Bose

When we reviewed the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, we liked that they produced clear audio, had excellent ANC, and a natural-sounding transparency mode. In fact, these were some of the best earbuds you could buy at the time, and they're still quite good today. The design is compact and simple, offering impressive comfort for long listening sessions. You get about six hours on a single charge and about 24 hours of use in total. The earbuds also have an IPX4 rating, meaning that they can survive a little sweat and bad weather. There's customizable audio, with adjustments for the low, mid, and hi

If you're on a super low budget, I'd recommend the Majority Naga 60. I reviewed this unbelievably cheap soundbar last year and was genuinely blown away by the sound. Of course, it doesn't sound as rich or warm as, say, the Bose Smart Soundbar ($549) — but it's literally $500 cheaper. For $50, it doesn't get much better than this. If you've got a little more to spend, you should definitely look at the Sony HTS-100F. I love this fierce little soundbar. It's loud, with fantastic dialogue clarity, and would be my personal preference from this list. Then, if you've got a little more moolah in your

I loved testing the Shokz OpenDots 2 and will continue to use them as my main running headphones in particular, and I’m happy to recommend them even ahead of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, which sound a little better but cost a lot more. The trouble with the OpenDots 2 is that you get nearly the same level of performance from the Shokz OpenDots Air, which are a lot more affordable, as are the Soundcore AeroClip buds, which are highly rated by my colleague Ashley Thieme. If you plan to use the buds for everything, they’re worth the upgrade for the better sound, design and slightly longer battery

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds remain a top model in the category, but newer models cost less and deliver a little better bang for the buck. Both the Shokz OpenDots One and Sony LinkBuds Clip are leaders in the category, but I have the Baseus Inspire XC1 ($110), which feature Sound by Bose, and the new Baseus Bowie MC2 ($60) at the top of this list because I consider them the best values, especially since these earbuds are designed for comfort and not critical listening (though they are improving with each new generation). Read more: Best Earbuds and Headphones That Can Handle the Sweatiest Worko