How we test and review headphones on What Hi-Fi?

Founded in 1976, What Hi-Fi? is the world's leading independent buying guide for hi-fi, audio, TV and home cinema products – and that very much includes headphones. For almost 50 years, our mission has been to help consumers buy the very best headphones (and other audio and video products) they can afford. 

We test around 100 pairs of headphones each and every year – from entry-level wireless earbuds right up to audiophile-grade wired over-ears – so that we can publish comprehensive headphone reviews and expert advice articles covering every corner of the market. This allows us to curate several Best Buy headphone guides that highlight and champion only the best pairs in every category. 

So you know you can trust our reviews, Best Buys and buying advice, we have detailed our headphone testing process below and explained why our in-house team of headphone experts is the best in the business.

What headphones we test

We test all manner of audio and AV products at What Hi-Fi? – hi-fi loudspeakers and electronics, TVs and projectors, AV receivers, soundbars, video streaming sticks and games consoles (the list goes on). If it produces a picture or makes a sound, chances are it comes under our review scrutiny. But there is one product we test in greater numbers than any other: headphones.

The most popular and accessible product for music listening today, headphones are an eclectic breed. You have earbuds that are wired (in-ear monitors) and wireless (such as AirPods), over-ear headphones that also use Bluetooth or a cable (or both), and there is even still some life in the ever-shrinking on-ear headphone market. Each category covers a range of prices, from that of a round of drinks to second-hand car money. 

We review every type, with the aim of testing the headphone lineup of every major audio brand (JBL, Sony, Samsung, Bose, Apple etc), as well as those of more specialist headphone brands (Grado, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Shure) and hi-fi manufacturers (Bowers & Wilkins, Focal, Cambridge Audio, Mark Levinson). Such is our comprehension of headphone manufacturers and models that we can confidently say that we have the best contextual knowledge of headphone performance in the industry.

How we test headphones

Our headphone reviews process is, in a word, thorough, and stands out from our peers for three primary reasons. Firstly, we have an exclusively collective approach to testing, whereby every review’s star rating is agreed upon by several in-house team members rather than simply an individual reviewer, forming a consensus verdict that ensures consistency and avoids personal preference. We should note too that no manufacturer or PR has any input in our testing and is never shown a review prior to publication, while our advertising and sales department remains similarly nescient until reviews are published.

Secondly, our reviews team has access to dedicated, custom-built, state-of-the-art test rooms, which in the case of headphones means we can plug audiophile-grade pairs suited to home use into our reference or more price-comparable DACs and hi-fi systems. (You can read more about our listening rooms here.) 

And thirdly, next to those test rooms is a stock room where we store our favourite pairs of each type and budget so that every new review subject can be directly compared to the best competition in its class. Comparative testing lies at the core of our testing process and helps us not only form our star ratings but also guage where a headphone sits in the big picture – which is particularly useful when it comes to judging our annual What Hi-Fi? Awards. During our Awards season, headphone manufacturers from all over the world send us headphones for submission – and every single pair is listened to against the benchmark model, regardless of whether we go ahead with a full review of them or not.

Sound performance is king and our number one priority in forming our verdicts, but a headphone won’t receive top marks if it doesn’t also pass other important aspects of our criteria, such as build quality and durability, comfort and usability. If a pair has other features key to its design, as many models do these days, how well they execute them is also imperative. For example, if a pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones sounds wonderful but doesn’t block unwanted external noise well, they will not earn full marks and the heartiest What Hi-Fi? recommendation.

While our test rooms are handy for allowing our reviews team to see how high-end headphones perform in partnership with similarly high-end electronics that we know inside out, the majority of pairs we test are designed first and foremost to be used out and about or at a desktop, and require testing in such environments.

With wireless headphones and earbuds, we test their everyday aspects such as their portability and ruggedness, their long-wear comfort and how their claimed battery life translates into real-life use. If they also boast active noise cancellation, we ensure their sound-blocking functionality is tested in noisy environments such as in the office, on public transport and, when we can, on planes. If they have Multipoint Bluetooth, we’ll connect them to two devices simultaneously to test that it works. If they offer spatial audio, we’ll give that immersive 3D effect a whirl too. You get the picture.

We live with on-test headphones day to day over a fortnight or so, using them at home, in our offices, on work trips and during our commute. Many of us continue to live with several kinds of headphones we like throughout the year, too, and can therefore be aware of any new features they may get via firmware updates, and subsequently update our published reviews accordingly.

Much of this applies to how we test wired headphones, although all but the budget pairs are also tested with a price-comparable DAC to ensure they can perform at their optimum. (After all, phones and laptops typically aren’t great-sounding sources themselves!) This way, we can also confidently offer you a recommended headphone/DAC pairing we have tried ourselves and can personally verify.

Our experienced in-house reviewers

Headphones are tested by our in-house team of audio experts, who collectively have over 150 years of experience testing, reviewing and writing about headphones. In fact, our review editors have all worked on What Hi-Fi? for between 10 and 26 years, so some of them have lived through the entire timeline of Bluetooth headphones (which began at the turn of the century)!

We are all passionate about headphones as well as, first and foremost, music – which is why we love compiling test track recommendations as a team, to share our favourite test sources with you and help you put headphones (or audio systems) through the wringer. We all have our favourite pairs from over the years that we have in our homes and pockets, of course, but as we recognise how important it is to stay informed in the fast-developing headphone market, we regularly sub newcomers into our daily listening routine. That’s why we are the best in the business.

You can learn more about us – both as a brand and as individuals – on our About Us page. Or to read more about our dedicated test rooms, star-rating system and What Hi-Fi? Awards, head to our How we test and review products on What Hi-Fi? page.

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