Earbuds with good sound quality

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record for sound: 33 of 35 shoppers who judged it called it clear and full. That first-generation pair isn't sold new on Amazon anymore, which makes Bose QuietComfort Earbuds the best pick on Amazon at 21 of 25. JLab Go Air Sport has the weakest record here at 21 of 34.

  • 252 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Aug 2021 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Do they sound good? What shoppers said
  1. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 35 said either way
  2. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 25 said either way
  3. JLab Go Air Pop 37 said either way
  4. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 23 said either way
  5. JLab Go Air 35 said either way
  6. Apple AirPods 4 31 said either way
  7. JLab Go Air Sport 34 said either way

Share of shoppers who stated an outcome for sound. 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) 33 of 35 say the sound is good
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Best pick on Amazon Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 21 of 25 say the sound is good See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Good sound and good noise cancelling tend to show up together. The first two pairs are the ones reviewers credit with good noise cancelling, in 30% and 43% of their reviews, and it barely comes up for the other five.

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)

33/35 say the sound is good

Sound praise turns up in 85% of reviews, and just 2 of 35 shoppers who judged it called it weak. Keep in mind these reviews are for the first generation, which you won't find new on Amazon.

What shoppers praise

  • Good noise cancelling 30%
  • Comfortable 15%
  • Stay in 13%
  • Good battery 10%
  • Good value 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 33 of 35
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted

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

2 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds

Bose

QuietComfort Earbuds

21/25 say the sound is good

21 of 25 said these sound good, and 43% praise the noise cancelling too. The bigger worry is the link to your phone: 46% of reviews report connection issues. Bose's own site comes in at 9 of 10, which we show but don't count.

What shoppers praise

  • Good noise cancelling 43%
  • Comfortable 18%
  • Good battery 7%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 46%
  • Stopped working 21%
  • Uncomfortable 7%
  • Too expensive 7%
  • Battery problems 7%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 21 of 25
  • Brand site 9 of 10 shown, not counted
3

JLab

Go Air Pop

Best for sound for the money

30/37 say the sound is good

More shoppers judged the sound of these than of any other pair here, and 30 of 37 liked what they heard. 38% call them good value, while 20% found the sound weak.

What shoppers praise

  • Good value 38%
  • Good battery 28%
  • Comfortable 13%
  • Good noise cancelling 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Battery problems 8%
  • Uncomfortable 8%
  • Connection issues 5%
  • Fall out 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 30 of 37
  • Brand site 8 of 9 shown, not counted
4 Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Bose

Ultra Open Earbuds

19/23 say the sound is good

An open-ear pair that rests outside the ear canal, and the sound held up for 19 of 23 shoppers. 54% call them comfortable, but 25% mention connection issues.

What shoppers praise

  • Comfortable 54%
  • Stay in 29%
  • Good battery 13%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 25%
  • Battery problems 17%
  • Bad mic 13%
  • Too expensive 13%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 19 of 23
  • Brand site 7 of 8 shown, not counted
5

JLab

Go Air

26/35 say the sound is good

Weak sound comes up in 25% of reviews for the original Go Air, though 26 of 35 were happy with it. 25% call them good value.

What shoppers praise

  • Good value 25%
  • Good battery 15%
  • Comfortable 10%
  • Good mic 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 15%
  • Stopped working 8%
  • Battery problems 5%
  • Connection issues 5%
  • Uncomfortable 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 26 of 35
  • Brand site 8 of 9 shown, not counted
6

Apple

AirPods 4

22/31 say the sound is good

These trail the first-generation Pro on sound at 22 of 31. 22% of reviews call the sound weak, and 12% complain about the mic.

What shoppers praise

  • Comfortable 18%
  • Good battery 10%
  • Good noise cancelling 5%
  • Good value 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Fall out 23%
  • Bad mic 13%
  • Weak noise cancelling 8%
  • Uncomfortable 5%
  • Connection issues 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 22 of 31
7

JLab

Go Air Sport

21/34 say the sound is good

Shoppers like how these feel, with 28% calling them comfortable. Sound is where they fall short: 32% of reviews call it weak, and 21 of 34 is the weakest record here.

What shoppers praise

  • Comfortable 28%
  • Good value 25%
  • Stay in 23%
  • Good battery 15%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 10%
  • Uncomfortable 8%
  • Stopped working 8%
  • Battery problems 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 21 of 34
  • Brand site 8 of 9 shown, not counted

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 sound, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Aug 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 (0 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 QuietComfort Earbuds Target (28 reviews counted)
  3. JLab Go Air Pop Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Target (24 reviews counted)
  5. JLab Go Air Target (40 reviews counted)
  6. Apple AirPods 4 Target (40 reviews counted)
  7. JLab Go Air Sport Target (40 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which earbuds have good sound quality?

Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) has the best record at 33 of 35, but it's no longer sold new on Amazon. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (21 of 25) and JLab Go Air Pop (30 of 37) come next.

Do AirPods 4 sound as good as AirPods Pro?

Not in these reviews. 22 of 31 shoppers liked the sound of Apple AirPods 4, against 33 of 35 for Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation). The Pro reviewed here is the first generation, so these counts don't cover newer AirPods Pro.

Do JLab earbuds sound good?

JLab Go Air Pop does for 30 of 37 shoppers. JLab Go Air (26 of 35) and JLab Go Air Sport (21 of 34) are further back, with weak sound raised in 25% and 32% of their reviews.

Do open-ear earbuds sound good?

The open-ear pair here does: 19 of 23 liked the sound of Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, close to Bose QuietComfort Earbuds at 21 of 25. That's one pair, so it doesn't speak for every open-ear design.

Related problems

Wireless earbuds Earbuds that stay in Top pick: JLab Go Air Sport 246 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Comfortable earbuds Top pick: Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 250 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Earbuds with long battery life Top pick: JLab Go Air Pop 233 shopper reports Headphones Headphones with good sound quality Top pick: Bose QuietComfort Headphones 308 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.