Open-ear earbuds comprise a broad range of styles, with designs ranging from ear cuffs, earbuds with ear hooks, and bone-conduction headphones. What they have in common is leaving the ear canal open.

The best open earbuds or open-ear headphones (sometimes known as air conduction headphones or earbuds and, in the case of a band around the back of your neck and drivers that go nowhere near your ...

Closed headphones rest on or around the user's ears and rely on a seal between the user's ears and the headphone for proper bass response, and somewhat isolate the user from outside sounds.