It feels like half of the reviews I do for TechRadar are of open earbuds, a relatively new form of listening gear that won’t block your ear canals, leaving them free hear your surroundings. I’m not the only one who’s been preoccupied with them though; it’s becoming clear that they’re the new big category in the headphone world.
According to fresh data from global technology analyst Omdia, the open earbuds market has been booming, increasing in sales by 12% in the year leading up to the second quarter of 2026. That’s despite the overall wireless earbuds market dropping by about 2% in that time, now making up 13.5% of all sales of true wireless stereo (TWS) products.
Clip-on buds such as the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds have proven more popular, making up 61% of the open-ear sales, with hook models like the Shokz OpenFit 2+ taking up that other 39%.
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But the biggest winner was the cheap earbud market, with sub-$50 open buds like the Soundpeats Pop Clip2 surging in sales by over 320%.
I’ve been reviewing this kind of design since the early days (well, since about 2023, but it’s a very new form factor) and its surging popularity makes sense; it’s part of a tech-wide trend which promises to topple giants and bring back classics.
The best tech is no tech?
A growing trend we’ve been seeing in the tech gadget world is… well, a desire to not have tech gadgets. Or rather, avoidance of the everything-smart, everything-connected world which big companies have been pushing onto us.
Feature phones (or dumb phones) are growing in popularity, as people look for a digital detox device which can keep them connected without being at the behest of a deluge of notifications, endless social media walls, incessant group chats.
New gadgets are increasingly sold on their suite of AI features… and as a result, struggle to gain consumer interest, because smart agents and tools like this are increasingly proving to only have niche appeal.
In the audio (and entertainment) world, streaming sites are increasingly being ditched in favor of physical media ownership; we’re constantly seeing the release of new turntables, CD players, cassette players, so people don’t have to rely on digital releases and algorithms.
And when was the last time you heard about the ‘Internet of Everything’, or smart homes? Or blockchain and cryptocurrency? We keep being told that these are the future, and consumers keep roundly ignoring them.
Despite this, big brands insist on inundating us with unwanted gadgets, and it is drawing the ire of the general public. Just look at smart glasses: their super-techy nature has resulted in a massive backlash, so much so that they’ve been widely banned in courts, theaters and restaurants. And that’s before I mention the public’s new fruity moniker for them — something it’ll be tough to bounce back from.
There are numerous reasons for our new-found preference for the ‘dumb’; price hikes on gadgets and a plateau what gadgets can do both contribute. But there’s another factor: being ‘connected’ in a tech sense often means being online, which can increasingly mean being a) having our data scraped and stored, and b) disconnected from the real world.
The ultimate digital detox headphones
And that last point is where open earbuds come in. These headphones are defined by the fact that you’re not disconnected when you use them.
I love open earbuds because, when I’m wearing them, I’m still aurally connected to the world. If I’m wearing them on the road, I can hear traffic. If I’m at home and my flatmate speaks to me, I know what he’s saying. If I’m on the train and hear an announcement, I get the information.
For years, the best noise-cancelling headphones have sold themselves on increasingly advanced ways of isolating you from the annoyingly noisy reality of a world filled with people. But that’s clearly not what many buyers actually want; just look at the resurgence in wired earbuds, which have no noise cancellation to speak of.
It’s not just the open nature of these buds, though. It’s a rebellion against all the smart features brands think we want in our earbuds — think AI assistants, health features and real-time language translation.
Most open earbuds I’ve tested have been quite light on features, omitting many of the smart tools that in-ear buds sell themselves on. Partly, this could be because their actual earpieces are rather small, and they just don’t have space for the hardware to support this kind of feature.
But in part, it’s a key component of the sales pitch: these are supposed to be light, in weight and in feature set, so they can fit effortlessly on top of your life without shoving a plethora of features down your throat.
To me, digital detox devices give you the key thing you want from the gadget (in this case, music) without adding extraneous layers on top — a fact which often cuts their price. And that’s why open earbuds are proving so popular: they offer the one thing you want, and relatively few dubious extras.
Solving non-tech user gripes
Aside from the dumb-tech trend, open earbuds also offer a tempting alternative to headphones, in that they solve some common gripes. They’re also seen as a safer option when travelling solo, particularly at night — my audio editor tells me she’s often been warned, in public, about wearing over-ear headphones when walking home alone.
The lack of noise cancellation or smart features in most open buds means that their battery lives are good; I’d say the average single-charge life span of most open earbuds I test sits at 10-12 hours, while standard noise-cancelling earbuds last for about 6-8 hours.
I personally love how well they fit, especially clip-style open earbuds. Early models were intended for fitness uses, and they’ve kept this a core part of their DNA. I frequently run, cycle or gym, and I have a massive problem with in-ear buds falling out of my ears when I’m exercising (or just walking, in some of the worst cases). Not so for open earbuds; other than a few exceptions, they can be relied on to have an impeccable fit.
Now, I’d be remiss not to bring up open earbuds’ one longstanding problem: they don’t sound quite as good through the bass as other earbuds. After all, the entire point is that the driver is some distance from your ear, to avoid blocking it. And while many brands are making great progress in this area, I can’t pretend that, say, the Soundpeats Clip1 match the contemporary Soundpeats H3, for example.
But does anyone buy wireless earbuds because they care about music fidelity? Anyone who wants amazing sound will buy the best headphones, or wired earbuds / in-ear monitors. I maintain that wireless earbuds are gadgets of convenience first and foremost. Which is why I’m finding it increasingly easy to forgive open earbuds’ sound quality.
It’s not a fad, but is it a phase?
Open earbuds are a continuation of something that’s been going on for years. Plenty of buds, like the standard AirPods, don’t fully block up your ear canal (something referred to as ‘open-fit earbuds’, rather than fully ‘open earbuds’) letting you hear what’s going on around you. But in those buds, that was a side-effect of the tip-free design, rather than the point.
Because of that, I don’t see these being a fad. I think we’ll continue to see open earbuds released for years to come. But we’re seeing a huge spike in popularity, which isn’t sustainable.
Many massive audio brands have, so far, sat out the open earbuds trend. Major names such as Apple, Samsung and Beats have so far sat out of this race (no, the Powerbeats Pro aren’t open, despite the arm around the ear) even while releasing wireless earbuds (though Samsung is said to be working on some). Instead, plenty of the smaller brands — or dedicated sports tech specialists — are inundating the market with options.
I’m sure open earbuds will follow the noise cancellation trajectory: they’ll boom for a few years, then see a lull in sales, and will slowly settle into a sustainable share of the market. After all, a defining trait of the ‘dumb-tech’ trend is that you don’t frequently buy new gadgets. One pair will see you through for years.
So open earbuds aren’t a fad; they’re here to stay. But that doesn’t mean the market share will keep increasing forever. Enjoy this period of weird experimentation and countless new models.
The best open earbuds for all budgets
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tom.bedford@hotmail.co.uk (Tom Bedford)
