Technologies

Best Headphones for 2023: Top Picks for All Styles

Here’s a look at CNET’s current top-rated headphones you can buy right now based on our hands-on testing.

There are so many different styles of headphones out there that it really depends on the person when deciding what the best headphones for 2023 are. However, the audio experts at CNET are here to help you narrow down the list as they’ve either fully reviewed or spent bounteous amounts of hands-on time with every pair of headphones you see on this page.

With so many headphone and earbuds options available, we’ve had to create a number of best lists here at CNET to cover all the various model types and use-case scenarios. For this list, I’ve taken the best of the best headphones from several categories, including wired and wireless (that includes true-wireless earbuds) and distilled that information into a top overall headphones list. We either fully reviewed or had hands-on time with every model on the list.

While many of the headphones on the list are premium models that cost a lot of money, we also like to highlight headphones that are a good value. These more affordable models can still deliver excellent quality at a good price. Regardless of budget or use case, this list will help you find the best headphones for you. As new top headphones are released, we’ll update this list.

Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds for 2023

More headphone recommendations

Technologies

Trump Tax Cut Extension Grinds to a Halt: Here’s What It Might Cost You

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 17, #706

Hints and answers for Connections for May 17, #706.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle is pretty fun. There are a couple of royal titles that might throw you off, though Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think science.

Green group hint: Found in schools.

Blue group hint: Chilly Willy.

Purple group hint: Fifth letter.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Member of a kingdom in taxonomy.

Green group: Graduated instruments.

Blue group: Kinds of penguins.

Purple group: «E» things.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is member of a kingdom in taxonomy. The four answers are animal, bacteria, fungus and plant.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is graduated instruments. The four answers are beaker, protractor, ruler and syringe.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of penguins. The four answers are chinstrap, emperor, king and macaroni.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is «E» things. The four answers are commerce, mail, scooter and signature.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 17, #236

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 236, for May 17.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition has one pretty simple category, especially if you’re a fan of horses. The other ones aren’t terrible, though there are a couple of very long words that barely fit in the grid. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: NFL division.

Green group hint: Sport of kings.

Blue group hint: Laverne and Shirley’s hometown.

Purple group hint: Hoops coach.