Accessories

Anker’s Soundcore division has been cranking out Bluetooth speakers and earbuds for years – the Liberty 3 Pro from all the way back in 2021 remain in my collection for their sound quality – but it has struggled a bit in wireless over-the-ear headphones. The company’s first effort in 2024, the Space One, were exceptionally comfortable and sounded fine but didn’t offer very effective ANC. I’ve been testing the new Soundcore Space 2, and it’s definitely better, but the competition hasn’t stood still. At $130, the Space 2 is priced well below the best ANC headphones from Sony and Bose …

Cleer Audio is not as well-known a brand as Bose or Sony, but it was one of the early pioneers of the on-ear earbud design with the ARC back in 2021. While Cleer now has plenty of competition — I have at least a half dozen similar products in a pile in the corner of my office — Cleer has been continually iterating on the concept ever since. Cleer calls these “Open Ear Headphones,” but they aren’t headphones — they’re earbuds that sit on the outside of your eardrum, with stems that wrap around your earlobes to hold them in …

When considering buying headphones for children, most people recognize the need to choose a unit that protects their hearing — typically with an 85 db cutoff that prevents the hearing damage that can occur with exposure to music or noise above this level over long periods of time. However, that is only the start. Children’s headphones also need to be sized appropriately, durable enough to survive at least some abuse, simple to keep charged if they are wireless, can work with 3.5mm headphone jacks (especially for use at school), and are something the child wants to wear. That last one …