I have owned probably fifteen pairs of headphones in the last decade. Over-ears, in-ears, bone conductors, the lot. Most of them are gathering dust in a drawer somewhere in Montevideo.
The problem with headphones is that everyone has an opinion, and most of those opinions come from people who listened to a pair for an hour at a friend's house ( or worse, read a spec sheet ) and called it a review.
I am not that person. I wear headphones 8 to 10 hours a day. Working, walking the rambla, blocking out construction noise from the building next door. Here is what I actually use and why.
What I Actually Use
Daily driver: Sony WH-1000XM5. Yes, the obvious choice. No, I will not apologize for it.
I got these after my XM3s finally died after four years of daily abuse. The XM5s are lighter, the ANC is better, and the ear cups do not make my ears sweat after two hours like most competitors. That last point matters more than any frequency response chart.
For running and gym: Shure SE215. They are ancient by IEM standards. They still sound better than most things under 200 dollars. The bass is tight, the isolation is excellent ( with the right foam tips ), and they do not fall out of my ears.
For calls and quick errands: Google Pixel Buds Pro. Convenient, good enough sound, and the integration with my phone is seamless. They are not audiophile grade. They do not need to be.
What I Stopped Using ( And Why )
Bose QuietComfort 45. The ANC is great. Everything else is mediocre. The sound signature is muddy, the design looks like it is from 2015, and the app is a disaster. Returned them in a week.
AirPods Max. Beautiful hardware. Ridiculous price. The case does not even protect the headband properly. I used them for two months and went back to the Sony. The Lightning port on a 550 dollar headphone in 2026 is just insulting.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. The classic recommendation. The clamping force gave me a headache after an hour. Great for studio monitoring, terrible for someone who just wants to wear headphones all day.
What Actually Matters When Buying Headphones
Comfort over everything. You will not care about sound stage width if your ears hurt after 45 minutes.
ANC quality if you live in a city. Montevideo is not the noisiest place but construction season is real, and the difference between good ANC and mediocre ANC is the difference between focusing and wanting to throw something.
Multipoint connectivity. I switch between my laptop and my phone fifty times a day. If I have to manually disconnect and reconnect every time, the headphones are going back in the box.
Replaceable ear pads. This should not be a luxury feature. Ear pads wear out. If you cannot replace them, you are throwing away a 300 dollar device because of a piece of foam.
The Buying Rule I Wish I Followed Sooner
One pair for focus. One pair for movement. One pair for convenience. That is it. Three pairs maximum. If you have more than three, you are collecting, not listening.
I spent years chasing the perfect headphone. It does not exist. What exists is the right headphone for what you are doing right now. The XM5 will never be a running IEM. The SE215 will never be a daily driver for calls. That is fine. Use the right tool.
Stop reading frequency response graphs on Reddit. Go to a store. Put the things on your head. Listen for more than three minutes. If they feel good and sound good enough, buy them. Your ears are not reviewer ears, and that is actually an advantage.
:)