The Best Wired Headphones Still Sound Better Than Wireless Models

“If you’re looking for the ultimate in sound quality, you’ll find it in a wired headphone,” says Maria Rerecich, Consumer Reports’ senior director of product testing. “Although wireless headphones can be great, they don’t match the best wired headphones.”

Consumer Reports’ experts test more than 40 headphones every year for a range of criteria, including comfort, audio quality, and features such as noise cancellation. We don’t accept samples from manufacturers. CR is a nonprofit organization that buys every pair at retail, just like you might.

The wired headphones listed here range from models that deliver superb sound to ones that deliver decent performance at lower prices.