It's official: wired earbuds are not only back, but stylish and cool once again.

The latest Gen Z trend for "retro" technology has seen wired earphones become the new vinyl, with younger generations sporting Apple's wired EarPods in particular.

If you have more of a budget, however, we've found a deal on some wired earbuds we recommend a lot more. Our favourite wired earbuds to be precise: the Shure Aonic 3, now £167 at Amazon.

This might not look like much of a deal, considering we reviewed the buds at £179. But the Aonic 3 has seemingly had a price increase since our review, with Shure now listing the standard RRP as £225 on its website.

As What Hi-Fi?'s resident deals writer, I can attest that this is the cheapest I've seen the Aonic 3 in months, with the brilliant buds usually listing for north of the £200 mark.

For those concerned about the relative age of the Shure Aonic 3, have no fear. We put the wired earbuds through their paces once again for our latest Awards season, and found the Aonic 3 still held up as one of the best wired earbuds overall, winning yet another What Hi-Fi? Award as the best wired in-ear headphones over £100.

In short, any in-ear headphone fan who prioritises sound quality and wants a wired connection should have the Shure Aonic 3 on their radar.

Even testing with Radiohead’s notoriously difficult 15 Step, the Aonic 3 refuses to trip up.

"Even if the track isn’t necessarily your cup of tea, the Aonic 3 make it a delight to listen to," the Shure Aonic 3 review reads.

"There’s no sense of confusion, no jumbling of elements. These in-ears separate strands and knit them together in one glorious musical tapestry. The sense of rhythm and timing needs to be heard to be believed."

The buds are also pros at handling dynamics and detail, with superb musical reproduction that few can rival.

The Aonic 3 look like your classic in-ear monitors design-wise, with simple yet effective in-line controls for playback and volume. There's a whopping nine different eartips to choose from to optimise isolation and comfort, and a carry case and 3.5mm to 6.3mm headphone adapter are included too.

If you're after wired earbuds that excel in sound quality, it's hard not to recommend the Shure Aonic 3. We're struggling to think of a pair of in-ear headphones at this level that come close to the Aonic 3's transparency, detail, dynamics and musicality, and they're on sale now for £167 at Amazon.

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Fiio has unveiled its new flagship IEMs, the FH19. The hybrid monitors feature custom-built drivers and some of the company's most high-end engineering, resulting in a pair of in-ears which aim to go toe-to-toe with the very best of Sennheiser and Shure. 

The FH19 employ a semi-open configuration which, when combined with Fiio's cavity pressure relief technology, results in a "natural, relaxed sound" with a "wide, open soundstage". The new IEMs' mid-frame is constructed using titanium, while the shell is made using aerospace-grade aluminium for a strong yet lightweight pair of in-ear headphones.

Internally, the FH19 boast a two dynamic plus six balanced armature driver configuration. Fiio has worked hard to create an all-new dual dynamic driver for bass frequencies which it claims offers enhanced low-frequency extension, speed and cohesion. Specially customised midrange balanced armature drivers, meanwhile, deal with midrange frequencies in pursuit of a "rich musical sound that doesn't sacrifice detail". 

To achieve what Fiio claims is flagship-level performance, the FH19 employ a suspended voice coil design in which the coil leads are directly routed from the centre hole under the diaphragm, thus eliminating unnecessary contact and additional adhesive load. Further internal firepower is provided courtesy of film crossover capacitors with an error tolerance of just 0.1 per cent, as well as Fiio's sound wave guidance structure for greater bass depth and quality.

Fiio wants users to experience the FH19 their way via three pairs of swappable audio filters. Each filter offers different levels of internal damping and mesh density so that you can adjust the audio profile of your IEMs according to your preferences. The red filter enhances bass frequencies, the black filter strives for balance and clarity, while the green audio filter shoots for a refined and detailed treble. 

The FH19 come with two twist-lock swappable jack plugs – one 3.5mm single-ended and one 4.4mm balanced – as well as a high-purity silver capable. Better still, you'll get a whopping 22 (twenty-two!) pairs of eartips of varying sizes and materials, ensuring you get the perfect fit for your new monitors.

The Fiio FH19 are available now, priced at £549 / $599 / €649.

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Shure is a brand you’d more usually find mixing in pro-audio circles, with its wide and respected range of microphones, in-ear monitors and wired studio headphones. Artists from Led Zeppelin to Sheryl Crow have used the brand on stage and in the studio – but more recently it’s been tempted to try its hand with a more mainstream audience. 

In fact, the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 are its third stab at a more consumer over-ear market, and are a pair of wireless noise-cancelling over-ears that, with their £349/$349 price tag, ambitiously take on some of the established greats in this space. 

Seemingly unphased by that, the Aonic 50 Gen 2 come with a number of improvements to keep them competitive, including improved battery life, new features and better noise cancellation. But can they hold their own against such sizeable competition?

Price

The Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 were released in September 2023, and cost £349 / $349 / AU$619 at launch. At the time of writing, this price has stayed pretty stable in the US and Australia, but UK buyers can find them for around £50 cheaper with some retailers.

This makes them cheaper than their predecessors – the Shure Aonic 50 – at launch, which cost £379 / $399. However, most cleverly, it makes them cheaper than many of its biggest competitors, like the Sony WH-1000XM5 (£380 / $399 / AU$550), the B&W Px7 S2e (£379 / $399 / AU$599) and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (£450 / $429 / AU$649).

Most of these can be found cheaper than their RRP now, but it’s a clear move from Shure to make them that little bit more attractive in a very busy marketplace.

Build & design

The black-on-black design that Shure has opted for on the Aonic 50 Gen 2 looks very smart indeed, and you’d better like it too if you’re keen on these cans – it’s the only finish available. We think it looks lovely and can imagine it’ll be a hit over the generic black and silver or tan options from last time. 

Otherwise, the design is pretty reminiscent of the original Aonic 50, with matte plastic earcups, stylish aluminium adjustable arms and single-arm yoke, with soft faux leather on the headband and earpads. 

A glossy Shure logo is placed just off centre on each earcup, with the right side holding all the buttons for control as well as the USB-C port (for charging and audio playback), and a 2.5mm connector only on the left-hand side (for 3.5mm wired playback). Cables for both are included in the box, though the USB cable is USB-C to USB-A; USB-C to USB-C feels like it would have been more useful.

The physical buttons do the usual, with an on/off/pairing button (and accompanying LED) – one for music control, a couple for volume and a three-position slider for adjusting noise cancellation. This is a little plastic-y feeling in use, while the adjustable headband also clicks loudly as you move it – something we might usually expect from cheaper headphones.

They otherwise feel relatively sturdy, and are certainly on the heavier side at 334g, but overall they don’t feel too tiring to wear. The clamping force is on the firmer side though – it’s fair to say these are not headphones you’ll forget you’re wearing – but this mostly helps them to stay reassuringly in place when moving around, and the ear cushions are super soft too, which helps. 

That said, the extra weight at play here means if you lean forward with too much gusto, you will feel them lurch forward too. Thankfully, this is almost always a mere threat of ejection, rather than a fully executed escape from your head, but it’s something to bear in mind.

Like their predecessors, the Aonic 50 Gen 2 don’t fold down to make them more portable, but the ear cups twist inwards to allow them to sit flat – much like the Sony WH-1000XM5 do.

They come with a relatively compact hardshell carry case to protect them while travelling, but there’s no denying that Bose’s selection of collapsible over-ears are better designed for this if you’re short on space in your bag. 

Features

The feature set on the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 is a bit of a mixed bag, with some must-haves, a handful of nice-to-haves and a couple of real omissions.

Let’s start with the latter, and probably the biggest miss here is the lack of an official IP rating. That means these are not headphones you’ll want to get caught in the rain with if you can help it, and we wouldn’t recommend taking them to the gym either.  There’s also no wear sensor, something we usually like to see at this level.

However, battery life here is pretty impressive, and has been more than doubled since the last generation. You’ll get a solid 45 hours from a single charge – a claim which rings true in testing, and easily bests its competitors, including Sony’s WH-1000XM5 (up to 30 hours), the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (up to 24 hours) and Beats Studio Pro (up to 40 hours). 

Charging is done via USB-C, but you can also use this port for wired music playback too – with support for playback up to 32-bit/384kHz files.

One of the new features this year is a Spatializer mode, which aims to bring more space and immersion to whatever you’re listening to through some clever audio tweakery. There are three presets to choose from depending on the content you’re listening to – Music, Cinema and Podcast – and, out of the box, the Spatializer setting can only be toggled on or off, or tweaked via the Shure Play control app. 

The Music setting widens the soundstage and adds some space to instruments, Cinema removes some of that space but boosts the overall presentation for a more muscle-bound sound, while Podcast really focuses in on the mids, with a reduction in bass and treble, so the voices are – understandably – the star of the show.

Once inside the app, you can choose to change the slider controls to the Spatializer setting instead, but that will leave you with no on-headphone ANC control – so swap them out with caution.

ANC & call quality

As for that noise cancellation – it’s merely okay. It has been improved since the last generation, and now offers the ability to tailor the ANC level more specifically to your needs, but it’s just not as capable as the very best in this space.

With ANC on, there’s the choice of Light, Moderate, Max and MaxAware (which is supposed to balance noise cancellation with the ability to carry on conversations), and when you switch to Environment Mode, there’s a slider in the app that allows you to tweak just how much of your environment you want to be kept in the loop with. 

Unlike some headphones, there’s also the option to turn off noise cancellation completely should you wish.

However, even in Max ANC mode, the noise cancellation simply seems to reduce noise rather than cancel out a whole lot – you don’t get that deep silence that you’ll get from the likes of Bose’s QuietComfort range. 

As usual, it’s the low transport rumbles that are the most effectively cancelled, so aeroplane noise should be fairly reliably nixed, but most of the noise that comes above that seems to be muffled rather than muted entirely. Their handling of wind is also pretty patchy, which can result in some fairly audible tearing in blustery weather.

If you need to stay aware of what’s going on around you, both Environment Mode and MaxAware mode offer that, though with a considerable amount of hiss alongside. It’s largely inaudible when playing music, but it’s more noticeable in those moments of silence than we are used to.

MaxAware also doesn’t seem to be the hybrid offering that Shure wants it to be. We were expecting something that blocks out general hubbub and noise but lets voices through, but while it does pinpoint voices and amplify them a little more than in Environment Mode, it also appears to basically let the rest of your surrounding noise in too.

Perhaps a more effective workaround for this is PausePlus, which switches to Environment Mode when you pause your music, allowing you to have quick conversations without removing your headphones. Once you press play again, the noise cancellation of your choice kicks back in. 

This is another feature that is accessible via the app, so you should definitely download it to get the most from these headphones. It’s pretty slow to load, which is a little frustrating, but it’s filled with tweaks you can’t make to your headphone experience any other way.

It’s in the app that you’ll also find a choice of seven preset EQs, as well as a manual EQ option for more specific tweaking, plus there’s a Music Library. This will dig out the music and playlists you have saved on your device or in Apple Music, for in-app playback and control. No other apps are supported at the moment though.

There are six microphones in total here, which are used for noise cancellation and also, of course, phone calls. Call quality here is pretty good too, with the microphones doing a solid job of picking up the wearer’s voice, while also reducing surrounding noise considerably – even in busy, noisy areas. The only thing that really catches them out is the wind, but they aren’t alone in this. 

Sound

In each earcup there is a 50mm neodymium dynamic driver in charge of sound reproduction, with Bluetooth 5.2 on board for wireless playback and support for higher-res codecs like aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, Sony LDAC and Snapdragon Sound, if your source device supports it too.

The brand’s studio reputation pulls into clear focus the moment you put the headphones on, with real attention to balance, precision and clarity. 

It’s worth noting that you will get an overall better performance with the ANC switched off or set to a lower setting than Max. With it on, the soundstage becomes smaller, the bass response fattens up a little and dynamics are squashed, particularly through the mids and treble. Turn it off and your music will sound like it’s got a new lease of life, which is worth considering when choosing how to listen to these headphones.

We play DARE by Gorillaz in MQA on Tidal and every part of the intricate instrumental arrangement is cleanly and neutrally presented, so much so that you can pick out and focus on individual strands of Damon Albarn’s creative thought processes throughout the busy mix. 

The crunchy synth-y bassline pulses rhythmically with a dollop of richness and tons of texture, but it’s not overly powerful or boisterous in the mix. It acts as a solid foundation rather than an overpowering one, with the midrange nestled nicely alongside. 

Vocals and instruments in this space are fully present and detailed but not pushed forward or emphasised like you might hear on other headphones, making for an even-handed presentation that nods to Shure’s sonic heritage.

This is something of a departure from the more bass-heavy tuning that’s become more popular in recent years, and anyone looking for that may want to dive into the EQ to get a bit more in this area. However, those who crave a more balanced profile with a focus on detail and insight will get that in spades here.

Try the same track through the Sony WH-1000XM5 and they arguably hold all the different strands of the track together better, presenting them as a cohesive, complete whole rather than something that might require critical evaluation. Everything is a touch richer too, vocals are more forward and there’s more drive and excitement across the board – but there’s no doubt the Sonys add a hint of their own flavour to how the recording sounds.

Switch things up to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, and while the guitar intro through the Aonic 50 Gen 2 is presented with layer upon layer of insight and detail, it pulls just a touch bright, which makes the overall presentation lean towards being tiring over time – particularly when the chorus kicks in and the mix becomes busier. 

The same track on the WH-1000XM5 is a more comfortable experience, especially if you like your music loud. They may not tell you quite so much about the character of every instrument in the mix, but the upper registers don’t catch your ear in the same way.

You can improve this on the Aonic 50 by going wired – USB-C playback from Tidal takes the edge away from the treble for a less fatiguing listen. It’s only really noticeable on certain tracks anyway, but if your music interests are focused on guitar-heavy music, or you have a lot of less-than-ideal recordings, you'll likely find going wired improves your experience. With transparency at their core, if there is a weak link in the presentation, the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 will find it, and highlight it.

Whether wired or wireless though, the Aonic 50 Gen 2 time beautifully. Play Raye’s Worth It. and you’ll hear the strengths of these headphones – clarity, tight organisation and good attention to detail. While they might not have the energy of the Sonys, these aren’t a boring listen – far from it. There is an engaging fluidity to their presentation that can still draw you in, and still get your foot tapping – it just sticks a little closer to the script than you may be used to.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a pair of headphones that prioritise clarity and sonic balance over bass richness, the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 are well worth a look. 

They aren’t perfect. There are some inconsistencies in their sound depending on how you’re listening – something that we had started to see less of elsewhere – and a dip in excitement too, but you can still get an engaging, detailed performance if you’re prepared to work to their strengths.

There’s also great battery life, impressive high-res codec support and an excellent companion app for tweaking, including an accomplished EQ if you like to dabble. However, noise cancellation is just okay here – if this is an important part of the reason you’re buying, you’ll want to look towards Sony or Bose for better options.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 4
• Build 4

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Wireless headphones and earbuds may have taken much of the limelight in recent years, but their wired counterparts still have plenty to offer, as our 2023 What Hi-Fi? Award winners testify to.

While the Bluetooth market is a little livelier at the moment thanks to the massive demand for wireless wearable audio, the best performance-per-pound (or dollar) pairs can actually be found within the realm of good old-fashioned wires. Returning for a back-to-back Awards grab are the excellent Austrian Audio Hi-X15 budget over-ears, the open-backed Grado SR325x over-ears (pictured below) and the supremely well-priced SoundMagic E11C in-ears. Also back for another win are the masterful Shure Aonic 3, a sensational pair of wired earbuds that showcase the company's pre-eminence in this particular field. 

What we do have, though, is a new pretender to the throne, and it comes in the form of the rather wonderful Røde NTH-100 over-ear headphones (pictured top). We were dazzled by the NTH-100 when they arrived late last year. They demonstrated that you can get a pair of wired headphones that provide you with both eloquent, revealing and exciting sound without sacrificing genuine detail. For their launch price (£149 / $149 / AU$249), our minds were somewhat blown.

The pleasing thing about this particular category, however, is that there's something to suit all tastes and budgets (provided you haven't been conditioned to view wires with fear, loathing and contempt). They may not be glamorous, but the SoundMagic E11C are a sparklingly entertaining pair of earbuds that, for £50 / $50 / AU$100, represent astonishing value for money and a sensible upgrade on any phone/tablet bundled earbuds you might be using.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, the Shure Aonic 3 remain our favourite wired in-ears as you cross the three-figure mark, a position they've held courtesy of their unequalled vibrant, detailed and cohesive sound presentation.

If you're keen on over-ears instead, the talented and affordable Austrian Audio Hi-X15 continue to impress across the board; they sound sublime, they're a pleasure to use and, best of all, you could probably now pick them up for just shy of £100 / $100. Or if your budget can stretch and you don't mind some sound leakage during your at-home listening sessions, our veteran open-backed favourites, the Grado SR325x, continue to be the over-ears to beat at their particular price point.

It's a very, very strong list of Award winners in the wired headphones category this year, comprised mainly of returning models that, despite our thorough testing of dozens of worthwhile competitors, are still the finest examples of their type and price on the market this year. The only newbies are the Røde NTH-100, and while you might not have even heard of the Australian brand (who is better known as a manufacturer of microphones), you'll definitely want to hear its debut headphones.

Can the newbie NTH-100 go all the way to win the category's Product of the Year Award, or will it be an old dog that proves it still knows all the best tricks? You've only a handful of weeks before we reveal all, with every What Hi-Fi? Product of the Year gong in every category, plus some special 'extra' awards, set to be announced at the official ceremony on Wednesday 15th November. We can't wait.

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Shure has launched the second generation of its over-ear Aonic 50 wireless headphones at IFA 2023. Building on the foundation laid by the first iteration, the second-gen model has a host of new and improved features including hybrid ANC, improved audio and up to 50 per cent more battery life. 

Crafted from premium materials and delivering what Shure promises will be “studio-quality” sound via 50mm dynamic drivers, the Aonic 50 Gen 2 headphones integrate Snapdragon Sound Technology for “consistent, crystal clear and captivating audio”. 

Central to the Aonic 50 Gen 2 is the inclusion of spatialised audio, powered by a proprietary algorithm that uses acoustic modelling to provide that immersive, spatial experience without sacrificing the fidelity of the original sound. The new tech features three modes – Music, Cinema and Podcast – enhancing or reducing different frequencies to optimise your listening experience depending on the audio source. 

Equally exciting is the arrival of hybrid active noise cancellation, improving the original model’s ANC by more effectively reducing external noise for increased immersion. There are four selectable modes to choose from – Light, Moderate, Max and MaxAware – so you can pick the option that best suits your environment, preferences and needs.

A customisable EQ via the ShurePlus PLAY app lets you tweak your audio to your liking, while beamforming microphone technology, boosted by six mics, minimises surrounding noise and enhances the clarity of voice calls.

Battery life has been extended, too. Shure promises up to two times more life than before, with the Gen 2 offering up to 45 hours of battery life. The Gen 2’s quick charge feature, meanwhile, gives you five hours of juice from a 15-minute charge.

Snapdragon Sound with Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codec and LDAC codec for higher quality streams over Bluetooth are included, as well as support for the standard AAC and SBC codecs. A two-year warranty, carrying case, 3.5mm audio cable and USB-C charging/audio cable are also included in the box.

The Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 wireless headphones will be available in black in September 2023 and will cost £349 / $349 / €399.

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The Jabra Elite 5 are the latest in a seemingly inexhaustible supply of true wireless earbuds from the Danish audio specialist. This time out, Jabra’s banking on a remarkably small and light form factor to help its latest model stand out in an area of the market that’s already full to bursting. 

In principle it’s not a bad idea at all – but if our experience of true wireless in-ears has taught us anything, it’s that it takes more than tidy design and low weight to make a market leader. So what else do the Elite 5 have to offer?

Price

The Jabra Elite 5 are on sale now, and in the United Kingdom you can acquire a pair for £149. In the United States, they’re an even more competitive $149, while customers in Australia should expect to part with AU$219.

Unless you’ve been living somewhere very remote indeed, you’ll know you’ve almost too much choice when it comes to true wireless earbuds at this sort of money. For example, Sennheiser, Shure and Sony all have rivals to sell you for this sort of price – and that’s just the ‘S’ brands. So if Jabra’s going to force the Elite 5 to the front of your thinking, these earbuds are going to need to be pretty special. 

Our Award-winning Sony WF-1000XM4 have also dropped in price to around £159 / $180 now (from their original launch prices of £250 / $280 / AU$450) so the Jabra have this formidable rival to compete with too.

Design

Obviously there are limits, but broadly speaking we tend to prefer our true wireless earbuds to be as small and light as possible. Don’t we? Jabra certainly hopes so.

At just 5g per earbud and with dimensions of 21 x 20 x 27mm, the Elite 5 are small and light enough to be no burden whatsoever – to be absolutely honest, if your ears are on the generous side the Elite 5 might conceivably be too small, even with the largest of the provided eartips fitted. Once they’re in place, they’ll stay comfortable for the long haul.

The fit is so snug and secure, in fact, that even the fact that the Jabra feature a ‘press’ rather than ‘touch’ control on the surface of each earbud can’t affect the way they fit. It’s not like you have to exert much pressure to issue instructions, admittedly, but you certainly need to be more positive than when using the more common capacitive touch-control alternative.  

The charging case in which the earbuds travel is equally compact. It’s small enough to slip easily into a pocket, and it’s finished so smoothly that it won’t cause any aggravation while it’s there. At just 40g it’s a fair bit lighter than many price-comparable alternatives, too.

The Elite 5 are available in three finishes – or, more accurately, two-and-a-half. ‘Gold beige’ and ‘titanium black’ are available from any retailer, but if you fancy ‘black’ (which really doesn’t look all that different to ‘titanium black’ as far as we can tell), you’ll need to go directly to jabra.co.uk. 

Features

Just because a product is small, that doesn’t mean it can’t be extensively specified – the Jabra Elite 5 are the latest product to prove it.

Wireless connectivity is via Bluetooth 5.2 and there’s support for SBC, AAC and aptX codecs. Multipoint connectivity means it’s possible to connect the Elite 5 to two sources at the same time, and once the sounds are streaming they’re delivered to your ears by a pair of 6mm full-range drivers. And owners of appropriate smartphones will be pleased to hear the Elite 5 are compatible with both Microsoft Swift Pair and Google Fast Pair.

Battery life is perfectly respectable if unremarkable: seven hours from the earbuds with active noise-cancellation switched on, rising to nine hours if you keep ANC switched off. The case is good for another three full charges – so anything between 28 and 36 hours should be available before any recharging is required. The Jabra are compatible with Qi-certified wireless charging devices, which only adds to the convenience quotient – 10 minutes on the power is good for an hour or so of playback.

In comparison, the Sony XM4 buds give you eight hours in the bud (with ANC on), with 24 hours in total with the charging case – so the Jabras certainly keep going for longer.

Control is available via those press controls on each earbud, although ‘volume up/down’ is not among the options. It’s available via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri voice control, though – each Elite 5 earbud is fitted with three mics, which take care of voice-assistant interaction, active noise-cancellation and telephony.

And there’s also the Jabra ‘Sound+’ control app, which is one of the more stable, logical and extensive examples of the type. Here’s where you can customise the response of the touch controls, stick your oar into sound quality via the five-band EQ or activate the ‘MySound’ feature that seeks to deliver audio balanced to your specific hearing profile. It’s where you can check for firmware updates, and adjust the amount of external sound that’s admitted when active noise-cancellation is engaged.

The active noise-cancellation system here is hybrid – that’s to say, it assesses noise from both outside and inside your ear in order to offer its best version of noise-cancellation. Jabra reckons this methodology is less dependent on the way you choose to position the ‘buds in your ears.

What else? Well, there’s an IP55 rating against moisture-based jeopardy, and they support Spotify Tap, for super-fast access to that most ubiquitous of streaming services.

Sound

If aptX is available, it seems foolish not to make use of it – and with the Elite 5 connected to a Nothing Phone (1) using the Qualcomm codec, the earbuds don’t take long to establish their modus operandi. Once through a TIDAL stream of This Fractured Mind by Nation Of Language, in fact, is all it takes for the Jabra to reveal a lot of what they’re about.

On the plus side, they’re a nicely balanced listen. From the bottom of the frequency range (which is pleasantly shaped and quite detailed, though short of outright punch) to the top (which is similarly detailed yet similarly undemonstrative), they’re an even and consistent listen. Nothing is understated and certainly nothing is overplayed, and so the overall presentation is quite poised and believable.  

What it isn’t, though, is in any way assertive, as a comparison with Sony’s WF-1000XM4 shows. A digital file of Army Nights by Sleaford Mods should, by rights, have its eyes out on stalks as it pokes you repeatedly in the chest – but all of the aggression and dynamism of the recording is rather neutered by the Elite 5. They’re perfectly forthcoming where the details are concerned, and more than happy to organise a convincing soundstage – but having done so, they’re reluctant to get their hands dirty dealing with the grimy, cheap-sounding music. Low-frequency dynamics in particular are constrained and lack the substance to properly drive the song forwards. The Sonys, on the other hand, are more expressive and outgoing in nature, and ultimately more entertaining.

This ‘safety first’ attitude means the Jabra buds don’t express rhythms with much positivity, and it also means these earbuds have a ‘type’. They like smooth, unthreatening and, ideally, well-produced music they can emphasise the sheen of. What they emphatically don’t like is anything upfront or otherwise in-yer-face. Which is going to make them ideal for a certain kind of listener but less so for the rest of us.

As far as the hybrid noise-cancellation performance is concerned, in character and temperament it’s not unlike the Elite 5’s sonic performance. Which means it’s pleasant and effective enough, up to a point, but it doesn’t have what you might call an ‘all-court game’. That the Jabra can reduce the intrusion of external sounds is not up for question, but they’re far from decisive and can be intimidated both by very loud occurrences and by sounds in a specific area of the frequency range. ‘Cancellation’ here really means ‘reduction’.

Verdict

Hands up those who enjoy a walk on the mild side. Anyone? Well, the Jabra Elite 5 are exactly what you’re after: they sound as smooth and inoffensive as a daytime BBC radio DJ. The rest of us will admire the way they fit so comfortably, and the very well-sorted control app – but then we’ll probably hanker after just a little more sonic bite. 

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 5
• Build 4

MORE:

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Best in-ear headphones: budget to premium

The word audiophile gets thrown around a lot. The truth is, though, that it’s a very elite group of people. If you happen to be a member of the club, it means you have very specific requirements for your audio hardware, including your headphones.

You, after all, want sonic perfection. So you may well be considering something specialist, such as a premium set of wired open-back headphones, or perhaps some studio monitors over one of the more generalist wireless active noise-cancelling (ANC) sets currently in vogue.

On top of that, you’re probably thinking about pairing them with hardware that’s a fair bit more competent than a standard smartphone. A dedicated portable music player, say, or using an external DAC with your phone or laptop; or, perhaps, plugging straight into a hi-fi system's dedicated headphone amplifier.

Which is why, as fellow audiophile club card holders, we go the extra mile when testing headphones. We help track down the top products, cabled or wireless, that will meet audiophiles' strict standards.

Our in-house team of expert reviewers have rigorously tested audiophile headphones in their hundreds over the decades, and here have handpicked the class-leading performers across a wide range of prices. They are not necessarily prohibitively expensive; great-value sound worthy of the 'audiophile' label does indeed exist.

Best value audiophile headphones

Say hello to the best audiophile headphones for outright value. Grado's SR325 headphone model has set the benchmark at this price point for years, and its latest SR325x are the best iteration the Brooklyn-based company has produced yet.

While they may only be a modest improvement over the previous SR325e, when you consider that those old-timers previously topped this list of best audiophile headphones for years, any improvement is an achievement in itself.

The bigger achievement is that the SR325x picked up a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for being the most impressive sounding pair at their price. Indeed, nothing has beaten them since they arrived three years ago.

So, for those familiar with previous SR325 iterations, what's new here? On the surface, not much; there are flatter foam earpads, an updated cable and lighter-coloured stitching on the firmly padded headband. But the real work has gone on under the hood. The 44mm drive unit has a revised motor system, new diaphragm and upgraded coil, all to improve efficiency and reduce distortion. And the new 8-conductor cable uses 'super' annealed copper to deliver a purer sound.

The result is a smoother listen, more authoritative bass and an overall cleaner, clearer sound. "These headphones have always been detailed and articulate performers, and that hasn’t changed," our in-house reviewers note in our SR325x review, "but the ‘x’ generation sounds that bit more precise and insightful." They deliver rhythms with enthusiasm and plenty of punch, and sound effortlessly musical.

They do have an open-back design, though, meaning they leak sound in and out like a sieve and don't quite have the outright weight and low-end punch of closed headphone designs. If you don't mind that because you're after a pair primarily for private listening in a quiet room in your home, and don't require oodles of bass, you'll be rewarded.

Our experts advise pairing the Grados with "an outboard DAC of the quality of Chord’s Mojo for the laptop and phone, and at least Astell & Kern’s A&norma SR25 music player" if you want to hear the scale of the SR325x’s talents.

Got a smaller budget? The next-model-down Grado SR80x are equally impressive for their lower price level, while the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X (open-backs) and DT 700 Pro X (closed-backs, below) are worthy alternatives for those who don't dig Grado's retro vibe.

Read our full Grado SR325x review

Best studio audiophile headphones

These closed-back headphones, like their DT 900 Pro X open-back cousins, are aimed at content creators, with Beyerdynamic labelling them as 'studio' headphones. 'Studio' or not, they have plenty to offer content consumers too. With a spacious, precise and nimble sound and comfortable, lightweight design, they are the best traditional closed-back over-ears our expert reviews team has come across at this accessible price.

At their heart is Beyerdynamic’s Stellar.45 drive unit. It’s designed and manufactured in-house and uses a layered Peek polymer diaphragm, with a damping material sandwiched in between, and a Neodymium motor system.

The aim? To deliver a detailed sound with an easy load which will allow the headphones to be driven by laptops and smartphones without any problems.

And it works! The DT 700 Pro X sound effortlessly composed – the order and precision with which instruments are presented give music a solid foundation on which the headphones can build.

"The honesty in the execution is second to none at this price and the headphones still communicate dynamic shifts of percussion, strings and wind instruments extremely effectively," reads our DT 700 Pro X review. It's not the most exciting presentation we’ve ever heard, the headphones choosing to major in careful control and subtlety instead, but they're still musical and far, far from sounding sterile and unemotional.

Add to that the lack of sound leakage inherent to their closed-back design, plus a reassuringly robust build ("the overall impression you get is that this is a pair of headphones that’s going to give you plenty of mileage over the years," note our in-house reviewers), and you're onto a winner for creators and consumers alike.

Read our full Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X review

Best audiophile headphones for comfort

A pair of wired headphones that blend exceptional comfort with outstanding audio quality? Wouldn't that be something...

The Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X replace Beyerdynamic Amiron has our pick of the most comfortable cans around, carrying on from the outgoing DT 900 Pro X as an outstanding pair of headphones for long sessions of listening both at home and in the studio.

They're just so supremely comfortable, with Beyerdynamic's near-iconic velour earcups providing outstanding comfort and softness while avoiding the production of on-ear heat during extended listening stints.

Note, of course, that these are open-backed headphones, meaning sound leaks freely to the potential irritation of anyone nearby.

Thanks to their signature Stellar.45 drivers employing Beyerdynamic's layered Polyether Ether Ketone (‘PEEK’)’ thermoplastic polymer diaphragm coupled with a Neodymium motor system, the DT 990 Pro X live up to the sonic legacy of their forebears in quite some style.

However you judge them, the five-star cans excel. Beyerdynamic claims the DT 990 Pro X act as a “sonic magnifier” to your music, and while they won't shy away from poor recordings or certain sonic oddities or quirks, they rarely actively highlight or over-egg the faults in the tunes we feed them.

They're remarkably detailed headphones, with exceptional resolution paired with far more clarity and openness than found on the outgoing DT 900 Pro X. No matter the source devices or the files they're tasked with tackling, Beyerdynamic's mid-range headphones barely show any signs of struggling.

Instead, they're an engaging, rich and informative listen. The DT 990 Pro X handle dynamics superbly as they tease out low-level variations with ease, and as we said in our review, they're "composed, clear and precise, but they don’t fall into the trap of sounding emotionally distant or unengaging".

Comfort and sonic class in one excellent package, the DT 990 Pro X are a stunning blend of convenience and performance. Truly impressive.

Read our full Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X review

Best premium audiophile headphones

It’s been over a decade since we first laid ears on the original T1 model, and they have since become something of a touchstone for us as far as premium audiophile headphones go. In those years the model has reached its third generation, and it mainly separates itself from its predecessor by being easier to drive for laptops and mobile devices (The old model had a 600 ohm impedance, while this new one takes that down to 32 ohms). That said, be under no illusions – high-quality source material is still vital to make the most of their undeniable talents.

They're open-backed, so the usual provisos about leaking sound apply (try their Beyerdynamic T5 siblings if you'd prefer talented closed-backs instead). Indeed, they're intended for home listening, which is aided by the provision of a 3m cable. Incidentally, the cable is easily detachable, so if it ever does break or get damaged, swapping to a replacement will take a matter of seconds. Oh and it doesn't make much mechanical noise as you move around – always a plus.

A nicely shaped, partially Alcantara-covered headband and generous velour-trimmed earpads that don't overheat ears in a hurry make them suitable for longer listening sessions, too.

Sound-wise, the T1 3rd Gen don’t let the lineage down. They're a little cleaner and clearer than their predecessors, sounding a bit less bright and more rounded in the treble. It makes them more forgiving of aggressive electronics and recordings, but they're still admirably even-handed and balanced. As our T1 (3rd Generation) review notes, "We’re pleased to report that Beyerdynamic hasn’t over-egged the bass frequencies either, with the T1 (3rd Gen) sounding as tonally convincing as ever."

What impresses us most is how utterly faithful they are to the recording – vocals come through with particularly wonderful nuance and clarity – and their renditions of even denser music are exceptionally organised and coherent.

For around the same price, you might also want to consider the Grado RS1x, but their more retro aesthetic might put some people off.

Read our full Beyerdynamic T1 (3rd Generation) review

Best luxury audiophile headphones

Focal made its name with loudspeakers, but the French company is now equally admired for its headphones – and the Clear Mg are some of its finest.

Before you even open the box it’s clear that these are high-end audiophile headphones. The packaging is suitably luxurious and there’s no denying the high-quality materials and standard of build, with the appearance certainly a far cry from many of its comparatively drab-looking competitors. A carry case and two detachable cables are included (1.2m 3.5mm and 3m 4-pin XLR), but for the price you might expect a slightly longer 3.5mm cable in the box as well.

Stick the Focal Clear Mg on your head and they’re every bit as comfortable as you’d hope. Their 450g weight is distributed well, with the thick, leather-cushioned headband and microfibre earpads ensuring that there’s not too much inward pressure.

Like many on this list, the Clear Mg are open-backed and therefore better suited to home listening than taking out and about, but that lack of an enclosure means they excel when it comes to transparency and dynamic expression. Their presentation is expressive and entertaining, with plenty of clarity, texture and punch. You can also expect precise stereo placement, plus surefootedness and control when it comes to rhythms.

Tonally, the Clear Mg are, to quote our Clear Mg review, "full-bodied in a manner that eludes most rivals, and this presentation results in instruments and voices coming through in a more natural and engaging manner". They're convincing in all the right ways, without sounding as though they're trying too hard.

A word of advice from our in-house reviews team: "Don’t let the inclusion of a 3.5mm jack and relatively short lead tempt you into using your phone as the primary source... the Clear Mg will produce decent volume levels in most set-ups [but] you really need quality electronics to justify their expense."

If the blingy design isn’t for you, the Grado GS3000x are also worth considering if you can find some extra cash, but in performance-per-pound terms the Focals are our undisputed high-end champs.

Read the full Focal Clear Mg review

Best money-no-object audiophile headphones

What with Yamaha's broad range of musical products, its headphones tend to get overlooked. The YH-5000SE are an attempt to change that; an ode a modern-day successor to the Japanese company's 1970s HP-1, which was the first pair to use its orthodynamic driver (an older term for what we now call a planar magnetic driver). These one-of-a-kind open-backed headphones are certainly built for audiophiles. And they're excellent.

They're made of lightweight materials – the earcup housing is made of magnesium, while the rest of the headphone’s structure uses a mix of steel, ABS, leather and aluminium – which combine with the soft leather (or suede – both are supplied) earpads to make for some of the most comfortable headphones we've ever worn.

The design is a little more functional than some of the 'wow' headphones you get at this price level, but that's fine by us. "These headphones feel beautifully engineered and are built with obvious care," penned our impressed reviewers in our YH-5000SE review.

Besides, what matters is performance, and fortunately that's exceptional. The YH-5000SE come close to equivalently priced Stax electrostatics when it comes to outright resolution and clarity, but in our opinion they deliver the sound with greater verve, which makes them a more enjoyable listen. "It is hard to think of an alternative that’s as insightful and balanced," noted our team – is there a greater compliment?

The one downside (apart from the price, of course) is that you'll need to buddy them with sufficiently high-end partnering kit, otherwise you won't hear them at their best. And that would be a crime. Yamaha would naturally point you to its HA-L7A headphone amplifier, which was tuned using the YH-5000SE, though they worked well during our testing with everything we tried, from our reference hi-fi system to a laptop connected to the Chord Hugo TT2 DAC/headphone amplifier.

If you want to audition some others before taking the plunge, take a trip to your nearest Focal dealer and ask to try the French brand's Utopia and Stellia models.

Read our full Yamaha YH-5000SE review

Best portable headphones

The Sennheiser HDB 630 is an atypical entry on this list, which mainly consists of open-back wired headphones for home listening.

If, however, you want a set of cans to use on the go, or to use paired with a mobile device while traveling, they are the best we have tested – thanks to the inclusion of one nifty gadget.

The supplied BTD 700 USB-C dongle adds full-fat AptX Adaptive streaming to any source. That grants you significantly better streaming quality via Bluetooth (up to 24bit/96kHz) than you will get from most phones, laptops or tablets on their own.

The sound still can’t match the quality you’ll get from a decent headphone amp feeding a pair of the wired cans on this list. But if you’re an audiophile looking for a portable set of headphones, the HDB 630 is the best option we have tested to date.

Paired with the dongle, the HDB 630 repeatedly impressed our reviewers, delivering a natural, dynamic, detailed sound regardless of which test track we threw at them. They also come with a number of perks you won’t find on the other, mostly cabled, open-back headphones on this list.

These include ANC, which is a definite boon when travelling, helping block out commuter noise, or background office rumblings. They offer a comfy fit, too, and they have good enough noise isolation to ensure you’re not annoying those around you – something that can’t be said of open-back offerings.

As we say in our full review: “Sennheiser’s most ambitious wireless headphones not only nail sound quality in their own right but also bless iPhones and other audio sources with a significant sound upgrade via a neat bundled accessory. The result? Sony XM6-beating sound performance in a well-built, feature-rich and competitively priced package.”

This makes them our current recommendation for serious music fans looking for a great-sounding pair of headphones to use on the go, rather than at home.

Read our full Sennheiser HDB 630 review

Best high-end audiophile earbuds

Sennheiser’s IE 900 will appeal to purists who want to get the best audio possible from a high-quality source, period. They put sound quality front and centre, so if that is paramount to you, then these wonderful IEMs are the way to go.

This is a suitably premium package befitting the best audiophile headphones, with six ear tip options and three cables with a choice of normal 3.5mm and balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm connectors.

Sennheiser's engineers have chosen to go with a single driver rather than the more fashionable multiple-unit approach that many rivals take and it's made with rigidity and low resonance in mind. The results are fantastic.

They’re impressively revealing, clear and open-sounding, able to dig deep into the production of a recording – and highlight any shortcomings in it (or your partnering kit). "These Sennheisers capture the music’s energy superbly," notes our IE 900 review. "They sound confident and insightful, revealing layers of low-level information and organising it into a structured and cohesive whole." They strike a wonderful balance between over-analysing and having fun, too, and that goes a long way toward how entertaining they sound.

Partner them with a high-quality outboard DAC, such as the Chord Mojo, and use good-quality files and you'll hear just why the IE 900 justify their hefty price tag. Our reviewers' only complaint was that the signal cable is prone to transmitting any noise caused by movement – an issue if you want to wear these headphones on the move.

If you've got even more to spend, you might also want to consider Shure's KSE1200.

Read our full Sennheiser IE 900 review

Best wireless audiophile headphones

Focal picked up a five-star rating for its previous pair of wireless headphones, the five-star Focal Bathys, so when a fancier follow-up pair was announced, we knew they'd have big shoes to fill.

Happily, the Bathys Mg fill them and then some. The more costly cans swap the 40mm aluminium/magnesium driver for one made from pure magnesium, hence the 'Mg' moniker.

That makes a serious difference when compared with their 2022 predecessors, as the Mg offer "a greater sense of refinement, expression and more precise deployment of notes throughout the frequency range," as we wrote in our review. They also have a greater degree of control over lows and highs, outstripping the originals to a remarkable degree unwieldy.

The sound is natural and balanced, with plenty of weight, precision and texture. Levels of insight are off the chart, making flagship rivals from the likes of Sony, B&W and Dali sound lacklustre or hesitant by comparison.

The Focal Bathys Mg are suitably plush too, offering a durable build furnished with a leather headband and memory foam earpads, plus a yoke made from aluminium and magnesium. We admit that they're heavy – almost 100g heavier than the Sony WH-1000XM6 – and only come in the chestnut (i.e. brown) finish, so that won't be to everybody's tastes.

They also don't have touch controls, and their app is a little bare bones compared to some, but they only lack features in a bid to focus purely on performance. To us, it's a trade-off worth making considering how good the Bathys Mg sound.

They do have plenty of other features, anyway. The Sound Personalisation mode feeds you test signals to create your own sound profile based on your hearing. Wired listening is possible up to 24-bit/192kHz using the Mg's built-in DAC, so you can push the performance further if you want to go down the wired route.

The noise cancellation is also up there with the best around. Upper bass and lower midrange rumbles are dispatched with ease, while traffic noise is nicely muffled too, all of which will help you focus even more on the audiophile-grade sound quality.

If you have the money and you're set on wireless headphones, very little comes close to the Focal Bathys Mg.

Read our full Focal Bathys Mg review

Also consider

Looking for an alternative to the audiophile headphones above?
Below are models that come close to being included in this list but don't quite make the final cut. They are five-star performers that we think still deserve your consideration, especially if something on our list doesn't take your fancy. They might even be a better fit for certain people with certain demands or circumstances.

• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: As more affordable alternatives to the wireless Dalis above, Bowers & Wilkins' premium Bluetooth noise-cancellers offer a more luxurious design alongside dynamic expression and detail that, while comparatively inferior, are highly competitive at their lower price point.
• Sony WH-1000XM6: Another more affordable wireless alternative is this brand-new Sony, which is on par with the B&Ws above from a sound quality perspective but blocks noise better.
• Dali IO-8: The IO-8 were our pick as the best wireless audiophile headphones, so if you want a more affordable alternative to the Bathys Mg, they remain a safe five-star bet.
• Grado RS1x: At many of the price points above are invariably Grado competitors that are just as good as the entry we've chosen. The RS1x are one example, massively transparent and musical open-back performers. If you don't mind their dated design, they're mighty strong alternatives to the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd Gen above.
• Austrian Audio The Composer: Austrian Audio is another manufacturer whose sound-first headphones have consistently impressed. Its latest, The Composer, is a worthy pick if you're serious about hearing as much detail in your music as possible but cannot stretch your budget to the aspirational Yamaha over-ears in our list.
• Austrian Audio Hi-X20: For tight budgets, these Austrian Audios are well-made headphones with a sparklingly clear sound that delves deep into your music’s finer details, delivering studio sound without requiring you to spend a fortune.

How to choose the best audiophile headphones

If you want the best sound quality possible for your budget, which seems likely considering you've landed on an audiophile headphones buying guide, you'll be best served by a pair of over-ear wired headphones. These prioritise performance and aren't held back by sound-limiting wireless functionality or other distracting, costly features such as active noise cancellation. If that's the case, you should read all about the differences between closed-back vs open-back headphones so that you can determine which of the two types available is best for you. In short, open-backs leak sound in and out and tend to sound more spacious and precise than traditional, non-leaky closed-backs.

If you do want to add modern-day convenience to the mix, you could opt for audiophile headphones that combine state-of-the-art noise-cancelling technology with state-of-the-art Bluetooth performance, like the Dalis in our list above. Just know that a class-leading pair of similarly priced wired headphones will trump even the best wireless models in the sound department. Our wired vs wireless headphones article outlines the pros and cons of each style.

So what else do you need to consider when buying audiophile headphones? If you're spending north of around £300 / $300 / AU$600 on a pair, we recommend you partner them with a high-quality source, such as a portable music player, or a quality headphone amplifier (whether that is one built into, say, a stereo amplifier or an external dedicated one) to extract the best performance from them. Want to primarily plug your pair into an (inherently poor-sounding) laptop? You should certainly consider connecting them to a decent DAC.

Also, keep in mind that over-ear audiophile headphones tend to be designed primarily for home listening; neither only a 3m supplied cable nor an open-back design is ideal for the train or open-plan office.

Or perhaps you want the best in-ear audiophile headphones (sometimes referred to as IEMs or in-ear monitors), in which case you can expect a discreet design and a performance that majors on clarity, directness, precision and musicality, with little in the way of features – many don't even have an in-line remote for answering calls. Again, wired earbuds will sound significantly better than wireless earbuds that cost a similar amount.

How we test audiophile headphones

With over 150 years of collective testing experience, What Hi-Fi?'s in-house reviews team tests over 100 pairs of headphones every year, many of which are what we would call 'everyday' wireless headphones but also plenty that are worthy of the 'audiophile' label.

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities where our expert reviewers carry out all our product testing, giving us complete control of the environment and partnering equipment these tests are conducted in and with.

We test audiophile headphones with various source equipment – from laptops connected to USB DACs to our reference hi-fi system – depending on their price point and form factor, to see how they work in their most likely real-world set-ups.

Each pair is given plenty of running in and testing time, with various music genres and recording quality making up our test tracks. Importantly, we compare each audiophile headphone under review with the current class leader(s) at their price point – often a What Hi-Fi? Award winner – to ensure we can contextually place its talents within the market.

In line with how we test and review all products at What Hi-Fi?, the star rating we award each pair of audiophile headphones is agreed upon by several team members rather than simply an individual reviewer, helping to ensure consistency and avoid any personal preference.

From all our reviews, we only choose the very best products to feature in our Best Buys, like this one. That's why if you take the plunge and buy any of the audiophile headphones recommended above, or something else on another Best Buy, you can be assured you're getting a best-in-class, What Hi-Fi?-approved product.

Read more about how we test and review headphones at What Hi-Fi?

Audiophile headphones FAQ

Recent updates

• September 2025: The Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X are our pick as the best headphones for comfort, while the Focal Bathys Mg replace the Dali IO-8 as our favourite luxury wireless cans. The IO-8, meanwhile, drop to our also consider section.
• March 2025: The Dali IO-8 are our new best audiophile wireless pick, replacing the veteran Mark Levinson No. 5909. Meanwhile, the brand-new Sennheiser HD 505 wired mid-range over-ears just miss out, lacking the rhythmic ability to trouble the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X below.
• January 2025: The CES 2025 show didn't deliver anything of note in the audiophile headphones market, but just before Christmas Meze and Final launched wired over-ears, which we hope to hear soon. For now, our list remains unchanged going into 2025.
• November 2024: Our 'Best Value' Grado SR325x pick has just won its fourth consecutive What Hi-Fi? Award so is now labelled as such. Despite testing several pairs during our Awards season judging, nothing troubled the class leaders on this list.
• August 2024: No new entries this time. Since our last update in June, we've tested two pairs that, on paper, fit the audiophile profile. The budget, wired Sivga SV021 Robin over-ears seemed promising but ultimately lack refinement and authority. And the ambitiously priced wireless Dyson OnTrac proved disappointing too, lacking the sonic talents of their best wireless headphone competitors.
• June 2024: The wireless Mark Levinson No. 5909 replaced the Sony WH-1000XM5 in light of a recent price drop, making the superior-sounding over-ears better value. We also added FAQs to offer you extra buying advice.
• April 2024: We added an 'Also Consider' section above to give you further choice if nothing in our handpicked list suits your requirements.
• February 2024: We broke down picks into price- and design-related categories to help you more easily find a pair that's right for your priorities and budget.
• November 2023: We labelled headphones on this list that had recently won a What Hi-Fi? Award 2023, such as the Grado SR325x. This label indicates a class leader.

Today's best deals

Wired headphones are the way to go if you want the best sound quality your money can buy.

Sure, wireless headphones are popular for good reason: instead of the nuisance of tangled wires, you get untethered listening and smart features such as active noise cancellation and spatial audio. It's little wonder their super convenient selves are on heads everywhere you turn.

But the best wired headphones sound a fair degree better than similarly priced Bluetooth pairs – and they are more sustainable and don't run out of power or require charging. The wired vs wireless headphones war is pretty evenly fought, then, so your priorities will determine your winner.

If your loyalty lies with the wired army, this buying guide exclusively highlights the best-value wired pairs worth your investment. This guide focuses solely on over-ear headphones and our expert picks span a variety of budgets. Our how to choose wired headphones section below can also help you pick the path to take.

For those who are interested in the best wired earbuds, we've got you covered in a different list.

Each and every pair in this list has been rigorously tested by our in-house team of expert reviewers – who have over 150 years of collective experience – and is a class leader at its respective price level when it comes to not only sound performance but also build quality and comfort.

• Want to go wire-free after all? Here are the best wireless headphones

The quick list

Best headphones overall

It's understandable if you’ve never heard of Røde. While the company is a pretty big deal in the world of pro audio, the NTH-100 launched only a couple of years ago were both its first pair of headphones and its first attempt to engage with the consumer audio market.

So unless you are well-versed in recording studio mics or music creation, this Australian brand might be as brand new to you as it was to us. The important thing is that you know about Røde now.

Needless to say, the NTH-100 are solid debuts from Down Under. Tonally, they’re on the neutral and naturalistic side. What bass there is in this recording is respectably deep, yes, but it’s swift and well-controlled too – attack and decay of individual sounds are really well observed, and as a consequence, the NTH-100 are a rapid and (in the right circumstances) punchy listen. Rhythmic expression is decent, too.

At the opposite end of the frequency range, they’re similarly detail-heavy and similarly articulate. The midrange, though, is the star of the show.

Our in-house review experts used Nick Drake’s Pink Moon as one of their test tracks with the Rødes and said: "Drake’s voice during this recording is quiet and without affectation, and sounds very much like the mic is very close indeed to his mouth – and subsequently the NTH-100 describe his singing with all the intimacy and immediacy it demands."

At this price, there are certain expectations we all might have when it comes to wired headphones – great sound and comfort for hours.

But it's safe to say the Røde NTH-100 outperform those expectations comfortably and for that is one of the best wired pairs we can recommend overall.

Read our full Røde NTH-100 review

Best budget headphones

Austrian Audio is a Vienna-based company born out of a group of ex-AKG employees, so the team's decades of experience cannot be refuted – and it positively shines through in the Hi-X15.

The company's first-ever range of wired headphones, Hi-X, offers plenty of decent models across on-ear and over-ear designs, both wired and wireless, but these affordable wired Hi-X15 will be your first choice if you prioritise sound quality and have a modest budget to work with.

The Hi-X15 may be affordable, but they don't once feel cheap or flimsy. The design, with proper metal hinges and soft ‘slow retention’ memory foam earpads, put a lot of plasticky competitors to shame. In our Hi-X15 review, our expert reviewers noted that "the grip level is nicely judged, with just enough pressure applied to keep them from sliding around your head" and that the earpads "didn’t seem to generate too much in the way of heat".

More importantly, sound quality is exceptionally good for the money, with our five-star review noting that they "sound so transparent and grown up that they belie their relatively modest price tag".

The Hi-X15 deliver consistently high detail levels yet keep the soul of a song intact – no easy feat at this end of the market. Expression and emotion are usually lost when price tags drop to this level, but the Hi-X15's ability to deal with proper weight and sentiment is remarkable.

True bargains that are well worth consideration. If you'd prefer an open-back pair for that extra spaciousness it brings, the Grado SR80x (siblings to the pricier SR325x below) are definitely worth a look.

Read the full Austrian Audio Hi-X15 review

Best headphones for home

Grado's Prestige range has produced some of the Brooklyn-based company's finest headphones over the past 30 years. The series has evolved over time, but the latest ‘x’ generation models offer the same balance of quality and value that we've come to expect from such a likeable audio brand.

The range-topping SR325x headphones look much like their predecessors, the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning SR325e from several years ago, albeit with flatter foam earpads, an updated cable and lighter-coloured stitching on the firmly padded headband.

The real difference, however, is in the listening: the SR325x sound notably cleaner and clearer than their predecessors, offering a superbly detailed and articulate performance that comes across more precisely and insightfully than ever.

They don't have the outright weight and low-end punch of closed headphone design, but their open design (which does leak sound in and out) replies with a spacious and very breathable soundstage that still kicks out deep, agile and tuneful bass frequencies.

You'll want to use them with a decent source beyond phone-level quality, though. "We’d be looking at an outboard DAC of the quality of the Chord Mojo 2 for the laptop and phone, and at least Astell & Kern’s A&norma SR35 hi-res music player, if we want to hear the scale of the SR325x’s talents," our reviews team suggests.

If you're looking for the best wired headphones in the game around this price, and don't mind an open-back design (which inherently leaks a little sound in and out), the SR325x should be top of your list. They're unbeatable value.

For a more traditional closed-back (i.e. non-leaky) alternative, the excellent Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X should be your go-to at this level.

Read the full Grado SR325x review

Best for comfort

The five-star Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X replace Beyerdynamic Amiron has our pick of the most comfortable cans around, carrying on from the outgoing DT 900 Pro X as an outstanding pair of headphones for long sessions of listening both at home and in the studio.

As with many Beyerdynamic cans, they're just so wonderfully comfy, with Beyerdynamic's near-iconic velour earcups providing outstanding comfort and softness while avoiding the production of on-ear heat during extended listening stints. The well-judged clamping force also helps: not too firm, not too soft, but really nicely judged.

Note, of course, that these are open-backed headphones, meaning sound leaks freely to the potential irritation of anyone nearby, so it's best to use them at home or in the studio.

Thanks to their Stellar.45 drivers employing Beyerdynamic's layered Polyether Ether Ketone (‘PEEK’)’ thermoplastic polymer diaphragm coupled with a Neodymium motor system, the DT 990 Pro X more than live up to the legacy of their forebears.

The five-star cans deliver a masterclass at this price. Beyerdynamic claims the DT 990 Pro X act as a “sonic magnifier” to your music, and while they won't shy away from poor recordings or certain sonic oddities or quirks, they rarely actively highlight or over-egg the faults in the tunes we feed them.

They're remarkably detailed, offering exceptional resolution paired with greater clarity and openness than found on the outgoing DT 900 Pro X. No matter the source devices or the files they're tasked with tackling, Beyerdynamic's mid-range over-ears barely break a sweat.

Instead, they're an engaging, rich and informative listen. The DT 990 Pro X handle dynamics superbly as they tease out low-level variations with ease, and as we said in our review, they're "composed, clear and precise, but they hardly ever fall into the trap of sounding emotionally distant or unengaging".

Comfort and sonic class in one stellar package, the DT 990 Pro X are a stunning blend of convenience and performance. At this price, they're our top pick.

Read our full Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X review

Best for audiophiles

The original T1 open-back headphones – now over a decade old – are something of a touchstone for us as far as premium headphones go. The current third-general model is the one we are recommending here, and is all the evidence you need that Beyerdynamic has managed to evolve the recipe to keep these cans at the cutting edge of performance at their price level.

The T1 3rd Gen are simply designed to be easier to drive when used with laptops and mobile devices, compared with its predecessor. The old model had a 600ohm impedance, while this new one takes that down to 32ohms. That said, these remain mightily transparent performers and so deserve a high-quality source anyway.

The result is a sound that is very similar to the originals but cleaner and clearer, slightly less bright and a little smoother when it comes to treble. There's that same delivery of music with a palpable sense of power and authority, and vocals come through with nuance and clarity, too.

These aren’t the kind of wired headphones that impress on a short listen but given a few days or even weeks, it’s hard not to fall under their spell.

The updated T1 are comfortable enough for long listening sessions thanks to a nicely shaped, partially Alcantara-covered headband and generous velour-trimmed earpads.

If you'd prefer a retro look, the Grado RS1x are very solid alternatives, and if money is truly no object then the Yamaha YH-5000SE are arguably the best headphones we've ever heard. Want closed-backs at this level instead? Check out the T1's brilliant siblings, the Beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Gen).

Read the full Beyerdynamic T1 (3rd Generation) review

Also consider

• Austrian Audio The Composer – high-end alternatives
  If your budget extends beyond the entries in this list, you have many excellent audiophile headphones available to you, including these open-backed cans, which sound as balanced and insightful as we’ve come across at this level.
• Focal Clear Mg – premium alternatives to the Beyerdynamic T1
  Focal is behind many excellent high-end pairs, including the top-tier Utopia and Stellia. The Clear Mg are more modestly priced but no less impressive for their level. They look great and sound even better.
• Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X – Grado SR325x alternatives
  If you don't like the rather divisive look of the Grados, these brilliant Beyerdynamics are another similarly priced, open-back model worth your cash. Their open-back DT 900 Pro X siblings are fantastic too.
• Sennheiser HD 505 – affordable open-back over-ears
  If your budget is around the asking price of the Austrian Audio and Rode, but you prefer open-back designs to closed-back ones, these Sennheisers are nicely smooth and detailed – just not the last word in punch.
• Austrian Audio Hi-X20 – Røde NTH-100 alternatives
  While the Røde NTH-100 are more forgiving and perhaps better suited to more general use, purists who crave an honest, detail-rich pair of wired headphones will adore the pristine, slightly analytical nature of the Hi-X20.

How to choose the best wired headphones for you

If you've decided on wired headphones over wireless models, you either prioritise sound quality, don't want the faff of having to charge headphones, or are thinking about sustainability. Or all three.

Closed-back or open-back? If you're set on a pair of wired over-ear headphones, your next consideration is whether you want a closed-back or open-back design. Open-back designs 'leak' sound in and out but do tend to produce a more expansive, natural sound, while closed-backs are more common and seal sound far more effectively, making them the pick for out-and-about use.

Comfort should be high on your list too. Chances are you'll be wearing wired over-ear headphones for long periods at a time, so you want to ensure they're comfortable. Ensuring the earcups and headband are well-padded will help. The pressure exerted on your head whilst wearing them, commonly referred to as the clamping force, is also something to consider. You don't want the headphones to be too tight as this may cause discomfort but you want them to have a secure acoustic-seal to isolate noise and prevent the loss of any lower frequencies.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) used to be a common feature of wired headphones, but wired ANC models are a rare breed now (the Lindy BNX-60 is one such pair), primarily because noise-cancelling is increasingly associated with portability and thus goes hand-in-hand with Bluetooth connectivity for convenient-first listening.

Consider bundled accessories. Nearly all wired headphones come with a 3.5mm cable, though if you're looking for a pair for home use with your desktop or hi-fi system, you might want to look out for wired headphones with bundled accessories such as a longer second cable or a 6.3mm adapter.

And if you have a DAC or headphone amplifier you wish to use them with (recommended for all but budget pairs), picking a model that is a good sonic match for them is a key consideration too.

How we test wired headphones

We pride ourselves on having state-of-the-art testing facilities where our team of experienced in-house reviewers test the majority of hi-fi and AV kit that pass through our door.

Of course, testing wired headphones doesn't always require advanced facilities – though we do try the more premium over-ear pairs in our reference hi-fi system to see how they fare with some of the most sophisticated components money can buy.

What is important in our wired headphones reviewing process is that each model is compared to the best in its price and style class – whether that's one standout pair or a few we favour the highest among the 50+ models we listen to each year for reviews and What Hi-Fi? Awards judging.

We keep class-leading products in our stockrooms so can always compare new products to ones we know and love.

We are always impartial and do our best to make sure we're hearing every pair of headphones at its very best, so we'll try plenty of different music genres and give them plenty of listening time, while the wired headphones that warrant being used with a DAC/headphone amp (all but the very budget models) are tested with a price-suitable one. It's not just about sound quality, of course.

We use wired headphones for weeks during testing to get a firm idea of their fit and how comfortable and durable they are for long periods of listening.

In accordance with how What Hi-Fi? tests all products that pass through our doors, all review verdicts are agreed upon by the team, which collectively has over 150 years of experience, rather than an individual reviewer, eliminating any personal preference and ensuring we are being as thorough as possible, too.

There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to the verdict, with What Hi-Fi? proud of having delivered honest, unbiased reviews for five decades.

Read more about how we test and review headphones at What Hi-Fi?.

FAQ

Recent updates

• January 2026: The Shure Aonic 3 and SoundMagic E11C were removed from this guide, but both feature in our list of the best wired earbuds. We also added to our FAQ section.
• September 2025: The exceptional Sennheiser DT 990 Pro X make our list as the best headphones for comfort, replacing the outgoing Beyerdynamic Amiron.
• March 2025: The just-tested, four-star Sennheiser HD 505 make our Also Consider list as likeable and affordable open-back over-ears, as do the five-star SoundMagic E80D budget earbuds – USB-C alternatives to the 3.5mm-terminated SoundMagic E11 in our main list.
• January 2025: Our list remains unchanged as we enter 2025, with our seven-strong pick remaining the favoured picks in face of the competition.
• November 2024: We have labelled our newly crowned What Hi-Fi? Award 2024 winners in this list. None of the wired pairs manufacturers submitted for our Awards judging dethroned any of the existing class leaders, so this list remains the same.
• September 2024: We've beefed up our Also Consider list.
• July 2024: No new entries this time, despite having tested a handful of models since our last update. The newly reviewed, four-star Sennheiser HD 620S and Meze Audio Empyrean II came fairly close, but they don't bump their respective rivals off this (or our Also Consider) list.
• May 2024: The newly reviewed Austrian Audio The Composer make our 'Also Consider' section, which has just been added to give readers greater choice at the higher end of the market.
• February 2024: Added a top tip, added FAQ section to help with buying decisions and most frequently asked questions, and updated our testing process.
• November 2023: What Hi-Fi? Award winners labelled after the 2023 Awards Best Buys and Product of the Year announcements.

MORE:

Best wireless headphones: Bluetooth headphones for every budget

Really, really into sound? These are the best audiophile headphones for you

Check out the best DACs you can buy to get even better performance from wired headphones

Shure’s SE846 wired in-ear headphones have been around a while. Ten years to be precise. And what better way to mark their big birthday than by launching the second-generation of these five-star buds.

But, instead of going back to the drawing board for the SE846 2nd Gen, Shure has showed restraint and only made a few subtle tweaks here and there.

There are a couple of new colours; Graphite and Jade, and Shure has also updated its Clear version which allows you to see its inner workings.

But apart from that, the headphones use the same isolating design as the originals and the same four-driver set-up. This actually sounds very promising, as we found the original pair to be among “the most capable in-ears we’ve heard”.

The new pair does have what Shure refers to as a ”new extended sound signature”, though, thanks to the inclusion of a new filter. The originals came with three swappable filters in tow but due to customer demand, Shure has now added a fourth.

Users have been requesting a greater extension of high frequencies and Shure has obliged with a filter that offers “a more targeted contour in the frequency response  (4kHz - 12kHz)”, designed to “increase image clarity” and “add a desirable 'Airy' quality to the audio”.

The SE846 Gen 2 come with the Extender filter fitted as standard, with Balanced, Warm and Bright filters provided in the box together with multiple tip options to help you get the best fit possible.

They’re also fitted with a 3.5mm detachable cable, while their use of MMCX connectors means you can convert them to wireless in-ear headphones with Shure’s optional True Wireless Adapters.

The Shure SE846 Gen 2 can be yours for £959 / $899 (approx AU$1335, while a wireless adapter bundle will also be offered in some territories priced at £1049 / $999 (approx AU$1483).

MORE:

Our pick of the best audiophile headphones

And the best headphones deals

How to choose the right pair of headphones

Despite the fact that wireless earbuds seem to dominate the headphones market, not everyone likes them. Some users find them too intrusive, too isolating, and would rather listen to music played out of a smartphone’s speaker than have to insert one bud, let alone a pair.

But, help might be at hand courtesy of the brand new Sony LinkBuds (aka Sony WF-L900), which offer a twist on the traditional wireless earbud design that we have all come to know and a lot of us have come to love.

Price

The Sony LinkBuds come in at £150 / $180 / AU$300 which positions them above Sony’s cheaper WF-C500 earbuds and below the premium WF-1000XM4. Rivals such as the Shure Aonic Free are closer in price although, like the Sonys, they don't offer noise cancelling. The five-star JBL Reflect Flow Pro do offer ANC and can be had for similar money but like the Shures, they're a more traditional design.

• Sony LinkBuds vs WF-1000XM4: which Sony wireless earbuds are better?

Design

Given the size of the average pair of wireless earbuds, you wouldn’t think there’s much room to experiment with a brand new design. Having said that, it didn’t stop Samsung launching the kidney-bean-shaped Galaxy Buds Live, even if they weren’t the final word in sound quality.

Now it’s the turn of Sony and its LinkBuds to bring something different to the party. Just a quick look at the design is enough to raise eyebrows. Instead of a tip protruding from the earbuds there is a circular section with a hole in the middle. It looks a bit like a smoothed-off Polo Mint (or Life Saver for our American friends), but it won’t keep your ears feeling minty fresh.

It’s actually the big USP of these wireless earbuds – a 12mm ring driver, designed to slide into the bottom part of your ear from where it fires music out into your ear’s opening. Think of the old-school in-ear headphones you used to get with Sony CD Walkmans back in the ’90s, stamp a hole in the middle and you’re not far off it.

Those of you who hate the feeling of silicone or memory foam burrowing into your ears will be delighted to learn Sony has deliberately designed the LinkBuds to not do this (though the newer LinkBuds S have returned to that conventional design). Quite the opposite, in fact. Sony wants you to be able to hear the outside world instead of isolating yourself from it – which is also the main reason there’s no noise cancelling (ANC) present.

Given there’s a lot going on with the design, it’s impressive that the LinkBuds are actually so small. They make something like a pair of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds look positively huge. Sony claims they use 51 per cent less volume than their own highly rated WF-1000XM4 headphones. They’re 44 per cent lighter, too – something you really notice when one is sat in the palm of your hand.

The Sony LinkBuds are available in either grey or (like our review sample) white. We’re big fans, as the plastic used feels nice in-hand. It’s actually made from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), a material formed by taking certain car parts made in the US and Japan, recycling and refining them and blending them with mica to get that final finish.

Comfort

So the design looks striking enough, but are the Sony LinkBuds comfortable? In a word, yes. Over long listening periods we had no real complaints, with the ring driver resting gently in but not digging into our ear. Similarly, the actual bud section of the WF-L900 nestles neatly in the upper part of your ear, secured in place by a small plastic earloop (Sony’s accompanying Headphones app offers a helpful video to show you how they’re supposed to sit).

The loops are smaller than the rubber wingtips you get with some rivals, and Sony gives you five different sizes to choose from (XS, S, M, L and XL). If you want to change the size, simply peel the loop away from around the edge of the bud section and replace it with your loop size of choice. It’s a very simple procedure.

Features

The ring driver will dominate many conversations about the Sony LinkBuds, but the brains of the operation, including the DAC and amplifier, sit in the main domed section. The WF-L900 use the same Integrated V1 processor that you can find in Sony's Award-winning WF-1000XM4. They also call upon Sony’s DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) technology to help restore high-frequency sounds lost in compressed digital audio files.

Sony has focused heavily on call quality for the LinkBuds, too. They feature something called Clear Call with AI, a noise-reduction system designed to reduce outside interference. And call quality is a real highlight here. Your voice sounds clear and focused and the tech combines with the built-in mics to make it easy for the person on the other end of the line to hear what you’re saying.

As is the case with most Sony wireless headphones, you’ll want to download the company’s Headphones app to help you make the most of the features on offer. Some are new, such as the nine different preset EQs you have access to, and some have been carried across from the pricier WF-1000XM4.

Speak-to-Chat is one feature that’s made it across, for example. It automatically stops the music when you start talking and resumes it when you stop. You can adjust sensitivity in the app so the tech doesn’t get caught out by random voices or coughs and cause any unwanted pauses. Some might find it useful, although there is a slight delay between you talking and the tech jumping into action. Alternatively, you just remove an earbud to pause playback.

Although Sony has designed the LinkBuds to help blend the outside world into your listening experience, there will be occasions where it threatens to overpower the music you listen to. To help, Sony has added Adaptive Volume Control to the LinkBuds which automatically increases the volume to compensate for any increase in background noise before dropping back to the original volume level. We found it worked okay in practice, but the jumps in volume aren’t especially subtle and occasionally pushed the volume to a level we felt was a bit much given the amount of ambient noise present.

You can also use the app to set up touch controls, but the LinkBuds offer a very different kind of touch control to what you’ll be used to. As standard, you can tap the surface of the main bud to dish out commands such as change volume or skip tracks. But the LinkBuds also offer something called “Wide Area Tap”. The headphones use a special sensor that allows you to control the buds by tapping on the surface of your skin, just in front of your ear. It sounds like a gimmick but it actually works well and extending the tappable area means you don’t need to be quite as accurate with your finger.

Now, one of the knock-on effects of trying to keep the LinkBuds and their charging case as small and as lightweight as possible is the limited size of batteries that can be used. Consequently, you can expect a pretty ordinary five and a half hours per charge, with the case (which doesn’t offer wireless charging) providing backup with an extra 12 hours. It’s not exactly the eight or nine hours we’d like from a pair at this price, but for most people in most circumstances (unless you’re perhaps on a long-haul flight) it should be adequate.

If you’re wondering whether the Sony LinkBuds make for a good pair of running headphones, they do come with an IPX4 rating, meaning they should be resistant to water splashes from any direction. There’s also compatibility with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa voice assistants and Fast Pair for Android and Swift Pair for Windows to help speed up connectivity.

Sound

With a different style of wireless earbud design comes a different flavour of sound. And you’ll need to take this into account when you first fire up the Sony LinkBuds. 

Outside noise has more of an influence; you don’t get the same sense of isolation as you do from more traditional in-ear designs. Initially, low frequencies seem to lack a bit of weight and solidity compared to more common designs. The more you listen, though, the more you realise there is actually enough bass on offer to keep you interested – even if some rivals offer more.

More importantly, the Sonys still maintain a fine sense of balance. Mids and highs don’t stick out and you don’t feel shortchanged by the compromises you have to make.

One big benefit of the ring driver and this more open design is you’re treated to a huge, spacious sound that’s a real highlight and very different from anything you’ll have heard from more intrusive in-ear designs.

Play the orchestral version of Nothing But Thieves’ Impossible (recorded at Abbey Road no less), and the sense of space around the solo guitar and vocal that starts the track is vast.

As the orchestra and drums simmer in the background, the different layers of the track start to build up with each element given plenty of room to breathe. There’s a fabulous natural sense of freedom to the sound which you struggle to get from traditional in-ears.

Sony has also managed to inject the LinkBuds (WF-L900) with its trademark musicality. They’re an undemanding listen and whatever the genre, music never sounds awkward or ill-conceived as the headphones just go about their business.

Detail levels are good for the money, although how much of that you’ll hear can be affected by ambient noise levels. Listen to a delicate, classical piece with just a piano, such as Ludovico Einaudi’s I Giorni and the keystrokes do have to battle with outside noise for superiority and we actually prefer listening to this type of music through the Sonys when there’s no background noise.

Also, the LinkBuds aren’t the last word in dynamic expression. The Shure Aonic Free, for example, have a bit more get up and go and vibrancy in the way they communicate the drive of a track and the emotion of a vocal. If the Sonys could up the entertainment factor a couple of notches, they’d be arguably knocking on the door of that fifth star.

Verdict

So there you have it. The Sony LinkBuds are wireless earbuds for people who don’t like, er, wireless earbuds. Their design is an interesting one that gets around a lot of the problems that conventional in-ears can present. They’re not perfect from a sound quality point of view, but overall there’s still a lot to like and we’re really excited to see where Sony takes the idea in the future.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Comfort 5
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our review of the newer, more conventional Sony LinkBuds S

Read our review of the Sony WF-1000XM4

Also consider the Shure Aonic Free

Read our Sennheiser CX 400BT review

Best in-ear headphones 2022: budget to premium

Shure has revealed a new look and sound for the second generation of its longstanding SRH840 and SRH440 headphones.

The updated SRH840A and SRH440A models have been overhauled to offer improved comfort and durability as well as a more stylish appearance for image-conscious users.

Still built with professional use in mind, the new models incorporate upgrades, including lower harmonic distortion and more precise left-right driver matching.

The SRH840A and SRH440A have a closed-back, circumaural design with a wide padded headband intended to provide comfort for long listening sessions. Shure says that the new build with matt black finish is more hardwearing and will include a detachable, locking straight cable as standard, rather than coiled.

While 40mm neodymium dynamic drivers power both models, the SRH840A has a frequency response that Shure claims delivers professional-grade sound with rich bass, clear mid-range, extended highs across a range of 5 Hz - 25,000 Hz, and sensitivity of 197 dB/mW (@ 1 kHz). This more premium model also includes gold detailing on the cups.

Meanwhile, the SRH440A are aimed at podcasters, and home mixers with a frequency response of 10 Hz - 22,000 Hz and sensitivity of  97 dB/m (@ 1 kHz), which Shure says provides a consistent and uncoloured sound.

The SRH440A are priced at £89 ($99 / around AU$169) and include a detachable, straight 9-foot locking bayonet cable and a threaded 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch adapter. The SRH840A headphones cost £135 ($149 / around AU$255) and come with the same cable and adapter, plus a carry case.

MORE

Best audiophile headphones 2022

Check out our Shure Aonic Free review

Best wireless earbuds 2022: budget and premium

Wired in-ear headphones are a dying breed, especially at the budget end of the market, but manufacturers with a rich history in this category don’t seem ready to pull the plug just yet, especially when it comes to more premium pairs.

Take Shure, for example. It boasts years of experience in the world of in-ear monitors, and a number of five-star ratings for its audiophile headphones would suggest the company knows a thing or two about making a decent pair. So, can we add the Aonic 5 to that list?

Design and comfort

At £449 ($499, AU$879), these earbuds are the top in-ear model in Shure’s Aonic range. On paper, their design credentials look suitably impressive. The Aonic 5 use three high-definition balanced armature drivers in a dual woofer and single tweeter configuration.

You can actually get a closer look at the inner working of the buds through the clear section of each earpiece. It acts as a window and makes a welcome change to the dull black plastic used to cover the majority of headphones that pass through our test rooms. The Aonic 5 are available in three different finishes – Matte Black, Gloss Red and Crystal Clear.

Each earpiece uses an MMCX connector to attach to the supplied headphone cable. This makes it easy to switch the cable out in favour of Shure’s optional true wireless secure fit adapter (£175, $179, AU$309), which can transform the Aonic 5 into a pair of wireless earbuds.

The headphone cable also includes simple in-line controls for volume and playback and a switch that allows the controls to work with either iOS or Android phones.

Anyone who has seen or used Shure earbuds in the past won’t be shocked to discover that you have to loop the headphone cable over each ear. It takes a bit of practice to make it a smooth process but they do feel very secure in place.

As you’d expect, Shure provides plenty of tips (quite literally!) to help you try and get the perfect seal. You’ve got three different sizes of Comply Professional P-Series memory foam tips, three sizes of more rounded foam tips, three sizes of silicone eartips and one set of flanged tips. We found the isolation to be excellent on the whole (Shure claims that they can block out up to 37dB of noise) and the tips we settled for in the end (the more rounded design) were more than comfortable enough for long listening sessions.

But it’s not just the eartips you can experiment with here. Packed up in the sturdy, circular carry case is a small tube that looks like it might contain top-secret government information. It’s actually labelled ‘hardware kit’ and has a slim metal cylinder chained to it.

This hardware kit actually contains two pairs of extra nozzles for the earbuds. These aren’t replacements for the ones currently fitted to the Aonic 5 should one snap or get damaged; each pair can alter the balance of the sound produced by the earbuds. It’s not a new concept and we’ve seen a few manufacturers offer this customisation over the years, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it on a pair of portable Shures.

The Aonic 5 come with the ‘balanced’ nozzles already installed, with ‘warm’ and ‘bright’ nozzles provided in the tube. Want to swap them around? This is where the thin metal cylinder comes in. It’s actually a tool that fits into grooves in the metal collar at the bottom of each nozzle. Once it’s in place, simply unscrew the collar, switch nozzle and screw the collar back into place. There’s a certain knack to getting the tube and collar back in place, but once you’ve picked your preferred nozzles, it’s not something you’ll really need to do again.

Sound

So how do the different nozzles fare, and which would we recommend using?

‘Bright’ does exactly what it says on the tin – but for us, it overcooks things. The emphasis on the top end is quite marked with highs sounding more cutting and less pleasant, in our opinion. The strings and electric guitar in Mac Miller’s Cinderella sound quite brash and the track makes for uncomfortable listening.

While it’s a stark jump from ‘balanced’ to ‘bright’, the extra impact and fullness switching to ‘warm’ are a little easier to live with. The situation doesn’t feel quite as unbalanced and you can hear an increase in weight and substance although it is quite subtle. Bass notes don’t become overbearing, but after to-ing and fro-ing between the trio of tips, we’d still suggest sticking with the balanced nozzles, for the best, er, balance of weight, agility, detail and refinement.

Now, you can use the Shures with a phone (provided it has a headphone jack, of course). However, to really make the most of their unquestionable talents you should really feed them quality audio files from a quality source. Using a laptop and streaming in lossless CD quality? We’d seriously suggest using the Shures with a dedicated external DAC/headphone amp.

A device like the AudioQuest DragonFly Red would be a good starting place. Provided you’ve got the appropriate cable, it’s a DAC that can also be used with iOS or Android devices too.

Because in conjunction with the right source and material, the Shure Aonic 5 sound sensational. There’s a wonderful sense of clarity and they shower the listener with detail. They’re particularly talented with midrange information – vocals sound superb, rich in detail and natural expression. The in-ears do a great job expressing energy in the lead vocals of Don Broco’s How Are You Done With Existing?. As the track progresses, punchy, powerful drum thwacks mix majestically with soaring, razor sharp guitar riffs.

Switch to a spot of drum'n'bass, in the form of Logistics’ Stay True, and the Shures really display a sharp sense of timing. They surf and ride out the track’s elongated bass notes and switch effortlessly from the deep, probing notes to more shallow waves.

There’s enough bass to satisfy but the Aonic 5 also manage to deliver subtlety and detail in spades. The texture and tone of every note are communicated effortlessly to the listener. This level of transparency is a huge asset, but it does also mean the Shures are quick to highlight flaws in recordings. Anything a little rough around the edges will sound exactly that.

Verdict

If you’re not planning on going wireless any time soon and your set-up justifies premium earbuds, you’re not going to be disappointed by the Aonic 5.

The ability to change their sonic balance is a nice option to have, but not vital as we find that their 'standard' sound oozes class and quality and completely invests you in the music you’re listening to. And that’s all you can really ask for, right?

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Comfort 5
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Shure Aonic 3

Read our round up of the best in-ear headphones: budget to premium

Shure has upgraded its Aonic 215 – the company's first-ever true wireless earbuds – giving them a raft of new features.

First up, they are now both sweat- and water-resistant. The IPX4 rating means they can survive being splashed with water, so they shouldn't have any problems surviving the elements or a sweaty exercise session.

Next up, an equaliser. You can choose from preset modes, or fine-tune the sound by creating your own custom EQ and loading it via the ShurePlus Play app.

Handsfree calls now come in stereo, or you can choose to only listen through the left or right earbud. Your voice should sound clearer too, thanks to the inclusion of four beam-forming microphones.

They now have on-bud volume controls and a mute button and you can customise all the buttons' functions within the app to suit your needs.

Lastly, they automatically power on when taken out of the case, so you don't have to press a power button.

Other than that, they're the same as the original Aonic 215, with the same detachable wireless module (so they can work as wireless or wired headphones) and identical 32-hour total battery life. They're available now in black or blue for £209 / AU$369, while the True Wireless Secure Fit Adapter (Gen 2) can be bought separately for £169 / AU$299.

MORE:

Check out the best true wireless headphones around

Our pick of the best audiophile headphones

Looking to save big? Here are the best headphones deals

Great headphones exist for every budget – you just have to know where to look. Not got much to spend? Our best budget headphones guide is for you. More money at your disposal? The best audiophile headphones will give you lots to consider. And if even that's not luxurious enough for you? You've come to the right place, my friend...

The headphones on this page feature marble chassis, diamond-encrusted earcups, and a lot of clever processing besides. They are the most expensive cans in the world, after all. Interested in a pair? You might have to sell an organ first.

• Best headphones: all styles, all budgets

Focal Utopia by Tournaire – $120,000 (approx. £98,000)

Unveiled in Tournaire's Paris boutique in 2016 (and at CES in Las Vegas soon after) the $120,000 Focal Utopia by Tournaire can still lay claim to being the world's most expensive headphones. Made by master jewellers Tournaire, the design features 18-carat gold mounted with a trilogy of diamonds on the headband totalling 6.5 carats, handcrafted entirely in Tournaire's workshops.

If you're still feeling flush after buying a pair, why not shell out for the stand too? It's only another $12,000.

• Focal Utopia by Tournaire are the world's most expensive headphones

Onkyo H900M with 20-carat diamonds – $100,000 (approx. £82,000)

The Focals aren't the only luxury headphones to have lit up Sin City during CES; Onkyo took its H900M cans and added 20-carat diamonds to its earcups before heading for the bright lights of Vegas. The stunning result can be seen above.

And that's not all. Onkyo also embedded these diamonds onto aluminium plates surrounded by a ring of highly polished stainless steel. Wondering which is the right earcup? It's the one with an extra ring of rubies. Well, spelling out L and R in blood-red gemstones would've been a tad over the top...

• Onkyo adds 20-carat diamonds to its H900M headphones

Sennheiser Orpheus/HE 1 – £51,000

Formerly called Orpheus, the flagship Sennheiser HE-1 headphones come with their own valve amplification. Once commissioned by the customer, Sennheiser says each pair can be customised to become "as individual as its future owner".

The chassis is made of Carrara marble, the same type Michaelangelo used for his sculptures – so it's no exaggeration to say they're a work of art. Not only does the marble look amazing (and we love the effect of the eight valves and control dials emerging from the slab of stone), it's also great for damping. Win-win.

The electrostatic headphones themselves are made from beautifully sculpted aluminium, leather and fine microfibre cloth. Thanks to Sennheiser's know-how, they even perform as well as they look.

• Read our Sennheiser Orpheus hands-on review

Warwick Acoustics Sonoma Model One – £4995

If you’re willing to drop five grand on a pair of headphones, it suggests a serious (and potentially worrying) obsession for personal listening.

While we can't suggest a cure for this particular ailment, we can prescribe a good long listen to the Sonoma One package from Warwick Acoustics – easily one of the best-sounding options we’ve heard.

Pay that hefty sum and not only do you get a pair of open-backed electrostatic headphones, but also a dedicated energizer amplifier (electrostatic drivers require high voltages, so these headphones won't work with conventional amplification).

The headphones don't feel particularly high-end – the headband (made of tough Nylon 12 polymer) on our set creaked a little when twisted and the clamping pressure was a tad too firm – but this headphone system sounds so stunningly clear and informative that we can’t help but get involved with the music.

• Read our Warwick Acoustics Sonoma Model One review

Yamaha YH-5000SE – £4799

These cans feature no marble, no jewel-encrusted earcups and absolutely no rubies. Instead, they boast an orthodynamic driver (what we would now call a planar magnetic), which has lower distortion and greater responsiveness than a traditional moving coil driver.

Design-wise. they're more functional than eye-catching, but we have no problem with that. And they're open-backed, so are strictly for home listening (unless you want some funny looks on the bus).

They are "exceptional performers" we wrote in our review. "There is still plenty of muscularity here when the music demands, with the YH-5000SE rendering bass with impeccable clarity and articulation. We get a real sense of power where required, but also class-leading finesse where it isn’t." In other words, worth every penny.

• Read our Yamaha YH-5000SE review

Astell & Kern Layla AION – $3299 (approx. £2700)

Of course, pricey headphones don't all have to be over-ear models. These in-ears from Astell & Kern will set you back a cool $3299 (£2700). There are 12 drivers per earpiece: quad low, quad mid and quad high proprietary balanced armatures. Housing each 12-driver configuration is a 3D printed chamber, which implements 'freqphase' (patented A&K tech which aims to ensure the correct phase and time alignment of all frequencies) and allows for a smaller shell design. And just look at the designs on those shells...

The first Layla launched as a custom earphone in 2014. Since then, there have been two limited-edition releases of universal fit Layla: "Carbon Fiber Edition" and "Full Metal Jacket." The former was the first Carbon Fibre earphone, the latter was the first full Titanium earphone. The newest third-generation release is this Layla AION – a sure-fire hit with gamers and music-lovers who aren't short of a few bob.

Audeze LCD-4z – $3995 (approx. £3263)

Audeze doesn't make one-off high-end headphones for fun; the company has the track record (and loyal customer base) to prove it. So why take the step up from the company's LCD-3 and LCD-4 headphones to the more recent LCD-4z (pictured)?

How about a ridiculously thin nano-grade diaphragm, double Fluxor magnetic arrays boasting excellent efficiency and a cast-magnesium housing that yields a lighter-weight design than the 'standard' LCD-4 ($3995)? And the LCD-4z doesn't need an amplifier, so it can be driven straight from the aux port of your favourite listening device. See, they practically pay for themselves.

Final Audio Design Sonorous X – £3499

Final Audio is another brand with plenty of premium headphone experience. Here, it's a combination of machined aluminium and stainless steel that makes these headphones look the business. We thought the sound lacked a little drive and nuance, and they're a bit heavy, but you can't deny they have the wow factor. They even come in a fur-lined wooden box that you may want to keep away from your cat.

• Final Audio Design Sonorous X review

Stax SR-009S – £3895

Stax has taken its regular SR-009 electrostatic earspeakers ($3600) and added gold plate to the design. But don't think the engineers are just being showy; on its website, Stax states, "If a technology is not suitable for music, you should not adopt it, even if it is high-tech." And just in case we didn't get the message, it adds, "Every technology should contribute to music reproduction." Preaching to the converted, perhaps, but that's us told.

Well-known for its high-end electrostatic headphones, Stax also pins the high price here on a super-thin diaphragm and a silver-coated, high-purity copper wire in the cable. You also get right and left channel indication on the cable: a golden solid line on the left and a dotted line on the right cable. The proof can only be in the sound quality...

HiFiMan HE1000 V2 – £2599

Planar magnetic headphones always attract attention and these headphones sport a 0.001mm thin driver, which is certainly an impressive feat of engineering. Elsewhere there's an advanced asymmetrical magnetic circuit, a three-core cable, polyester earcups and an ergonomic design that should mean they're comfy enough to wear for hours. Which, if you're spending over £2500 on them, surely you will.

Focal Stellia – £2795

At a mere £2795, these can are a relative bargain, compared to the Focal Utopia by Tournaire listed above. But almost three grand for a set of cans is hardly small-fry, and happily these headphones are aspirational both in terms of price and sound quality – they are simply the best closed-back headphones we've ever heard.

Where the original Utopia from Focal positively shines at home, in a quiet room, given a good enough system, their open-back design means that outside of these conditions, there’s too much compromise involved – and so if you simply must have a closed design, that’s where the Focal Stellias come in.

• Read our Focal Stellia review

Shure KSE1500 – £2549

These are some of the finest in-ears we've ever heard, which puts them right up with the best headphones money can buy. They are among the first in-ears to use electrostatic drivers, which means a more detailed and accurate sound. Sure, it means you have to use the (supplied) dedicated headphone amplifier. But once you try them, you'll be sold.

• Read our Shure KSE1500 review

Grado PS1000e – £1595

"The finest headphone Grado has ever produced" is some claim, considering the impressive reviews and Awards that Grado has collected over the years. The PS1000e is part of the Grado Professional Series, which the company updated (along with a host of other models) as part of the 'e' Series, taking attention to detail to a whole new level. Every single component was selected with care, right down to the glue. Tone-wood clad with metal alloy gives them their distinctive design and aims to reduce ringing and distortion. And how many other headphones feature hand-crafted mahogany?

• Read our Grado PS1000e review

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