What to look for in on-ear headphones?

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What to look for in on-ear headphones

On-ear headphones are designed for compactness and portability, and are great for those who don’t want to wear in-ear headphones on the go. They do make a few compromises in sound quality and features compared to over-ear models, but since they reset directly on your ear rather than enveloping it, they provide a side benefit of keeping your ears open to ambient noise around you. This style of headphone is good for the commute, at-home listening, work environments where you want to stay aware of what’s around you and — of course — calm environments.

You can purchase on-ear headphones in either wired or wireless form. Traditionalists can listen passively by connecting their headphones to the headphone or aux jack of their favorite media source, whether that’s a mobile device, piece of hi-fi gear, DAC or whatever else. Cord-cutters can pair their headphones to most devices supporting Bluetooth 4.2 or higher.

Isolation is a weakness with on-ear headphones. The slightest slippage can let in too much noise and affect sound quality. However, any on-ear model that provides a snug fit can help reduce incidental sounds to a reasonable level. Seek out a model that is comfortable for lengthy listening sessions and remains stable on the head — some people don’t like the feel of on-ear headphones on their earlobes.

Given that you need isolation for active noise cancellation to work effectively, very few on-ear headphones support the technology, but the ones that do can effectively reduce background interference, albeit not as well as their over-ear and in-ear cousins.

How we tested

All on-ear headphones are put through a thorough battery of tests. Our reviewers test overall performance in different listening environments and through multiple audio setups, including desktops/laptops, home entertainment systems, MP3 players, smartphones and TVs.

We assess comfort over time, gain familiarity with companion apps, learn every control, monitor battery life and observe wired and wireless performance. Most importantly, we listen to various music genres and test active noise cancellation where available.

From there, our team compares each headphone carefully with their competitors, new models and previous favorites to get the best sense of where they rank in the product category.

Sound quality

Several factors were accounted for when analyzing sound quality. We played tracks across numerous music genres to hear how detailed and realistic the sound stage sounded and paid attention to clarity, depth, frequency range, reverberation and separation. Noise-canceling and transparency modes were also taken into consideration, since both features tend to change bass response, for better or worse.

Design

All materials are examined, from the ear cups to the headband to the stitching around each component. We take notes on the comfort, flexibility, portability, sturdiness and style of each model.

Usability

We tested each physical control to find out whether the user interface of each model was easy to understand and how responsive it was to calls, playback, volume and assigned features like ANC or Bluetooth pairing. Headphones with touch controls and wear detection are given similar testing treatment for accuracy and responsiveness.

Connectivity

Wired models are tested on devices that support an aux jack or adapter. We looked for any audio inconsistencies and analog signal issues that kept these headphones from delivering full resolution. Wireless headphones were paired with multiple Apple, Android and Windows devices to assess compatibility and ease of pairing, along with latency, range and reconnection.

Battery life

Any headphone with a built-in battery was fully charged to monitor playtimes when enabling special features and listening at high volume. Most testing was done with media played at normal listening level (75% volume) throughout the day. Once they were depleted of power, we double-checked charging times and quick-charge functionality to see if these models lived up to their battery life claims.

Active noise cancellation

We came up with noisy conditions for testing ANC: sitting near an active washing machine and listening to a soundtrack of a busy restaurant crowd from some loudspeakers. These aimed to test how well headphones could mute and eliminate deep, bassy sounds as well as how well they reduced overall volume. Something else we checked out was how much control the user has over the level of ANC. Some headphones allow you to toggle the feature on and off, while others give you the option to adjust the strength of ANC.

Warranty

Our team researched the warranty for each device, what period it covered and whether extended warranties or service plans were available through the manufacturer or online retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy.

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