Entertainment
The best open earbuds in 2026: These picks stay put, sound great, and keep you aware of the world
Though open earbuds share the common feature of sitting on the exterior of the ear, they come in many shapes and sizes, from clip models to ear hook models. Some are more geared toward working out, while others are better for everyday use. The Bose Ultra Open earbuds are an especially popular pick, thanks to their sound quality and many colorways, but at $299, they’re far from your only (or most affordable) option.
Below, we’ve compiled some of the best open earbud models available in 2026, after testing out options from Soundcore, Sony, Shokz, Bose, and more budget-friendly options.
What are open earbuds?
Open earbuds allow you to get as close as you possibly can to the feeling of not wearing earbuds at all. Unlike in-ear earbuds which sit in your ear canal, open earbuds sit just outside your ears (as the name would suggest). Some models hold the speaker component in place with an ear hook while others opt for an ear cuff.
People generally opt for open earbuds for three main reasons:
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They provide a private listening experience while leaving you almost completely aware of the world around you. It’s like the best transparency mode you’ve ever used.
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For some people, not having an earbud physically in their ear is generally more comfortable.
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The hooks and cuffs (along with the general awareness of your surroundings) make them a great option for keeping them in place, and keeping you alert, while you’re working out, working, or simply existing in the world.
What are the drawbacks of open earbuds?
As you may have gathered from the section above, open earbuds don’t come with active noise cancellation. That’s mostly thanks to how much sound they let in (by design) and the difficulty of cancelling out sound without having the device covering your actual ear canal.
Also thanks to the whole open ear-canal situation, these aren’t going to be the earbuds for audiophiles. That’s not to say open earbuds sound bad — if you’ve never tried them, we promise they sound much better than you’re imagining — but you will lose out on some of the nuance of a song without having the earbud actually in your ear.
That said, many pairs still have equalizers on their companion apps to help you make them sound their best. Our best picks for sound, the Bose Ultra Open earbuds and Shokz OpenFit Pro earbuds, even have spatial audio features that work surprisingly well.
Most open earbuds will also boast some form of special technology that keeps them from leaking too much sound. While these pairs do pretty well in keeping the sound just to you, most pairs (including our picks) while be prone to some leakage, especially at higher volumes.
Finally, some open earbuds — mainly those with ear hooks — tend to have slightly bulkier cases. If you like to travel especially light, it’s something to be aware of.
What about bone conduction headphones?
Bone conduction earbuds work exactly like the name implies they do — they use your skull to conduct sound waves, instead of projecting the sound into your ear, like most of the picks are on list. Typically, a band runs from either side of the users head to help hold the headphones in place.
Shokz, the brand behind our top pick, is a popular maker of these kinds of headphones. While we do consider them open earbuds, we have yet to test any bone conduction earbuds — look out in the future for that update. On that note:
What’s next in our testing pipeline
The open earbuds market is rapidly expanding, so we’ll be testing more as we can get our hands on them. We recently added the Sony LinkBuds Clip and Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro to this guide.
In addition to the earbuds that made our initial guide in May 2025, we tested out the Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds ($149), the Sony Linkbuds Open ($199.99), the Anker Soundcore AeroClip earbuds ($169.99), and the Shokz OpenFit Air ($119.95). While none of the above were bad earbuds by any means, we found our picks to outshine them in their comfort and sound quality, especially when considering their respective prices.
Entertainment
Memorial Day 2026 deals: Score free food from 7-Eleven, Dunkin’, Subway, Starbucks, and more
Memorial Day is an important moment to mourn and honor deceased service men and women.
To mark this occasion, a number of popular restaurants and retailers offer freebies, food deals, and discounts over Memorial Day weekend. Some of these offers are exclusive to active-duty members and veterans, but some are available to everyone.
We’ve checked out everything on offer from 7-Eleven, Dunkin’, Subway, Starbucks, and more popular names. We’ll be updating this list with any new free food deals that drop over the weekend.
Memorial Day 2026 food deals
7-Eleven
On Memorial Day, customers can score $20 off $30+ delivery orders with the promo code MONDAY20.
Applebee’s
Score an All-You-Can-Eat meal for $15.99 at Applebee’s over Memorial Day weekend. This offer is valid for dine-in only.
Bojangles
Get a free strawberry cobbler with the purchase of a biscuit sandwich combo.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Save $10 on $50+ orders with the code MEMDAY85 online or in-app.
Dunkin’
Get 50 bonus points each day with purchases after 1 p.m. from May 25-31.
Fazoli’s
Get a complimentary whole pizza when you order a Fazoli’s Family Meal. To qualify, use the promo code Memorial26 on the online or in-app checkout. This offer is valid from May 22-27.
Firehouse Subs
Buy one sub and get another for 50% off at participating locations from May 22-25.
Grubhub
Grubhub+ members can score Memorial Day weekend deals from May 18-24:
Mashable Trend Report
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Starbucks: $10 off $20+ order
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Buffalo Wild Wings: BOGO Wings with $20+ order
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Wendy’s: Free Baconator with $20+ order
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Jack in the Box: BOGO 50% off Build Your Own Munchie Meal with $15+ order
IKEA
On Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25), IKEA is running free hands-on activities with complimentary snacks.
Kona Grill
Veterans, active-duty military, reserves, and first responders can get a complimentary entree with the purchase of an appetizer or starter from May 22-25.
Logan’s Roadhouse
From May 21-27, guests can purchase $50 in gift cards for $40 online.
Love’s
Get a free Chomps Original Beef on May 25.
Newk’s Eatery
Score a $20 meal deal with two pizzas and a salad from May 22-25.
Olive Garden
Get the delivery deal during Memorial Day weekend when you enter the promo code OGDELIVERS during online or in-app checkout.
Pokeworks
Get a free Spam Musubi with any Pokeworks entree when you use promo code MAYSPAM during online or in-app through May 25.
Potbelly
Through May 24, Perks Members can get their choice of a free bag of chips, a fresh-baked cookie, or a fountain drink with any entrée purchase.
Shake Shack
Get a free ShackBurger when you make an online, in-app, or in-store kiosk purchase of $10 or more with the promo code FREEBURGER at checkout. This offer is valid from May 25-31.
Smalls Sliders
Military members with valid ID can get 10% off on Memorial Day (May 25).
Subway
Get a Footlong for $6.99 with the code FOOTLONG699 through May 31.
Sullivan’s Steakhouse
Get two Signature Angus Burgers and fries for $26 from May 24-26. To qualify, order online for takeout or delivery.
TGI Fridays
VIP members can save 30% off Memorial Day orders from May 26-27.
White Castle
Craver Nation Rewards can get 20% off all orders in-app. This offer is valid from May 23-25.
Entertainment
The best 9 dating apps for men who are tired of being alone
Read our full review of Grindr.
Read our full review of Grindr XTRA.
Grindr is the app for gay, bi, trans, and queer men. Hookups, dates, friends, something serious — whatever you’re looking for, Grindr connects you with other guys in the LGBTQ+ community. It’s great for exploring the local scene, especially when you’re traveling. Bottom line: If you’re a guy into guys, Grindr’s where it’s at. It’s a place to be yourself and find what you’re looking for (no matter what that might be).
One important note: While Grindr used to be one of our favorite free dating apps, the free version is becoming more annoying to use as Grindr pushes users toward paid plans.
You know what you’re getting with Grindr: some serious attention, some pushy messages, and plenty of dick pics. But finding and meeting up with men on Tinder or OkCupid isn’t always easy, especially if you’re in a small town with a meager queer community. Whether it’s your first time with a guy and you want someone experienced, or you’re the experienced guy, it’s nice to have Grindr in your back pocket.
And it’s not just for hookups. Plenty of couples meet on Grindr. One survey even found that over half of Grindr users believe they can find love on the app. Grindr for Equality also advocates for sexual health and LGBTQ+ safety. The company has also been working to make the app safer, using AI and a dedicated moderation team to crack down on underage users.
The app is also leaning heavily into new tech. As part of its “AI-first” evolution, Grindr recently launched “EDGE,” an ultra-premium subscription powered by its proprietary AI, gAI (pronounced “gay-eye”). For a staggering price tag that can reach up to $499.99 per month, depending on the specific pilot city’s test pricing, “EDGE” is designed to deliver a higher-signal experience with less scrolling. It includes features like “A-List” (an AI-driven recap of meaningful chats and missed connections), personalized profile recommendations, and detailed “Profile Insights” like response rates and active hours. For in-the-moment meetups, the “Right Now” feature has been upgraded with a Sniffies-style “Map View,” a live map of guys nearby who are ready to connect, though it’s only available in select cities for now.
Of course, new features sometimes mean new bugs and paywalls. Bisexual men have also reported mixed experiences on the app, including biphobia. This thread of Reddit users has experienced it in some way, describing the disappointment they feel from not being supported by their LGBTQ+ community and getting messages like “vaginas are gross” at the first mention of being bisexual. This is part of a larger challenge the platform faces with its content moderation. The app has struggled with inconsistent policies, as seen in its brief ban (and subsequent reversal) of the phrase “no Zionists” in user profiles in late July 2025.
Entertainment
How AdultFriendFinder subscriptions appear on your bank statement
One anxiety when you’re signing up for a dating site, especially one of the more spicy ones like AdultFriendFinder, is the digital paper trail. We get it, this kind of thing is personal and everyone deserves their privacy when it comes to online activity.
There are lots of reasons to feel cagey about the digital paper trail. Perhaps you’re married or in a relationship, or maybe you and your ex still haven’t separated your financial lives. It could be that you just don’t like the idea of your bank teller or financial advisor knowing about your online activities — whatever the reason, it’s your perogative.
It’s perfectly natural to worry about what your dating app subscription will look like on your bank statement, especially if that subscription service contains the word “adult” — folks can be super judgy about this stuff.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
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readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
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top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
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popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Thankfully, AdultFriendFinder has anticipated this particular issue. So, if you do decide to upgrade from a free membership to a paid one — whether you opt for their Gold or VIP subscription, which have their own sets of features and benefits — your monthly billing statement will only show up as FFNHelp.com*FRIENDF.
Mashable Trend Report
It’s a relatively cryptic and innocuous name that won’t arouse undue suspicion or unfair judgment (not that you should have to worry about that anyway — what you get up on consenting dating sites is your business).
Do be aware that AdultFriendFinder subscriptions default to “auto renew,” so if you purchase a membership and want to cancel, you’ll have to actively disable the auto-renew function. Otherwise you risk having the mysterious FFNHelp.com*FRIENDF pop up on your statement month after month.
But what if even that isn’t good enough for you?
If you’re especially cautious — or especially paranoid — you can bypass the bank statements entirely by paying with a gift card or a cash, check, or money order (available only to users in the U.S.). You can even use an e-wallet option like AirTM. Residents of the UK can opt to pay by SMS.
If avoiding a digital paper trail is your top priority and privacy is paramount, you’re much better off using these payment options and not handing over your credit card details to begin with. Whatever you choose, AFF is safeguarding your anonymity.
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