Editorial policy

Who writes and publishes

Every page is written by Mike M. and published by Iron Mako Media. The byline on every article, review and this page is the same person, and the author page sets out how he researches and ranks a category.

How products are chosen

A product is eligible for the registry if it is currently sold, has a product page on its maker's own website, and that page publishes an IP rating. The shortlist comes from the models that recur across the independent reviewers we read (SoundGuys, RTINGS, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, The Run Testers, NBC Select and others), the makers' own lineups, and reader questions. Keeping the bar at a published, verifiable spec sheet is what makes a comparison on this site worth acting on: every model listed has a warranty, a maker behind it and figures you can check.

How facts are sourced

• Specs (IP rating, weight, battery, charging, Bluetooth, mics, controls, codecs) come from the maker's product page, read on the date shown on the card, and each value links to it.
• Where a maker page can't be read (script-rendered, or blocking fetches), we cite a named independent review for the figures and say so on the card.
• Where a maker contradicts itself (two ratings on one page), we print both and score the lower.
• Independent findings are attributed in the sentence that uses them, so you get the measurement and its author together (“SoundGuys measured 7 hours 10 minutes”).
• Standards (IEC 60529) are cited to the standard via a published test-lab summary. Health facts are cited to NIDCD and WHO.
• Prices come live from Amazon's own product feed with the date they were read, so the number in a buy button is the number you pay today; once a reading is more than 48 hours old the button reads “Check price on Amazon.” Under-$100 lists use the maker's list price on the day checked, stated as such.
• Where a maker hasn't published a figure, the table shows a dash, so you can see exactly which numbers are confirmed.

How picks are chosen

Every pick is chosen from manufacturer specifications, manuals, the IEC 60529 safety standard and the measurements published by independent reviewers we cite by name, scored on the public rubric, and published with its strengths and a “skip this if” line so you can match it to your own use case.

Commissions

The site is funded by affiliate commissions, mostly as an Amazon Associate. Commissions never set a score or decide a pick; the rubric is public and computed from the metric scores on the card. No brand pays for placement, sends free units, or reviews copy before publication. Every outbound money link is marked sponsored and disclosed above the fold. Full terms in the affiliate disclosure.

Corrections and updates

Reported errors are checked against the source, fixed, and logged in the page's “Corrections & updates” entry. If the source changed (a spec revision, a discontinued model), we update the page and its date. Flagship roundups are rechecked every 60 days, other roundups and comparisons every 90, guides every 180 or when a standard changes. A discontinued product is removed, not left with a dead link. Report an error via the contact form or contact@openearclub.com.

Style

US English, plain punctuation, no exclamation points. Written for the person whose earbuds fall out or die from sweat; pages lead with that problem and get to the fix. First person singular for the author's decisions, second person for the reader.

Imagery

Every image on the site is licensed stock, labeled as such on product cards, with alt text that describes the scene it shows. Credits are kept in the site's repository.