Earbuds that stay in

JLab Go Air Sport has the best record for staying put: 14 of 16 shoppers who mentioned fit said they stay in. Close behind at 11 of 13 is Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, a clip-on pair that sits on the outer ear instead of in the ear canal. Both rest on fairly small groups of reviewers, and Apple AirPods 4 has the weakest record here at 1 of 31.

  • 246 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Dec 2021 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Do they stay in? What shoppers said
  1. JLab Go Air Sport 16 said either way
  2. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 13 said either way
  3. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 18 said either way
  4. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 11 said either way
  5. JLab Go Air Pop 22 said either way
  6. JLab Go Air 18 said either way
  7. Apple AirPods 4 31 said either way

Share of shoppers who stated an outcome for fit. 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 JLab Go Air Sport 14 of 16 say they stay in See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

The two clear winners grip the outside of the ear: the Go Air Sport hooks over it and the Ultra Open clips onto it. Regular in-ear buds did worse, some by a lot, with 77% of AirPods 4 reviews and 48% of Go Air Pop reviews saying they fall out.

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

JLab

Go Air Sport

Best for a secure fit for the price

14/16 say they stay in

These hook over your ears, and shoppers like more than the fit: 28% call them comfortable and 22% call them good value. 12% find the sound weak.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 30%
  • Comfortable 28%
  • Good value 23%
  • Good battery 18%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak sound 13%
  • Uncomfortable 8%
  • Connection issues 8%
  • Stopped working 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 14 of 16
  • Brand site 3 of 3 shown, not counted
2 Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Bose

Ultra Open Earbuds

Best for an open-ear fit

11/13 say they stay in

48% of reviews praise how well these hold on. Bose's own site agrees at 4 of 5, which we show but don't count. Weak sound (22%) and battery trouble (17%) are the usual complaints.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 43%
  • Comfortable 35%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak sound 22%
  • Battery problems 17%
  • Too expensive 13%
  • Connection issues 13%
  • Bad mic 9%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 11 of 13
  • Brand site 4 of 5 shown, not counted
3

Apple

AirPods Pro (1st generation)

Best for sound and noise cancelling

12/18 say they stay in

Fit is mixed, with 18% of reviews saying they fall out, but shoppers rave about the sound (40%) and noise cancelling (38%). This is the first generation, and Apple has released newer AirPods Pro since.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 40%
  • Good noise cancelling 38%
  • Comfortable 18%
  • Good battery 5%

What shoppers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where shoppers said it
  • Target 12 of 18

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

4

Bose

QuietComfort Earbuds

3/11 say they stay in

The sound wins praise in 67% of reviews, but 8 of 11 shoppers who mentioned fit said these fall out or feel loose. Connection issues come up in 46%.

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 67%
  • Good noise cancelling 25%
  • Comfortable 13%
  • Good value 8%

What shoppers complain about

  • Connection issues 46%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 3 of 11
  • Brand site 1 of 3 shown, not counted

Share of 24 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

JLab

Go Air Pop

4/22 say they stay in

Shoppers call these good value (32%), but fit is the weak spot: 18 of 22 said they fall out or feel loose.

What shoppers praise

  • Good value 33%
  • Good battery 23%
  • Good sound 23%
  • Comfortable 13%
  • Good noise cancelling 10%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak sound 15%
  • Connection issues 13%
  • Uncomfortable 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 4 of 22
  • Brand site 2 of 3 shown, not counted

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

6

JLab

Go Air

3/18 say they stay in

The original Go Air has the same fit problem as the Pop, with 40% of reviews saying they fall out. Shoppers do like the sound (32%).

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 33%
  • Good value 20%
  • Comfortable 8%
  • Good battery 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak sound 15%
  • Battery problems 13%
  • Connection issues 10%
  • Uncomfortable 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 3 of 18
  • Brand site 0 of 3 shown, not counted

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

7

Apple

AirPods 4

1/31 say they stay in

AirPods 4 sit in the ear with no silicone tips, and fit is where they fall short: 77% of reviews say they fall out. More shoppers weighed in on fit for these than for any other pair here (31).

What shoppers praise

  • Good sound 28%
  • Good battery 8%
  • Good value 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Uncomfortable 15%
  • Battery problems 10%
  • Too expensive 8%
  • Weak sound 8%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 1 of 31
  • Brand site 0 of 1 shown, not counted

Share of 39 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 fit, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Dec 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 (1 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. JLab Go Air Sport Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Target (23 reviews counted)
  3. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Target (24 reviews counted)
  5. JLab Go Air Pop Target (40 reviews counted)
  6. JLab Go Air Target (40 reviews counted)
  7. Apple AirPods 4 Target (39 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which earbuds stay in your ears?

JLab Go Air Sport has the best record (14 of 16), with Bose Ultra Open Earbuds next at 11 of 13. Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) comes third at 12 of 18, and the rest fall well behind.

Do AirPods 4 stay in?

Rarely, in these reviews. Just 1 of 31 shoppers who mentioned fit said they stay in. If a secure fit matters to you, JLab Go Air Sport and Bose Ultra Open Earbuds did far better.

Do open-ear earbuds fall out?

Not often, going by the one open-ear pair here: Bose Ultra Open Earbuds stayed put for 11 of 13 shoppers who mentioned fit. They wrap around the edge of your ear rather than pushing into it.

Why do my earbuds keep falling out?

Ears differ a lot, so a pair that fits one person can slip for another. If your buds came with extra tip sizes, try a bigger or smaller one before giving up on them.

Related problems

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 that stay comfortable for hours Top pick: Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones 326 shopper reports Wireless earbuds Earbuds with good sound quality Top pick: Apple AirPods Pro (1st generation) 252 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.