Best Headphones 2017

Winner: Etymotic ER4 XR

2017 was the year when Etymotic revamped their ER4 line of products, and the results were spectacular. Especially the ER4 XR should be on any audiophile's shortlist when it comes to great in-ears (dare I say relatively inexpensive high-end in-ears?). It is tuned flat, but with a gentle bump in the bass, which just makes it sound great for most types of music. The fact that it has no severe dips in the frequency response also makes it respond very well to equalization, which makes it easy to tune to your liking. The new exterior design is much better than that of the old ER4, and the cables are easily replaceable. Superb build quality, small exterior, neat cable, although a bit beefy, and a great price all things considered, Etymotic managed to create an extraordinary pair of in-ears in the ER4 XR!

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Runner-up: 1MORE Triple Driver In-ears

The Triple Driver in-ears from 1MORE are just great for the money. The design is a bit on the funky side, but the sound quality per dollar spent is pretty much unrivaled. Build quality is good as well, and they fit normally sized ears well. While the emphasis is clearly on the bass, the high-end is not that bad. Aside from a few funky details in the midrange, their acoustic performance is perfect for everyday use. 1MORE was also quick to release a Lightning connector version for good wired sound for those with current-generation iPhones.

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Looking forward to 2018

2018 has to the be the year when wireless headphones take center stage. In 2017, most wireless headphones were still just tweaked wired designs that carried the same basic drivers and styling coupled with a radio and codec with amplification. I hope we will get more wireless headphones that are designed as wireless headphones from the get-go in 2018. Semi in-ears, like the Apple Airpods or Google's Pixel Buds, all proved that the idea of true wireless headphones is still in its infancy, but the potential is enormous. On the around-ear front, we saw the new generation of the Sony WH-1000XM2 design really kick audio competences up a notch, and even 1MORE succeeded in creating an affordable, well-sounding Apt X codec bluetooth headphone in the MK802s. I hope we see in-ears with five hours plus playtime and close to wired performance in a true wireless package sometime next year.