tremendous impact, and came through with an almost three-dimensional quality. Spacey synths also carried a tremendous sense of space, while guitar licks danced away in the backdrop.

The headphones performed very well, no matter what genre I threw at them. With a deep house track like Planet 34 by Jesse Maas, the bass came through with admirable depth and agility, meaning the low-end sounded full and energetic rather than lethargic and ‘boomy’. Higher-pitched percussion in the treble range also maintained tight control, but never sounded blunt or underpowered.

Generally, there’s a pleasant balance right across the frequency range, and instrument separation is incredibly refined. Pair that with the headphones’ great attention to detail, and you’re in for a pleasantly nuanced listening experience.

I should be clear, however, that these headphones are at their best with some form of higher-res mode of listening. For instance, when I listened to Felini by Venerus and Marco Castello, I found that using LDAC over standard Bluetooth made a noticeable difference.

Vocals came through more naturally and articulately, while soft acoustic guitars sounded a little more expressive — the tune just had a more open, nuanced sound to it overall. This was also the case when using a wired connection, so if you want to experience The Collexion at their most intricate, make sure to use one of these options.

But how do The Collexion compare to the Sony WH-1000XM6? Well, The Collexion go for a more expansive and spacious sound, while the XM6 offer a tighter, punchier interpretation.

In Sadao Watanabe’s jazz-funk fusion record, Down East, I could detect a huge difference in the way that the headphones handled the smooth, funky bass. On the XM6, it was by no means overwhelming, but certainly impactful and slightly forward. There was still a solid amount of low-end weight on The Collexion, but the bass had a more spacious quality.

The Collexion’s more dispersed sound and almost distant low-end meant the track lost a bit of its bite, and I actually preferred the more direct approach of the XM6. There’s no doubt that The Collexion are capable of offering more space for individual instrumental elements to work their magic than the XM6, but some may actually prefer the tighter approach of the latter.

Ultimately, which you prefer is largely down to personal preference — I already preferred the sound signature of the WH-1000XM6 over the airy, broad approach of the AirPods Max 2, for instance, but I’m confident that both sound fantastic in unique ways.

One thing that did disappoint me, however, was the quality of the 360 Upmix modes. When using the Music mode, tracks sounded glaringly worse — vocals lost clarity, drums had a tinny edge, and keys in the mid-range lost their tonal accuracy. The Cinema mode was a bit better, but I still found speech to be less clear and defined, making for a weaker overall viewing experience.

This is a shame, given that the 360 Upmix modes are pitched as a major feature, and even have a dedicated button. But at the time of writing, they’re just not good enough.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Design

• Stunning faux-leather casing with titanium details
• Super-comfortable fit with plush earcups
• Slightly odd-looking case

Sony’s The Collexion headphones look strikingly different from models like the Sony WH-1000XM6 and XM5, combining a beautiful faux-leather exterior with metal details.

The look of the outer casing is top-class, and is a clear indicator that these headphones are a premium product. Even when I used touch controls, the textured feel of the faux-leather was incredibly satisfying — and these small touches go a long way when you’re spending north of $500 / £500 on headphones.

Dual-textured metal links the earcups to the headband, and the metal is used for the various buttons and ports, and I can see people being divided on how enticing this looks.

Where the XM6 went for an ultra-fluid, homogenous design, The Collexion go for more of a contrasting look, and overall, I’m a fan. When we attended the product launch, Sony told us it was aiming to create a “timeless design,” and although I’d argue that headphones like the Marshall Monitor III ANC — which have a gorgeous retro look — do this slightly better, I still like The Collexion’s aesthetic.

Although the Sony WH-1000XM6 are my go-to headphones, there’s always been one thing I’ve disliked about their design: the bulky-looking earcups. The Collexion have done away with this, in favor of flatter and slimmer earcups — similar to those of the Sonos Ace. They look fantastic, and although Sony told us that the more compact form was a large reason for the reduced battery life, I’m a big fan of this choice style-wise.

Despite their flatter earcups, the Collexion are actually quite a bit heavier than the XM6. Sony’s new cans come in at 0.7lbs / 320g, compared to the 0.6lbs / 254g of their cheaper cousin. This is likely a result of the more premium materials being used, but I never felt that the headphones were too hefty in-use, and they’re still considerably lighter than the 0.9lbs / 386g AirPods Max 2.

In fact, I’d argue that these headphones are some of the most comfortable I’ve ever used. Their plush earcups, cushioned headband, and low-pressure feel is sensational, and makes for incredibly comfortable listening sessions, no matter how long.

There’s a wider headband on this model than on the XM6, which means these headphones won’t clamp too hard if you place them around your neck.

There are a few physical buttons on board, for altering noise cancelling levels and turning the power on or off, and for when (or rather if) you want to sift through the 360-degree audio modes. The rest is down to the touch controls, which are best-in-class.

Although I’ve been full of praise up to this point, The Collexion do have a few potential drawbacks worth pointing to, design-wise.

The first is that they're not foldable. This is a shame, as I love the XM6’s foldability, especially if I’ve forgotten the case and want to place them in a small bag or larger-sized pocket.

Another thing I'm not super-keen on is the case. Like the XM6, the Collexion have a magnet-lock case, which is incredibly practical and good to see. However, the look of the case is… not the best. It almost looks like a mini handbag, and not an especially attractive one. You can see it just below.

This is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but personally I preferred the more simple look of the XM6’s case.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Value

• Very high asking price
• Justified in most areas, but less so in others
• Overall they still compete well against the likes of the AirPods Max 2

So, do the Sony 1000X The Collexion earn their high asking price? Well overall, I’d say they do — but the picture isn’t entirely black and white (unlike their color options).

At $649 / £550 (about AU$900), these are Sony’s priciest wireless headphones, coming it at around $200 / £200 more than the WH-1000XM6. That value is realized in many respects, with more spacious and detailed sound, better upscaling, and a considerably more premium build.

However, these headphones lag behind the XM6 when it comes to ANC and battery life. They still compete well in terms of noise cancelling, sound quality, and design against similarly priced rivals like the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 and the Apple AirPods Max 2, but if you want a true pair of all-rounders with top bang-for-buck, then the XM6 would still be my top recommendation.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Should you buy them?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: Also consider

Sony 1000X The Collexion review: How I tested

• I tested them for just under two weeks
• I predominantly tested them using Tidal
• Tested in real-world conditions

I spent more than a week testing the Sony 1000X The Collexion headphones, during which time I tested them in as many real-world situations as I could, to test the active noise cancellation.

Although I dipped into apps like Spotify, I predominantly used Tidal to test their performance, due to its support of higher-resolution files. I began my testing by sifting through the TechRadar testing playlist, which features tracks from a wide variety of genres, but I also listened to hours' worth of tunes from my personal library.

I’ve spent years testing all sorts of audio gear here at TechRadar, ranging from party speakers to audiophile-friendly wired and wireless headphones. I also reviewed the Sony WH-1000XM6 and compared them to rivals from Bose, Apple, Bowers & Wilkins and more — I've been using the XM6 headphones for more than a year now, so I had a deep understanding of how The Collexion differed from their counterpart.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: May 2026

• Sony unveils 1000X The Collexion headphones for $649 / £550 / AU$999.95, available in May 2026
• Custom 30mm driver, and new processor with DSEE Ultimate and '360 Upmix' spatial audio modes
• Design focuses on comfort, with gentler clamping force and larger earpads

Sony has just unveiled its most expensive (and possibly most-leaked) wireless headphones to date, which it's calling 1000X The Collexion. If you just want to read whether they're any good, then you can go straight to our Sony 1000X The Collexion review, because we've been using them for a few weeks.

But if you want to know more about what makes them different, and why Sony produced them in the first place, stick around here — I spoke to Sony insiders from the UK and Japan to hear more about what makes them worth their high price tag.

And what is the Sony 1000X The Collexion's price tag? That would be $649 / £550 / AU$699 when they're available sometime during May.

That price is a major leap over the $459 / £349 / AU$699 you now pay for the Sony WH-1000XM6. But Sony hopes that you'll think The Collexion (as I'll call them from here) are worthwhile — the company told me "we wanted to go further then ever before, to create something that isn’t just the next in our line-up, but that represents 70 years of audio mastery."

Building on that, Sony's Personal Entertainment Product Manager, Mike Somerset, said: "Is this just the 1000XM7? The answer very clearly is: no. It’s aimed in a totally different direction… We’re bringing some new things to these headphones that we have never done before."

The Collexion being a "different direction" makes them interesting to compare to the XM6, because they're an improvement over the XM6 in several ways — but are actually a step back in others, and that's not an accident. So here are the upgrades and arguable downgrades you need to know about.

1. A striking new look (and case)

The Collexion's look is very Sony if you've been following the evolution of the Sony WH-1000XM5 and then the XM6 — but it's clearly a little more premium and full of flourishes.

Sony says the name for the design "theme" used for The Collexion is: "Resonate".

It comes in Black or Platinum (ie, white) finishes, and a key element according to Sony is that "every visible part is made from two materials," with the intention of creating "contrasting textures".

There's a new case design too, with a handle — it's more 'handbag-like' in some ways.

That even runs through into the metal detail in places — for example, the hinge connecting the earcups to the headband is "hand-polished by skilled craftspeople", and mixes a sand-blasted finish with glossy chrome.

Sony says that the faux leather material alone was two years in development. The company also put in a lot of work, such as working with a split-design battery for the first time, to reduce the thickness of the earcups to just 40mm for a sleeker profile when wearing them — that's compared to 45.4mm in the XM6 cans.

The combination of the slimmer earcups and the metal detailing gives them a look that's more than a little reminiscent of the Sonos Ace, and that's no bad thing.

Sony also said that the goal here was to create a "timeless design", and I think there's something to this: the matte metal headband reminds me of the metal headphones you'd get with a Sony Walkman in the '80s, yet the rest of the design is undeniably modern Sony.

2. A focus on comfort

The redesign isn't just about the aesthetics, of course. Sony also said that it's particularly focused on comfort here, so that you can wear them for hours and hours, and barely notice they're there.

Specifically, the gap in the earpads is larger in these headphones than in the XM6, so they're less likely to touch the outside of your ears, and they give you a little more breathing room — and are likely to fit better with glasses.

The headband is also a little thicker, so the pressure is distributed a little more evenly — and the clamping force of the headband has been reduced, so you'll feel less pressure wearing them. This last point will come back later, though, because it's a double-edged sword…

3. A more powerful processor

Sony is introducing a new audio processor for the first time in The Collexion: the Integrated Processor V3. This is then combined with the same QN3 noise-cancellation processor used in the Sony XM6.

The V3 is Sony's most powerful headphone processor yet, and it means that these are the first headphones to include DSEE Ultimate. DSEE is Sony's audio upscaling tech, meant to take limited-quality Bluetooth streams and to upscale and add back in detail and dynamic range that's been cut out by compression.

"DSEE Ultimate is the best that Sony has ever done, and we’ve never put it in headphones before," the company said — DSEE Extreme was the previous best tech in its headphones, while Ultimate was limited to its music players, such as the Sony NW-A306.

The key difference is that it's powerful enough to upscale both the sample rate and the bit-depth of the sound at the same time — Sony says this is thanks to AI, as so many things today are. Sony says the sample rate will be upscaled to 96kHz, and the 16-bit depth will be upscaled it to 24-bit.

Sony says that it also brought a bunch of other audiophile engineering developments over from the Walkman line to the V3 processor design, including a low-phase-noise crystal oscillator for “perfect timing”, advanced solder containing gold at “key audio points on the circuit board”, and various component optimizations to improve “the signal to noise ratio across all frequencies”.

The V3 processor also enables new spatial modes, so let's get into those, because they're important enough for Sony to have devoted a whole new button to them.

4. Spatial Audio 'Upmix' modes

Sony is going big on spatial audio in The Collexion, and is using the power of the new V3 processor to offer four "360 Reality Audio Upmix" modes, which can take any audio source and turn it into spatial audio, but with a different kind of signature to the space depending on the mode.

There will be a Cinema mode (which the Sony XM6 also have) to feel like you're in a home theater, but now also a Music mode (designed to sound like you're in a live venue), and Game mode. There will also be the great Background Music mode from the XM6, which sounds like you're listening in a café or somewhere with soft ambient music.

There's a new button on the headset to switch between these modes, though by default it'll cycle between Music, Cinema and the mode being off. You can customize it to add Game or Background music in the Sony Sound Connect app.

Unfortunately, we don't think these are very good — you can read all about that in the full Sony 1000X The Collexion review.

I asked Sony why it doesn't support Dolby Atmos for this, since the experience there tends to be great. It said that there were several factors, ranging from how Android itself and different phones deal with Atmos encoding, to what’s possible in chipsets it's using — but Sony also said it wanted to give the same experience to all users, regardless of your device of streaming service of choice.

5. New speaker driver and sound tuning

Sony said that its goal with The Collexion was to "faithfully reproduce sound as the creator intended" and to “allow listeners to relax and immerse yourself in the lingering resonance of the music".

To do that, it developed a new "bespoke" 30mm driver, which has a similar design principle to the one used in the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds: it's a dual-material design, with a very hard central dome to improve detail, and a softer outer edge for better bass response.

The harder center is made using a "unidirectional carbon-layered core composite", which apparently means it's made from long carbon strands — "like hair", Sony said. The XM6 headphones' driver also uses carbon, but a lower percentage of it in the mix of materials (including paper). More carbon means more rigidity.

Sony said that the sound character it's aiming for includes "perfect balance, and really fantastic sound and detail" that is "toned to reproduce the sound as artists intended".

Sony also said that it was focusing on "a wider stage, and greater separation between instruments and vocals" with "a smoother, more pleasant bass" that it described as "appropriate fullness".

In comparison to the XM6, Sony said the older model is "in between the monitor and the consumer" in terms of its profile, and that the sound is "punchier" (which is exactly how my colleague Harry Padoan described the difference in his Sony The Collexion review) — but The Collexion has a wider soundstage and more focus on "natural-feeling" sound.

6. Shorter battery life

OK, it's time to move onto the areas where The Collexion are (arguably) a step down from the XM6 headphones. First up is the battery life, which is rated at 24 hours — Sony's other 1000X headphones have clocked in at 30 hours.

That's below average compared to basically all the best noise cancelling headphones — even Bose, which was happy offering 24 hours for years, raised its game to 30 hours for the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen. Pretty much the only competitor it's not lower than is the AirPods Max 2, which offers a measly 20 hours.

Sony told me that this change was due to making the earcups slimmer, and acknowledged that it was a compromise compared to the usual amount — but it also noted that it was sufficient for the longest flights.

Sony also highlighted that the batteries can be replaced in the future without trouble, because they're just held in with screws, rather than glued in.

7. Not optimized for noise cancellation

The Collexion have the same general noise-cancellation tech as the Sony XM6 — including the QN3 processor and 12 microphones — plus an improved driver, so you might assume it would Sony's best noise-cancellation yet… but Sony was clear not to expect this.

Sony emphasized that it would still steer you to the XM6 if you want its top ANC power. The reason is that the focus on comfort — elements such as the lighter clamping force and change in earcup material and design — means that these headphones won't have quite as strong a physical seal against outside sounds as the XM6.

Again, in our The Collexion review you'll read they're actually very good for noise cancellation, and are on par with AirPods Max 2 — but yes, the XM6 are noticeably better when it gets loud. It's a fair trade-off for the comfort, though.

8. They're not foldable

This won't be a dealbreaker for everyone, but some people really prefer headphones that fold for travel, and we were really pleased that Sony added this feature back into the XM6 headphones, having dropped it in the Sony XM5.

The Collexion don't fold, but Sony said that portability was something it had in mind when creating the slimmer earcups, and between that and the case being a little smaller, it's still a nice small thing to put in a bag — and also of note for travellers, the wider headband means they're more comfortable to wear around your neck.

Marshall Milton ANC: two-minute review

The Marshall Milton ANC brilliantly fuse everything I loved about the company's Major and Monitor models. They combine the iconic on-ear look of Marshall’s most popular headphones with the noise-cancelling capabilities and rich feature-set of their pricier over-ears, but for an official price of $229 / £179 / AU$329.

This combination has resulted in something that ranks among the best on-ear headphones, and that perform well across (the vast majority of) the board.

Just at a glance, the Milton ANC clearly stand as a middle point between their two siblings. For example, they have the PU-leather and golden detailing, alongside the exposed wires — design elements I loved on the Marshall Monitor III ANC. However, their on-ear build and smaller sized earcups are likely to appeal to fans of the Major line.

Of course, the Milton also bring active noise cancellation to the on-ear form, and they pull this off pretty well overall. There are some limitations to how effective ANC is — the lack of a full seal around the ears means that some harsher sounds will still seep in with relative ease.

However, I used the Milton on a flight, and they dulled the sound of a jet engine and surrounding chatter very well, enabling me to enjoy my tunes without many distractions, which isn't always the case with on-ears.

Marshall also aimed to level up its on-ear sound quality with the Milton, and I’d argue that they sound very decent for the price you pay. Some may find them to be a little bass-heavy out of the box, and they aren’t the most expressive-sounding headphones I’ve ever used — but a custom EQ can remedy the first point, and it’s also important to remember that these are moderately priced on-ears, not $400 / £350 over-ears.

The Milton offer energetic, clean, and relatively spacious sound, and perform well across various genres, and they even bring LDAC and USB-C audio to the table. The LDAC codec enables higher-res Bluetooth listening, and the Milton is the first Marshall product it’s featured on. Meanwhile, USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm wired connectivity provides the highest-fidelity audio possible, and it’s great to see here.

One thing I really admired about these on-ears was their sustainable design. They’re made of 42% recycled materials (by weight), and multiple parts of the headphones are replaceable. You can also easily screw off the ear cups and replace a battery if need be. And this doesn't come at the cost of good looks — the Milton ANC effortlessly pull of the retro-style Marshall look.

These on-ears are also very plentiful in the battery life domain. You can get up to 80 hours of listening time with ANC off, and an admirable 50 hours with noise cancelling on, which is even better than the high-performing Beyerdynamic Aventho 100. Battery health settings are also accessible in the Marshall Bluetooth app, which I found to be relatively user-friendly, despite a few loading issues.

Perhaps the very best thing about the Milton ANC, though, is their almost weightless feel in use. I’d say that the Milton are the most comfortable on-ear headphones I’ve used in my entire life — I’m usually more of an over-ear fan, but sometimes I even forgot I was wearing these headphones.

Ultimately, then, the Marshall Milton ANC are an accomplished pair of on-ear headphones that perform well where it matters most. They aren’t quite perfect — I would’ve liked to have seen wear detection on-board, and there are some limitations in terms of sound and ANC. But for the price you pay, I think these headphones are well worth the investment.

Marshall Milton ANC review: price and availability

• List price of $229 / £179.99 / AU$329
• Released on Marshall website on May 19, 2026
• Coming to select retailers on May 27, 2026

The Marshall Milton ANC are available for $229 / £179.99 / AU$329, placing them directly between Marshall’s budget-friendly on-ears, the Major V, and their premium over-ears, the Monitor III ANC. They are currently available in Black only.

The Milton ANC were released on Marshall’s website on 19 May 2026, but will be available from select retailers starting on May 27, 2026.

Marshall Milton ANC review: specs

Marshall Milton ANC review: features

• Colossal battery life of up to 80 hours with ANC off
• Lossless wired audio and LDAC for higher-res Bluetooth listening
• Commendable yet inherently limited noise cancellation

The Marshall Milton ANC are overflowing with features, including some that Marshall has never offered in its products before.

One exciting addition is LDAC, which enables you to stream higher-res audio over Bluetooth, from a compatible device. Of course, Bluetooth audio is still inherently lossy, but if you want the best quality possible, you can connect your device to the Milton via USB-C for wired audio — there’s even a USB-C to 3.5mm cable in the box.

The Milton ANC also bring support for Apple Find My and Google Find Hub, making it easy to locate your on-ears if you’ve forgotten their whereabouts.

A lot of the good stuff we saw on the Monitor III ANC features here too, including a five-band equalizer alongside a handful of presets, a customizable M button, and Auracast connectivity. You can access all of this in the Marshall Bluetooth app, which is well laid-out, but prone to a few loading issues in my experience.

I was pleased to see the Soundstage mode make a return, which is intended to “make your sound more spacious”. This works nicely, and I found myself using it pretty often. The effects aren’t as drastic as you get from some headphones’ spatial audio options, but you can adjust the metaphorical ‘room size’ and ‘amount’ that you want to employ spatial sound. For me, a medium room at 80% was the sweet spot.

Let’s also talk about battery life — something Marshall has been leading the way with on its Bluetooth speakers like the Kilburn III and Bromley 750. Things are no different on the Milton. You get a whopping 80 hours of playtime with ANC off, and a still-great 50 hours with noise cancelling active.

That’s considerably more than a lot of premium over-ear headphones, such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 or Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 can offer.

In-line with upcoming EU regulations, the battery will be readily removable and replaceable. Repairs and replacements are available through Marshall directly, as part of the company’s aim to deliver more sustainable tech.

I think it’s about time we go to the main event, though, and discuss ANC. When I attended the launch of these headphones, Marshall stated that “the Milton were designed to push ANC performance further than on-ear headphones have gone before”.

And I have to say, the Milton offer pretty solid noise cancelling capabilities all things considered. Even while on a flight, the rumble of a jet engine and of general chatter was dulled pretty effectively. These headphones don’t fully cover your ears, so there are limitations to what they can do, and on occasion, I’ve still been able to hear sounds like cars passing by or babies screaming when out and about.

Still, it’s neat to see ANC on some Marshall on-ears. The adaptive ANC is paired with a dynamic loudness feature, which adjusts audio playback depending on the noise level in your vicinity. If things are getting noisy, the headphones will raise the bass and lower the mids — the idea is to "to energize listening sessions – no matter what", though obviously this is great for running tracks to keep you pushing, and less so for podcasts.

There’s also a transparency mode if you want to be more aware of your surroundings when out and about, as well as battery preservation options to extend the long-term lifespan of the headphones.

Marshall has rammed these on-ears with just about every feature you could want… well, just about. I would’ve liked to have seen wear detection included, so that my music automatically pauses when I take the Milton off — it's pretty standard fare these days. Otherwise, though, their features suite is golden.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Marshall Milton ANC review: sound quality

• Clean, energetic sound
• Bass is a little heavy-handed out of the box
• Enjoyable, spacious sound with Soundstage mode active

Out of the box, the Marshall Milton ANC offers an energetic sound signature, and I was instantly struck by the hard-hitting bass. For some, the low-end may feel a little over-emphasized — and with more stripped back, acoustic tracks, I preferred using a custom EQ with a slight bump in the mids and some reduction down low.

However, I think that the signature sound will be a hit with a lot of listeners — the meaty bass was great for tracks like Authentic Computers 2.0 by Kolter. The pumping bass came through with seismic impact, but didn’t sound lethargic, and never obscured synths or vocals in the midrange. Meanwhile, drums higher in the frequency range sounded expressive yet controlled, helping to maintain the track’s high energy.

With more acoustic, laid-back tunes like Get It Up For Love by Ned Doheny, the Milton continued to perform well. Acoustic guitars in the build-up didn’t have top-tier expressiveness and detail of premium over-ears like the Sony WH-1000XM6, but they remained nice and clear in the mix, and intertwined with soulful vocals with elegance. Again, percussion was brilliantly balanced in the mix, and this even remained true at top volumes.

By default, the Milton ANC offer a solid soundstage, with a decent amount of width and immersion. However, if you make use of the Soundstage feature in the Marshall Bluetooth app, you can get more three-dimensional, spacious audio.

When listening to Down East by Sadao Watanabe, it really did seem as if sound had been released into a virtual room — the leading saxophone had more space to work its magic, while percussion felt as if it occupied a more distinct pocket.

I've flagged this in the Features section above, but I was also delighted to see LDAC make an appearance on a Marshall product, and it opened up more intricate detailing when listening to higher-res files on Tidal. Nothing is going to beat USB-C audio passthrough, however, which provides lossless quality via a wired connection.

Even using a more basic Bluetooth codec like AAC, though, the Marshall Milton ANC are a very solid-sounding pair of on-ears. They won’t astonish audiophiles with perfect instrument separation or top-tier attention to detail, but their engaging and energetic sound is sure to appeal to many.

On top of this, the Milton offer commendable mic quality, with four of the total six microphones being used for clear calls. I tried recording my voice and was very satisfied with the clarity of my speech throughout.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Marshall Milton ANC review: design

• Repairable and made of 42% recycled material
• Plush earcups are super-comfortable
• Beautiful retro-style look

I’ve mentioned a couple of times how Marshall is aiming to produce more sustainable technology at the moment, and the Milton ANC are a glowing example of that.

First of all, they contain 42% recycled material (by weight), which is a pretty significant proportion. On top of that, multiple parts of the Milton are replaceable, and Marshall can service the headphones or sell replacement parts when needed. The earcups also use bayonet locking, making them simple to screw off and on, and under the left earcup, you can easily unscrew a panel to replace the headphones’ battery.

It’s not all about sustainability though — the Marshall Milton ANC are brilliantly designed right across the board.

The earcups are more plush than those featuring on the Major V, and it’s incredibly apparent. They feel amazingly soft in use, and fit on my ears perfectly. The headband also feels relaxed, and never clamped down too hard, while still remaining secure.

Combine these two factors, and the Marshall Milton ANC are, without question, the most comfortable on-ear headphones I’ve ever used. I’ve used them for all-day use at the office, and never felt agitated or uncomfortable, which is a huge plus.

These headphones also look great in my opinion. The faux-leather casing, the golden Marshall logo, the exposed wires… these headphones nail the retro-style and look pretty premium for the price. The multi-directional button for playback control is attractive too, and was easy to use whenever I wanted to pump up the volume or skip a track.

Marshall has made a real effort to stress the ruggedness of the Milton, and I have to say they do feel pretty hardy. The practical draw-string case also helps to keep them safe against any tumbles or liquid splashes.

Speaking of which, the Milton ANC do not have a waterproof rating, which is a bit of a shame given their focus on durability and longevity. Don’t get me wrong: this is pretty common for headphones, but it would be nice to see a player like Marshall start adding IP ratings to its on-ear and over-ear products. Despite this, Marshall told me that the Milton were tested for higher humidity conditions and should be able to survive the odd raindrop, for example.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Marshall Milton ANC review: Value

• Well-priced against the competition
• Incredible comfort, solid sound, and loads of features
• A great middle point between the Major V and Monitor III ANC

The Marshall Milton ANC are well priced against a lot of the competition. For instance, the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100, which offer ANC, a similar amount of battery life, and similarly strong audio, are priced at $229 / £199 / AU$314.

On top of that, the Milton fit perfectly between Marshall’s more budget-friendly on-ears, the Major V, and its premium over-ears, the Monitor III ANC. The former will typically set you back $149 / £129 / AU$259, and the latter have a list price of $349 / £299 / AU$569.

The Milton offer the form-factor and compact style of the Major V, while cramming in a lot of the smart features and noise-cancelling capabilities of the Monitor III, neatly fusing what makes their sibling models so appealing.

And just overall, I think you’re getting good overall quality for the money you spend. With top-tier comfort, plenty of playtime, and a sustainable design, the Milton ANC feel like a worthy investment.

Are they the best sounding headphones ever? Perhaps not — they lack the detail and balance that some competitors can supply. But still, these are hardly the most expensive on-ears out there, and their energetic sound signature is sure to appeal to a large proportion of the market.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Marshall Milton ANC?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Marshall Milton ANC review: Also consider

How I tested the Marshall Milton ANC

• Tested over the course of multiple weeks
• Used on a flight, public transport, and on walks
• Predominantly streamed music on Tidal

I spent weeks testing the Marshall Milton ANC, taking them with me just about everywhere I went. I used them on a flight, train journeys, my daily walks, and while working away at the office.

When listening to music, I used Tidal to experience the headphones’ higher-resolution capabilities, but I also dipped into Spotify from time to time. As always, I used the TechRadar testing playlist, which features songs from a wide variety of genres, but I also spent hours bumping tunes from my personal library.

More generally, I’ve spent years testing audio gear here at TechRadar, and have tackled everything from premium headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM6 through to small Bluetooth speakers like the Bose SoundLink Micro Gen 2. I’ve also tested a whole lot of Marshall products, including headphones such as the Marshall Monitor III ANC and soundbars like the Marshall Heston 60.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: May 2026

JLab JBuds Open Wireless: Two-minute review

JLab is well-known for its affordable headphones and earbuds, but this time the brand is branching out into something more unusual.

The JBuds Open Wireless are over-ear headphones designed to allow you to hear the world around you. Yes, everyone is doing that right now, just take a look at our best open earbuds guide — but while most open-ear options are earbuds, JLab has made an over-ear version. It promises to deliver the same open benefits but from a bigger — and for some people, more comfortable — form factor.

Now, open-back headphones are nothing new. They're actually a firm favorite among audiophiles. That's because venting the back of the driver housing stops sound from bouncing back onto the driver itself, which gives you a cleaner and more accurate sound with a wider, more natural soundstage.

However, the JBuds Open Wireless aren't that. Sure, they look similar, but the “open” part here means something different. The earcups don't create a strong seal against your head, and the cups can have grilles over them or the option to be completely open, so ambient sound outside flows freely in alongside your music.

So it’s not open-back as an audio engineering choice, but more open-ear as a lifestyle one, where the goal isn't better sound quality but a mix of sound and awareness of what's happening around you.

Interestingly, this design might seem new but it’s been done before several times. One of my favorite examples is back in the late '90s when Sony released the MDR-F1 — not identical, but similar open or open-air headphones, and people referred to them as "earspeakers" at the time. This is a similar thing, and a few other brands have done it, such as the ONE Wireless Open-Ear Headphones from nwm.

But they're still unusual right now, and I can't work out if they're uncommon because they're about to appeal to everyone and we'll see more soon, or because the use case is so specific that plenty of people will love the idea but find it falls apart in practice. Unfortunately, I'm in the second camp.

Don’t get me wrong, there's a lot to like here. The design is genuinely cool, with removable grilles and a comfortable all-day fit thanks to some memory foam padding in the cups and band. The sound also delivers more bass than I'd expect from an open design. And the ambient awareness really works. In quiet environments, it's really nice to listen with them.

But add just a bit of background chatter or noise and the openness becomes the problem. There are just too many competing sounds and the experience collapses. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t that the whole point of open-ear designs? Sure, but if the music you’ve bought them to listen to becomes unlistenable, then we’ve got a problem.

At under $100/£100, the risk still feels low. But I think the use case is narrow, and most people will know within a day whether these are for them.

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Price and release date

• Released in late 2025
• Priced at $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199.99

After being unveiled at IFA 2025 in September of 2025, the JLab JBuds Open Wireless headphones were launched in some markets in late 2025, and then the rest in early 2026.

You can buy the JBuds Open for $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199.99. That price means they sit somewhere between the higher end of budget and mid-range.

Now this is where I'd usually give you context of how they compare to similar products, but it's tricky to compare these headphones directly to anything else right now. They give you the benefits of open-ear styles, but those are mostly buds, and these still look and feel like over-ears.

In that case, let's look at the open-ear buds you can get right now. Like the Shokz OpenFit 2+, our current top pick, which are $179.95 / £169. Though you can get much more affordable open buds that still sound good, like the Earfun Clip 2 with a clip-on design that'll cost you $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120).

In terms of over-ears, one of our favorite budget picks is the OneOdio Focus A6 over-ears at $55 / £55 / AU$112, which we think sound fantastic for the price. Though at that higher end of the budget range you've got plenty of choice, like the very highly rated 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 at $89 / £99 / AU$130.

Although there's nothing to strictly compare them to, the price reflects what you're getting. Which is over-ear comfort and build with open-ear awareness in a form factor that doesn't really exist elsewhere. For under $100 / £100, that does seem like a fair ask. But whether it's worth it comes down entirely to your preferences, which we'll get into.

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Specs

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Features

• Simple app with essentials
• Multipoint connectivity
• 24 hours battery life (well, nearly)

The JLab JBuds Open aren't overflowing with features, but you have everything you need for the price here.

The app is basic, but that's not a criticism. I found it easy to use and it covers the essentials well. You can customize the manual buttons on the right earcup, check battery life, set an interval timer, toggle spatial audio on/off, and switch between music and movie modes.

There's also a 10-band custom EQ alongside three presets, which I enjoyed playing with to try and address some of the issues with the sound, more on that later.

The headphones have dual coaxial drivers onboard, a 35mm and a 12mm unit, and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity with support for SBC and AAC codecs. There’s no wireless hi-res audio options, but a USB-C cable is included if you want a wired connection.

Multipoint connectivity to two devices worked seamlessly during my testing, switching cleanly between my laptop and phone while I was working.

Battery life is rated at 24 hours, though in some of JLab's specs it says to expect 18 hours. In my testing I got around 20 hours, with a full recharge taking roughly 2.5 to 3 hours.

That's not bad, but it does lag behind other over-ear headphones. The Sony WH-1000XM6 manages 30 hours, and the cheaper 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 headphones deliver an extraordinary 65 hours with ANC on. But, to be fair, it's much harder to fit batteries in when you've removed all the physical space from your headphones…

Measured against open-ear buds, this amount is impressive as the Shokz OpenFit 2+ only manages 11 hours, but that’s expected given the size difference.

• Features score: 3.5 / 5

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Sound quality

• Better bass than most open options but sub-bass is lacking
• Wide soundstage suits big, orchestral tracks
• Sound leakage is an issue

With the JLab JBuds Open headphones, you can obviously hear your surroundings — that’s the whole point. But you're going to want to bear that in mind, because these sound really open. Like, really open.

On a long quiet walk along the canal, it was lovely. I had music playing, I could hear bike bells and birds and I felt very happy. But walking through the city was a different experience entirely.

What I was hearing from the headphones was competing for my attention with a fire alarm, other music, and general chatter. There's open-ear, which I’ve tried many times now from different brands, and then there's this.

And some people might genuinely want this. If ambient awareness always trumps music for you, and competing sounds don't overwhelm you, these could be ideal. That's subjective and worth acknowledging, but it wasn't my experience.

The reason it's so pronounced is physical, because the drivers sit further from your ear than other open options. They’re outside the ear rather than in the concha, where other open buds sit. Sealed over-ears obviously don't have the problem at all.

Here it's essentially like holding a speaker close to your ear. I recommending testing adding the grilles in and out, because they do reduce the sound leakage in, and they're very easy to remove.

With dual coaxial 35mm and 12mm drivers, they’re working with bigger hardware than most open-ear buds, and you can really tell when you listen. There's genuine presence in the low end, with far more bass and substance than you'd typically expect from a pair of open-ear buds.

Vocals come through clearly, and the wide soundstage is a real strength here. I spent a lot of time listening to Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Arrival score and instrument separation was impressive. Big, cinematic or orchestral tracks have a sense of space that genuinely suits the open design.

Moving onto Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil and the track's swagger and drive translated well. It felt wide, punchy and instruments were given plenty of room.

But there are weaknesses. Sub-bass is mostly absent. Hi-hats and cymbals also had a tendency to tip into shrill territory, and kick drums have a sharp, thin quality rather than a satisfying thud.

The overall character skews mid-heavy, and you'll find yourself pushing the volume higher than expected to get a sense of immersion.

At times it felt a bit like hearing your phone playing in front of you; it’s present and clear enough, but thin and lacking warmth. The bass boost EQ setting helps on the right tracks and is worth trialling, but it can't resolve the main limitation here which is that there’s no seal to trap and focus the sound.

Calls were fine. With open ears, conversations feel more natural to me, and the noise-cancelling mic picked up my voice well. It lacked some clarity at times, but was fine for most purposes.

Sound leakage from the headphones is also worth flagging. I recorded audio on my phone while wearing them and could make out the track even at a moderate volume with the grilles on. If you remove them, it gets noticeably worse.

Push the volume up, which you will find yourself doing, and it gets worse still. So there's a sort of irony here, which is that the open design means you need more volume to feel the music, but more volume means more leakage.

Ambient noise outside will mask the leakage, so you'll get away with it way more in public than you might expect. But a quiet office or commute is going to be a different story.

• Sound quality: 3.5 / 5

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Design

• A bold design that may divide people
• Genuinely comfortable for long wear
• Removable grilles change the look and the sound

The JLab JBuds Open headphones have a very unusual design and I think they'll divide people. Some will find them incredibly cool and a bit sci-fi looking, whereas others just won't get on with them.

They're over-ear headphones with a build that feels substantial, though they do feel a little more cheap and plasticky than something like the Bose QuietComfort Headphones, my all-time favorite over-ears, but that’s to be expected at this lower price.

Both the earcups and headband are padded with memory foam and I found it genuinely comfortable for long sessions. The clamping force was occasionally a little much when I was working indoors, but on runs outside it actually helped and kept them feeling secure.

At 245g, they're light, and you can shave a couple of grams off by removing the metal grilles. The earcups have a sort of wheel-spoke pattern with a grille sitting over under it. And if you twist the cup, the grille pops out cleanly, opening things up even more both in how these headphones look and sound.

I noticed it really changes the look of them, and noticeably affects how much ambient sound comes through. It’s a small but genuinely fun customization option.

That said, they're bulky. They stick out from your head considerably more than most modern over-ears nowadays, and while the cups pivot flat, they don't fold inward either, which makes them less practical to carry and store than many rivals.

The included carry case is a nice touch. It’s a similar concept to the AirPods Max case but it’s more practical with more coverage of the headphones. The matte, brushed finish picks up marks easily though.

You control the JBuds Open with physical buttons on the side of the right earcup. I personally prefer physical buttons over touch controls, and found these easy to locate and use on the move, and they're also customizable via the app.

The headphones come in black, which is the pair I tested here, or Cloud, which is a light gray with gold accents that's a nice option if you’re sick of all black tech.

There’s no IP rating here, which on paper suggests avoiding sweaty workouts when you're wearing them. But given their open design means far more airflow than a sealed pair, I'd argue they're pretty workout-friendly as long as you’re mindful about sweat and splashes.

I tested them on several runs without any problems and actually really enjoyed the ambient awareness and added airflow as I got warmer and more tired. But I maybe wouldn't risk them in the rain.

• Design score: 4 / 5

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Value

• Good value compared to open-ear buds
• But whether it's worth it depends on your feelings about ambient sound

These are good value compared to other over-ear headphones and even some open-ear options. You can pick up open-ear buds for well under $100 / £100 these days, but top performers like the Shokz OpenFit 2+ cost nearly double at $179 / £169. So if you specifically want open-ear audio on a budget, they’re worth considering.

But really, whether these are worth it has less to do with price and more to do with your lifestyle. Under $100 / £100 feels fair for what's here. But if you're going to struggle to hear your music in most environments or find the bulk doesn't suit you, the price won't save them.

For the right person though, which I think will be someone who prioritizes awareness, loves the over-ear form factor, and isn't chasing audiophile sound, then these were essentially made for you.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the JLab JBuds Open Wireless?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: Also consider

How I tested the JLab JBuds Open Wireless

• Tested over 10 days
• Used with my iPhone 16 Pro
• Listened to music, podcasts and some movies

I tested the JLab JBuds Open Ear Headphones for 10 days, which gave me plenty of time to trial them in different environments, wear them in a few different weather conditions and run a battery test.

I took them with me on daily long walks and two runs along the canalside, as well as one bigger hike in the countryside. They also came with me often when I was walking through a big city, in a busy market, to plenty of coffee shops while I was working remotely, on several bus rides and just out and about getting on with my day more generally.

I used my iPhone 16 Pro to test them and mostly listened to music and podcasts. I also used them when watching a couple of movies to test the movie preset and the spatial audio. I tested the different modes and EQ settings and used them with and without their grilles.

I actually became really fascinated by the subtle sound differences when it came to the grilles, so know my experience in this review comes from a lot of careful listening.

I’ve been writing about and testing tech for more than 15 years now. I’ve focused mainly on wearables, smart home devices and a lot of audio tech. Over the past few years I’ve been testing a lot of open ear buds, so I know what I’m looking (and listening out) for.

I’m always keen to think about the real world use cases and everyday practicality of tech so you get your money’s worth and pick the best device for you.

• First reviewed: May 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Many people review tech so they can test fancy and expensive new gadgets, but I love the cheapies; the affordable yet competitive tech that most consumers actually buy, that offers you actually exciting value for money.

Because of that, I've always had an aversion to expensive audio products. Sure, the best headphones may sound amazing, but if they cost more than a month's groceries, then I'm not convinced.

No; give me a pair of the best cheap headphones and I'll be a happy chappy (whose wallet will be equally chipper). I don't mind sacrificing on some audio quality and noise cancellation, and I love how affordable tech often has a more hardy build and longer-lasting battery.

Recent headphones such as the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro, Soundpeats Cove Pro and Soundcore Space Two have all impressed me more than the next audiophile headset would.

Unfortunately, extra groceries are not the only thing I get to consume this week, because I'm now having to eat my words. A year ago I tested the AKG N9 and, without exaggeration, I've used them (almost) every day since.

AKGee whizz

As smart readers will have gathered from the headlines, the AKG N9 are two things: a) headphones and b) expensive, retailing for $399 / £299 / AU$499 at the time of release, rarely seeing discounts from that retail cost.

The picture above shows you what they look like; they have a premium finish, comfortable pads and fairly reasonable weight for what's within. I know many audiophiles lament AKG's free-wheeling pre-Harman/Samsung acquisition days, but I'm still pretty fond of what its created since then.

One of their best specs is the battery life, which goes to an astounding 100 hours if you've got ANC turned off (55 hours with it turned on, which is still two straight days of listening and then most of The Lord of the Rings). It's a fantastic figure which lets forgetful people (two thumbs pointed straight at me) avoid charging them for weeks on end.

Despite my distain for pricey tech (and despite the existence of fancy multi-thousand-dollar headphones, these still are expensive), I gave the AKG N9 four and a half stars out of five in my review, which took a lot for someone as cynical as I. And that's all because of the killer feature which has cemented these as my favorite headphones.

Dongle breakin' my heart

Nestled inside one of the AKG N9's cups is a little USB-C dongle. If you plug this into a device, it'll override that device's audio output so that sound will come out of the AKG N9 instead.

This has three benefits. Firstly, for the headphones, it lets you quickly connect them to whichever device you want to use, without the arduous Bluetooth pairing game, or for work devices where maybe that's not an option. Secondly, for a device, it lets you easily switch from your current speaker or earbud to the AKGs.

Lastly, the connection is also higher-quality and lower-latency than Bluetooth, which is always welcome.

It's a novel feature, which the N9 shares with its sibling earbuds the AKG N5 and only a handful of gaming buds, and I waxed lyrical in my review about how cool it was. I talked about how being able to switch between your various gadgets easily, or borrow other people's, could be incredibly convenient.

A year later, and I'm back with actual experience of all that. Not only have the AKG N9 shown themselves for even more handy use cases, but I've used them probably every day since.

Flatmate bane

I use the Creative Pebble Nova on my PC: I like the way they sound, I like the way they look, and may have conveniently 'forgotten' to give them back to TechRadar after my review was published. However they don't get as much use as they deserve, because of the AKG.

The N9's dongle now takes an almost-permanent place in the USB-C port atop my computer, so I can pull it out if I want to use the speakers or push it in when I want the headphones. And most of the time, I want to use the headphones.

I've got a flatmate and I don't want to annoy him by using the loud and bassy speakers; when I hear him come home, I can slip in the dongle and play games or watch a movie from the headphones instead. Likewise when he leaves, it's only seconds before I'm listening to my videos with the speakers.

It helps that the AKG sound amazing and have hardy noise cancellation, which help me forget that my house borders a train line and is under a flight path. I find it easier to hear videos and get immersed in games when I'm using them.

For various tasks, I've also got my iPad, laptop and phone, so if I need to I can also start using the N9 on these devices with no re-connection fiddling; likewise my partner can borrow them for her tablet without any fuss. I've taken them on holidays, on coffee-shop work trips, and to friends' houses.

As I use them, more handy use cases for the AKG N9 crop up; only the other day I used them (with a converter) alongside an audio field recorder to check a mic was working. I could have spent ages trying to find my wired headphones, or some seconds with the N9.

The only thing I can't use them for is exercise, but thankfully I test plenty of open earbuds for that.

If I calculated the price of individual headphones or earbuds for the various tasks I use the AKG N9 for, it'd certainly be more than the cans themselves cost. I may hate expensive headphones and still consider the vast majority unnecessary, but versatile headphones like these will save the right buyer loads of money.

• New Sony The Collexion headphone renders arrive
• They show product very similar to WH-1000XM6
• A few premium design changes, and two colors

We've been reporting tirelessly on new top-end headphones from Sony that are set to bear the name The Collexion. We've seen them spotted on the head of a Hollywood star and leaked on Sony website listing pages, with a May 19 release looking likely.

But I'd been so caught up in the flurry of leaks, that I'd missed something obvious — and newly-leaked renders courtesy of Android Headlines have highlighted: these headphones look incredibly familiar.

Coming in white and black hues, the Sony The Collexion headphones appear to be gentle evolutions of the Sony WH-1000XM6 and XM5, especially in the looks of the speaker cups.

In fact, squint and these basically are the WH-1000XM6. It's clear that Sony isn't straying far from past designs with its new cans, which might surprise people hoping for top-end blasters that match the rumored $600-ish price tag — but there are difference in the shiny metallic elements that are really reminiscent of the Sonos Ace.

What's new here?

Let's run through the differences I can see between these rendered headphones and the XM6 cans.

Most comfortably, the headband seems to be made from a different material, with leaks pointing to it being vegan leather rather than plastic as in the XM6. This material is also said to be used for the ear pads.

A new hinge mechanism is at play too, although to see still images, it's hard to tell how it works. At the very least, Sony's attempts to play around with this design element suggests The Collexion could have a sturdier build.

Renders show a USB-C port, but no 3.5mm headphone jack. That's not a surprise, though, because the space where this audio port would be, is obscured in the pictures.

Naturally, under the hood there are probably loads of hardware changes that make these an audible step up from the XM6 — these won't literally be the same headphones (at least, I hope).

But given the high price point mooted for the new headphones, you'd be forgiven for hoping for a more inventive design. The best headphones for audiophiles show their colors with unique designs, flashy patterns or mechanical flair, and if you've paid top dollar for expensive cans, you want to feel it.

Given all the leaks and teases, I'm expecting us to learn more officially pretty soon.

• Sony WH-1000XX The ColleXion all but confirmed
• Spotted on Hollywood star's head in NYC
• Seems to give a wink and nod to previous leaks

If there were any doubt that Sony was cooking up something special, it should now be dispelled. We've reported on 'Sony WH-1000XX The ColleXion' leaks before, and now it seems like the brand's 10th-anniversary super-premium headphones could be real.

They haven't been officially announced yet, but they seem to have shown up in public, all but guaranteeing a release is on the horizon.

Specifically, they were seen worn by F1 star Damson Idris, in several photographs which were shared by various fashion pages on X. Case in point:

Over on the r/headphones Subreddit, audiophiles were quick to note that these aren't a known pair of headphones, with a Sony logo making it clear that these are the product of the Japanese brand, but several design differences from the likes of the WH-1000XM6.

It seems, then, that we're looking at Sony's as-yet-unannounced premium option. The pictures give us a look at a few key design features, including an interesting metal headband/hinge, an audio jack, some grilles and a carry case too. Thankfully, the latter looks a lot more sensible than the AirPods Max 2 'bra' case.

Tin-foil hat time

Ostensibly, this could be a simple leak. We occasionally hear cases of tech testers snapped with upcoming gadgets in public: companies do need to let their devices get real-world testing, after all.

But you probably don't use Hollywood stars to do said testing. The fact that it was Damson Idris who was spotted with the cans, in very professional-looking photographs, makes me think it wasn't a massive coincidence — and then there's the fact that an official Sony account replied to the above X post with the 'eyes' emoji, drawing attention to the whole thing rather than avoiding it.

My conspiracy theory (and that of most of the Reddit commenters)? Sony has started sending out the WH-1000XX The ColleXion headphones to certain people, in the hopes that they'll get pap-snapped with the cans to raise intrigue.

We've seen it before, with brands such as Beats giving its audio products to influential people, to tease the imminent launch of an exciting new device. Even if not true, and this was just a happy coincidence for the brand, Sony's clearly leaning into it.

The rumor mill says that these headphones will be announced on May 19. Since we're getting these 'candid' teases of the cans, that launch date is looking increasingly likely.

So far we've heard that these will be top-end cans selling for around €629 (about $740, £550, AU$1,030), that could have advanced ANC and audiophile-quality specs, but perhaps a worse battery and heavier weight than Sony's other headphones.

If the rumors are correct, we won't have long to go until we discover the truth in these whispers.

When the JBL Tour One M3 released last year, we rated them as generally strong, albeit flawed flagship headphones. While we appreciated their solid ANC and handy Smart Tx transmitter, their audio output left us feeling conflicted. See, their soundstaging and dynamism impressed, although we felt that bass could be a tad overstated, and the highs could do with some refining.

But it seems that JBL has listened to critics and users alike, and in turn, has launched a major update to its flagship cans, including a reimagined sound curve.

So, how has JBL changed the sound of the Tour One M3? What were the motivations behind the change? And just how good do they sound now? I put these questions to Mikael Herje, the global director of JBL’s headphones business, and also gave the upgraded headphones a go myself — here’s everything I learned.

A new sound using old tricks

The Tour One M3’s new sound is strongly inspired by the Harman Curve — a target frequency response created by researchers at JBL’s parent company in 2012. However, it was also assessed by JBL’s in-house Golden-Ears-certified experts, who have to pass a challenging test to prove their audiophile credentials. On top of this, independent panels compared the Tour One M3’s new sound against its previous one, to ensure that the update was indeed an upgrade.

These three pillars formed the results we’re hearing now on the Tour One M3, which, according to Mikael Herje, is “a refinement to get it [the M3] to that next level”.

But what has specifically changed to enhance the sound? Well, according to JBL, bass is now “more controlled and natural”, there’s been a “⁓2dB refinement” in the low-mid range, and there’s also a 3-5dB boost in the 4-8kHz segment, higher in the frequency range.

“In the JBL tuning, we're always a bit heavy on the bass, and that’s worked really well from the entry to the higher end products for years,” said Herje. However, he stressed that listening expectations have changed, and the company had discovered that “the more experienced the listeners are, the less bass heavy they want the sound — they want it more balanced”.

At first, the focus was on refining the M3’s bass output, but in doing this, Herje noted that “we also saw that there're other elements we can increase and work on as well to to get to a more refined sound curve for the premium headphone”.

This change, he stressed, is limited to the range-topping products only — those being the Tour One M3 over-ear headphones and the JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds. “We're not doing it in the other ones because they are working really well for their audience — it's punchy, it's lively, you get immersed."

It’s a different story for the Tour line, though. Herje told me that the decision to refine the sound of JBL’s premium headphones fits within a broader effort to make strides in the higher-end part of the market. “We’re really stepping up our game with premium headphones,” he said. "This is the third iteration, and we still have a 10-year plan ahead of us to really take that space.”

Why now?

Something that interested me about this new sound direction was JBL’s decision to implement it on an existing pair of headphones. We’ve seen a few competitors go in a new direction, sonically speaking, as of late — but typically through a new product.

For instance, Sony decided to go for more of a ‘studio’ sound on its latest flagships, the Sony WH-1000XM6, and consulted leading mastering engineers to get a more balanced end product than the XM5 and XM4 models.

Rolling out on an existing model felt like a fitting approach for Herje, however. “What we wanted to do is show our consumers that buy these [the Tour One M3] that we’re not only putting it in new stuff — but also giving products a longer life cycle, and giving consumers more from them,” he said.

Although JBL’s updated sound is coming to the existing M3 via an over the air update, it’s also coming to a new product — well, of sorts.

That’s because JBL has released the Tour One M3 in a brand new colorway — a green and copper variant that I’ve been using. In my view, it’s a gorgeous-looking model, with deep, classy green casing, neat copper accents, and a luxurious vibe.

So… are they any good?

It’s clear that the sonic refinements on the M3 are part of JBL’s wider push to gain ground in the premium headphones market. But just how good do they sound after the update? And can the M3 compete with some of the best headphones around? Here’s what I think after listening for a fair few hours.

First of all, I think these changes make for a promising first step. As Herje mentioned, JBL’s more bass-heavy tuning makes a lot of sense for the more budget-friendly options, but I was instantly struck by the more balanced sound when using the M3 — which feels more fitting for more premium cans.

Bass is still fairly plentiful, and in Here to Catch You by Chris Stussy and S.A.M., I was treated to an agile low-end output that sounded brilliantly controlled throughout, and never impeded spacey synths or energetic percussion. The low-end doesn’t sound so prominent using the new sound signature, and fans of genres like House or Drum and Bass may want to ramp things up a little, but this is easy to do with JBL’s companion app equalizer.

Mids sound well-defined on the M3 after this update — helping more stripped back tracks sound especially enjoyable. In Jet Fuel by Mac Miller, the rapper’s lines sounded well separated from backing vocals, smooth bass, and relaxed percussion, making for a satisfyingly nuanced listening experience. In America’s A Horse With No Name, I also enjoyed the clarity of acoustic guitars and vocals, and the subtlety of drums in the backdrop.

The M3 also got a pretty significant boost in the 4-8kHz range, but treble didn’t come across as abrasive or harsh to my ears. In Timeless by Shinchiro Yotoka, I was met with expressive yet clean high-pitched drums, which sounded articulate and precise, even at higher volumes.

Are you going to get the brilliant instrument separation, expansiveness, and openness of the top-tier premium headphones on the M3? Not quite. Ultimately, these lack the top-class sonic talents of models like the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3. However, both of these models cost more than $100 / £100 than their JBL counterpart.

This update helps the M3 to offer more detail, and the slightly tempered bass is a great fit for acoustic tracks in particular. Sure, there are rivals that can offer a more intricate, layered listening experience, but for headphones that are regularly available for less than $300 / £250, I’d argue that JBL’s cans perform admirably.

Anker Soundcore Space 2: Two-minute review

Everyone I’ve spoken to who’s used them has spoken glowingly about Soundcore’s over-ear headphones, and the latest cans from the Anker sub-brand hark very closely to their predecessors. So, are the Anker Soundcore Space 2 contenders for the best budget headphone market?

Well, not much has changed compared to the Soundcore Space One – pedants may be wringing their hands at the jump from integer to lexical name, and I concur – and these headphones will look and feel very familiar to owners of the Space One Pro too. Meet the new boss, very similar to the old boss.

That’s no shame, though, because it means the previous cans’ strongest point is back in force. The active noise cancellation (ANC) here is absolutely fantastic — I don’t think I’ve used a pair of headphones at this price point that comes close. It’s zealous in wiping out any noise, near or far, around you.

Though barely changed from previous generations, the distinct look and comfortable fit of the Space 2 help them stand out from other alike headphones. These might be the first pair of cans I’ve tested that my girlfriend actually recognized with any kind of familiarity.

What has changed, though, is the price: there’s been a significant step up in cost from the Space One. I know, I know, it’s 2026 and every review talks about price hikes. But it’s big enough to lift the Soundcore out of the aforementioned best-in-class competition, and higher expectations aren’t matched by a greatly improved package.

Take, for example, the sound. Treble is fantastic and sparkly, but there’s a distinct drop-off when you get towards the mids, and bass is indistinct and unbalanced. They’re far from the worst over-ears I’ve tested, even at this price, with the high quality going some way to retaining the excitement at listening to music. But audiophiles won’t be impressed.

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Price and release date

• Released in April 2026
• Debuted for $130 / £130 (about AU$250)
• Price hike over predecessors

After being unveiled at MWC 2026 in early March, the Anker Soundcore Space 2 were put on sale nearly two months later on April 21.

You can pick up these headphones for the retail price of $130 / £130 / about AU$250. That price pushes them into mid-range waters, meaning that, unlike their predecessors, they’re not quite budget cans any more.

For some context, the Soundcore Space One cost $99 / £99 / about AU$200, while the Space One Pro went for $199 / £149 (about AU$300). So the new headphones offer a fairly significant price increase.

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Specs

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Features

• Fantastic ANC
• 50-hour battery life with ANC off
• Decent range of features including listening test

I’m not sure if the ‘Space’ in the Anker Soundcore Space 2 name refers to the silent vacuum of the cosmos, but it certainly could do, because the noise cancellation on these things is incredible for the price. I was constantly surprised by how adept the Space 2 were at cutting away noisy background sounds: the overground train running behind my house was impossible to hear, even when I was on it, and busy roads became quiet country lanes.

The quoted battery life is 50 hours with ANC on, or 70 hours with it turned off. Neither of those are lengths to write home about — hundred-hour-plus headphones come out pretty frequently now, usually at this price point — but they’re still solid listening times.

The Space 2 offer a selection of extra tools via the Soundcore app. There’s toggle-able wear detection, multipoint pairing, the ability to change what the noise cancellation and play/pause buttons on the ear cups do, and volume limits to stop you harming your hearing. Of the bunch, that latter stands out as one you don’t often see, so props to Anker for including it.

A listening test called HearID combines a hearing check, to pick out which tones you can hear, with a preference barrage to cater for your chosen type of music. I’ve not seen this latter factor considered before, and it solves a big problem with these listening tests — even if repeating the same song six times to check out different sound mixes is a gruelling experience.

There’s enough to recommend downloading the Soundcore app, even if I didn’t use it too much outside of testing.

I’ve previously heard complaints about the wear detection on Soundcore’s headphones. Here it reliably paused a song if I removed the cans, but wasn’t too hot on resuming it when I put the Space 2 back on my head.

• Features score: 4/5

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Design

• Funky blue color and distinctive look
• Light, comfortable to wear
• No IP rating

I test plenty of cheap and mid-range headphones that are personality-less black semicircles, so have to give praise to Soundcore. The Space 2 look unique among peers with a funky color, curvy edges, abundance of soft padding and tapered connectors between the headband and cups. Sure, they look basically the same as their predecessors, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

They’re nice and light, at 264g, and felt supremely comfortable to wear. That’s partly the weight but also the aforementioned padding overload on your ears and head. They fit securely, not wobbling when I was walking or turning my head quickly.

On the right cup there’s a play/pause button and volume rocker, while the left one has a noise cancelling toggle, power button, USB-C port and 3.5mm audio jack. That latter’s a nice addition you don’t always see at this price point.

You can fold the Space 2 down to make them more portable, with a cloth bag coming in the box, but I couldn’t find any information about an IP rating. So you may want to be careful when wearing them in the rain.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Sound quality

• Uses 40mm driver
• Bright treble, bass and mids suffer
• Supports hi-res standards, LDAC and SBC

The Soundcore Space 2 have a 40mm driver, the same size as in the vast majority of over-ear headphones, enhanced with a double diaphragm for clearer audio. I’ll admit, this end goal has been achieved; you can appreciate the lilt of a vocalist’s voice, the squeal of a guitar solo or the timbre and tremolo of a violin.

You’ll notice that these examples are all ones which sit right in the treble and high-mid space, and that’s because this is where the Space 2 shine. They're energetic, bright and fun; I was initially won over by the cans’ sharp, clear higher-pitched sounds, but the more I listened, the more I realized something was missing.

That something missing is… well, anything lower. Distorted guitar riffs, punchy bass licks and acoustic instruments all lack sparkle, prominence and clarity – it really feels like there’s a hole in some songs where a kick should be. The acoustic guitar of Niko Moon’s King of the Island felt far too far back in the medley, and the hook of My Number by Foals or Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) by Big & Rich sounded akin to a moving company removing furniture from your upstairs neighbors.

The audio graph suddenly resurges towards the bass and sub-bass side of things, giving some oomph to songs, but it’s often ill-defined or muddy, and sometimes overblown. In Tame Impala’s The Less I Know the Better it sounds insecure, popping up now and then without distinction, while in Troye Sivan’s Rush it’s not well-defined enough to stop it overpowering everything else.

Many music fans forget that there’s more than treble and sub-bass, and the sparkling former might distract many listeners from the Space 2’s shortcomings. I was in that camp for a while, and I still have a good time when I listen to the cans. But if you want a nuanced or natural sound, you’ll find this V-shaped audio pretty severe.

Back to some technicals: the high-quality sound the Space 2 provide is helped by support for LDAC and SBC, as well as Hi-Res Audio and its Wireless counterpart.

• Sound quality: 3.5/5

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Value

• Decent value for money
• Matches price hike

The price hike of the Soundcore Space 2 is a shame, because at the Space One’s MSRP, they’d be fantastic value.

They’d be best-in-class budget cans if they came out below $100 / £100 / AU$200, but for a little more, there’s a lot more competition, and much higher expectations. They’re still good, but not instant-must-buy value for money like they would be.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Anker Soundcore Space 2?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Anker Soundcore Space 2 review: Also consider

How I tested the Anker Soundcore Space 2

• Tested for 3 weeks
• Tested at home, on walks and on public transport

I used the Soundcore Space 2 for roughly three weeks ahead of their release date, in which time they were paired with my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. I listened on a range of music and video streaming services, as well as in calls and playing games.

Testing was done in a pretty wide range of environments including on public transport, on walks around various neighborhoods, and at home.

I’ve been testing audio products for TechRadar for years, including some past Anker devices like the Aerofit Pro 2.

• First reviewed in April 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

The Apple AirPods Max 2, at £499.99, are worth every single penny. But what if that's way out of your budget? Well then, you should shoot for the discounted Apple AirPods Max (1st Gen) at Amazon for £399.99 (was £499.99).

The four-star-rated headphones are still some of the best noise-cancelling headphones around, despite being released over five years ago. We love their ANC, unbelievable audio performance, fantastic user experience, and brilliant extra features for iOS.

At this record-low price, this is one of the most notable headphone deals around right now. Snap them up while it lasts.

Today's best Apple AirPods deal

In our Apple AirPods Max review, we rated the headphones four out of five stars and called them the “perfect headphones for Apple devotees.” They've got a lot going for them. We could mention the detailed, expansive audio, the USB-C lossless audio, or the gorgeous design, but it's actually the noise cancellation that makes the AirPods Max excel most.

Our reviewer said that "during a commute, most of the rumble from the train was blocked out, and with our music playing, we couldn't hear it at all." That's high praise indeed and exactly what you'd expect from a £499.99 (RRP) pair of headphones.

Aside from a wide and well-balanced soundstage with immersive spatial audio to make you feel like you’re at a concert, the AirPods Max boast a wide range of features. These include comfy memory foam earcups and a lightweight mesh headband that moulds to your head. They also last up to 20 hours on a single charge.

If you've got your heart set on Apple but are open in terms of the product, then our best AirPods and AirPods deals pages should be your first step. Or more broadly, our best noise-cancelling headphones guide and noise cancelling headphone deals are worth a look.

H20 Audio Ript Ultra: Two-minute review

Our list of the best workout headphones is largely populated by earbuds, and there are scant over-ear options that are designed specifically for exercise. Enter the H20 Audio Ript Ultra, which are very very exercise-oriented.

These over-ear headphones come from a dedicated exercise audio brand, which also gave us the likes of the Tri Run bone conduction headphones and Sonar 2 Pro swim buds, and it generally focuses on simplicity and affordability.

Check one for the Ript Ultra, but cross the other. These are headphones that fix a few big pain points for gym-goers or runners, but at a high cost that non-exercise cans can easily undercut.

The selling point here is that the Ript Ultra are totally sweatproof: their silicone ear cushions are enclosed so no liquid can get to the drivers, and they can also be removed to be cleaned easily. Not to be sniffed at, that.

I also liked how tight and reliable a fit the H20 Audio cans provided: on runs and at the gym, they stuck reliably and resolutely in place, without slipping or falling as other headphones, even workout-specific cans, have. They rarely became uncomfortable, though my ears did get quite hot under the thick cups, so they might not be suitable for long summer runs (which is probably precisely what you'd want them for. Sorry).

As exercise cans go though, these do a great job at fixing the problems that make the best headphones poor tools for the task. But they also miss off several key perks that their 'standard' brethren too.

The audio quality is nothing to write home about sadly, and the noise cancellation is good but not great. The cans feel a little bit cheap in the hand, due to their using the same kind of hardy plastic regularly seen in budget tech, and there's no companion app for your phone to let you fine-tune the sound or enjoy extra features.

None of these is categorically a deal-breaker, especially in headphones designed for use when you're on the go in workout gear. But ultimately the rather high price of these headphones can, and should, have you asking for a little more.

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Price and release date

• Released in mid-2025
• Debuted for $249 / £244 / AU$410
• Cheaper now

The H20 Audio Ript Ultra are priced akin to some pretty premium non-workout headphones. Debuting for $249 / £244 / AU$410, they ain't cheap.

Since their mid-2025 release, they've dropped in price a little bit. In the US they've dipped towards the $200 mark at times, and in the UK they're reliably below the £200 bar. But even with price cuts, they're still pricey against direct rivals — see for instance the workout-specific Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active, with bass slider, which also launched in summer 2025, but at a cheaper $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99. Oh, and they too are now also seeing discounts here and there.

The default models of Ript Ultra are black or gray, but two other models are available if you hunt around. There's a pink Betty x RIPT model, with a skull-and-butterfly logo on the cup (I couldn't work out who, or what, Betty was), and an orange Zwift x RIPT model themed around the cycling app. These versions seem to only differ in design colorways, not feature set.

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Specs

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Features

• 50 hours of battery life
• Slight ANC complements the PNC
• No extra features from app (because there is no app)

The quoted battery life of the H20 Audio Ript Ultra is 50 hours (presumably with ANC off, lower with it on). With cans often pushing the 100-hour mark these days, that's far from best-in-class, but I'd imagine it's still more than enough juice for most users. You'd have to forget to charge for quite a few marathons to run dry.

It's a little tricky to know how much battery you actually have, though, as the headphone voice simply says "battery: high" or similar. Luckily my Android phone can tell me the charge of paired accessories, so I could see the Ript's percentage, but others might need to rely on this vague reportage.

Because of the thick silicone cups, the Ript Ultra has pretty solid PNC, or passive noise cancellation, which can strip out loud background sounds without taking up any of your battery charge. There's ANC too; turning this on made a small impact on noise, and it's probably worth leaving off if battery is a concern.

There's no smartphone app to give you extra controls over the Ript Ultra: what you see is what you get. No equalizer, no 'find my' function, no listening tests. None of these are mandatory on headphones, but when you're paying a high price, you'd hope for a little more than 'zilch'.

• Features score: 3/5

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Design

• Solid clamping force — secure, not uncomfortable
• Sweatproof & cleanable, removable ear pads
• They do get hot during workouts

The entirety of H20 Audio's sales pitch rests on its design, and I must say: job well done. Immediately, I noticed a workout cans pet peeve of mine was fixed: these things clamp on your head tight, and in all my hours of running and gym-going with them, they never fell off.

The main draw is their sweatproof design. While there's no IP rating, they're meant to be totally immune to perspiration: the silicone ear cups won't disintegrate like leather ones will, and can be removed to be cleaned easily. I found all these sales points to be totally accurate.

Silicone isn't the most comfortable material to wear, though, as it gets very warm. Frequently on runs, my ears would heat up and the area would get quite sweaty. The pads are also a bit thicker, and heavier, than alternatives I've used, but looking at the grand picture, these are also some of the most reliable workout headphones I've used because of the ear pads.

In the box, you do also get some other ear pads: they seem like leather to me, and they're softer. I wanted to test the default, more sweatproof option, so I didn't use these much, but it's a nice move that H20 is giving you regular alternatives.

On the left cup, there's an ANC button and USB-C port, and the right one has a power button, volume up and down buttons plus, perhaps surprisingly, a 3.5mm jack. That's right, you can plug these puppies in if you want better audio quality.

The Ript Ultra fold down, and come in a carry case for extra protection. According to my kitchen scale, they weigh 304g, but I'd say they fall in the general category of 'slightly heavier than normal over-ears'. The plastic they're made from feels a little cheap, and creaks a little in the hand, which initially made me worry that they were real cheapies. I was wrong those; having tested them for days now, I'm quite sure this plastic was actually used deliberately as it's more durable than other solutions.

• Design score: 4.5/5

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Sound quality

• Custom 45mm driver
• Decidedly flat, occasionally muddy audio
• Lacking the crisp bass injection I'd have liked for workouts

Since H20 Audio packed the Ript Ultra with a custom 45mm driver, I was expecting a pretty unique sonic experience. But it was unique in the way a weekend at Glastonbury is: muddy.

The headphones have a pretty flat audio output, not offering scooping (or overdriven) bass as many many exercise fans would like, or treble to offer something a little different. Audio lines sound a little indistinct, smushed together, and music has... whatever the opposite of an expansive soundstage is. A congested presentation? Yes, a little.

The overall sound profile is generally warm, with lower-frequency sounds given prominence, but not clarity. Bass blends and bleeds into the rest of the mix: in Kasabian's Underdog, I couldn't tell what was bass and what was kick-drum.

If the planets align, you can get some lovely shaking bass with the headphones; Niko Moon's Paradise To Me offered a really lovely sub-bass. But the few exceptions made the rule even clearer. In the chorus of Sam Fender's Hypersonic Missiles, you'd think every instrument was recorded from the exact same microphone, for how even they sound.

Now, the great caveat: do people care about clarity and detailed audio in exercise headphones? I have no doubt that many will ignore this section. But some gym-goers or runners will want that extra bit of bass to help them knuckle down, or the sparkling treble to underpin that fantastic chorus that gets you to the finish line. I don't think muddy audio like this will inspire people to greatness or shave any time off your 10k PB.

The headphones connect via Bluetooth 5.2 — not 5.4, as H20's website lists — and there's no support for additional high-resolution codecs. What you hear is what you get. And if that's OK with you given the sweatproofing, fine. But it's not better than fine.

• Sound quality: 3/5

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Value

• Mid-range price for headphones
• Other options get you more for your money

I've referred to the H20 Audio Ript Ultra as being a pricey pair of headphones; they certainly are, but it's worth noting that workout cans tend to be a little pricier than their standard counterparts. That's what you're getting for longevity.

Despite that note, though, the Ript Ultra do feel a little expensive for what you're getting. The lack of tie-in app, middling audio and ANC are all a little hard to swallow when you're paying a premium.

So what price would you put on protected headphones? If price is no concern, then these are fine for you, but there are alternatives that offer you more for your money. I've seen some reports online that this model is prone to breaking — although do note, that was not my experience — but it's always worth thinking about how you'll use them before spending the cash.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the H20 Audio Ript Ultra?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

H20 Audio Ript Ultra review: Also consider

How I tested the H20 Audio Ript Ultra

• Tested for a month
• Tested at gym, on runs of various lengths, on walks and on public transport

I used the H20 Audio Ript Ultra for the best part of a month in order to write this review. They mostly saw use during my exercise (gym or runs around my borough), several times per week, but on occasion I used them in other settings like public transport and trips to the shops.

For the testing process, the headphones were paired to my smartphone, listening to music on Spotify Lossless, Tidal or installed media, as well as watching videos on YouTube and Prime Video, as well as making calls.

I've tested a plethora of exercise headphones for TechRadar in the past, as well as other audio products and fitness tech. These include some products cited in the competition section.

• First reviewed in April 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: two minute review

The ATH-ADX7000 are Audio-Technica's flagship open-back headphones, with a lightweight design that's strong but just 270g. They deliver exceptional low-end power and a wide, precise sound stage, with a confidence and clarity no matter what kind of music you throw at them. They're astonishingly expensive, but if you can afford a pair you'll be very pleased with your purchase. Some of the best wired headphones around then? Oh, emphatically.

The key features here include Audio-Technica's new HXDT driver design, which is a large 58mm diaphragm with concentric alignment of the baffle plate, magnet and voice coil. The voice coil is located in the middle of the housing for what Audio-Technica says is "the purest motion and sound possible".

These are very high impedance headphones — 490 ohms — and that means you'll need an appropriately powerful amp to drive them. But get that right and they'll reward you no end.

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: price and release date

• $3,499 / £3,000 / AU$4,999
• Launched October 2025

The Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 headphones were announced in October 2025 and went on sale that same month with a price tag of $3,499 / £3,000 / AU$4,999.

That pricing means these are very much in audiophile territory; this is a flagship set of serious headphones made for people who want the very best of everything and can afford to pay for it.

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: specs

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: features

• New 58mm HDXT driver with aligned circular components
• 490 ohm high impedance voice coil
• 1/4-inch stereo and 4-pin XLRM cables, both 3m

The Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 headphones feature HDXT drivers, which are precision-molded to deliver a perfectly round diaphragm. The main driver is 58mm with aligned circular driver components (the baffle plate, magnet, voice coil and diaphragm) for what Audio-Technica says is a more accurate, dynamic and detailed sonic performance. It's teamed with a 490-ohm high-impedance voice coil that promises fast transients and defined low end.

The ATX-ADX7000s come with two detachable nylon-wound 3m (9.8') cables, one balanced with a 4-pin XLRM connector (but not a 4.4mm balanced connector; the expectation is that you'll be using a desktop or hi-fi amp here) and one with an unbalanced 6.3mm (1/4") gold-plated stereo plug. Both cables connect to the headphones with gold-tipped A2DC connectors.

• Features score: 4.5/5

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: sound quality

• Exceptional clarity and precision
• Superbly punchy bass without losing detail
• Excellent in all kinds of genres

With a frequency response of 5Hz to 50kHz, the ATH-ADX7000 have a very impressive low end and airy highs, delivering a neutral overall sound with a little bit of warmth. Irrespective of genre or format I didn't need to reach for an EQ on any of my vinyl, CDs or files; even fairly cluttered, complex sounds like Mojo from Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project, which drops massive squelching sub-bass in the chorus with distorted guitars on top and which has defeated many headphones, didn't stress the Audio-Technicas at all.

These are very high-impedance headphones and on the Mac my SSL2 interface struggled to drive them; while it happily drives most demanding headphones it wasn't strong enough for these, and it felt like I was getting six out of ten when I needed eight or nine. Swapping it for my iFi Zen 2 DAC improved things dramatically, not just because of the extra power but because the ATH-ADX7000s could really breathe. What was already entertaining became an absolute hoot.

I laughed out loud when the bass dropped in SOPHIE's Reasons Why, and Beastie Boys' Root Down moved so much air it felt like I'd strapped big speakers to my head. Little Simz' Point and Kill was beautifully detailed, its snaking bassline, intertwining vocals and bursts of brass perfectly positioned. Radiohead's Reckoner had incredible presence, the Audio-Technicas giving the layered vocals great separation as guitars chimed in the left channel and the ride cymbal splashed in the right. Led Zeppelin's When The Levee Breaks was the best I've ever heard it, every part of John Paul Jones' bass distinct from John Bonham's thunderous drums and Jimmy Page's slide guitar.

Bass was something of a recurring theme in my testing because the ATH-ADX7000 headphones deliver it so well, whether it's the thumb-slaps and slides in The Blue Nile's Tinseltown in the Rain; the arpeggiated synth in Robyn's Dopamine; the dubstep thump in BLACKPINK's Go; Adam Clayton's grinding bass in U2's Vertigo; or Tony Levin's percussive, metronomic bass pulse and melodic walks in the live version of Peter Gabriel's Digging in the Dirt. Listening to and feeling Horace Pace's glorious Precision bass in The Specials' Ghost Town was close to a religious experience.

• Sound quality score: 5/5

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: design

• Exceptionally lightweight honeycomb grille
• Choice of velvet and alcantara ear cups
• Lightweight but strong magnesium frame
• Functional rather than flashy

The Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 headphones are very visibly open-back thanks to a handmade honeycomb-punched aluminum grille that looks as if it's barely there when you're looking straight at it — although it is very strong and does also block unwanted side ventilation.

The large ear pads come with a choice of velvet and Alcantara cushions that promise to subtly alter the sound — velvet for "well-balanced" audio and Alcantara for more warmth — and the headphones use a lightweight magnesium frame with a wide, open headband. I found the headphones to be exceptionally comfortable even during long listening sessions. And unlike on-ear designs they stayed put when I was at my desk working in front of a big display.

Each pair of ATH-ADX7000 is laser-etched with its serial number and comes in a hard aluminium carrying case.

• Design score: 5/5

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: value

• Undeniably expensive
• Exceptionally good bass
• Wonderfully comfortable

These are the best over-ear headphones I've ever tested, delivering the incredible clarity and realism of open-back headphones with the kind of low-end punch you'd normally need closed-backs for. Their light weight, wide headband and comfortable ear cups make them a real pleasure to wear for long listening sessions, and the sound they produce means that every listening session will become a long one.

Unfortunately they're also very expensive: $3,499 / £3,000 / AU$4,999 is twice what you'd pay for a Grado Signature pair, about three times the price of the equivalent Sennheisers and about seven times more than I've ever been able to spend on a pair of headphones. That price tag means they're simply out of reach for many of us.

For many musical products the difference between budget and mid-range models is much more dramatic than the difference between high end and super high end – so for example a $1,000 guitar will be much better than a $250 one, but as you move up the price range the differences start to become much more subtle. I think that's the case here. If you can easily afford these headphones you'll love them, but many headphones costing half as much are hardly horrific.

• Value score: 4/5

Should I buy the ATH-ADX7000?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 review: also consider

The Sennheiser HD 800's revoiced, more bassy successor the HD 800 S is among the very best wired headphones, and retails for roughly one-third of the price of the Audio-Technicas. And while the fit wasn't right for me, when I reviewed the Grado Signature S750 open-backs I really loved their sound quality and clarity. Our current favorite among the best high-end headphones, the Meze Audio 105 Silva, are even cheaper while delivering a superb sonic experience.

How I tested the Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 headphones

• Tested for two weeks
• Used with stereo amp, audio interface and headphone DAC/amp
• Vinyl, CD, streaming, and hi-res audio files

I tested the Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000 for two weeks across a range of sources and genres: vinyl records via an Audio-Technica turntable and an Onkyo A-910 stereo amplifier; CDs with the same amp and a Marantz CD6007 CD player; and streaming, lossless and hi-res audio on a Mac mini via an SSL2 audio interface and an iFi Zen 2 DAC.

I've detailed some of the music I used in the main review but I tested across a range of artists and genres including acoustic and hyperpop, electronica and EDM, classic rock, alternative rock and chart pop.

• First reviewed: April 2026
• Read more about how we test

JBL Live 780NC: Two-minute review

I was not expecting to be as impressed by the JBL Live 780NC as I ended up being. Even out of the box, it looked like another good but not great $200-range pair of headphones that excel in certain areas but end up making compromises elsewhere. But really the only compromises are the lack of a charging cable and the fact you can’t remove the ear pads.

But dig a little deeper and the JBL Live 780NC start to shine. The feature set rivals that of the best wireless headphones out there like the Sony WH-1000XM6. Sure, most wireless headphones now come with active noise cancellation and an ambient mode, but many don’t come with Auracast, as powerful of an EQ (and personalized EQ), or Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res support. At least, not at this price.

I’ll throw in the obligatory these-aren’t-perfect counterpoints — and there are a few. The bass can sometimes get a little out of control to the point where I usually had the bass cut through the EQ when listening. And the Dolby Atmos feature is a bit underwhelming for music, not to mention that only a handful of streaming services provide Dolby Atmos content. Still, the JBL Live 780NC get high marks from me. And if you give them a chance, you’ll probably feel the same.

JBL Live 780NC: Price and release date

• Priced $249.95 (about £190 / AU$360, but currently launched in US only)
• Launch date March 12, 2026

With a March 2026 launch date in the US, the JBL Live 780NC are the newest addition to JBL’s lineup of over-ear headphones, having landed alongside their 680NC on-ear counterparts. And despite being among the more expensive of JBL’s offerings (only out priced by the JBL Tour One M3 Smart Tx and the JBL Quantum One), they’re firmly in the mid-tier price range for over-ear wireless cans in general, coming in at $249.95 (about £190 / AU$360). They’re also available in five colors: black, green, blue, white, and champagne.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the JBL Live 780NC are only available in the US. However, considering their predecessor, the 2023-issue JBL Live 770NC, can be purchased in the UK and Australia, my guess is that it’s only a matter of time before these headphones will become available in those regions as well.

JBL Live 780NC: Specs

JBL Live 780NC: Features

• Multipoint and Auracast available
• Personalizable EQ according to what you can hear
• Deep EQ manipulation

The JBL Live 780NC may be as feature-filled as any other pair of headphones on the market. Not only do they come with multipoint connectivity, but allow for use with Auracast where you can connect multiple headphones to one source, as well as Bluetooth with LE Audio (something Apple doesn’t currently support). They even do that thing where they stop playing when you take them off your head.

The active noise cancellation and Ambient (sometimes referred to as transparency) mode are fairly deep. You can set levels of both using a slider, as well as turn on an adaptive mode for the ANC. TalkThru, basically an ambient mode hyperaware of human voices, is also an option here. And they work pretty well too.

The ANC was able to completely block out ambient noise with music playing at 50%, while the ambient mode was able to still allow me to fully understand a conversation on TV while listening to music at 60%.

Of course, while you can cycle through the types of “Ambient Sound Control” as JBL calls it with a press of a button on the headphones, the real fine tuning happens in the JBL headphone app. The app has a number of additional features and ways of customizing your experience.

For instance, Personi-fi 3.0 is a cool feature that tests how well you can hear a series of frequencies on both ears and then adjusts the EQ to offset any hearing loss you have. I also appreciated that I could toggle it on and off after going through the process.

Speaking of EQ, there are six presets available through the included Equalizer function with the ability to add more. More importantly, however, is the fact that I can create a completely custom EQ with a seemingly infinite amount of points (I stopped at 17) where you can boost or cut up to 6 dB.

Spatial sound gets its own set of three presets – Movie, Music, and Game – though there isn’t any more control other than selecting between them. There’s also a left / right balance, and a Low Volume Dynamic EQ setting so that audio still sounds present even when turned down.

I also appreciate the number of settings for better sounding calls, even allowing you to hear your own voice if you want.

Lastly, it also comes with a relax mode that allows you to play any combination of up to five relaxing sounds from one to sixty minutes (selectable along a slider). It’s a nice if slightly gimmicky feature.

• Features score: 5/5

JBL Live 780NC: Design

• No charging cable included
• Comfortable, (if slightly tight) fit
• Plenty of on-unit controls

When unboxing the JBL Live 780NC, a couple things popped out to me. I was a little disheartened to see that JBL didn’t include a charging cable, though not too much, since it uses USB-C and anyone with a modern smartphone can use the same cable to charge these headphones. More appreciated was the inclusion of a carrying pouch, albeit a fairly thin one, as well as the USB-C to aux cable for more analog listening.

Mostly though, I liked the fact that the JBL Live 780NC, while not reinventing the wheel, don’t look like every other pair of over-ear wireless headphones out there. Not only do they come in the five different colors mentioned above (my test unit is black), but the earcups have a rounded almost-retro-but-not-quite shape to them that with oversize earpads give it an accessible yet slightly elevated look.

The earpads might not be removable but they are plush as is the headband, while the rest of the Live 780NC are a combination of durable plastic and sturdy metal – most notably the hinge. JBL doesn’t give an exact measurements, but each earcup looks to have an adjustment range of about an inch and a half giving these headphones the flexibility to fit on just about any head. Plus, the earcups can swivel flat as well as fold, which make them easier to carry.

The headphones sit tight on the head without too much pressure for a secure and comfortable fit. And if you try these on and find them too tight, adjusting the ear cups will alleviate the pressure. At 260 grams, they’re not light. But I didn’t find them fatiguing to wear for long listening sessions. Though they’re not really meant for active wear, I even tried them on while going for a run and found them comfortable the entire time.

I also like the fact that cloth covering the 40mm drivers has a sizable “L” and “R” etched into them to indicate sides. I’ve experienced more than one pair of headphones that hide the left and right indicators in some forgotten crevice, making me spend a few extra seconds figuring out the proper headphone orientation (first world problems).

Typically, many wireless headphones have all the controls on one side. That’s not the case with the JBL Live 780NC. The right side does have more on it, containing the power / bluetooth slider and ANC / AmbientAware button along with the USB-C port. You can also tap the outside of the ear cup for various additional controls like play / pause, mic mute, call answer, and voice assistant cycling. The left side is a little more minimal but does have the all important volume controls.

• Design score: 4.5/5

JBL Live 780NC: Sound

• Really impressive sound, except for overly pronounced bass
• Spatial audio is a treat, if a bit underwhelming
• Ridiculously long battery life

Having spent quite some time testing the JBL Live 780NC, listening to all sorts of genres through Apple Music with Dolby Atmos and lossless on (and therefore able to listen to music in Hi-Res and with spatial audio on), I’ve come away quite impressed.

The sound quality here is better than I was expecting it to be considering the more mid-range price tag. Regardless of what I listened to, the mids and high end came through very clearly.

The mids have a good amount of body so rock and more mid-forward music retains its edge, while the high end has the kind of clarity to keep sounds like cymbals coming through with a crispness they deserve.

The one place that the audio quality lines up more closely with my experience of headphones in this price range is the bass. For instance, I’ve never listened to U2 and thought there was too much bass.

That is until I tested these headphones and put on Until The End of the World in an effort to find some kind of rock in Dolby Atmos. I also tested with some hip hop, like Duckwrth and J. Cole, where that big bass worked better, but as soon as I turned on the bass boost EQ preset, it completely overwhelmed the rest of the audio. If you’re a bass head and welcome hearing damage, you might like that.

I did appreciate the ability to play Dolby Atmos through these headphones, though the availability of this content is limited to only a handful of streaming services. Yet, the spatial audio effect is more limited than it is with a physical atmos system. On the bright side, it is more impactful when watching shows or movies (or gaming), giving content a more three dimensional experience.

Still, everything does have more clarity to it with more separation between aural elements like instruments and backing vocals. Part of that is listening in Hi-Res lossless audio but some of it is also the Dolby Atmos since it allows for a bigger sense of space in the soundstage. It is a virtual approximation since these headphones rock just one 40mm driver per side. That said, this is still incredible audio for $250.

Using the headphones for calls is almost as impressive. As the wearer, I was able to hear calls clearly. And due to the dual beamforming mics — there are four mics total — coupled with an AI-trained algorithm, the caller on the other end could hear me just as clearly, stating that they wouldn’t have even known I was speaking through the 780NC if I hadn’t told them.

What probably blows me away the most — at least in terms of how far headphones have come in a few years — is the ridiculously long battery life. A five minute fast charge garners four hours use. And though it takes two hours to fully charge from empty, once charged, the JBL Live 780NC can last up to 80 hours, 50 if you’re always using ANC. I’ve charged these headphones once since I got them and that’s only because they arrived with a 50% battery life out of the box.

• Performance: 4.5/5

JBL Live 780NC: Value

• JBL Live 780NC sound better than their price
• Similar features in other headphones cost more
• Only a few headphones come with better battery life

Aesthetically and design-wise, the JBL Live 780NC look like the mid-tier headphones that they are. But, the amount of features on hand as well as the superb sound quality (as long as you’re okay with a big low end) and impressive battery life feel like they belong in a more expensive pair.

If we look at other wireless headphones out there, the Sony WH-1000XM6 are one of the first ones to pop up on any best of list. While their ANC is probably the best out there (along with Bose’s top options), they also go for a much heftier $449 / £399 / AU$699. They also have a more limited battery life, lasting 30 hours with ANC on. And they’re a bit more limited when it comes to other features. They would get a little bit of a pass regarding the limited features since they’ve been out since 2024, but the prices haven’t really come down much since their release. You might find them at around $400, but not really any less than that outside of a sales event.

You can find some headphones with better battery life like the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, which provide up to 100 hours of battery life. But those are more expensive, at $299 / £249 (AU$510 approx.), and don’t offer spatial audio support. On top of that, the ANC is not as good on the Cambridge as it is on the JBL.

• Value: 4.5/5

Should I buy the JBL Live 780NC?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

JBL Live 780NC: Also consider

How I tested the JBL Live 780NC

• Tested over a two-week period
• Tested with different music as well as video streaming and gaming
• Tested the various features

I spent two weeks using the JBL Live 780NC as my daily headphones. While using them, I listened to all sorts of genres from electronic and hip hop to rock and acoustic music to compare the frequency range and soundstage. I also tested them with streaming video, video games, and used the various settings such as ANC, transparency mode, EQ, and multipoint.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing audio equipment and have spent even longer using my critical ear as a listener and musician to understand what does and doesn’t sound good.

• First reviewed in April 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

It’s been a long five years of waiting, but Apple has finally unveiled the AirPods Max 2. In a similar surprise drop to the original AirPods Max, there was no event for the second version — just a press release announcing the AirPods Max 2, with shipping beginning in "early April".

Ahead of their launch, I’ve spent a few days putting AirPods Max 2 through their paces — while the images above and below might have you thinking I'm wearing the AirPods Max (or the USB-C refresh), these are, indeed, the new model.

The AirPods Max 2 retain the look that's become a modern icon (just look at how many knock-offs are around for evidence), but under the hood they use Apple's most up-to-date H2 chip to power their features, plus a new high dynamic range amplifier modeled on the one in AirPods Pro 3. That's paired with 40mm drivers in each earcup.

The biggest upgrades come in the form of the new features enabled by the H2 chip, with Adaptive Audio, Personalized Volume, and improved Voice Isolation making the move from Apple's earbuds over to its headphones.

Familiar looks with a new chip under the hood

Maybe most importantly, Apple is sticking with the $549 price in the US, the same as the original. In the UK, the price has actually been reduced to £499 from the original's £599. In Australia, the price has risen, though, to AU$999 instead of AU$899 for the original.

The premium design is the same — aluminum earcups, stainless steel frame, and that satisfying heft — and still feels thoughtfully engineered. The telescoping arms glide smoothly, making it easy to find a comfortable fit.

The headband — or “canopy” as Apple calls it — still uses a breathable mesh that distributes weight well without creating pressure points. The memory foam ear cushions remain plush, and I appreciate that they’re magnetically attached for easy swapping.

Plenty of folks wear their AirPods Max for walks or even workouts, but it’s worth noting there’s still no official sweat resistance here.

The controls are unchanged, and that’s mostly a good thing. You get a supersized Digital Crown for volume and playback control, alongside the 'Listening Mode button' to toggle between Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency, and Adaptive Audio.

One slight letdown is that there are no new colors. Apple is sticking with the same five introduced with the USB-C refresh — Blue, Orange, Purple, Midnight, and Starlight. My test sample is Blue, which feels a bit more muted than the equivalent color original AirPods Max came, in but still looks sharp.

The Smart Case is also unchanged. It still doesn’t look especially protective, but in my experience with the first-generation it does protect the premium headphones well. It also triggers the low-power sleep mode when the headphones are inside. A USB-C to USB-C cable comes in the box.

So visually, not much has changed — but the differences become clear once you start listening.

Bold sound with a wider soundstage, and Spatial Audio still impresses

Just like the previous generation, the AirPods Max 2 sound excellent across pretty much any genre, and Spatial Audio only raises the bar here. The soundstage feels wider, and each element comes through with impressive clarity and separation.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Down On the Corner is a great example — maracas sit distinctly to one side, cymbals and drums to the other, with John Fogerty’s vocals locked-in center stage. Even as the track fills out, it never feels crowded — it’s a personal favorite of mine for testing Spatial Audio.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen absolutely springs to life. The AirPods Max 2 deliver that signature wave of sound with real energy, but crucially without losing detail. You can still pick out the drums, piano, and guitar as they build, and even the final crescendo — in which the elements can blur together on lesser headphones — stays defined and driving.

For a pop track, Miley Cyrus’ Younger You is a strong test for higher-frequency vocals. The AirPods Max 2 present a detailed, slightly brighter profile, with vocals sitting cleanly front and center before the instrumentation builds around them.

Pretty much any genre sounds great here — and more importantly, everything sounds consistent.

Noise cancellation is improved as well — Apple claims it's up to 1.5x better — and I could hear a difference over the (still impressive) original model. Loud sounds are reduced even further, whether it’s city noise, a crowded cafe, or the hum of an air conditioning system.

It’s not dramatically different at first, but over time you notice just how much quieter your environment becomes. I even tried simulating airplane noise on my speakers at home, and AirPods Max 2 brought it down to a low, manageable hum.

The AirPods Max 2's Transparency mode remains among the best, and now sounds slightly more natural. You don't get the artificial hiss you sometimes hear on other headphones, and it does a convincing job of letting the outside world in.

Adaptive Audio is the real game-changer here

That sets the stage for Adaptive Audio, which blends active noise cancellation and Transparency modes into one smarter option, and it's really the standout addition here. Instead of manually switching modes, Adaptive Audio dynamically balances noise cancellation and audio pass-through in real time.

I wore the AirPods Max 2 out to grab coffee, and they blocked out most background noise while letting in nearby voices just enough to let me stay aware. It feels less like you're toggling settings, and more like the headphones are actively adjusting to your environment. In my testing, Adaptive Audio performs just as well here as it does on the AirPods Pro.

After a quick setup — I just had to hold the AirPods Max 2 near my iPhone — they quickly paired with my Apple Account. From there, it was seamless hopping between devices: iPhone for music and calls, MacBook Pro for meetings, iPad for streaming, then over to Apple TV 4K for late-night watching.

That fast switching feels faster than the old model — nearly instant at times — likely thanks to the H2 chip. It’s a small but meaningful upgrade that makes the whole experience feel more fluid.

Call quality also gets a noticeable boost. Voice Isolation, powered by the H2 chip and working across your connected devices — like an iPhone or Mac — does a better job of keeping your voice clear while reducing background noise. In testing, it made a clear difference, especially in busier environments.

Battery life is unchanged on paper at up to 20 hour. I was able to get through a full workday of meetings, calls, and music or podcast playback, then keep the AirPods Max 2 on for a few TV episodes at night — or while walking the dog — before needing to recharge. Of course, we’ll need to put the Max 2 through more long-term testing.

The AirPods Max 2 might look nearly identical to their predecessor, but after spending a few days with them it’s clear this is the update they needed. The H2 chip unlocks meaningful improvements across sound, noise control, and everyday usability, while Adaptive Audio helps them feel noticeably smarter.

And given Apple’s track record of adding features to AirPods with newer chips, there’s a good chance the Max 2 will continue to evolve over time — just as we’ve seen with Adaptive Audio and other software-driven upgrades like Hearing Health on the AirPods Pro.

If you’ve held onto your original AirPods Max since the launch in 2020, I think the new model makes a strong case for upgrading — especially if you’ve been waiting for better noise control and smarter features. And if you’re jumping in fresh, these are some of the best over-ear headphones I've heard, now with a feature set that better matches the high price.

I've tested my fair share of contenders for the best cheap headphones list we maintain, and there are plenty more options I've tested that don't make the cut. I'm used to reviewing models which are great, but don't make their way onto the list since there are even better options out there (and few spaces on the round-up).

I've tested two such pairs of headphones already this year already, and since publishing my reviews, I've kept using both of them. These headphones have kept covering my ears even though I have even more juicy stuff to review — and I really should be getting on with that — because they each have a really useful and really distinct, advantage over each other. And so if you're on the market for new and affordable headphones (especially with the Amazon Big Spring Sale happening), they're both worth considering.

• View the full Amazon Big Spring Sale

But they're both worth considering for different kinds of buyers. So I'll run you through what we're looking at, and which of the two you should pick up. And since I gave them both equally high-rated reviews, I'll list them in that most revered of orders: alphabetical.

1. OneOdio Focus A1 Pro

The cheapest of the two pairs of headphones is the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro, at $34.99 / £43.99 (roughly AU$85). It comes from a brand that had previously impressed me with its open-style and DJ headphones, and this budget line (Focus) has already won accolades from us.

The selling point of the A1 Pro? The sound: I've tested plenty of cheap cans which have muddy or tinny audio, and these headphones actually sounded pretty good for the price. I'm not going to pretend you're getting Sennheiser-level sound, but I was impressed by the crisp audio. If you're an audiophile on a budget, you could do a lot worse.

I should note, though, that there's no app here; that'll be great news for some and annoying for others, but it means there's no equalizer. They also weren't the most comfortable cans I've ever used, and struggled in the feature department compared to my next options…

2. SoundPeats Cove Pro

The SoundPeats Cove Pro cost a little more money, at $69.99 / £69.99 (around AU$140), but that's still easily in the 'cheap' bracket. I've been really impressed with earbuds from the brand recently, so I had high expectations from these bay-named blowers.

While the audio quality didn't match the OneOdio, it was fine. However the real selling point of these headphones is the range of features they offer. You're getting a spectacular 95-hour battery life, a listening test to create your own EQ mix, and support for Bluetooth 6.0. That's a lot better than you'd usually expect for affordable models.

I also found the Cove Pro more comfortable to wear than the Focus A1, with the pads softer and larger so they didn't crush my tender little ears. If sound quality isn't your biggest concern, but you want something reliable, easy to use, and that you can wear for super-long periods in more ways than one, these are going to be the better pick for you.

More of today's best Amazon Big Spring Sale deals

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks, Echo & tablets from $18
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods, AirTags & iPads from $17
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Easter: gifts under $50 for all ages
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Toys: 57% off Lego, Tonies & board games
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4: Two-minute review

When I sat down and first started listening to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4, sitting at my desk at home, I was mildly pleased with their audio performance. But when I started using them out and about in the world, not in my cosy chair, these quickly became some of my least favorite headphones to test in recent months. Some of the best earbuds around for the cash-savvy buyer? Sadly, no.

That’s a surprise; I gave the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro an almost-perfect review score, and expected these affordable alternatives to fare just as well. But I have been loathe to use them during the testing period, for one simple reason.

These earbuds just wouldn’t stay in my ears. When I was sitting still at home, they’d more or less work fine – although they’d often slip from their default position so the drivers were further from my ears than they should be. If this was the entirety of my testing, I’d give them a perfectly fine review, but life’s not just about sitting still.

When I went on walks with the buds, they’d slip constantly, and I’d have to readjust them several times each minute to push them back in. I like to walk, and went on multiple hour-long rambles during the testing time. Imagine how long I had my hands in my ears, fidgeting and fixing slippage.

They also fared incredibly poorly on public transport (too shaky), when I was in bed (too angled) and even sometimes when I’d rotated my swivelling office chair. I didn't dare take them to the gym or on a run.

Even if the things weren’t flung from my ears multiple times per song, they have a truly awful battery life; with ANC and other features turned on, I’d get about three hours per charge. And that's before I even mention the meagre ANC performance – because of the poor fit, the active noise cancellation algorithm here has absolutely zero chance of stopping you hearing the sounds around you.

There are some elements of the Galaxy Buds 4 that you might like: they offer really high-quality music, and do look classy. And if you’re lucky enough to have ears like vices, you might not have the same fit issues I did – but I’ve never had issues quite like this in other similar buds, and know Samsung’s earbuds have a reputation for poor fit, so I really don’t think it’s a me problem.

A quick Google search shows that users had the same issue with the Buds 3. It's easy to find reports of them slipping out of the ears, so it's clear that this is a recurring issue which the company hasn't fixed. I try to avoid reading coverage of products I'm testing, but I've already seen reports of Buds 4 users having the same issue.

If you’ve got the money and a Samsung phone, the easier fix is to splash out a little more on the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, with their ear-tips offering a more secure fit (though not a perfect one). But honestly, there are countless great wireless earbuds for this much or less, that won’t jump from your ear at every opportunity.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Price and release date

• Announced in February 2026, released March
• Sells for $179 / £159 / AU$299
• No price change from past models

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 were announced at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25, and have been available to buy from March 11, just like the Pro model and the Samsung Galaxy S26 series.

The retail price of the buds is $179 / £159 / AU$299, which is a mid-range price for earbuds like these, though they seem affordable when compared to the $249 / £219 / AU$399 Buds 4 Pro. There’s been no price hike over the Galaxy Buds 3, which is always good to see.

I know what you’re wondering: ‘how does that compare to Apple?’. The AirPods 4 with ANC cost $179 / £179 / AU$299, a very similar price point: the same in the US and Australia, but pricier in the UK. But if you don’t need ANC, the standard AirPods 4 cost $129 / £129 / AU$219, so they’re cheaper.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Specs

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Features

• Buds last about 3 hours per charge
• ANC has limited effectiveness
• Range of handy features

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 technically do have noise cancellation, but due to their open-fit design (think Apple EarPods), they don’t plug up your ear to stop outside noise leaking in. So practically, they reduce very little noise. I could notice some noise cancellation when turning the feature off and on, but only a marginal amount.

Sometimes when I had the buds in but wasn't listening to music, I could hear them try to compensate for loud noises by pumping out what sounded like white noise. Not only did it fail to stop the background noise, it added a little extra layer of annoyance. Don’t buy these if you need good ANC.

Don’t buy them if you need a long-lasting battery either; their play time is abysmal. With ANC turned off you’re only looking at 6 hours of listening; Samsung’s official figure puts ANC-on listening at five hours but in my own testing, with features like SSC (Samsung Seamless Codec) turned on, I was barely scraping three.

You can get about five recharges from the case, which isn’t amazing, but didn’t affect me too much during my testing weeks. Just remember to plug them in regularly.

But now we can move onto the other features, and there’s a lot more to like there. The buds support Bluetooth 6.1, with support for codecs like SSC, AAC, SBC and LC3 (no LDAC). I had a few Bluetooth dropouts during my time with the buds, but not so many that it couldn’t have been environmental.

The buds offer a range of tools like call sharpening profiles, spatial audio with head tracking, a nine-band equalizer with presets, volume normalization, adaptive sound to cater for how you wear your earbuds (i.e., at what stage of falling out they’re at) and so on. You can even use the buds to tap into nearby audio broadcasts.

The only major omission is multipoint connection, but that’s not even a feature I’d consider mandatory in earbuds. There’s also no listening test, like in the Pro, but I didn’t find it wholly useful in those buds so again, no (further) marks docked.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Design

• Swanky 'Blade' look
• Charging case is small and light
• Buds aren't designed for sticking in ear

I’ve got to say, I really like the Samsung Galaxy Bud 4’s charging case. It’s a lightweight, see-through square box, that the buds easily slot into. It weighs just 45.1g and measures 51 x 51 x 28.3mm, and really disappeared into my pocket.

The buds themselves look pretty good too, with their refined ‘Blade’ designed from the Buds 3 stripping out the lights and much of the fuss. The polished silver metal band on the white buds I tested looks great, but there’s also a black model you can pick up.

Unfortunately, that’s basically all I can praise about the Buds 4’s design, because for the three weeks I tested the buds, their build was the bane of my existence.

I’ve already spent much of the introduction to this article moaning about the Galaxy Buds 4’s fit, but in case you skipped that: these things just don’t stay still in your ears. If they’re not outright falling out, they’re moving around so that the drivers are pointing any which way, making music sound worse.

This'll no doubt be worst for people with big ears, but a few design decisions ensure that they won't be a good fit for anyone. The lack of a tip means you can’t just wedge the Buds 4 in your ears and hope for the best, and the material of the body is so smooth and friction-free that it fails to keep them anchored in ears.

It feels like the weighting of the buds is wrong too, so their own heft causes them to list and then fall from the ears. They’re not heavy, at just 4.6g, but the amount of ear-pirouettes they managed suggests the center of gravity is off in some way.

On the Buds 4’s stem, there’s a touch control: swipe up or down for volume, or pinch to play and pause your music. I quickly discovered that swiping was just another way for me to fling the buds out of my ears, but pinching is great: a light click lets you know that your demand was registered.

• Design score: 2.5/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Sound quality

• Single driver per bud
• High-quality streamed music
• Detailed sound

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 have a single driver per ear; it’s one of the big downgrades from the Pro, with the bass-focused woofer absent. It’s a shame, because extra bass oomph is needed: it might go some way in mitigating how quickly you lose it when the earbuds start to slip…

Generally speaking, and when you’re sitting still with the Buds 4 angled perfectly, they sound about as good as you’d expect for the price. They’re bright and detailed; the acoustic guitars in Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel sparkle and the keys in the piano introduction to Tiny Dancer by Elton John had just as much personality as the rocket man’s own voice did.

The lack of a dedicated woofer hurts, when comparing these to the Buds 4 Pro. Bass isn’t as scooping and defined as I’d like, instead sounding muddy indistinct. If you listen to Phosphorscent’s C’est La Vie No.2 by Phosphorescent or The Rocketeer by Foxy Shazam, the bass just melts into the band and loses its edge.

Detail and quality really is the name of the game here, as for all their strengths and weaknesses, you’re hearing it all… at least, if you’re using a Samsung phone, which allows for the SSC-UHQ codec. This allows for 24-bit/96kHz transmission, and makes an audible difference over listening on other devices.

So the Galaxy Buds 4 aren’t the best earbuds I’ve tested, even at the price, but they’re decent. But remember everything I said about the fit? Yeah – between the slow slipping and leaking background sound, I very rarely got the best from the buds. When I used them while walking, or on public transport, the bass vanished pretty quickly and often the mids were drowned out by noise, leaving only some hi-hats and vocals to enjoy.

The buds have a fairly high max volume, but I noticed something odd: the bass would audibly drop from the mix as I got near the top. Every time I pressed ‘volume up’ from five steps off max, every instrument would get louder, except for the bass which would step back. It meant two or three presses of my volume keys would result in a drastically different sound mix, and it was much tinnier-sounding at the top than I’d expect.

• Sound quality: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Value

• Mid-range price for buds
• Other options get you more for your money

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 aren’t cheap, and honestly, you’re within your rights to expect a little more from your earbuds.

A single driver? A sub-movie-length battery life? A design that doesn’t seem well thought out? If these were budget buds I’d understand, but $179 / £159 / AU$299 is far from cheap in the varied world of wireless earbuds.

There are other similar-priced options out there which offer you a lot more for your money, or give a similar package to the Buds 4 but at a fraction of the cost.

• Value: 3/5

Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 review: Also consider

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4

• Tested for a month
• Tested at home, on walks and on public transport

I tested the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 immediately after the Pro model, so they were a natural comparison. I used them paired to a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra phone for the duration of the testing process, and listened to audio on Spotify, internal storage, various streaming services and games.

The test process for the buds was around three weeks, though I used them occasionally for a week prior when I received them at the same time as the Pro.

I've been reviewing gadgets at TechRadar for about 8 years now, including plenty of earbuds and Samsung gadgets (including the Buds 3 Pro too).

• First reviewed in March 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• AirPods Max 2 are available to order March 25th for $549 / AU$999
• New H2 chip brings tons of smart features and '1.5x' better noise cancellation
• There's a new amplifier for improved audio quality

Apple has just announced AirPods Max 2 at long last, just over five years after the December 2020 launch of the original AirPods Max.

The new model will be available to order on March 25th for $549 and March 26th in Australia for AU$999, with Apple promising a release "early next month", meaning April 2026.

The AirPods Max 2 include Apple's H2 headphones chip, the same as in the AirPods Pro 3, plus a new "high dynamic range amplifier" for improved audio.

The H2 chip means a ton of new features are coming to this model, including Adaptive Audio, so Transparency mode can adjust itself to block some unnecessary sounds; Conversation Awareness so the headphones can let sound in if you start talking to someone; and Loud Sound Reduction and Personalized Volume to help protect your hearing and to keep the sound profile to your liking.

There's now Live Translation as an option, where the AirPods will pipe a translated version of what someone says to you into your ears if it's in a supported language; Voice Isolation to improve your call quality when it's loud around you; and "Studio-quality audio recording" right from the headphones' mics.

You can now respond to certain things Siri says to you with a nod or shake of the head, and you can now control your iPhone camera using the Digital Crown — something Nothing's just added with its mid-range Nothing Headphone (a) offering.

Apple also says that the active noise cancellation is now "up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation" — and when I recently re-tested the original AirPods Max against the rest of the best noise-cancelling headphones, I found them to still hold up very well, so they could go straight to the top of the pack here.

Apple hasn't said whether there's any change to the audio drivers in the AirPods Max 2, but says that there's a "new high dynamic range amplifier" with the aim of delivering the same kind of sound signature as the previous AirPods Max, but "cleaner."

The original AirPods Max's sound signature was always one of the more neutral-sounding options among the mainstream headphones brands, though Sony has moved move in that direction recently with the Sony WH-1000MX6, so it'll be interesting to see how well Apple has maintained this.

The AirPods Max always did a great job with offering a natural and expansive sound, so if Apple really as added an upgrade to the 'cleanness', these could be very revealing indeed, depending on how they handle different sources.

Speaking of course, there is — disappointingly but unsurprisingly — still no word on any kind of higher-res wireless audio support here, but there is 24-bit/48kHz Hi-Res Audio support available over USB-C, which TechRadar's audio editor tried in the older-gen model's update and really loved. As before, there's no pure 3.5mm headphone jack — you'll need a USB-C adapter.

Apple says they'll have lower wireless latency when playing in Game Mode on compatible Apple devices.

They promise 20 hours of listening time, with spatial audio and active noise cancellation enabled, which is pretty disappointing. We really expect 30 hours as a minimum these days (though I'd expect more than that figure if you have spatial audio turned off).

The design looks like it hasn't changed at all, though Apple has history of quietly reengineering things that appear to be the same as the previous generation, so it have subtle changes that aren't obvious until we try them.

Notably, and again disappointingly, they haven't shed any weight. In fact, at 386.2g, they're 1.4g heavier than the original.

And yes, they still come with the little Smart Case (which some of the team call the 'AirPods bra') for travel.

They're available in Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple and Orange colors, and I'm at least glad they kept a nice range of hues available for the new version — though my favorite was always the green, which seems to have disappeared.

I've got a couple of flights coming up, and in all honesty, I think I'd struggle through them if it weren't for my Sony WH-1000XM6 noise-cancelling headphones.

We've all been there. You queue up for your flight. You sit down, strap in. And then you hear it. An almighty scream. Maybe even two or three. This is going to be a long journey.

But that doesn't have to be the case. See, I was lucky enough to fly a few times last year, and when using the Sony WH-1000XM6, I could barely hear a single thing around me. That's because these cans harness the power of twelve microphones — four more than the Sony WH-1000XM5 — in order to deliver top-of-the-range active noise cancellation.

As a result, Sony's latest flagship headphones have helped me enjoy music or movies without any interruptions on flights, trains, or any form of public transport. And I couldn't imagine life without them now.

And there's good news if you're considering snapping up these headphones for yourself. The Sony WH-1000XM6 are available for a joint-record low $398 (was $459.99) at Amazon US, and only £329 (was £399) at Amazon UK. That's a phenomenal deal in both territories.

Oh, and if you're in the UK and want to browse more springtime deals, make sure to head on over to our Amazon Spring Deal Days hub. Right...into the deals!

In my Sony WH-1000XM6 review, I described these headphones as 'the best of the XM4 and XM5 in one new pair of cans'. That's because Sony's flagship headphones bring all the sleekness and swagger of the XM5, but also return to the XM4's foldable design, ensuring they're stylish yet practical, too.

But there's more. In terms of sound quality, it's seriously tough to beat the XM6 — especially at this discounted price. They offer a more refined sound signature than their predecessors, with a more balanced approach and a wider soundstage. You still get palpable bass and expressive treble here, but mids are beautifully rich too, and when using Sony's higher-res LDAC codec, you can experience intricacies that you may have never heard before.

The discount currently available applies to each of the XM6's colorways, which include Black, Midnight Blue, Platinum Silver, and the newly added Sand Pink. So, if you want to get the best headphones around at a discounted price, make sure to snap up the Sony WH-1000XM6 today.

I use headphones every day, whether it's travelling, working from the office or jamming out to my favourite tunes at home, and my go-to pair are the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless. And now's your chance to get them for cheap, as the Momentum 4's (Black/Copper) have just hit a record-low price of £160.99 (was £204.86) at Amazon as part of its Spring Deal Days sale.

• View the full Amazon Spring Deal Days sale

Delivering excellent sound quality, impressive noise cancelling, a sleek design, and a nice list of features, the Momentum 4 walk all over many of the best headphones on the market at this discounted price, for me.

There are tons of great offers in the Amazon Spring Deal Days sale, but if you're looking for new headphones, this should be your first port of call.

Today's best Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless deal

Perfect for the everyday

I've had my Sennheiser Momentum 4 for over two years now, and I love them. Their shining light is their excellent sound quality, which can adapt to any genre.

Whether I'm listening to the twinkling piano of To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X or the crushing guitars, mighty drums, and soaring and wailing vocals of Vinushka by Dir En Grey, the Momentum 4 really are adept with any type of sound. EQ controls can be tweaked to really fit any sound preferences, but even the presets are solid.

It's not just music where the Momentum 4 flex their muscles, as I find listening to podcasts and audiobooks delivers crystal clear speech, regardless of the speaker's pitch or tone.

The Momentum 4 also deliver superb noise cancelling, which is effective at cutting out the blaring horns of traffic in the city centre and raised conversations on public transport. They're perfect for when I'm trying to focus during a particularly lively day at the office, too.

While they're not as flashy as some of the best wireless headphones, the Momentum 4 are comfortable and fairly lightweight, meaning they won't cause a fuss during long journeys. I also like the copper detail around the earcups to add a little bit more style, and thankfully, this is the design on sale.

It's not just me who loves the Momentum 4 as Becky Scarrott, TechRadar's Audio Editor, awarded them a perfect 5 stars in her Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review, calling them a 'seriously good set of wireless over-ear headphones'.

For this price, I cannot recommend the Momentum 4 enough, so if you're on the hunt for new headphones, these should be top of your list!

More of today's best Amazon Spring Deal Days deals

• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Blink & Echo from £13.99
• Apple: AirPods & Apple Watch from £139
• Appliances: up to 30% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Clothing: up to 50% off Sketchers & Crocs
• Essentials: from £5
• Gaming: up to 50% off PS5 & Switch games
• Headphones: Sony & Shokz from £59
• Health & Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Smart home: up to 50% off cameras & doorbells
• Smartwatches: Apple, Samsung & Huawei from £99
• Tablets: Fire & Galaxy Tabs from £59.99
• Toys: up to 30% off Lego
• TVs: from £139.99
• Vacuums: up to 30% off Shark & Vax

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Two-minute review

Can earbuds be fantastic, and a disappointment, at the same time? Apparently so: the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are some of the best earbuds I’ve ever tested, but the company has failed to address any of the issues which put buyers (myself included) off the Buds 3 Pro.

The latest AirPods Pro rivals from Samsung were released alongside the Galaxy S26 Ultra and co., including a cheaper Galaxy Buds 4 with a few choice downgrades. The Korean company doesn’t just upgrade its audio line-up annually, seemingly waiting for tech to move on enough to justify a newer model. And the good news is, there’s no doubt that these 2026 earbuds prove themselves against their predecessors.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro sit among the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever tested, with a driver upgrade letting them stack up against audiophile-designed premium options I’ve tried like the triple-driver Status Pro X and slightly-more-affordable Creative Aurvana Ace 3. You’re going to have to pay a lot to get better in-ear sounds, or opt for a wired pair.

The upgrade is in the woofer, designed for bass, which Samsung says is 20% bigger than before. This allows for meaty but controlled bass, allowing the buds to retain the warm sound of past models but without overshadowing mids and trebles.

You can also get incredibly high-quality sound thanks to Samsung’s own SSC Bluetooth standard, but only if you’re using a Galaxy phone. The fact that you need a handset from the company to unlock all the features is something we complained about in the past buds, and it’s just one of several issues from older models that hasn’t been addressed. As TechRadar's audio editor wrote recently, if Samsung revived Milk Music so we never had to leave the Galaxy ecosystem, it might be a different story, in the way that Apple Music is the irrefutable bridge between Apple's AirPods and its iPhone, but that isn't the case (so I do still have to mention it).

And that's not the only issue that's been carried over. Take, for example, the proprietary ear-tip locking system which saw the Buds 3 Pro delayed. It’s still here! Removing and replacing them is much more fiddly than it needs to be, and yanking them off runs the risk of tearing your tip in two – you also can’t use the vast majority of ‘standard’ ear-tips here, so if you’ve got a selection you’ve bought or leftovers from past earbuds you’ve owned, they’re basically landfill now. Please cough up more cash for Samsung-approved ones.

Compounding the problem is the fit: the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro didn’t stay in my ear especially well, and I know this is a problem that plagued 3 Pro users too. The tip material doesn’t offer enough friction to keep the buds in there when you’re on the go, and there’s a lack of any other stabilizing design features like a fin or balanced weighting, which could go some way in rectifying the problem.

Many of my Galaxy Buds 4 Pro gripes are smaller pain points that you’ll easily get used to, but the fit problem is a real shame: it was a complained-about point a year and a half ago on the older model, and it’s something that doesn’t get better over time.

Know this: I struggled with whether to list the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro with a 4-star or 4.5-star review rating, but I keep coming back to the excellent sound quality and ANC efficacy. If you've got a Samsung phone, you know they'll fit OK, you're good at charging your buds regularly and you're not fussed about switching the ear-tips, they're a 4.5-star product all day long. For the rest of the music-loving market? They're a solid 4… 

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Price and release date

• Announced in February 2026, released March
• Sells for $249 / £219 / AU$399
• No price hike from past models

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro were unveiled on February 25, 2026, and put on sale on March 11. That’s the same as the phones they were announced alongside: the Galaxy S26 series.

To buy the new buds, you’ll have to shell out $249 / £219 / AU$399. That’s certainly a high price for earbuds in today's market, signalling them as premium options, though it’s worth noting that the previous model also launched at this price.

Let’s put that in context: the latest AirPods Pro cost $249 / £219 / AU$429 so it’s a similar price in most places, but Samsung undercuts Apple in Australia. The standard Galaxy Buds 4 go for $179 / £159 / AU$299 so they’re naturally cheaper, but you’re getting an open-style bud for that price (think Apple's AirPods 4).

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Specs

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Features

• 7/30-hour battery life, less with ANC or features
• Fantastic ANC, and intelligent ambient mode
• Plenty of useful features in app

Samsung doesn’t make as much of a song and dance about its ANC capabilities as, say, Bose (literally calling its headphones ‘QuietComfort’), but the good news is, these are still incredible at reducing background noise. I spent hours of testing near busy roads, while work was being done on my neighbors’ home, and on flights, and found them some of the most adept noise-removers I’ve used.

Even better, they have an ambient mode that’s actually good. It does what these modes should do: dampens your surroundings, but retains speech and other important nearby noises. It could be stronger in the noise cancellation department, letting in a little more than I’d always like, but it’s still much better than the vast majority of alternatives.

Battery life here is unchanged from the past models: 7 hours of ANC-off listening, with the case granting extra up to 30 hours. That’s not a particularly competitive battery life today, especially when you consider that the listening time is even less with ANC turned on: expect about 4-5 hours in the buds if you try to remove background noise, and even less if you use all the features on offer.

Using your smartphone, you can get a few more features from the Buds 4 Pro. You can change noise cancellation modes, toggle what the touch controls do, enable head gestures (nod or shake your head for incoming calls or to Bixby), and setup an on-bud assistant.

There’s also a nine-band equalizer with a custom mode or several presets, and several ways to customize your sound including 360 audio, loudness normalisation, adaptive listening and a hearing test. This latter is simpler than the alternatives offered by many rivals, and didn’t have an audible impact on music. I’m not convinced by this one.

Two other neat features are the ability to set up bespoke per-app settings that automatically apply, and the ability to tap into audio streams around you or broadcast them yourself (including to hearing aids). I can see business or accessibility benefits to both of these, and neither are perks I’m used to seeing in earbuds apps generally.

There’s a small handful of extra modes I would’ve liked to see, most glaringly any kind of low-latency mode to make gaming on a phone better. I also couldn’t find a way to enable multipoint pairing.

The earbuds use Bluetooth 6.1 for connectivity, which I don’t recall seeing in any earbuds before now. This is apparently meant to offer unparalleled connectivity, although I had a small handful of Bluetooth drop-outs in my testing time.

• Features score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Design

• Redesigned buds are sleek and light
• Case sees new look; improvement in a few ways
• Eartips are hard to remove and don't stick in ear well

There’s no denying that Galaxy Buds Pro are AirPods Pro-alikes, but with each successive generation Samsung blazes its own trail a little more, and that’s evident in the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro with their reimagined ‘blade’ look.

The buds now have a brushed-metal edge, which looks lovely and understated in the white model I tested, and pretty good in the black or pink versions too. Gone are the colorful light strips of the past-gen models, as well as the color coding so you know which bud goes in which side of the case.

What hasn’t gone, sadly, is Samsung’s proprietary ear-tip tech – this was a problem in the Buds 3 Pro, and it rears its ugly head here. The issues with this are twofold.

Firstly, it makes switching ear-tips a real pain, due to the company using its own locking mechanism. It’s hard to remove them without tearing them, something I avoided only by past mistakes (ripping the Buds 3 Pro’s tips), and reattaching them is incredibly fiddly. I imagine the third-party tip market is also greatly reduced thanks to the company eschewing the standard.

The second issue is the one that plagued my time with the Buds 4 Pro: they just didn’t stay in my ears very well. They’d slip now and then during testing, requiring readjusting, but the problem was worst when I went running: the things just wouldn’t stay in. This was despite testing the different in-box tip sizes, and at a guess I’d say the papery tip material just isn’t providing enough friction or purchase in the ear. I’d suggest buying replacements, but good luck finding them with the locking mechanisms – manufacturers actually sold clip-on ear fins for the Buds 3 Pro, and if equivalents are released for the new model, that’d be your best bet to stop these things getting jettisoned at every bump.

Other than those issues, the buds were comfortable to wear, even for long periods of time. They weigh about 5g each, which is about average for earbuds like these. One of the buds’ features also compensates the sound if you wear them wrong (ie, at bonkers angles like vertically or horizontally).

The buds have on-stem controls: slide up or down to control volume, pinch once or hold for various other options. You need to grip a little harder than on some alternative options I’ve used, so it took some getting used to, but eventually I found controlling the buds on-ear pretty effective.

One other element of the buds package that’s seen a change is the charging case, which now uses a clamshell-style look with a see-through case so you can peer at your buds (and check they’re in there, if you frequently forget to return them to the case. It was much easier to return the buds to this case than the last one, with less fiddling about to insert them into a small gap. Wireless charging is back too.

The case was a little blocky though, and not as ergonomic as the Buds 3 Pro’s, so felt a little more prominent in my pocket. The transparent section also shows scratches and fingerprints

• Design score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Sound quality

• Tweeter and woofer, each with own amplifier
• Well-defined bass, bustling with energy
• Samsung phone needed for highest-res audio

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro offer two drivers: a tweeter and woofer, and each has its own amplifier. This all means that high- and low- pitch sounds get their own TLC, and Samsung’s big selling point on these new buds is that the woofer is bigger than anything it’s used before, allowing for better control over bass.

There’s no denying that the Samsungs provide absolutely fantastic audio quality. The sound is energetic, with crackling mids and powerful treble. Pop songs like the conveniently-released Automatic Glow by The Hoosiers or Dharma Baby by Brett Dennen benefit from the unrivalled clarity and timbre the buds provide, especially songs with plenty of instruments that’d otherwise blur into one giant mush.

I personally spent most of my listening time in with the Dynamic EQ preset on, because I found it to exacerbate the Buds 4 Pro’s strengths and reduce their weakness, at least compared to the default preset.

The bass doesn’t overwhelm, as I initially feared when hearing about the upgrade, and instead it’s just better formed: it’s scooping, well-defined and better balanced with the rest of the sound. Even in bassy songs, like Proleter’s April Showers, bass walks arm-in-arm with the other instruments instead of overriding them, and in DENM’s Life’s 2 Short it succeeds in creating a real harmonising bass, as opposed to some deep rumble that sits alongside the rest of the song.

There’s a lovely sense of expanse through the soundstage here too, even if you don’t turn on the Spatial Audio setting, which I personally kept off for most of the testing. And the maximum volume is way higher than you’d ever need to go, which is another plus.

There’s one giant catch here: the incredible quality is only available on Samsung phones, thanks to their support for the company’s SSC codec (which has to be enabled in the buds’ settings). This allows for a sample rate of up to 24-bit/96kHz, which means it'll handle lossless playback with ease, but means that non-Samsung users might not be able to enjoy the highest quality music they otherwise would. I spent a week of the testing period using a non-Samsung Android, and while the buds still sound great, they’re certainly better on a Galaxy.

• Sound quality: 4.5/5

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Value

• They ain't cheap!
• You can save a lot of money if you want
• Good for certain Samsung-owning audiophiles

The Achilles’ Heel of any top-tier pair of earbuds like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, is that there’s no way they offer you superb value for money.

You can get decent earbuds for literally a fraction of the price; I have options I love which cost a quarter of what these earbuds will set you back. Sure, they don’t sound or look as good, and miss out loads of the Samsung features, but you’re saving money – and getting options which will stay in your ears!

For music lovers who can’t quite afford ‘true’ audiophile options, and have a Samsung phone, perhaps there’s a world in which these are good-value options (compared to the four-figure alternatives). But at the very best, you’re getting what you pay for: this ain’t no bargain.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Also consider

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro

• Tested for a month
• Tested at home, on walks, on public transport, on travels, while running and at the gym

I used the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro for just under three weeks to write this review. For the most part, they were paired with a Galaxy S26 Ultra, but I also used them briefly with a Galaxy S25 Plus, and for a while before that a OnePlus 15R. For a little while I also connected them to a cheap MP3 player.

I used a range of apps to test the buds. They played music from Spotify, Qobuz and internal storage, videos from YouTube, Now and Prime Video, and games from a pretty huge range of mobile titles. I also used them quite a bit just for their noise cancellation, with nothing playing.

The Buds 4 Pro are just the latest in a long line of earbuds I’ve used, including the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and options from Samsung’s sub-brands like AKG, JBL, Bowers & Wilkins and Denon. I’ve also handled loads of phones and tablets from the company, as part of my 7+ years of testing gadgets.

• First reviewed in March 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

I'm a proud owner of the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones, but I'm considering upgrading to the latest model. That's because the Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Headphones have crashed in price at Amazon to $398 (was $459.99). You can also get the Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Headphones for £329 (was £399) at Amazon UK.

This is only the third time we've seen Sony's latest and best noise-canceling headphones drop below $400. Given their flagship status amongst the best noise-cancelling headphones, this is a seriously good price.

The WH-1000XM6s feature a new and more powerful processor than previous models, a comfortable design, and, of course, excellent sound quality. This is the complete package, now at a record-low price.

Today’s best headphones deal

Four and a half stars out of five was what we gave these headphones in our extensive Sony WH-1000XM6 review. We actually called them the "best of the XM4 and XM5 in one new pair of cans," which means they're absolutely worth buying even if you own a predecessor.

Our reviewer, Harry Padoan, said they offered “class-leading noise cancellation” and “excellent audio performance." He was also incredibly glad to see the cans return to a foldable design, which many owners missed in the previous model.

We were a little disappointed that they're not waterproof, but we'd still happily put them at the top of our list of the best wireless headphones, and they’re a good bet if you're seeking the best noise-cancelling headphones. too.

With such fierce competition, there are other headphone deals around which are worthy of consideration. If it's the very best noise canceling tech that you're after, then take a look at the latest Bose headphone deals.

Soundpeats Cove Pro: Two-minute review

If you’re here because you’re interested in buying the best cheap headphones, let’s skip to the chase: these are now going to be the go-to pair I recommend for the foreseeable future. They’re not perfect, which is why there’s still over 1,000 words to this Soundpeats Cove Pro review, but for the money they're outstanding.

Soundpeats is constantly impressing me with its great-value audio offerings, like the indelible in-ear Soundpeats H3, or the reliable open Soundpeats Clip1, and so I’m not overly surprised that I’m giving out another glowing review to something from the company. It’s less versed in over-ears than other kinds of headphone, though, so there was always the chance of something going wrong.

The Cove Pro are fantastic headphones for people who just need any old pair of cans that’ll do the job, so you’ve got a way of listening to music when at home or on the go – they nail all of quality-of-life features you’ll want.

For example, the battery life is fantastic: 95 hours, or nearly four days straight. These aren’t going to give up the ghost during a long-haul flight, that’s for sure.

They’re also some of the most comfortable on-ears I’ve used recently, as the padding in the cups and headband is soft, and they’re not too heavy or pinchy over the crown of your noggin. What I'm saying is, you can leave them on your head for long periods of time without getting aches.

Audiophiles (or people who aren't sure of the title but are picky about their sound) might not be as impressed. The ANC is quite light-touch; the Cove Pro reduce sound more than ‘cancel’ it, and the audio isn’t as good as some other budget options I’ve tested. It’s a bit too warm and veers towards muddy, with a lower-end that isn’t as well-defined as on some alternatives. I wasn’t blown away, but bass-heads might still be happy.

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Price and release date

• Released in January 2025
• Sells for $69.99 / £69.99 (around AU$140)
• Cheap, but not cheap cheap in today's market

Soundpeats announced the Cove Pro in January 2026, following the rush of headphones that followed CES at the beginning of the year.

You can buy the Cove Pro for $69.99 / £69.99 (around AU$140), so they're fairly affordable cans – best suited for people who want decent headphones that'll last a long time, but don't need the highest quality or audio or premium features.

They’re not the very cheapest headphones that are worth considering – I recently tested the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro which sell for $34.99 / £43.99 (about AU$85), and there are a few other super-budget options worth buying like the Sony WH-CH520. But they’re still certainly a budget option compared to the big names on the block.

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Specs

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Features

• 95-hour battery life
• The ANC is very light-touch
• Nice perks like Bluetooth 6.0, listening test and LDAC

Possibly the most eye-catching spec of the Soundpeats Cove Pro is the battery life: up to 95 hours of ANC-off listening. Very few headphones crack the 100-hour barrier, and anything close like this deserves props.

The endurance drops quite a bit if you turn ANC on: down to 58 hours. That's quite a sacrifice to remove some sound, though in the grand scheme of things ~60 hours is still decent.

The ANC isn't very powerful here; it'll strip out the worst of background noises rather than remove them in any meaningful way. There's also an ambient mode, but I couldn't hear a difference between this and Normal (ANC off).

The Soundpeats app is the Cove Pro’s all-but-mandatory smartphone app. It's worth downloading, even though it forces you to create an account, because it offers a few features unusual in lower-cost headphones.

The app offers an equalizer (presets or 10-band custom mode), find my headphones function, spatial audio, bass booster and even a custom listening test which builds you a bespoke EQ mix. It’s clearly in a very early state – the pictures and text refers to earbuds, and one menu was in Mandarin, but it did a decent job of tweaking my audio and wasn’t too hard to use.

Unlike many budget music-blowers, the SoundPeats supports a few higher-res Bluetooth codecs, including LDAC, SBC and AAC. It connects via Bluetooth 6.0, and in my testing it didn't stop out at all – there was one brief stutter, and that was it.

• Features score: 4/5

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Design

• Light and comfortable to wear
• Useful on-cup controls, but no 3.5mm
• Bog-standard looks

When I pulled the Soundpeats Cove Pro from the box, I thought they were dead ringers for my old Sony WH-1000XM3s. Sure, there isn't a huge scope for variety in the world of headphone aesthetics, especially the budget market, but the design language is there.

These cans weigh 250g, with an IPX4 rating indicating that they’re splash-roof. The right cup has an ANC button, power button and volume rocker on it, and they're flush enough that I sometimes thought I'd missed pressing them until I got used to the feel of it. The exception is the power button, which has a little indent so you can easily differentiate it by feel.

The one thing I’d like to see is a 3.5mm port. As it stands, you can’t use an AUX cord to connect these to your music player.

I found the Cove Pro surprisingly comfortable; you can't always rely on the budget headphones for a good fit, but these felt great. The soft cups settle gently on the ears, and a large pad on the band keeps them nestled on your cranium. I could listen for long periods without any kind of strain or ache.

The headphones also feel surprisingly premium in terms of build quality. The plastic material feels a little more durable than the squeaky cheap stuff some rivals are made out of, and other traits of budget cans like rattly joins and a hollow-feeling body were all absent.

You can fold the Cove Pro in on itself to make it more portable, and they swivel and extend a fair amount to suit different sized heads.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Sound quality

• 40mm driver
• Messy low-end handling
• EQ can fix some issues

Like most budget headphones – actually, most cans at any budget – the Cove Pro have 40mm drivers. Soundpeats' website goes into detail on titanium-coated diaphragms, patterned dome drivers and magnets, all giving the impression of a thoughtful approach to audio – it’s all for naught, though, as they don’t sound any better than your average budget cans

Music is warm, sometimes too much – as I write this I’m listening to Old Ties and Companions by Watchhouse, and the timbre that should be created by the various acoustic instruments feels lacking because of the sound profile. Bass can sometimes blow out other parts of a song, especially with rock music, which can often see the bass guitar override guitars.

It’ll appeal to bass-heads for sure, and people who go to gigs so often that they don’t realize you’re not always supposed to hear and feel the bass above everything else. But I found it a bit too much – and using the Bass Reduction EQ preset sometimes wasn’t even enough.

Get through the bass, and you’ll find fairly detailed audio, though the lack of support for wired listening means these aren’t budget audiophile cans by any means. There’s a pronounced soundstage though, something you can’t always say about options at this price point, giving a little bit of extra sparkle to songs like T-Shirt Weather by Circa Waves and Such Great Heights by the Postal Service, which have bassless introductions so you can enjoy the atmosphere.

• Sound quality: 3.5/5

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Value

• At best, exceeds expectations for price
• At worst, matches expectations for price

The Soundpeats Cove Pro aren't quite the cheapest headphones on the market – or that have wowed TechRadar’s team recently – but they're not far off. And they offer top value for money.

The build quality here is better than I've come to see expect from budget cans, even if the looks won't win any awards for originality. And the feature set is better than many same-price rivals, with tools that you'd normally find in cans twice as pricey.

In its weaker departments, the Cove Pro still deliver at the level you'd expect for this price; they sound no worse than the average budget headset, and deliver enough ANC to trump rivals which don't offer the feature.

• Value: 4/5

Should I buy the Soundpeats Cove Pro?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Soundpeats Cove Pro review: Also consider

How I tested the Soundpeats Cove Pro

• Tested for a month
• Tested at home, on walks, on public transport and the gym

I used the Soundpeats Cove Pro for just over a month to write this review, immediately following a few of their big rivals.

I used the cans paired alongside my Android phone, listening on a variety of services. This included in a range of indoor and outdoor settings including, most challengingly, on a train ride home after a high-end audio show.

For TechRadar, I've already tested a wide range of budget headphones, including over-ear alternatives and other picks from Soundpeats.

• First reviewed in March 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

After teasing them for weeks, Nothing has officially unveiled its first budget-focused headphones, the Headphone (a). It had previously launched the premium-priced Nothing Headphone (1) for $299 / £299 / AU$549, but the Headphone (a) are launching for just $199 / £149 / AU$329.

So the (a) are a third cheaper than the (1) in the US, and half the price in the UK — but having already used the Headphone (a) extensively, I can tell you that they're somehow better than the Headphone (1). You can read my full Nothing Headphone (a) review if you want the in-depth low-down, or keep reading for the key info about the new model.

The Nothing Headphone (a) have 40mm drivers, and active noise cancellation. There's standard Bluetooth support, higher-res wireless using LDAC, or full-fat Hi-Res Audio over USB-C, plus a 3.5mm jack.

They have device-neutral spatial audio, elaborate EQ settings via the app, and customizable controls. Nothing promises 135-hour battery life with ANC off, and 75 hours with it on.

Here are the 5 elements I particularly want to highlight based on my testing that, in my opinion, make the new model better than the Headphone (1) — and you can read my full Nothing Headphone (1) review if you want more on that model.

1. The sound is better, even though it's not by Kef

Nothing made a big (ahem) song and dance about working with British hi-fi great Kef on a range of new audio products, and the Headphone (1) was the first of them. However, I ended up being disappointed by the sound of those, while I found the sound of the Nothing (a) to be superior, thanks to its far more expansive soundstage.

They're energetic and dynamic, and just great fun to listen too. Mine came with the EQ set to a bass-boosting mode, which wasn't bad, but got a little hot and heavy in some tracks. Switching to the 'Balanced' mode calmed this down, though.

2. The design is less divisive this time

Nothing has made interesting changes to the design that make them look less aggressively 'techy', even though not that much has changed overall. They still have flat-sided earcups with rounded corners and an oval sticking out of them, but this time Nothing has used plastic rather than aluminum, rounded off the ovals, and made the ovals a plain color, and as a result the (a) strike a better balance between Nothing's traditional 'you can see the tech' appearance and a regular headphone style.

They're still the same size overall, they're a little lighter (but still heavy compared to the competition) and fit snugly to the ears. But the build quality feels just as good as the Headphone (1), just in plastic rather than aluminum.

3. The battery life is class leading

135 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned off is basically as high as I've seen from anything on the market today. (I saw a pair of headphones offering 200 hours at CES, but they're not available yet; and they also double as Bluetooth speakers, so it's cheating.) The same goes for the 75 hours with noise cancellation on — it's huge.

Bear in mind that the super-premium Sony WH-1000XM6 offer 30 hours. 60 hours is common from other headphones. 75 hours is… big. And from my testing, it seems to be realistic.

4. Nothing kept all the best parts of the Headphone (1)

When I reviewed the Headphone (1), I said they were "so close to being the best headphones debut I've ever seen" despite being disappointed by them in a few areas, and that was thanks to a few really excellent features. The app is best-in-class when it comes to making it easy to access all their cool features, for example, and that's true here as well.

But it's the controls I really want to talk about. I love the roller button that does volume, play/pause and switching ANC modes. It feels so high-quality, and requires none of the guesswork of touch controls. The paddle control to change tracks is equally clear and useful, and the customizable button on the side is great for adding control for whatever app-based feature you like the most.

The icing in the cake is that they have my favorite sound for communicating whether you've switched to ANC on or off. It's just a short noise, but unlike most headphones, the two are absolutely unmistakeable. It's a breath of air rushing out for enabling transparency mode, and then a sucking down and slamming sound for active noise cancellation. A little thing that makes you realize how mediocre everyone else is when it comes to handling this key feature.

5. This all makes the price kind of a steal

As part of my review, I tested them against not just the Headphone (1), but against other headphones you can buy in a similar price bracket, including the Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Sony WH-1000XM4 (which are still around, bless 'em).

When you look at the features, the build quality, and the sound quality of the Nothing Headphone (a) — and bearing in mind that this is the launch price, and they'll surely drop over time, just as the five-star Nothing Ear (a) earbuds did — they're going to be incredibly hard to beat on value.

Nothing Headphone (a) review

The Nothing Headphone (a) are just about the dream tech version 2.0 launch. As the follow-up to the Nothing Headphone (1), launched in 2025, they fix the sound problems I had with those headphones, they keep the excellent stuff I liked, and they somehow cut the price in half in the process (in one country, at least).

What more could you ask from something that's looking to go from audio also-ran to ranking among the best headphones available today? At their official price of $199 / £149 / AU$329, I think the Nothing Headphone (a) are arguably the best cans in their category — just with a few reasons why you might want to choose something else over them.

Let's start with the most important area: the sound. As soon as I fired these up, I felt a sense of relief. Nothing's first headphones baffled me in my Nothing Headphone (1) review with their oddly narrow soundstage that felt like the breadth of a song's traffic was being crammed down a single-lane road.

The Nothing Headphone (a) immediately feel like a big expansive highway in comparison – it's an open, wide and free-flowing soundstage that allows songs to spread out and to feel more energetic, emotive and satisfying. And when I say "in comparison", I mean I broke out the original $299 / £299 / AU$549 model for a listen, and while they have their strengths (a nicely refined frequency balance), the new model is so much more enjoyable to listen to.

And this improvement has come without any major downsides, though there's one quirk worth discussing. My unit came with the 'More Bass' setting activated out of the box, and this was certainly much more generous with the bass than the Headphone (1) was, to the point of wandering into the 'bass-heavy' category.

This was no problem at all with electronic or pop music — the strength of the lower frequencies gives a glorious foundation to deep drum machines or sinking synths. It's also well integrated into the overall balance, despite being so muscular, with the Headphone (a) having no problems delivering lower mids that can stand up to, or transition from, the bassier parts.

But it was too much for some tracks with real instruments. In Regulars by Allie X, the double bass that opens the song sounded like the instrument was collapsing under its own vibrations. I pulled up the EQ in the Nothing app, saw it was set to 'More Bass', switched to 'Balanced' instead, and immediately the double bass went back to sounding like a double bass, instead of a quadruple bass.

This took a bit of a punch out of electronic songs when I switched back to those, but the bass still had good depth, its integration with the rest of the sound was still excellent. But Nothing's superb app gives a nice option here that I decided to take it up on: I set one of the controls to be an instant EQ switch, so I could get the extra bass if I wanted it.

The Headphone (a) provide loads of space for the mid-range to express itself, with a nice chunkiness to guitars, the ability to handle a lot of complex instruments going on at once, and a nice clarity to vocals through it all.

Moving to the treble, it's again just very well worked into the sound, able to stand up for itself without ever feeling harsh or like it's overblowing in order to be heard even when songs get really energetic.

But there is a slight softness of detail to the Headphone (a)'s sound. They're not poor in this area by any means, but switching to the similarly-priced Sennheiser Accentum Plus reveals a slightly more convincing edge to the guitar strings and tambourine in Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, and more texture to the beat of sticks on drumskins in Sonny Rollins' St. Thomas. There's also better instrument separation in the mix.

The Sennheiser Accentum Plus also have a more neutral sound overall, but this comes alongside a shortfall in bass depth and less dynamic attack in playback. I probably prefer the Nothing Headphone (a) overall for sound given my personal predilection for electronic music, but if you're more of an acoustic fan, you may be better off leaning towards the Sennheiser.

This doesn't change when switching to Hi-Res Audio and listening over USB-C, or with LDAC higher-quality wireless, both of which are supported here (along with a 3.5mm headphone jack). The USB-C mode maybe had a little extra lightness of touch with instrument separation and detail, but any difference was minor.

The Sennheiser cans are also much lighter than the Headphone (a) at 227g, versus 310g for the Nothings. That's an improvement on the 329g that the Headphone (1) weigh, but is still higher than most of the competition, and means they still need a stronger clamping force to stay on your head than lighter competition.

Again, this isn't inherently a bad or good thing, but you will 'feel' them more than other headphones, and the synthetic pads aren't designed to be particularly breathable, so left the sides of my head feeling warm over time.

It's probably worth talking about the overall design for a moment here, which is very similar to the original, but has been 'softened' in a way that makes them feel less like they make you look like a cyborg (a good thing), but the ear cups look less like cassette tapes (a shame). Aluminum is now plastic, and gentler curves to the raised section in the middle of ear cups makes all the difference.

Sadly, I don't love the new yellow and pink colorful options. I think there's not enough color for it to really work – the yellow in particular looks like a fried egg, because the rounded yellow mound is surrounded by white. I think there needed to be more color throughout. I love the changes in the white and black models, though – undeniably Nothing, but more mainstream than the divisive Nothing Headphone (1).

Nothing has kept a quirk of headphone design that I don't like here, in that the size is adjusted at the top of the head, rather than by the ears, which I find makes it harder to make micro-adjustments, but isn't a big deal overall.

What is a big deal is that Nothing has kept the fantastic set of controls from the Headphone (1). In particular, the roller for volume control is my favorite control system on any pair of headphones, period. It feels so high quality, it moves reliably under the thumb, and audible clicks tell you that it's moving up through volume tiers. Anything else feels crude in comparison.

That is paired with a 'rocker' control underneath, which is also super-intuitive. Nudge it one way to skip forward, and the other way to skip back. At the top of the right ear cup is a round multi-function custom button that was set to trigger your Voice Assistant by default; I changed it to EQ control, as I mentioned, but it can also work as a camera remote trigger (a new feature for this model) or a mic mute button, or a few other options.

And you'll absolutely want to play around with this, because Nothing's app is so good. Not only are the headphones customizable in so many ways — different noise cancellation options, different spatial audio types, multiple EQ controls — it's also just really simple to find the key features you want to turn on and off, such as the low-lag mode for gaming, or dual-device connectivity (which really should be on by default, but most devices have it off, so I won't knock Nothing hard for that).

We recently knocked the Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds for making it hard to find its essential features, so it's nice to see Nothing show how it should be done.

I mentioned spatial audio options before, and while you don't get head tracking or Dolby Atmos here, there are two options with processing handled by Nothing: Concert and Cinema. Concert does a good job of moving sound out from the ear cups, and making it feel like more of a speaker setup across and in front of you.

Cinema adds more left and right sound to that, while also pushing the EQ a little more towards the treble — going for more of a 'surround sound' experience and boosting voices, I suspect — and I found it useful for picking dialogue out of movie soundtracks, so I'd happily use it when watching while traveling.

Speaking of traveling, the noise cancellation here is strong, though not mind-blowing, and that's just fine for this level. Walking along a busy road while listening to music, I wasn't bothered by outside sounds at all. I could hear podcasts clearly while on public transport. The Transparency profile also works as advertised, and never makes things robotic or tinny.

But I want to briefly call out here that Nothing provides the best sounds to indicate what noise mode you're in. Switching to Transparency is announced by an exhaled breath as if sound is escaping; noise canceling is announced by the sound of something being sucked down and then slammed shut. There's no ambiguity here, and no annoying voice.

Nothing promises a phenomenal 75 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation turned on, and 135 hours with it turned off. I couldn't possibly test both claims fully in my time with them so far, even if I used them every waking hour. But I can say that they seem to live up to it, with the battery indicator dropping by 20% after around 13 hours of use.

This makes them essentially best in class, and phenomenal value. In general, I'd say these are about as good as headphones value gets in this space between the budget and premium options. There are only really two knocks against their value worth mentioning.

The first is that it's a shame they don't have an auto-pause feature (also called wearer detection) for when you take them off. It's pretty standard even in affordable stuff these days and while I'm not mad about it since they offer so much elsewhere, it's still surprising.

The second is that in lieu of a hard case (presumably dropped for cost reasons; again, it's understandable) they come with what I can only describe as a swimbag. Yes, it's like a smooth plastic fabric. Yes, it closes with a drawstring. Yes, it made me kind of nostalgic. No, it doesn't feel like a premium addition.

The thing with the Nothing Headphone (a) is that all the knocks I have against it are either minor like the above, or are more subjective, like the weight and clamping force.

There are enough little downsides or quirks that I can't quite give them full marks, but make no mistake that I think these are excellent headphones, that they'll be ideal for a lot of people, and that they're superb value.

Nothing Headphone (a) review: Price & release date

• Released on March 13th, 2026
• $199 / £149 / AU$329

The Nothing Headphone (a) arrive with an impressive price of $199 / £149 / AU$329, meaning that they come in at half the price of the earlier Nothing Headphone (1) and their £299 launch price in the UK, while they're a third cheaper than the $299 Headphone (1) price in the US. In Australia, the drop from AU$549 for the Headphone (1) is between those two percentages.

I should note that they Headphone (1) have been available for as little as $254 / £199 / AU$350 in sales events, though — but I have no doubt the Headphone (a) will see juicy discounts too.

Instead of putting them in direct competition with high-end releases from the likes of Bose and Sony, the Headphone (a)'s mid-to-low price tag puts them up against the likes of Sennheiser's Accentum Plus or Soundcore Space One Pro.

Nothing Headphone (a) review: Specs

Should I buy Nothing Headphone (a)?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Nothing Headphones (a) review: Also consider

How I tested the Nothing Headphone (a)?

• Used for a week in my day-to-day life
• Tested largely over standard Bluetooth and USB-C hi-res wired audio
• Tested with a pre-release update to the Nothing X app

To test the Nothing Headphone (a), I started carrying them everywhere with me and made them part of my normal life. I used them on both walking and public transport commutes, around the house, and at the office.

I compared them directly to the Nothing Headphone (1), Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, switching back and forth, as the headphones I think are the biggest alternative options. I had access to an early version of the Nothing X app with support for their features, so some details may change there before launch.

I lead TechRadar's AV team, and I've been reviewing audio gear for well over a decade, from the budget end of things all the way to up to high-end audiophile tech. I reviewed the earlier Nothing Headphone (1), as well as this newer model.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: March 2026

Welcome to our MWC 2026 'Best in Show' awards, where we've chosen our top products being shown off at the big trade event.

MWC used to be all about phones — and there are plenty of those in this list — but now it covers everything from wearables to connected smart devices to home networks. Our awards picks cover this breadth of technology.

Honor Magic V6

Some thing in life are inevitable. Night follows day, the tides rise and fall, Honor reveals the thinnest-ever foldable phone at a big tech show. One of the many impressive things about the Honor Magic V6, though, is that it hasn't skimped on durability in favor of being so slim and stylish — it's IP69 rated against water and dust, which is actually better than almost any other phone, despite being foldable.

It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5 powerful processor, backing that generous 7.95 internal screen with a 2352x2172 resolution, while the 6.5-inch cover display has a 2420x1080 resolution. There's a 6,600mAh battery squeezed into the small frame too. It's an incredibly impressive piece of engineering, and absolutely worthy of our award.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The best way to get the full low-down on why this phone has won an award is to read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, but one quote from it will tell you most of what you need to know: "Of course it's the best Android phone ever."

You've got Samsung's special Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip at the heart, and a beautiful 3120x1440 6.9-inch display – including Samsung's genius and innovative 'Privacy Display', which can hide individual sections of the screen, such as notifications, from snoopers around you. There are wider apertures on the camera to let in more light, lots of advanced AI skills, S Pen support... It's just a powerhouse of a phone for people who want the most capable device on the planet.

Nothing Phone (4a)

If you want super-slick features in an affordable package, we're expecting this to be one of the hottest phones of the year. The Nothing Phone 4(a) keeps the fun techy design that Nothing is known for, including a version of the Glyph Bar on the back.

The 6.8-inch OLED screen has a high 2800x1260 resolution and 120Hz support, with a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip inside, and 12GB of RAM even though it's a cheaper phone and memory is pricey now. There's even a triple camera system on the back — it makes the new iPhone 17e look miserly in comparison. And on top of all this, coming in four nice colors doesn't hurt its desirability either.

TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro

TCL's NXTPAPER screens have been turning our heads for a while now. They're basically ereader-like screens with a matte and paper-y finish that's great for avoiding eyestrain, but with full color performance and advanced screen tech such as 120Hz support. The NXTPAPER 70 Pro phone uses the latest version of this tech, and actually has three adjustable paper-like modes: Color Paper Mode, Ink Paper Mode, and Max Ink Mode. You can hit a button to cycle through them.

There's even an included pen for drawing and making notes on the screen, so this works as a hybrid of phone, ereader and digital note-taker — plus all the other things you expect a phone to do, including taking photos. We've seen NXTPAPER phones from TCL before, but this is the first time we're starting to consider ditching a regular smartphone for one.

MemoMind One

These smart glasses stand out due to the smart flexibility that's built into their core concept. The key idea is that they have a display for each eye built-in, and Harman Kardon personal speakers you can hear, so you can get subtle information from AI assistants easily.

What's really interesting is the modular approach, which applies to both the hardware and software. The glasses offer eight frame styles and five temple designs, so you can find a specific style that suits you — along with prescription lenses. And the LLM support isn't one-size-fits-all; instead it analyzes the task you need it to perform and uses OpenAI, Azure or Qwen, depending on what's the best fit. It's a really clever approach to smart glasses, and we're looking forward to seeing more of (and through) them.

Honor Magic Pad4

The stunning tablet almost seems impossible. At just 4.8mm thick, it feels like there's just not enough space for it to contain a load of great tech — but you've got a beautifully bright 12-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 3000x1920, backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, and up to 1TB of storage.

Being so thin and weighing just 450g (slightly less than the 11-inch iPad Air, despite having a larger screen), it feels like the ultimate portable slate. But the finishing touch is that Honor has made it an interesting work companion too, with a desktop windowed mode that seems very slick, plus stylus support. This might be the most impressive-looking tablet in the world.

Soundcore Space 2

Anker's audio brand Soundcore makes a lot of great-value headphones, and its Space One and Space One Pro models went a little more little more premium — with very strong results. The Space 2 look like they'll take that idea into the stratosphere, though.

Soundcore says the headphones will have the brand's most advanced active noise cancellation yet, and reengineered 30mm silk and ceramic drivers to produce "full, rich bass, clear vocals and crystal-clear highs". LDAC higher-res support will help with that, as will the personalized sound feature, which tests your hearing and adjusts the audio frequencies to boost in areas where your hearing struggles. It sounds like an excellent package, especially with 70 hours of battery life, and a launch price of $130 / £130.

Lenovo ThinkBook Modular PC Concept

This might be the "future of laptops", as we said when Lenovo showed it to us along with some other interesting concepts. It's modular in the sense of having an easily changed configuration on the outside. It looks like a normal laptop, though it has a screen on the back of the lid as well as in the normal place you'd expect to find a screen.

This screen can be popped off, and used as a separate external display. Or you can remove the keyboard, and replace it with this second screen, for a dual-display laptop/tablet hybrid. Finally, the range of ports under the keyboard can be swapped out, so you can customize them for what you need most. We love this idea, and while it might remain largely niche even if it comes to a real product, we're thrilled with the possibilities.

Biwin Mini SSD CL100

For creative pros or anyone with a need to carry a huge amount of data around, Biwin's latest Mini SSD looks like a revelation. The small cards (around the size of a coin) contain up to 2TB of flash storage, but these aren't like SD cards — their data transfer speed is at PCIe 4 pro SSD levels.

Using the Biwin Mini SSD Reader RD510, you can transfer data from the CL100 drives at up to 3.7GB/s read speeds, and up to 3.4GB/s write speeds. They're a mind-blowing bit of design, taking elite storage performance and putting it in a package that would enable you to take hundreds of terabytes with you in the same size and weight as a single regular external SSD.

TP-Link Aginet HB810

This is designed to be the ultimate ultra-fast home mesh Wi-Fi system, and it's on this list because it really seems to achieve that goal. Offering tri-band Wi-Fi 7 across its mesh devices, TP-Link says you'll get 19–22Gbps of wireless speed, and if you want to wire in there's a 10 GbE/SFP+ combo WAN/LAN port, plus 10GbE and 2.5GbE ports.

Part of the key promise here is to be able to maintain the fast speeds even when things get busy or complicated. There's support for 12 spatial streams at once, 320MHz channels, and tech such as Multi-Link Operation to ensure the network is rock steady when loads of people are using it across multiple nodes. Throw in the security and parental control options that you'd expect from an elite Wi-Fi system, and you've got a great-looking home network upgrade.

uCloudlink OmniFlex Pro

This is a pro-level Wi-Fi router that's designed for when you need to set up a network in a new place quickly, and it can pull its internet connection over broadband or over a mobile connection. Nothing new there, but what made this stand out is its commitment to fast performance, combined with the fact that you don't need to have a SIM card for the mobile internet.

It's eSIM only, which means that's one less thing you need to worry about before deploying — whether you're using the mobile connection as a backup only (it will auto-switch to cellular internet if the main connection fails), or using it in a new country, either way you don't need to have planned your SIM use in advance.

Just take out a new digital connection when you need it, or manage your provider so much more easily. And with a 5G connection and Wi-Fi 7 for connection to devices, it'll work as quickly as anything in the category can, plus it has mesh options for expanding the network. Comprehensive!

TP-Link Tapo C665G KIT

This comprehensive outdoor security camera is designed to be something you just never have to worry about — unless it sees something you need to worry about. It's built to be super-tough, standing up to any weather conditions, dust blasts or temperature changes. It's battery powered for total flexibility on placement, and uses its own solar panels to charge the battery during the day, so it can run at night.

Crucially, a very sharp 4K sensor with enhanced night vision combines with AI-based recognition of events, so that it not only can see everything it needs to, but it can also differentiate between movement that's just things blowing in the wind, and disruptions that are really worth warning you about. TP-Link emphasizes that the goal is to make sure it can cover a really broad area efficiently and smartly, making it a great investment — especially since it even has 4G support so it doesn't need to be near your router.

TechRadar is on the show floor for this year’s MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, Spain, and we’ll be covering the latest news from some of the biggest names in mobile, computing, fitness and more.

• Soundcore Space 2 have been announced at MWC in Barcelona
• Bigger battery and improved ANC
• $130 / £130 (around AU$250) is price hike over predecessors

We were pretty impressed by the Soundcore Space One, and even more by the Space One Pro, which members of the TechRadar team have used constantly since release. Three years since the originals came out, a new model has landed.

The Soundcore Space 2 are now here, unveiled at the mobile tech conference MWC 2026 by parent company Anker.

These new contenders aren't true contenders for our best cheap headphones list any more though, because they've seen a price increase over the old model. They'll go for $129.99 / £129.99 (about AU$250), compared to the old model's $99 / £99 (about AU$180), so let's hope the upgrades are worth it.

Soundcore Space 2: the two clear upgrades are stamina and ANC

There are two clear upgrades present on the spec sheet of the Soundcore Space 2.

First up, the claimed battery life has seen a boost: the cans now last for 70 hours of listening, or 55 if you turn ANC on. Given that super-long battery lives are now a common trait in affordable cans, any upgrade in this department is welcome.

Next, Soundcore has promised upgrades to its Active Noise Cancellation software, which can now apparently wipe out louder noise, as well as lower-frequency sounds.

Some other upgrades seem to be changes to the wear detection, which is just as well because that was one of our biggest gripes with the original pair, and an improved listening test.

Beyond that, you're looking at 40mm drivers, soft memory foam cups and availability in three different color options: white, black and green.

So, no massive upgrades here, but a few tweaks which could create an improved package overall, and we'll have to test them to find out. Perhaps a Space 2 Pro will bring more sweeping changes when we get to wear them.

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro: Two-minute review

It’s a competitive world out there for the best cheap headphones — OneOdio should know, it’s contributed a fair few options. And with its most recent pair of budget blowers, it’s offered yet another fantastic-value headset with just a few rough edges.

The OneOdio Focus A1 Pro are the cheapest pair of headphones we’ve tested yet from the budget brand, and that’s really saying something. They cost just $35 or equivalent, undercutting the 4.5-star-rated OneOdio Focus A6. If you’re looking for a pair of headphones that’ll last you well, and really don’t want to spend much money, they’re a hit.

Last you they will, because they offer a battery life that reaches up to 70 hours, which is fantastic for the money. They’re also lightweight and easy to tote about, and these perks will likely be big draws to buyers on a budget.

My favorite element of the Focus A1 Pro is the audio quality: these headphones sound better than anything else I’ve tested under $50. That’s obviously a low bar, but the OneOdio easily clears it, with music sounding natural and bright with a decent sound stage.

When buying budget headphones, there’s always a big risk that you’re buying tat that’ll end up in landfill (or a box to take to your local recycling center) by the end of the month. I’m happy to report that the OneOdio certainly aren’t that… but they have a few issues too.

Lots of the weakest elements of the A1 Pro are things I’ve seen in other OneOdio headphones, such as the Focus A5 (which I only awarded three stars, in my review).

These new cans don’t have a tie-in smartphone app, and nor do they offer many of the features that an app would help open the door to. Most vitally, there’s no equalizer, which many consider an imperative feature for products such as this. The ANC performance is also weak, with the passive padding of the cups doing the lion’s share of the work in stopping surrounding sounds from distracting you. Now, we can easily argue that it would be churlish to expect these things for such a lowly fee, but it's my job to tell you what you'll be getting here if you click 'buy'.

I also found these cans a little uncomfortable to wear over longer periods of time, partly due to their rather tight clamping force, and partly because they sit somewhere between on-ears and over-ears. Your poor flappers are going to get a little crushed.

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Price and release date

• Released on January 20, 2026
• Sells for $34.99 / £43.99 (roughly AU$85
• On sale in UK and US, not Australia

You can pick up the Focus A1 Pro for $34.99 / £43.99 (roughly AU$85, but unlike many other cans from the company, they don’t yet seem to be on sale in Australia).

You think that makes them some of the cheapest headphones worth considering? Wait until you hear the actual price; within two weeks of the release date of January 23, I’d already found them discounted. Only by a couple of dollars or pounds, but it's still something, and OneOdio promises continued price cuts through the year.

The headphones were announced on January 20, 2026, and released shortly afterwards.

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Specs

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Features

• 70-hour battery life
• ANC is resoundingly light-touch
• No app

In what might come as a shock to headphone buyers in the year 2026, the Focus A1 Pro don’t have a smartphone app. Of all the features this rules out, an equalizer is the biggest: if you don’t like OneOdio’s mix, you'll have to lump it.

You do still get multipoint pairing, as well as a low-latency mode for gaming which is enabled by double-pressing the ANC button. But this department more than any other shows why the headphones are so cheap.

Talking of ANC, it’s not very good, but coupled with the natural passive noise cancellation of the ear cups, it’ll remove the top layer of annoying noise. When I was on public transport, I could still hear every screech of noisy rails or honk of nearby vehicles, but it was a little less onerous than normal.

I personally took to keeping the ANC off, though, and it was for battery reasons. With ANC off, you get 70 hours of listening time, which is solid stamina. For context, if you listened for about three hours and 20 minutes every day, you’d only have to charge every three weeks.

That figure drops substantially with ANC on; OneOdio’s figures alternate between quotes of 40 or 50 hours, and the truth is likely somewhere in between. I’d rather have the longer listening time than the scant improvements this particular ANC solution brings.

I was surprised to read that the OneOdio has Bluetooth 6.0; it’s rare among headphones I’ve tested recently in having this enhanced standard. Not once in testing did I have any connection issues.

• Features score: 3.5/5

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Design

• Sustainable build
• Comfortable to wear
• Incredibly handy joystick controls

The Focus A1 Pro are, by and large, your standard headphones: big, black band with an ear cup at each end, that give you music. No-one was expecting OneOdio to reinvent the wheel for $35.

They weigh 200g, and while they have a few little design flourishes that differentiate them from your average budget cans (some curves and patterns in the appearance, for example), they do feel cheap. The build is plastic-heavy and some of the moving parts can wobble or creak a little bit.

You don’t get a carry case with the Focus, and I was a little scared to transport them in my bag, as they feel a tad fragile. They also have no IP rating. That said, during my testing month, they sustained no damage whatsoever.

I’ve so far refrained from classing these as over-ears or on-ears, as they sit haphazardly in the middle of both. Forget Goldilocks’ messaging, though, because it’s not ‘just right’ either. They sit a little weirdly on the head, for me.

The pads, while soft, crush your ears a little over time; this was noticeable when listening for longer sessions, as my ears would get a bit achey. The rather tight grip of the cans doesn’t help here either. I also never quite figured out exactly how to wear them, due to this over/on dilemma.

On the right cup, there are some touch controls (volume up and down, power, ANC; the basics) as well as the USB-C port. These don’t stick out too much, so finding them by touch can be tricky. It took a little while for pressing these to become easy and natural. There’s no 3.5mm jack for wired audio; these are wireless or nada.

• Design score: 3.5/5

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Sound quality

• 40mm driver
• Crisp, natural audio
• Max volume could be higher

I’ve been positive about the Focus A1 Pro and that’s not going to stop now, but let’s get one thing straight: these are budget cans, and when I say they’re ‘good’, I mean ‘for the price'.

OneOdio has kitted out the headphones with 40mm dynamic drivers using PET diaphragms; so far, so budget.

Unlike many other budget headphones, the brand hasn’t fallen into the ‘more bass is more gooder’ trap — there’s a fairly natural-sounding V shape with distinct trebles in vocals, and bass that’s as rounded as you can hope for at this price point. I was surprised when songs like Starlight by Slash and Miles Kennedy offered layered instrumentation and palpable timbre, as it’s not something I’d expect for the cost.

Naturally, the mids can fall through the cracks, so you can’t expect the whole band to show up. And when you get songs with lots going on, instruments blur together; Clarity by Vance Joy doesn’t quite live up to its title.

I’ve been constantly mentioning the price in this scene, and it’s to cover my back. Audiophiles won’t like these cans, as the mixing is messier than it would be on pricier options. But if you compare these to other offerings at the price, they’re nothing short of wonderful.

I would’ve liked to see the Focus A1 Pro manage a higher max volume, though. At full blast, the audio could mostly compete with a busy-ish road I was walking down, but Nigel Tufnel would malign the lack of any 11 to turn your music up to for that harder hit. Even when at home, anything below 50% volume was hard to hear.

• Sound quality: 4/5

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Value

• Great sound for price
• Some rivals may beat in certain departments

The OneOdio Focus A1 Pro are fantastic for the price. They sound far better than you’d expect from budget cans, and I’ve tested rivals for twice the price which don’t hold a candle.

That’s not even touching on the solid battery life, the hardy connection or the useful-for-gamers latency mode.

If you look hard enough, you can probably find rival cans with better ANC, a comfier fit or an equalizer, and I’d like the OneOdio even more if it offered these. But for the price, it’s hard to knock the Focus for its absences.

• Value: 4.5/5

Should I buy the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro review: Also consider

How I tested the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro

• Tested for 1 month
• Tested at home, on walks, on public transport and the gym

I used the OneOdio Focus A1 Pro for the best part of a month before writing this review, so they got a lot of use.

For most of the test period, the headphones were paired with my Android smartphone, though I also used them alongside an Android tablets at several points.

Testing was done streaming music, watching TV shows and playing games. I tested the headphones in various interior settings, while out and about, and during gym sessions.

I've been tested audio gadgets for TechRadar for years, including several previous OneOdio headphones and earbuds.

• First reviewed in February 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• Nothing confirms it "will 'double down' in the over-ear headphone category during 2026"
• Leaks say a budget model is coming, and could launch March 12th, for £149 / €159 (roughly $200 / AU$300)
• I hope they ape budget headphones' traditional nondescript design

If you love cosplaying as classic '60s sci-fi serial characters, you're probably well aware of the Nothing Headphone (1), with the British brand's debut over-ears looking like the headpiece of a Cyberman costume.

We know that Nothing has more headphones coming, because the company confirmed this itself, saying "Nothing will 'double down' in the over-ear headphone category during 2026". And new leaks suggest that specifically a cheaper version is on the way – and based on my experience with Nothing's affordable earbuds, it wouldn't take much to make these some of the best budget headphones.

Reliable tech leaker Billbil-kun (via Notebookcheck) has shared a lot of information about what he says will be called the Nothing Headphone (a) – much like the Nothing Ear (a) are Nothing's cheaper earbuds.

Here's the summary of the leak: the Headphone (a) will release on March 12th 2026, after being announced on March 5, which is when we could also see the Nothing Phone (4a).

They'll apparently sell for £149 / €159 (which converts to around $200, AU$300). They're said to come in white, black, pink or yellow, the latter of which will hopefully hark close to the vibrant Ear (a)'s look.

That's it, other than Billbil-kun shooting down a previous rumor from another source. This suggested that the Headphone (a) could be a reskinned Headphone (1) but made out of plastic instead of aluminium. Apparently, the low price means this is unlikely.

A chance to fix a divisive Nothing Headphone (1) feature

One of the most head-scratching aspects of the original Nothing Headphone (1) was the look; we ourselves listed "the looks are divisive" as a 'con' in our review. And whether you like or hate the look, it's hard to disagree that it makes the headphones look pretty… unique.

Will the Headphone (a) carry over the design? Well, I test budget over-ear headphones all the time – I've got two on my desk right now that I'm testing – and a common trait amongst them all is that they have incredibly generic designs.

The vast majority I've tested are simply two black blobs connected by a black band. Sure, it's boring, but the money that brands save on designing funky cans gets passed onto the consumer.

I'm hoping the Nothing Headphone (a) somewhat follows suit. Save the distinctive looks for people who want the top-end cans, and let us budget folk enjoy something a little more restrained. After all, feature set and sound quality remain Nothing's strongest features, and that's what we'd want to see passed down to the Headphone (a).

Having said that, it's definitely a good thing if these come in the funky yellow finish.

I enjoyed the Nothing Ear so much that I wrote a whole love letter to their listening test, and I've previously listed the Ear (a) as one of the best cheap earbuds I've tested. Conversely, design has been Nothing's weak point in the past, and the Nothing Ear (open) remain some of the worst open earbuds I've ever used.

Granted, most of the 'cheap' headphones I test cost roughly half of the leaked Nothing Headphone (a) price, but there's still a good chance that Nothing will tone things down for the budget crowd. Doing so could turn these into must-buys. We'll have to wait for the announcement to find out, though; pencil March 5 in your calendars.

• Sonos' new Amp Multi is a sign that app problems "have been resolved"
• Hardware launches will "ramp up" in the second half of 2026 says report
• Sonos wants customers to love it again

Sonos has just announced its first new products since late 2024: new Amp Multi amplifier for professional installations. It isn't just a new Sonos product: it's a new dawn for the company. That's what Sonos insiders are telling Bloomberg, which reports that Sonos believes that its app-related shenanigans have come to an end.

Sonos "believes the majority of bugs and issues that once plagued its mobile app have been resolved", and the launch of the Amp Multi marks the end of "an intentional lull in product launches… Hardware launches will ramp up in the second half of its fiscal 2026".

It's worth noting here that Sonos' fiscal year ends in September, so it looks like the next eight months could be busy for Sonos believers.

What's the story behind Sonos's new hardware plans?

To the best of our knowledge, only one planned product, Sonos's streaming video player, was outright cancelled – but other products had been rumored and failed to appear. And Sonos execs had talked about launching at least two new products per year, and that definitely wasn't the case in 2025.

Sonos' woes stemmed from the ill-fated upgrade to its app, a PR disaster that was still rumbling on in early 2025: the upgrade turned out to be a downgrade for a lot of users and many of Sonos' most vocal advocates were extremely unhappy about it.

Then-CEO Patrick Spence was replaced by new CEO Tom Conrad in January 2025, who said that "we've let far too many people down" and promised "to get us back on track [by] getting back to the innovation that is at the heart of Sonos' incredible history." The Amp Multi is the first new Sonos product on his watch.

The Amp Multi isn't made for people like me – it's a pro-level product for high-end installations – but it does indicate that Sonos is back in the ring, and that's a reason to be optimistic. Conrad has said that his goal is to get Sonos customers to extend their Sonos investments, and in order to do that you need to make those customers happy.

As we reported last year, Sonos used to have the best word of mouth in tech; it does seem that Conrad intends to make that happen again.

• OneOdio's new headphones cost just $34.99 / £39.99 (about AU$80)
• Bluetooth 6.0 with fast charging and active noise cancellation
• 70 hours of playback time with ANC off

We've been regularly impressed by OneOdio's budget headphones, such as the OneOdio Focus A6, which deliver very good performance for very low prices. But even by OneOdio's standards the new Focus A1 Pro are ridiculously cheap for noise-cancelling over-ears: the official is $34.99 / £39.99, and if you're buying from Amazon UK, you can get them for £35.19.

Low price definitely doesn't mean low specification or low expectations. These are Bluetooth 6.0 headphones with hybrid ANC, fast charging and a decent frequency response, and while you don't get any fancy hi-res audio codecs at this price, they're likely to sound pretty good with the standard Bluetooth audio codecs.

OneOdio Focus A1 Pro: key features

The OneOdio Focus A1 Pro feature 40mm dynamic drivers with PET diaphragms and a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz. Bluetooth 6.0 with multi-point pairing makes it easy to move between devices, and there's a low-latency gaming mode with a claimed response time of approximately 0.089 seconds for accurate synchronization with games and video.

The Focus A1 Pro are foldable and lightweight at just 200g, and the faux-leather ear cushions should be comfortable for long listening. The battery delivers just that, with up to 70 hours of playback with ANC off, plus fast charging that can deliver five hours of listening from 10 minutes of charging.

We haven't tested these headphones yet to see if that can stand up the best noise cancelling headphones in their price range – but when we reviewed the same firm's Focus A6 we praised the ANC: it's not up there with the best from Bose, but it's perfectly fine for everyday commuting and does a pretty good job of keeping the outside world outside.

We liked their sound too, and the companion app has an adjustable EQ so you can get the sound just-so. We felt that the Focus A6 were "tremendous value for money" at a street price of $55 / £55 / AU$112; the Focus A1 Pro are even more affordable and offer a very similar specification.

The OneOdio Focus A1 Pro headphones are available now from Amazon and directly from OneOdio.

If you’ve got a pair of Sony headphones, they may possess a useful feature that you’ve never heard of before.

This feature is available on a number of models, including the old but gold Sony WH-1000XM4, the sleek-looking Sony WH-1000XM5, and the wonderful Sony WH-1000XM6, which we consider to be the best headphones you can buy overall.

So, what exactly is this mysterious feature I’m speaking of? It’s called Quick Attention, and has been a total game-changer for me when using my Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones out in public. Here’s how it works, and what makes it so useful.

Attention, please!

OK, so what is Quick Attention exactly? Essentially, it’s a mode on Sony headphones that enables you to have a better measure of your surroundings in a pinch.

Simply place your hand over your headphones’ right earcup, and transparency mode will be triggered. This will drastically reduce the volume of any media playing, and help you to hear the world around you. When you’re ready to get immersed in your music again, just remove your hand, and you can go back to listening normally.

I’ve found Quick Attention to be incredibly useful in the office – whenever anyone wants to talk to me, I can cover the right earcup and chime into a conversation, without having to take my headphones off. Similarly, I’ll use this feature when I’m in a store and need to talk to the cashier or if I’m on public transport and need to tune into an announcement – it’s quick, easy, and convenient.

Sure, there are similar features out there, including Sony’s own Speak-to-Chat option. This has a very similar function, but instead of placing your hand over your headphones’ right earcup, you just talk, and they enter into transparency mode.

However, this approach is much less reliable in my experience. If I’m singing along to my favorite tracks or even if I cough, Speak-to-Chat will often be activated. Also, I have to wait a set time for my music to return to normal – which can be set in the Sony SoundConnect app.

Quick Attention gives me so much more agency. Transparency mode can be enabled exactly when I need it, with no accidental activations. Also, as soon as I’m done chatting, my music comes back without delay, making for a much more seamless user experience.

So, if you’ve got some Sony headphones, I highly recommend trying Quick Attention out – it’s been a game-changer for me, and it could be for you too.

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

• The AI-driven memory shortage doesn't just affect PCs
• More capacity is coming, but not before 2027
• Low-margin budget products are likely to be hit hardest

What do the best DACs, the best Hi-Res Audio players, the best TVs, and the best soundbars all have in common? They're all facing component shortages and price hikes – not because of tariffs, but because of the AI-driven shortage of memory and storage chips. And the pain's going to be particularly pronounced at the more affordable end of the market, where profit margins are already razor-thin.

As you're no doubt aware, the AI industry is buying a lot of memory for its data centers: as Reuters reported back in October, just one AI firm, OpenAI, intends to order 900,000 semiconductor wafers in 2029. That's around 40% of the world's entire production. And there's plenty more demand in the industry.

As The Wall Street Journal reported this week, "The rapid build-out of infrastructure for artificial intelligence is consuming a large portion of available supply of NAND flash memory, DRAM memory and hard drives. That has resulted in a shortage of memory for other markets such as PCs and smartphones."

Audiovisual devices aren't the same as PCs, and don't typically need as much memory as smartphones. But they still need some memory in order to do what they do. Everything from smart speakers to smart TVs to in-car entertainment systems use RAM alongside their processors, and some of them use NAND storage too, because they're all just small computers at heart; both of these components' prices are rocketing.

We've already seen Samsung warn that its TVs' prices may rise due to comopnents shortages, while there are warnings about smartphone makers scaling back their specs for this year's mobile phones, cutting their memory to cut the cost of manufacturing.

And according to NPR, memory prices are expected to rise even more this year. As Avril Wu of the consultancy Trendforce told NPR, "I keep telling everybody that if you want a device, you buy it now."

How AI could affect AV

AI data centers don't use the same memory chips as a DAC or a Hi-Res Audio player: they use High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), not the DDR RAM you'd find in a PC or PlayStation. But those differing chips are made from the same kind of semiconductor wafers, and those wafers are in ever-increasing demand because HBM uses roughly three times more of those wafers than DDR5 RAM does.

They're also much more profitable to sell, and as a result many firms are shifting focus from consumer memory chips to data center ones – so for example Micron, one of the big three memory makers alongside SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, has shut down its long-standing consumer memory business, Crucial, "to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments". In other words, AI.

As some manufacturers shift focus, new capacity for other kinds of memory isn't coming on board fast enough to cover the demand. So for example in October SK Hynix announced that it "has already secured full customer demand for its entire DRAM and NAND production for next year", and that it'll need to expand its production to cope with the market demands – but even the equipment to make the chips are set to rise in price.

In the shorter term, that means higher memory prices. Much higher prices. CNBC reports that RAM prices are expected to rise "more than 50% this quarter compared to the last quarter of 2025." And the Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute says that "DRAM prices have also surged 171% year-over-year, outpacing gold, while DDR5 spot prices have quadrupled since September 2025. DRAM and NAND prices doubled in a single month".

While capacity is being added to existing production plants and new plants are being built, that capacity isn't expected to come online until 2027.

That's likely to have two key impacts on the AV hardware market. The first is that we'll see price increases down the line, especially at the budget end of the market where manufacturers can't simply swallow the increased cost: there's a lot less margin on a $300 smart TV than a $3,000 one.

The second is that manufacturers may go back to the drawing board as some smartphone firms have done, limiting their next products' specifications to compensate for shortages and price hikes. It may also persuade some firms to postpone their product plans altogether until market conditions are more favorable.

We've been here before, of course: I remember the completely fruitless search for in-stock AV receivers after chip production had shut down during COVID lockdowns. At least this time we know the component crunch is coming, and can make purchasing plans accordingly.

Our picks of the best AV gear across different categories

Tribit QuietPlus 81: review

If you’re looking for an ultra-cheap pair of noise cancelling headphones, the Tribit QuietPlus 81 appear to be a very tempting option indeed. With a list price of just $49.99 / £49.99 (about AU$75), they pack a lot in – ANC, a ton of playtime, and a neat, foldable design. But are they really worth checking out?

Well, in a lot of ways, these headphones are impressive. Above all, I was blown away by their ultra-long battery life. You get 70 hours with ANC on, and a whopping 110 hours with ANC off. That means you’ll barely have to charge these cans, ideal if you’re someone that’s on the go quite a bit… or are just forgetful like I am.

Like the best headphones around, these also have pretty extensive EQ options. There are a range of genre and situation-specific presets, but you can also set your own with the included 10-band equalizer. This means that you can create the sound that works best for you – an important inclusion, given that these headphones do not sound great out of the box.

Yes, I understand that these are incredibly cheap, and I didn’t have big expectations for these headphones, sonically speaking. But still, I think there are better-sounding options in the budget category – more on those in the ‘Also consider’ section. But essentially, these cans just lack the clarity, dynamism, and detail that others offer.

When listening to Black Eye by Allie X, synth beat intro lacked the razor-sharp delivery that makes it so impactful. The drum machine that follows sounds pretty deep, but also quite bloated, leaving the track devoid of its intense, energetic character. With the standard ‘Music’ tuning, instruments in the treble range are concealed, but even with a custom setup, I wasn’t able to get the expressive sound I was chasing.

Moving over to 12 O.C Riddim by M-High – a track that’s great for testing the low-end capabilities of headphones – and the picture was fairly mixed. High-pitched percussion in the build up again lacked the vibrancy and edge I was looking for, and although the headphones could reach down to the track’s dark depths, bass wasn’t agile or clean enough for a truly immersive listen.

Just generally, these headphones lack the refined sound you’d expect from a budget model like the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51. With a custom EQ, you can get adequate sound when listening at mid-volumes, just don’t expect to get anything out of the ordinary for $50 / £50 headphones.

Let’s get onto another crucial area and discuss ANC. So, these headphones can be used in normal mode, transparency mode (for enhanced awareness), and with noise cancelling on. I spent most of my time testing the headphones with ANC on, and in honesty, it was about as good as I’d expected.

When working in the office, I could still hear chatter and typing with volume set to 70%. On walks, traffic noise was still pretty prominent too, as was the sound of passerbys talking. Sure, these dampen surrounding sounds decently enough, but they’re unlikely to impress on the noise cancelling front.

One feature that interested me on these headphones, though, was their ability to trigger transparency mode in an instant. You can simply hold down on the right earcup, and hear your surroundings – as seen on the excellent Sony WH-1000XM6. Is this the most responsive? No – the feature doesn’t activate instantly as it would on the XM6. But still, it’s fairly effective, and a worthwhile inclusion.

More generally though, controls on the QuietPlus are pretty poor. After a firmware update, I was able to access ‘customizable touch controls’, but I couldn’t set playback control to the right ear cup… that’s limited to physical button controls. These buttons are black on black, and are slightly hard to read – and the volume controls being bound to one small-sized button is very impractical.

Touch controls themself are fairly responsive, but all they can do is activate XBass mode – which doesn’t sound good – or summon a voice assistant. I personally would’ve preferred standard touch controls to play, pause, or skip music – as seen on a model like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).

There are a few other features to explore, like a lower-latency game mode, wired listening via a 3.5mm slot, and hearing protection. You can find just about everything you need in the Tribit app, although this is a pretty rudimentary piece of software – something I flagged in my review of the Tribit PocketGo.

In terms of design, these headphones are hit and miss. They’re foldable, which makes them pleasingly compact, and their adjustable headband makes them easy to fit. One thing that's not too well-designed is the packaging. The box says these headphones offer "ULTRA LONG BATT" and "SMOOTH TALKING"... that's one way to make a first impression.

Anyway, in spite of their use of ‘protein leather cushioning and memory foam’, I found the QuietPlus 81 to be a little uncomfortable for extended use. To me, they’re a little tight-feeling, and padding on the headband feels a little thin. Looks-wise, however, these headphones are solid. They don’t look ultra plasticky, and the earcups have a rounded look, which is fairly appealing.

In the end, then, would I recommend the Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones? Unfortunately, the answer is no. There are certainly some commendable qualities on offer here, like that brilliant battery life and ten-band equalizer. But sonically, these fail to beat out rivals in their price category. Combine that with some unremarkable ANC and features, and I’d say you’re better off putting that $50 / £50 towards a pair of the best cheap headphones instead.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: specs

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: price and release date

• $49.99 / £49.99 (about AU$75)
• Launched in December 2025

The Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones were released in December 2025, and are available via Tribit’s website directly, or over on Amazon. They have a list price of $49.99 / £49.99 (about AU$75), which plants them firmly in the budget category.

Should I buy the Tribit QuietPlus 81?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: also consider

How I tested the Tribit QuietPlus 81

• Tested for one week
• Used in the office and while on walks
• Predominantly tested using Tidal

I spent one week testing the Tribit QuietPlus 81, during which time I took them just about everywhere I went. Whether I was on a walk, working in the office, or doing chores at home, I made sure to have the headphones at hand – allowing me to test the quality of their ANC in a wide range of settings.

When listening to music, I predominantly made use of Tidal, but I did dip into Spotify from time to time as well. As always, I commenced my testing by running through the TechRadar testing playlist, which features songs from a wide range of genres, but I also tuned into a heap of tracks from my personal music library.

On top of that, I made use of the various features on the QuietPlus 81, messing around with the customizable controls, ANC modes, and custom equalizer. More generally, I’ve been a Reviews Writer here at TechRadar for almost two years, during which time I’ve tested a whole lot of headphones, including premium releases like the Sennheiser HDB 630 and budget alternatives like the Baseus Bowie 30 Max.

• First reviewed: January 2026
• Read more about how we test