8 Headphone Brands You Should Avoid, According To Users

Picking a pair of headphones can be tricky. You want to make sure you’re getting a pair that feels good to wear for long periods, has good sound quality, and fits the type of music you’re listening to at work or at home, especially with big changes on the way for headphones in 2026. There are also headphones you want to get if you’ll be using them for gaming (we’ve tracked down several gaming headphones that audiophiles highly recommend, if you’re looking for those). What’s also good to know is which headphones others have had negative experiences with, which may make you want to go with a different company. It’s why it’s always a good thing to review other customer reviews when looking at headphones to see what they liked, disliked, and their experiences with them.

To help you pick your next pair of headphones, we’ve identified eight headphone brands you may want to avoid based on customer experiences with these products. We’ll go into more detail about our methodology for this list at the end. Here are eight headphone brands you should avoid, according to user reviews.

For many customers, EKSA has not been the preferred choice when it comes to headphones. When you view the Amazon page for the brand, many of them range from $29.99 to $49.99, making them an affordable option for casual use. However, even the more expensive choices, like the Bluetooth Headset, have characteristics highlighted by user reviews that earned a mediocre 3.8-star rating on Amazon. The page also flags it as a frequently returned item from buyers, which is never a good sign. The same goes for the EKSA Wireless Gaming Headset, which earned a slightly higher but still not stellar 4.0-star rating.

Users who have purchased EKSA headphones find that the overall quality doesn’t match what they’re paying for. While in use, reviews highlight these headphones as having poor audio quality when in an office setting or while playing games. Others report that the volume is heavily unbalanced, with one speaker’s side being louder than the other. Additionally, the material of the headphones feels cheap. Experts have also shared that their experience with EKSA headphones is lackluster, with sound quality and discomfort being a problem.

Another headphone brand that users do not recommend is Monoprice. It’s a brand that has multiple headphones, and they are large, over-the-ear models that might look appealing to some users who enjoy that size of headphone. However, the size does come with several drawbacks, and there is a lack of features for the price tag that will have you looking elsewhere if you enjoy sound customization while you’re listening to music. There are a handful of negative user reports on Monoprice’s BT-600ANC Amazon page, where it earned a 3.7-star rating, in addition to the BT-205, which has a 2.9-star rating (though with very few reviews).

There are a handful of issues highlighted by user reviews, including experiences of connectivity problems with Bluetooth signals, mediocre sound quality, and low durability. Customers have shared that the headphones don’t hold up from a build quality perspective, even if they don’t go through too much abuse. The damage ranges from the faux leather separating, speakers breaking, or the frames breaking down, making them unusable. Experts who have reviewed these products detail that the products from Monoprice may not come with a companion application to offer adjustable EQ, and offer inconsistent Bluetooth connectivity.

House of Marley might be an approachable headphones brand if you’re looking for a budget option, but customer experiences detail that these headphones may not be the best place to put your money. These headphones come in a range of over-the-ear styles, such as the Rise Bluetooth Headphones, which have a 2.1-star rating on Best Buy and a 3.3-star rating on Amazon. Other models, such as the Rebel in Ear, have a 3.2-star rating. This brand offers a range of headphone products to choose from, but the durability and sound quality don’t sit well with customers who have posted reviews.

Customers who have offered reviews find that the products have broken or don’t work properly shortly after getting them out of the box. Other customers have reported that the product itself can slowly break down, with parts of the headphones wearing out, and expressed other concerns related to build quality. Experts who have tried out House of Marley headphones have found that they get warm to wear after a short period of time, the frequency response can be wonky, the ear cup build is poor, and several headphones lack EQ.

Some customers prefer alternative picks to Soul Electronics. It’s a brand with multiple options, from true wireless earbuds to wireless on-ear headphones, depending on your preference. Although the wide variety of options is nice, customers have had poor experiences with several products from Soul Electronics, like the Soul Openears S-Clip, which has a 4.0-star rating on Amazon, the Soul S-Fit Wireless Earbuds, with a 3.8-star rating, or the Ultra Wireless High Definition Headphones, which have a 4.1-star rating.

For those who have picked up the true wireless headphones, the issues consist of connectivity issues, reliability on sound quality, and battery life, which is also a problem with the wireless over-the-ear headphones. One who used the Soul Openear S-Clip headphones found that the fit is poor, and when they attempted to slide it back into place, the headphones disconnected. Experts who have tried Soul Electronics headphones find that these products can experience connection dropouts, are not water- or sweat-resistant, and have poor microphone clarity, if included with the pair.

Cowin has several over-the-ear headphones you may be tempted to try, and many feature noise-canceling to block out the world as you enjoy your listening experience, but customers don’t think these are the pair to get for that. The Cowin E7 Pro was available on Amazon, where it had a 4.2-star rating — the second highest on this list — though many of these products are no longer widely available for purchase there, meaning you have to go to the company’s website to grab anything.

Customers who have purchased these headphones have reported that the sound quality is poor, the battery life doesn’t last too long, the microphones aren’t particularly loud, and the noise-canceling feature has received mixed reviews. These included fans going off or lights in the background. The sound quality also went down while this feature was in use. Experts who had the chance to try out Cowin’s headphones found that while they were portable, the sound quality, comfort, and noise isolation were poor, and the bulky design made them uncomfortable to wear. Some customers took to Reddit to discuss the validity of Cowin and to discover whether others had similarly poor experiences.

Hifiman offers large, over-the-ear models. Notable headphones from Hifiman include the Planar Magnetic Hi-Fi headphones, which have a 4.2-star rating, and the Sundara with a 4.3-star rating. The curious consumer can locate various comments online about the decent sound quality, although many find that the build of these headphones to be lackluster, and they don’t quite hit the mark in terms of comfort. One customer reported that one side of the speaker was louder than the other out of the box. 

When customers received these headphones, they noticed that parts already appeared used before they had opened up the box (though that may not be Hifiman’s fault), or that the model had cheap cables and plastic attached to it, despite the price paid for them. The poor quality of the design of a handful of received models may not happen to everyone, but it’s enough to give you pause if this is a worthwhile brand to rely on. Additionally, customers shared that these headphones don’t stand the test of time.

Some customers report their Hifiman headphones working well at first, only to begin suffering performance and functionality issues in less than a year after purchase. Experts who had the chance to review them have noted how weighty Hifiman headphones can be given their size, that they can leak audio, and they’re not too portable. If you’re looking for high-quality wired headphone options, we have five great options that audiophiles swear by that may steer you in another direction.

V-Moda is another headphone brand that customers don’t feel hits the mark, especially when they’re looking to purchase a professional set, given the price. These large, over-the-ear headphones typically come with noise-canceling, supposedly sharp sound, some have swivel ear cups for one-ear listening, memory foam around the side, and can be folded to make it easier to transport them. However, models like the V-Moda M-200 Pro with a 3.6-star rating and the smaller earbud models, like the V-Moda Hexamove , which has a 3.0-star rating, are among units that customer reviews suggest may be less than ideal. The V-Moda M-200 Pro is one of the worst headphones you can buy, according to Consumer Reports. 

A problem found in customer reviews highlights that the noise cancellation doesn’t feel like it works properly. Some found it difficult to tell whether the function was on or off, as it didn’t seem to make a significant difference in blocking noise. Others had problems trying to get the headphones to work properly on their devices, finding that the model was undetectable or didn’t work. When it did, the sound quality wasn’t the best. For the wireless earbuds, the issues were similar regarding sound quality and connection issues. Experts who have used V-Moda detail that the earbuds have a poorly designed charging base, a buggy application, poor noise isolation, and the audio leaks out at higher volumes. If you’ve primarily been using earbuds, we have five reasons why you should make a return to headphones.

Razer is a company that offers a wide variety of products, and headphones are among its many options. For those who regularly play games online and use microphones, these feel like a natural choice, but customer reviews may sway you away from them. These issues boil down to build and sound quality, connection issues, and customers finding them uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. On Amazon, the Razer Barracuda Wireless Gaming headset has a 3.7-star rating, the Barracuda Pro a 3.6-star rating, and the Razer BlackShark V2 HyperSpeed headset has a 3.7-star rating.

When users plug Razer headphones into their PCs, they’ve reported being bombarded with warnings regarding firmware updates that don’t exist and experiencing issues with the build quality and the headset cups. Other customers detail in their reviews that important components would break off less than a year after use. Several reviews share that the overall durability doesn’t feel good with these headphones, and they break from normal wear, and there are connectivity issues for which customer service did not appear to have solutions. For experts who have had the chance to use these products, the reviews detail that the Razer headphones have inconsistent audio delivery, no channel mixing, and some headphones perform as a jack of all trades while being master of none, meaning they don’t stand out compared to other similarly priced choices. If a gaming headset is what you seek, you may want to check out the Sony Inzone H9, which we reviewed and found provides great sound at a premium price.

For this list, we went through to pick headphone brands that customers frequently had problems with. We wanted to highlight issues that centered on sound quality problems, technical issues, design problems, and build quality of headphones provided by a brand, cited by users.

We used customer-posted reports from Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart to learn about firsthand experiences with products that were rated 4.2 stars or lower across all websites. We also consulted professional reviews from industry publications to learn more about the shortcomings of these products from these brands.