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A pair of wireless earbuds fits in the palm of a hand, yet before it reaches a store shelf, it may pass through an artificial ear, a battery abuse rig, a radio test bench, and a cybersecurity review. Each stop answers a different question. How faithfully does it reproduce sound? How loud can it get? Will its lithium cell survive a cargo hold? Can it legally connect to a phone in Europe?

In June 2025, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) replaced its core headphone measurement standard. The EU made USB-C charging mandatory for headphones in December 2024. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized hearing aid software for a mainstream earbud in September 2024. For audio brands, importers, and the labs that serve them, headphone testing now spans acoustics, electrical safety, hearing health, battery transport, radio compliance, and data security.

Key Takeaways

  • IEC 60268-7:2025, edition 4.0, is the current international reference for specifying and measuring headphone and earphone characteristics.
  • IEC 60268-24:2023 sets measurement methods for active noise cancelling (ANC) performance, a topic IEC 60268-7 explicitly leaves out.
  • Product safety for headphones falls under IEC 62368-1:2023, the hazard-based standard for audio/video and ICT equipment.
  • The WHO-ITU safe listening standard (ITU-T H.870, 2022 edition) defines weekly sound allowances of 80 dB for 40 hours for adults and 75 dB for 40 hours for children.
  • A 2022 meta-analysis in BMJ Global Health estimated that 0.67 to 1.35 billion people aged 12 to 34 could be at risk of hearing loss from unsafe listening.
  • Rechargeable headphone batteries typically face IEC 62133-2 safety tests and UN 38.3 transport tests.
  • EU rules require USB-C charging on headphones, headsets, and earbuds, and cybersecurity requirements for connected radio equipment have applied since August 1, 2025.
  • In the US, the 100 ppm total lead limit for children’s products does not apply to certain electronic components, including headphone plugs, according to the CPSC.

What Is Headphone Testing?

Headphone testing is the laboratory measurement of a headphone’s acoustic, electrical, mechanical, and safety characteristics against published standards. The goal is a specification that buyers, regulators, and competitors can compare on equal terms. Without shared methods, one brand’s “20 Hz to 20 kHz” can mean something entirely different from another’s.

The reference document for that common language is IEC 60268-7:2025, Sound system equipment, Part 7: Headphones and earphones. The standard covers headphones, earphones, headsets, and earsets, plus integral pre-amplifiers, passive networks, and power supplies. It defines which characteristics manufacturers include in specifications, how to measure them, and a classification code based on how the transducer couples acoustically to the ear.

According to the IEC abstract, the 2025 revision adds an effective frequency range for free-field and diffuse-field compensated frequency response, updates methods for modulation and difference-frequency distortion, and adds annexes on two-tone distortion and left-right tracking for stereo headphones. That last addition matters for anyone who has heard a stereo image drift toward one ear.

The IEC 60268-7 also draws clear boundaries. It leaves safety to IEC 62368-1, headset microphones to IEC 60268-4, hearing aid earphones to IEC 60118-0, and active noise cancelling to IEC 60268-24. A complete test program, therefore, rarely rests on one standard. Contract Laboratory’s acoustics and dynamics testing category lists providers that work across these documents.

Which Standards Cover Headphones and Earbuds?

No single document governs a headphone from drawing board to shelf. Acoustic, safety, hearing-health, battery, and market-access rules each come from a different body, and labs typically combine them into one test plan.

Standard or ruleScopeWhat labs measure or verify
IEC 60268-7:2025Characteristics and measurement methods for headphones and earphonesFrequency response, sensitivity, impedance, distortion, left-right tracking
IEC 60268-24:2023Active acoustic noise cancelling characteristicsNoise reduction performance with test noise signals and ear simulators
IEC 62368-1:2023Hazard-based safety for audio/video and ICT equipmentEnergy source classification and safeguards, including acoustic energy
EN 50332-3:2017Sound dose management for personal music playersCalculated sound dose and associated user alerts
ITU-T H.870 (2022)WHO-ITU guidelines for safe listening devices and systemsDosimetry, volume limiting, and health messaging features
IEC 62133-2:2017+AMD1:2021Safety of portable sealed secondary lithium cells and batteriesCell and battery safety under intended use and foreseeable misuse
UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Section 38.3Transport classification of lithium cells and batteriesTest series required before lithium batteries ship
Directive (EU) 2022/2380EU common charger rules under the Radio Equipment DirectiveUSB-C charging port and related labeling

How Do Labs Measure Noise Cancelling Performance?

Active noise cancelling (ANC) uses microphones and signal processing to generate sound that offsets ambient noise. IEC 60268-24:2023 applies to headphones and earphones that reduce noise this way, whether the detection microphones sit in the earcup, on its surface, or on an accessory. IEC published the first edition on November 30, 2023, and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) adopted it as EN IEC 60268-24 in January 2024.

The standard defines terms, the characteristics to specify, and measurement and evaluation methods. Its preview contents show a tolerance limit for a simulated cafeteria noise spectrum, which signals how far the method moves beyond simple pink-noise tests toward real listening environments. Two scope details stand out: (i) The methods also apply to headphones with no ANC function, which allows passive isolation to sit on the same scale. (ii) The standard does not cover hearing protection equipment.

Comparable ANC measurements carry commercial weight. When noise-cancelling claims become a selling point, IEC 60268-24 gives brands and retailers a common way to support or challenge them.

Which Safety and Hearing-Health Standards Apply?

Safety testing asks a different question than acoustic testing: Not how good a headphone sounds, but what harm it could cause. IEC 62368-1:2023, edition 4.0, is the product safety standard for audio/video, information, and communication technology equipment. According to its abstract, it classifies energy sources, prescribes safeguards against them, and provides guidance on applying those safeguards. The CENELEC adopted the edition without modification as EN IEC 62368-1:2024. Labs offering safety certification and testing and electrical testing typically perform this work.

For headphones, one energy source deserves particular attention: Sound itself. The IEC 62368-1 defines calculated sound dose as a one-week rolling estimate of sound exposure, expressed as a percentage of the maximum regarded as safe, according to an ITU technical paper on H.870 conformance. The European measurement method sits in EN 50332-3:2017, which specifies sound dose measurement and alerts for personal music players. The ITU’s reference record for EN 50332-3 states that it sets the weekly sound allowance at 1.6 Pa²h, equivalent to 80 dBA over 40 hours.

The public health case for these limits is substantial. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis in BMJ Global Health pooled 33 studies of people aged 12 to 34. It estimated the prevalence of unsafe listening from personal listening devices at 23.81% and put the number of young people who could be at risk of hearing loss at 0.67 to 1.35 billion.

The WHO and ITU responded with a joint standard. ITU-T H.870, approved in its second edition in March 2022, sets requirements for safe listening devices and systems. The WHO overview describes two dosimetry modes: 80 dB for 40 hours per week for adults and 75 dB for 40 hours per week for children. It also describes volume limiting options, including automatic volume reduction and password-protected parental controls. The H.870 excludes communication and assistive devices from its scope, and the ITU lists gaming devices as a topic for future study.

How Are Headphone Batteries Tested?

Nearly every wireless headphone and earbud carries a lithium cell, and those cells face two separate test regimes. The first addresses use. IEC 62133-2:2017+AMD1:2021 specifies requirements and tests for the safe operation of portable sealed secondary lithium cells and batteries under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse. Its 2017 edition added coin cell requirements and vibration and shock tests, both relevant to the small cells inside earbuds and charging cases.

The second regime addresses shipping. Section 38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria sets the test series for classifying lithium cells and batteries for transport. In the US, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has stated in an interpretation letter that the requirement for batteries to meet Section 38.3 criteria applies to all lithium batteries shipped by any mode of transportation. A headphone brand can pass every acoustic test and still find its product held at a port without a 38.3 test summary.

What EU Rules Now Shape Wireless Headphones?

The EU has turned headphones into a test case for broader electronics policy. Under Directive (EU) 2022/2380, the common charging requirements have applied to headphones, headsets, earbuds, and other portable devices since December 28, 2024, and to laptops since April 28, 2026. The European Commission states that USB-C is the common port, so consumers can charge covered devices with any USB-C charger.

Cybersecurity followed. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30 made additional Radio Equipment Directive requirements on network protection, personal data and privacy, and fraud applicable from August 1, 2025, to radio equipment that can communicate over the internet directly or through other equipment. The UK government’s factsheet notes that the EU recognized EN 18031-1, EN 18031-2, and EN 18031-3 as harmonised standards for these requirements. Whether a given headphone falls in scope depends on its connectivity and data handling.

The RED cybersecurity regime has an end date. On February 16, 2026, the European Commission adopted a delegated regulation repealing 2022/30 with effect from December 11, 2027, the date the Cyber Resilience Act applies in full. The Commission’s explanatory memorandum states that the Act’s essential requirements include all elements of the RED cybersecurity requirements, so the repeal avoids duplicate regulation. Products placed on the market between August 1, 2025, and December 10, 2027, remain subject to market surveillance under the RED rules.

Where Do Durability and Materials Testing Fit?

Headbands crack, hinges loosen, and cables fray long before drivers fail. Brands and retailers often define mechanical endurance tests, such as flex cycling, hinge cycling, drop, and cable pull, in their own product specifications rather than in a single headphone-specific standard. Labs offering physical testing and consumer goods testing run these programs, and failure analysis helps trace field returns back to a material or design cause.

Materials carry their own rules, especially for products aimed at children. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act set a 100 ppm total lead content limit for children’s products, effective August 14, 2011, for products designed or primarily intended for children 12 and younger. The CPSC’s announcement notes that the limit does not apply to inaccessible internal parts or to certain components of children’s electronic devices, including headphone plugs. Headbands, ear cushions, and housings on children’s headphones remain within scope, and chemistry and compound analysis labs typically handle that testing.

How Are Hearing-Health Features Changing the Category?

The line between consumer audio and medical device has started to blur. On September 12, 2024, the FDA authorized the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device, the Hearing Aid Feature, for use with compatible versions of Apple’s AirPods Pro. The software is intended to amplify sound for adults 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment.

The evidence behind the authorization shows what this shift demands of testing. The FDA reviewed the software through its De Novo pathway and cited a clinical study of 118 subjects at multiple US sites. Subjects who used the self-fitting strategy reported similar perceived benefit to those who received professional fitting, with comparable amplification in the ear canal and speech understanding in noise. The authorization builds on the FDA’s OTC hearing aid rule, established in October 2022.

For test labs, the implication reaches beyond one product. A headphone that also serves as a hearing aid needs both consumer electronics data and medical device evidence, and medical device testing expertise starts to overlap with audio engineering.

What Do Labs Need and Requesters Look For?

A headphone test request moves faster when it names its target. Target markets determine which rules apply: The EU common charger and RED requirements, U.S. CPSC rules for children’s products, or both. Standard editions matter too, since a lab quoting to IEC 60268-7:2010 is no longer quoting to the current document. Battery chemistry and capacity, radio technologies, and any hearing-health claims each add their own test streams.

Accreditation shapes the choice of lab. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 sets requirements for the competence, impartiality, and consistent operation of testing and calibration laboratories, and accreditation applies to a defined scope. A lab accredited for IEC 62368-1 safety work may not hold accreditation for IEC 60268-7 acoustic measurements or UN 38.3 battery tests. Requesters can compare each provider’s scope against the standards their market requires.

For Labs and CROs

Headphone and earbud programs draw on acoustic chambers and ear simulators, safety and electrical benches, battery abuse and transport testing, and radio and cybersecurity assessment. The 2025 revision of IEC 60268-7 and the EU’s shift from RED cybersecurity rules to the Cyber Resilience Act give brands reasons to retest existing products. Labs with these capabilities can review open projects in the Lab Requests section and the electronics and electrical equipment category.

Connect on Contract Laboratory

Contract Laboratory connects audio brands, importers, and product developers with laboratories that perform acoustic measurement, electrical safety, battery, materials, and compliance testing for headphones and earbuds.

  • Submit a Request to describe a headphone test program, a target market, or a standard you need performed.
  • View Requests to see open projects, including electronics and consumer goods testing work.
  • Register Your Lab to receive matched requests in your areas of capability.

This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.

Sources and Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What standard covers headphone and earphone measurement?

IEC 60268-7:2025, Edition 4.0, defines the characteristics manufacturers specify for headphones, earphones, headsets, and earsets, along with methods to measure them. It replaced the 2010 edition and its 2020 amendment in June 2025.

2. Is there a standard for testing active noise cancelling?

Yes. IEC 60268-24:2023 sets terms, characteristics, and measurement methods for active acoustic noise cancelling headphones and earphones. Its methods can also apply to headphones without ANC, but it does not cover hearing protection equipment.

3. Which safety standard applies to headphones?

IEC 62368-1:2023 is the hazard-based safety standard for audio/video, information, and communication technology equipment, and IEC 60268-7 refers to it for safety. Europe adopted it as EN IEC 62368-1:2024.

4. What is a safe listening level for headphones?

The WHO-ITU safe listening standard uses a weekly reference of 80 dB for 40 hours for adults and 75 dB for 40 hours for children. Devices that follow it track exposure as a percentage of that sound allowance.

5. How are headphone batteries tested?

Lithium cells in headphones typically undergo safety testing to IEC 62133-2 and transport testing to Section 38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. U.S. regulators apply the 38.3 requirement to lithium batteries shipped by any mode.

6. Do headphones sold in the EU need USB-C?

Yes, for wired charging. Under Directive (EU) 2022/2380, headphones, headsets, and earbuds placed on the EU market since December 28, 2024, must meet the common charging requirements, with USB-C as the common port.

7. Can earbuds be regulated as hearing aids?

Earbuds can fall under hearing aid rules when they run authorized medical software. The FDA authorized the first over-the-counter hearing aid software for compatible AirPods Pro in September 2024 through its De Novo pathway, for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment.

Author

  • Swathi Kodaikal, MSc, holds a master’s degree in biotechnology and has worked in places where actual science and research happen. Blending her love for writing with science, Swathi enjoys demystifying complex research findings for readers from all walks of life. On the days she's not writing, she learns and performs Kathak, sings, makes plans to travel, and obsesses over cleanliness.

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