Comfortable earbuds

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record for comfort: 29 of 33 shoppers said they're comfortable to wear for a long time. The best pick on Amazon is Bose Ultra Open Earbuds at 31 of 36, since that first generation is no longer sold new there. Apple AirPods 4 has the weakest record here at 20 of 36.

  • 250 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Feb 2021 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Comfortable for hours? What shoppers said
  1. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 33 said either way
  2. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 36 said either way
  3. JLab Go Air Pop 33 said either way
  4. JLab Go Air Sport 39 said either way
  5. JLab Go Air 28 said either way
  6. Apple AirPods 4 36 said either way
  7. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 17 said either way

Share of shoppers who stated an outcome for comfort. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 29 of 33 say they're comfortable to wear
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Best pick on Amazon Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 31 of 36 say they're comfortable to wear See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

A higher price didn't buy more comfort. JLab Go Air Pop, called good value in 38% of its reviews, beats Apple AirPods 4 (20 of 36) and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (10 of 17) on comfort at 25 of 33.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points shoppers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Apple

AirPods Pro (1st generation)

Best for comfort plus noise cancelling

29/33 say they're comfortable to wear

70% of reviews praise the comfort, and many also mention the noise cancelling (40%). These reviews are all for the first generation, and newer generations have come out since.

What shoppers praise

  • Good noise cancelling 40%
  • Good sound 33%
  • Stay in 13%
  • Good value 13%
  • Good battery 8%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 29 of 33
  • Brand site 2 of 2 shown, not counted

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

2 Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Bose

Ultra Open Earbuds

Best for open-ear comfort

31/36 say they're comfortable to wear

These clip onto the edge of your ear instead of going inside it, and 78% of reviews call them comfortable. Reviews on Bose's site come in at 9 of 10, which we show but don't count. Price is the sticking point for 12%.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 68%
  • Stay in 20%
  • Good battery 15%
  • Good value 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Too expensive 13%
  • Battery problems 8%
  • Weak sound 8%
  • Bad mic 8%
  • Connection issues 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 31 of 36
  • Brand site 9 of 10 shown, not counted
3

JLab

Go Air Pop

Best for comfort and value

25/33 say they're comfortable to wear

Shoppers like the feel and the price: 64% say they're comfortable and 38% mention good value. 21% found them uncomfortable.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 38%
  • Good battery 38%
  • Good value 38%
  • Good noise cancelling 8%
  • Stay in 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 13%
  • Weak sound 13%
  • Connection issues 10%
  • Battery problems 8%
  • Stopped working 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 25 of 33
  • Brand site 7 of 8 shown, not counted
4

JLab

Go Air Sport

27/39 say they're comfortable to wear

No other pair here had as many shoppers weigh in on comfort (39), and 27 of 39 found them comfortable. That leaves a sizable group who didn't, with 30% of reviews calling them uncomfortable.

What shoppers praise

  • Good value 28%
  • Good sound 28%
  • Good battery 20%
  • Stay in 15%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 23%
  • Weak sound 13%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 27 of 39
  • Brand site 9 of 10 shown, not counted
5

JLab

Go Air

17/28 say they're comfortable to wear

Opinions are split on the original Go Air: 17 of 28 found them comfortable, while 36% of reviews say they aren't. 21% also find the sound weak.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 36%
  • Good value 30%
  • Good battery 21%
  • Stay in 12%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak sound 21%
  • Stopped working 12%
  • Connection issues 9%
  • Fall out 9%
  • Battery problems 9%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 17 of 28
  • Brand site 5 of 6 shown, not counted
6

Apple

AirPods 4

20/36 say they're comfortable to wear

Comfort is close to a toss-up for these, and fit trouble shows up here too, with 31% of reviews saying they fall out.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 36%
  • Good battery 13%
  • Good noise cancelling 8%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 31%
  • Battery problems 15%
  • Too expensive 10%
  • Weak sound 8%
  • Connection issues 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 20 of 36
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted

Share of 39 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

Bose

QuietComfort Earbuds

10/17 say they're comfortable to wear

The sound (63%) and noise cancelling (42%) get the praise, but comfort is mixed at 10 of 17. Reviews on Bose's site are kinder at 5 of 7, which we show but don't count.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 63%
  • Good noise cancelling 42%
  • Good value 11%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 47%
  • Too expensive 16%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 10 of 17
  • Brand site 5 of 7 shown, not counted

Share of 19 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 18,637 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about comfort, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Feb 2021 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (2 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most shoppers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Target (40 reviews counted)
  3. JLab Go Air Pop Target (39 reviews counted)
  4. JLab Go Air Sport Target (40 reviews counted)
  5. JLab Go Air Target (33 reviews counted)
  6. Apple AirPods 4 Target (39 reviews counted)
  7. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Target (19 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which earbuds can you wear for a long time?

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record at 29 of 33. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (31 of 36) and JLab Go Air Pop (25 of 33) come next.

Are open-ear earbuds more comfortable?

For these shoppers, the open-ear pick did well: 31 of 36 found Bose Ultra Open Earbuds comfortable for a long stretch. If in-ear tips bother you, a pair that rests outside the ear canal is worth a look.

Are AirPods 4 comfortable?

Just over half the shoppers who mentioned comfort said yes (20 of 36), and 41% of reviews call them uncomfortable. If comfort comes first, Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) and Bose Ultra Open Earbuds did better.

Are JLab earbuds comfortable?

Mostly, yes. JLab Go Air Pop does better (25 of 33) than JLab Go Air Sport (27 of 39) or the original JLab Go Air (17 of 28).

Related problems

Wireless earbuds Earbuds that stay in Top pick: JLab Go Air Sport 246 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Earbuds with long battery life Top pick: JLab Go Air Pop 233 shopper reports Headphones Headphones that stay comfortable for hours Top pick: Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones 326 shopper reports Headphones Noise cancelling headphones that actually work Top pick: Bose QuietComfort Headphones 283 shopper reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.