Open earbuds guide: What they are, who should buy them, and why theyre popping up everywhere

As a professional headphones tester, the question people around me have asked me the most this year is some version of: What exactly are open earbuds? That often gets followed up with: Are they better than regular noise-cancelling earbuds?

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The (somewhat) short answer to the first part: They're one of the most popular earbuds trends. If you haven't heard of them yet, you might have seen their other names...