Open earbuds are booming as fresh stats show sales up while the wider market dips

[Glassy Viper]

TechRadar's Tom Bedford has been championing open earbuds for years, and he now has some numbers to back him up. According to analyst firm Omdia, open earbud sales grew 12 percent year on year through the second quarter of 2026, while the overall wireless earbud market fell by 2 percent. Open designs now make up 13.5 percent of all true wireless sales. That is a sizeable niche for a category many people had never heard of a few years ago

Within that, clip on styles account for 61 percent of open ear sales and hook designs make up the other 39 percent. The most dramatic figure is that open buds under $50 have seen sales jump by more than 320 percent. Cheap models from brands like Soundpeats seem to be driving a lot of the growth, alongside premium options like the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and the Shokz OpenFit 2+

Bedford frames them as part of a wider anti tech mood, where people are pushing back against gadgets that do too much. Open earbuds let you hear the world around you while listening, which he describes as staying aurally connected to the world. They also tend to be simpler, without the AI features and health tracking that are creeping into everything else

There are practical advantages too. He points out that battery life is often better, around 10 to 12 hours compared with 6 to 8 for many sealed earbuds, and they stay put better during exercise. Running near traffic or cycling is much safer when you can hear what is going on. On the other hand, sound quality and bass are usually weaker, and anyone nearby can hear what you are playing at higher volumes

I switched to a clip on pair for running last year and have not gone back. For commuting on a noisy train though, I still want noise cancelling. Has anyone else made the switch, and which ones would you recommend?

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