2025 Earbuds Awards - Unexpected Winners!

TL;DR

A reviewer awards the best 2025 earbuds across nine categories — workouts, swimming, sleep, travel, work, budget, and premium — with several surprising picks.

Key Points

• 1.Powerbeats Pro 2 wins best workout earbuds. Its over-ear hook provides unmatched security during any exercise, plus accurate heart rate tracking; the Beats Fit Pro gets honorable mention for glasses-wearers.
• 2.Shokz Aqua wins best for swimming via bone conduction. It stores music onboard, is fully waterproof, works with or without earplugs, and delivers impressive audio quality underwater despite weaker out-of-water performance.
• 3.Soundcore Sleep A30 wins best sleep earbuds. Key upgrades over the A20 include active noise cancellation and a microphone that enables snoring detection and sleep-quality analysis.
• 4.Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 win best travel earbuds. Bose's industry-leading low-frequency ANC and premium sound quality make them the reviewer's go-to for flights, though sweaty ears can cause fit issues.
• 5.Nothing Ear 3 ($179) wins best sound on a budget. Deep bass, strong treble, a full parametric EQ, and a physical talk button make it arguably the best-sounding earbud at any price near its tier; the 2024 Nothing Ear wins best under $100 at $80–100.
• 6.Technics A100 is the blind recommendation for best premium earbuds. It balances ANC, sound, microphones, and fit better than rivals across the board; AirPods Pro 3 wins for Apple users, and Sony WF-1000XM5 is the outright sound quality champion per a separate 40-minute comparison.