Different companies may not ship to where you live so my suggestion is to search for molded or moldable earbuds.
You can get some high quality ones if you have cash to burn, and some that will be okay and stay in place for a lower budget.
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
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Do they still make the ones you warm up in water and push in to custom fit your ears? I knew someone who had one like that and it was apparently quite comfortable.
I have sensitive ears as well and got some bone conduction headphones. They sound all right for me and nothing sits in the ear and you can still hear what's going on around you as long as they are not too loud. Perfect for riding my bike.
They are called Shox, but there are different brands.
I would say try open earbuds but those don't really have ANC
If you do want to try, clip on earbuds might work. They don't really sit in the canal, so your ear doesn't hurt. I have the moondrop collab ones
If you like headphones then clip on ones might work for you. Those are usually wired though
As someone also preferring headphones to in-ears for the same reasons, have you tried something like the shokz openrun series? The audio quality isn't the best, but your ears are free. Otherwise I'd suggest trying dry shampoo or other quick hair styling tools and just accept headphone hair instead lol. Nothing smaller than a headphone can ever come close enough for an audiophile.
Same for me. I want to like earbuds. I get the convenience and form factor advantages in certain situations, and I would like them, but they don’t stay in my ears, ever. Even the old school wired ones of yesteryear never for me. In the end I just accepted it and bought a really nice pair of wireless headphones. But I’m curious what suggestions come out of this discussion.
Yeah I mean I carry a pick around everywhere anyway it’s just a bit inconvenient. Do you know of any headphones that sound good and either A have good ANC/pass through or B are actually IP rated? I have momentum 4s because of sound vs other wireless, I’ve heard Sony has good passive audio but also kinda suck as gym headphones potentially. My momentum 4s have no breathability so my ears get sweaty, my earwax heats up and the headphones are getting destroyed from a few workouts before I gave up and went back to earbuds for now.
I have the Sony WH-1000XM4 headset and I love them. The jump from Gen 4 to newer isn’t huge for my needs, so I haven’t had reason to upgrade them. I say this because you may save some money going with a previous gen depending on your use cases.
I wear them mowing the lawn, on airplanes, trains, even doing the dishes— ANC on them is amazing. Music sounds amazing. The app is easy to use and completely unnecessary if the defaults are fine. Connects to two devices simultaneously. Mic works quite well and sounds good to the other parties. Battery life is excellent. They’re pretty great.
I agree they might be too bulky for working out, especially aerobics. They get a little sweaty when I mow the lawn but I wipe them off right away and let them dry. Still look brand new and on the original cups years later. Definitely worth the money, in my opinion.
Not me, sorry. I have my Steelseries arctis (over ears) for gaming at home, and my Shokz openrun (those are even rated for swimming iirc, but bone conduction is a bit rough on the audio, though I'm not enough of an audiophile to notice, except for 3d audio) for everything else, especially biking, where I prefer to be able to hear my surroundings and wear a helmet.
Try behind the head headphones. The bans rides at the back base of your head.
You might look at "clip on" earbuds. It's a new form factor in the past few years that doesn't have a part that goes in the canal
Unless they've changed dramatically, they're not new, just back in fashion. I remember those being around 20 years ago. Of course, they all had cables back then.
I worry about sound quality and everyone hearing what I’m listening to with these but I’ll take a look at them. Maybe they’ve gotten better since last I looked
I use the Soundcore v30i. They dont go in the ear itself - they loop around the back of the ear and are very light. I wear them for 7 hours a day most days and often forget they are on.
I dont know much about sound quality ratings, but I rather like them! (They are also pretty cheap and the battery life is quite good)
You need to get a big pack of replacement buds of all sizes. Start with a pair slightly too big for your ears until that becomes comfortable, then transition to the next size up. Repeat.
There are these soft clip-on earphones I use that look almost like ultra thicc earrings, they're pretty comfortable. I used to be an over-ear earphone cultist but these are much more comfortable.
Edit: found em
there are a lot of in ears with interchangeable tips. they typically come with S, M, and L sizes
I’ve compared many EarPods over the years, and Bose turned out to be the best.
To be fair, they are making software tricks to make up for lower hardware acoustic design costs, but hey, if you aren't an audiophile you likely won't notice.
Bose? Ew!
/s
I don't know if this would solve your problem, but I would try getting a pair of replacement foam ear tips for your earbuds of choice. I always buy the Comply foam ear tips. They come in S/M/L sizes and they make them to fit most ear buds.
I don't have extra small ear canals, I just prefer them.
I've got some insane ear canals. Something about both size and shape that makes very small plugs fall out and medium to large plugs hurt (and rarely an earbud brand has one that doesn't hurt and doesn't fall out). The ear doctor didn't have any plugs small enough for me for the sound test machine. But Beyerdynamic Amiron 300 fits perfectly, I think it was the small, not XS that worked for me. Maybe give that one a test in a store if possible.
Huawei freeclip
Not the best solution but can the silicon ear bud part be taken out or replaced? Some in-ear earphones can still stay in place even with the silicon part off but the sound quality might be worse and they are less securely fitted to the ears.
I really like KZ earbuds because they're so much better than slop audio consumer equipment but they're basically giving them away. KZ EDX Pro I got for literally [mathing] 7 or 8 USD (?) and they're amazing for running
I can't believe how good they sound for the money. They are worth carrying around a USB-C DAC for.