Headphones with good sound quality

Bose QuietComfort Headphones has the best record for sound: 22 of 22 shoppers who judged it said it sounds good. Beats Solo 4 (35 of 38) and JBL Tune 520BT (35 of 39) come next. Every pair here did well, and Beats Studio3, which is no longer sold new on Amazon, has the weakest record at 30 of 34.

  • 308 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Aug 2020 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Do they sound good? What shoppers said
  1. Bose QuietComfort Headphones 22 said either way
  2. Beats Solo 4 38 said either way
  3. JBL Tune 520BT 39 said either way
  4. Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones 37 said either way
  5. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 16 said either way
  6. Beats Studio3 34 said either way
  7. Sony WH-CH720N 27 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.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones Best record Bose QuietComfort Headphones 22 of 22 say the sound is good See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

The wired pair holds its own. Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones sounds good to 33 of 37, level with the wireless pairs around it, and 35% of its reviews call it good value.

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 Bose QuietComfort Headphones

Bose

QuietComfort Headphones

22/22 say the sound is good

No shopper who judged the sound called it weak. 39% also call it comfortable and 30% praise the noise cancelling. Bose's site agrees at 10 of 10, which we show but don't count.

What shoppers praise

  • Comfortable 39%
  • Good noise cancelling 30%
  • Good battery 17%
  • Good value 9%
  • Lightweight 9%

What shoppers complain about

  • Uncomfortable 9%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 22 of 22
  • Brand site 10 of 10 shown, not counted
2 Beats Solo 4

Beats

Solo 4

35/38 say the sound is good

35 of 38 said the sound is good, and 26% praise the battery. Complaints are small and scattered, with a poor fit at the head of the list (10%).

What shoppers praise

  • Good battery 26%
  • Comfortable 18%
  • Good value 8%
  • Lightweight 5%
  • Good noise cancelling 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Poor fit 10%
  • Uncomfortable 8%
  • Too expensive 8%
  • Weak noise cancelling 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 35 of 38
3 JBL Tune 520BT

JBL

Tune 520BT

35/39 say the sound is good

This pair drew the biggest group judging the sound (39), and 35 of 39 liked it. A poor fit comes up in 20% of reviews, and 12% say theirs broke.

What shoppers praise

  • Good battery 23%
  • Comfortable 18%
  • Good value 13%
  • Good noise cancelling 8%
  • Lightweight 5%

What shoppers complain about

  • Poor fit 20%
  • Uncomfortable 13%
  • Broke 13%
  • Too expensive 8%
  • Connection issues 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 35 of 39
  • Brand site 9 of 9 shown, not counted
4 Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones

Sony

ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones

Best for wired listening

33/37 say the sound is good

A wired pair, and 33 of 37 shoppers said it sounds good. 35% call it good value, while 15% found the sound weak.

What shoppers praise

  • Good value 35%
  • Comfortable 23%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak noise cancelling 5%
  • Poor fit 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 33 of 37
  • Brand site 8 of 9 shown, not counted
5

Bose

QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

15/16 say the sound is good

A smaller group weighed in, and 15 of 16 liked the sound. 53% praise the noise cancelling and 12% say it costs too much. Bose's site comes in at 10 of 10, shown here but not counted.

What shoppers praise

  • Good noise cancelling 53%
  • Comfortable 24%
  • Good value 12%

What shoppers complain about

  • Too expensive 12%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 15 of 16
  • Brand site 10 of 10 shown, not counted
6

Beats

Studio3

30/34 say the sound is good

These reviews are for the Studio3, which is no longer sold new on Amazon. 30 of 34 said it sounds good, and 21% found the noise cancelling weak.

What shoppers praise

  • Good noise cancelling 23%
  • Comfortable 21%
  • Good value 15%
  • Good battery 8%

What shoppers complain about

  • Weak noise cancelling 21%
  • Too expensive 13%
  • Poor fit 5%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 30 of 34
  • Brand site 2 of 2 shown, not counted

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

7 Sony WH-CH720N

Sony

WH-CH720N

24/27 say the sound is good

24 of 27 said it sounds good, and 50% call it comfortable. Price (17%) and weak sound (13%) are the common complaints.

What shoppers praise

  • Comfortable 50%
  • Good noise cancelling 17%
  • Good battery 17%
  • Good value 13%
  • Lightweight 10%

What shoppers complain about

  • Too expensive 17%
  • Weak noise cancelling 13%
  • Uncomfortable 13%
  • Broke 10%
  • Connection issues 10%
Where shoppers said it
  • Target 24 of 27
  • Brand site 10 of 10 shown, not counted

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 7,683 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 2020 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 (3 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. Bose QuietComfort Headphones Target (23 reviews counted)
  2. Beats Solo 4 Target (39 reviews counted)
  3. JBL Tune 520BT Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones Target (40 reviews counted)
  5. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Target (17 reviews counted)
  6. Beats Studio3 Target (39 reviews counted)
  7. Sony WH-CH720N Target (30 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which headphones have good sound quality?

Bose QuietComfort Headphones has the best record (22 of 22), followed by Beats Solo 4 (35 of 38) and JBL Tune 520BT (35 of 39). Every pair here did well, so comfort, fit and price can decide it.

Do wired headphones sound better than Bluetooth ones?

Not on this page. Sony ZX110 Wired On-Ear Headphones, the one wired pair here, sounds good to 33 of 37, in the same range as the Bluetooth pairs. A single pair can't settle the question, though.

Beats Solo 4 or Beats Studio3 for sound?

Beats Solo 4 has the better record at 35 of 38, against 30 of 34 for Beats Studio3. The Studio3 is also no longer sold new on Amazon.

Do Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones sound better than the regular QuietComfort?

Both do well. Bose QuietComfort Headphones is at 22 of 22 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones at 15 of 16, from a smaller group. Noise cancelling praise is where they differ, at 53% of Ultra reviews against 30% for the regular pair.

Related problems

Headphones Noise cancelling headphones that actually work Top pick: Bose QuietComfort Headphones 283 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 Bluetooth speaker Bluetooth speakers with good bass Top pick: Bose SoundLink Micro 206 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.