Best Headphones of 2025

These top-rated earbuds and headphones from Apple, Bose, Sony, and other brands deliver great sound, whether you're at home or on the go

Allen St. John, Consumer Reports Senior Home & Tech Writer.

By Allen St. John
Senior Home & Tech Writer

Updated November 26, 2025

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From left: Sony WF-1000XM5, Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation), Grado RS2x — From left: the Sony WF-1000XM5, Apple AirPods Pro, Grado RS2x.

If there’s one thing that separates truly great headphones from the merely mediocre, it’s sound quality. At Consumer Reports, our trained testers evaluate fit and the performance of the noise cancellation tech (if a model has that feature), but in our headphone ratings, we give the most weight to sound quality.

In this article

Best AirPods Best-Sounding Noise-Canceling Earbuds Best Anti-Earbuds Best Noise-Canceling Headphones Best-Sounding Wired Headphones Best Wired Earbuds

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Allen St. John

Allen St. John has been a senior product editor at CR since 2016, focusing on digital privacy, audio devices, printers, and home products. He was a senior editor at Condé Nast and a contributing editor at publications including Road & Track and The Village Voice. A New York Times bestselling author, he's also written for The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, their two children, and their dog, Rugby.