Which earbuds work best with winter hats?

Welcome back to MobileSyrup’s annual Touque Test. If you haven’t seen it before, the Touque Test is all about finding out which earbuds are the most “touque-able” on the market, an important factor for any Canadian.

Every year, companies pump out a ton of fancy new wireless earbuds boasting all kinds of features. However, those fancy features don’t mean much if you can’t comfortably wear the earbuds with a touque during a cold, Canadian winter.

Below, you’ll find a list of earbuds reviewed by members of the MobileSyrup team throughout 2022 along with a brief description of how “touque-able” the earbuds are. We also score each earbud out of five points on the touque scale, with five being the most comfortable and one being the most uncomfortable.

And if you’re curious, in the 2021 Touque Test, the AirPods (3rd Gen), Galaxy Buds 2, and OnePlus Buds Pro tied for first place. In 2020, the Galaxy Buds+, OnePlus Buds, and AirPods Pro tied for first place.

Read on the find out which earbuds released in 2022 are the best to use with a touque.

AirPods Pro (2nd-Gen)

If you’ve used Apple’s AirPods with a touque, you’ll know what to expect with the AirPods Pro (2nd-Gen). Thanks to their in-ear design, they fit snuggly under any winter hat and rarely fall out of your ears, while still offering great sound, active noise cancellation and one of the best mics around.

That said, if your touque is a little too tight, the earbuds can quickly get uncomfortable as they push into your ears. Still, as far as wireless earbuds go, Apple’s AirPods Pro are some of the best buds out there when it comes to staying firmly planted in your ears while still offering excellent sound quality.

Score: 4/5

Learn More | Buy: $329 at Apple, $299.98 at Amazon

OnePlus Nord Buds

The OnePlus Nord Buds are some of the most subtle OnePlus earbuds, but since they retain the patented earbud stick design, they can rub up against a winter hat as you take it off/on.

However, the good sizing and light weight makes them feel fairly secure when you’re actually wearing a touque.

Score: 3/5

Learn More | Buy: $37 at OnePlus (regular $49), $55.50 at Amazon (regular $65.55)

Beats Fit Pro

You would think the small size and wing-tip design of the Beats Fit Pros would lend itself to being secure under a hat, but it’s actually the opposite. Since the buds have angular edges pointing out from your head, they easily catch on a hat and get pulled loose.

We didn’t have them push out of our ears, but rather as we moved our head, the earbuds would shift and pull loose, allowing us to hear the outside world and making them sit a little more precariously.

Score: 2/5

Learn More | Buy: $249.95 at Beats, $199.99 at Amazon (regular $249.95)

LG Tone Free FP9

The small size of the LG Tone Free FP9s makes them surprisingly versatile for wearing under a touque. The subtle curve of the stick aspect of the earbuds helps them pull in close to your face as well and seems to reduce the chances that they’ll catch on a hat.

Score: 5/5

Learn More | Buy: $220.99 on Amazon (regular $259.99)

OnePlus Buds Z2

The OnePlus Buds Z2 feel surprisingly good in the ear and under a touque as well. Once again, the light design works well. The Buds Z2 do have a stick, but it’s long enough that it clears most touques and instead, you may be more worried about a tall scarf brushing up against them.

However, the flat end of the earpiece keeps them reasonably secure under a regular touque.

Score: 4/5

Learn More | Buy: $79.99 at OnePlus (regular $119.99), $92.91 at Amazon (regular $111.96)

Black Shark Lucifer T1 and T2

Lucifer T1 earbuds (left) and T2 earbuds (right)

Given the similarity between these two earbuds, we combined them into one for this section. Both the Lucifer T1 and T2 earbuds don’t work great when wearing a touque, with the T1s being slightly worse off. Wearing a touque tends to knock these earbuds loose, causing them to fall out of the ear. Most of the time, it’s a choice between wearing these earbuds or wearing a touque.

Score: 1/5

Learn More: T2, T1 | Buy T2: $39.99 at Amazon (regular $42.99) | Buy T1: $34.99 at Amazon

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