Headphones

Headphones and Earbuds both provide a personal listening experience for the user, using right and left channel speakers that produce sound for each ear.

Headphones hold the right and left channel speakers against ears using a connecting band. They generally come in Over Ear and On Ear designs with the band designed to rest snugly around the head. Headphones are larger and tend to produce better sound quality than Earbuds passively blocking out more noise and Wireless Headphones tend to have a longer battery life. However their larger sizes make them less convenient to carry around.

True Wireless Earbuds are smaller with each speaker designed to securely fit anyone's ears. They are easy to carry around although this may come at the cost of Audio quality in less expensive models. They are less efficient at blocking out external sounds than Headphones unless they are an ANC Noise Cancelling model which generally costs more.

Although some use the terms interchangeably, Wireless Headphones are not necessarily the same as Bluetooth Headphones. Wireless and Bluetooth Headphones are designed to achieve similar results with some potential differences. Because Bluetooth technology has a limited bandwidth audio needs to be compressed as it's sent resulting in some quality loss. For lossless audio quality use a wired connection and some Headphones work with both Wired and Wireless / Bluetooth connections.

Bluetooth is a type of wireless connection included in many devices like Smart Phones, Tablets and Laptops making Bluetooth more widely compatible. Bluetooth Headphones can be quickly connected to other Bluetooth devices that send audio signals back to the headphones.

Wireless Headphones usually require a separate receiver that needs to be plugged in to the device that plays the music like a phone, computer or Stereo.

Headphones come in two broad designs: On or Over Ear. While both designs still feature left and right speakers connected via a headband there are some differences.

On-Ear Headphones have smaller sized ear cups that rest each speaker against the outside of the ear rather than over it. They are generally more breathable, lightweight and compact, giving Headphone lovers a more portable option without going all the way towards Earbuds.

Over-Ear Headphones have larger ear cups designed to rest against the head and cover all around the ear. While both styles are equally capable in terms of audio quality, Over-Ear Headphones can support Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), like some popular Audio Technica, Sennheiser or Sony headphones. ANC uses microphones to detect outside noise and send frequencies that counteract that noise so it can't be heard. On Ear models that have this feature tend to be a little bulkier as a result.

If you are interested in Wireless Headphones, make sure the battery life will be long enough for a daily commute or any other events and errands. Some models that support Bluetooth and cabled connections will work when cabled even if the battery is empty, which is great for a backup.

Some Headphones have built-in microphones that allow making or answering calls and voice commands to digital assistants like Amazon Alexa, Samsung Bixby, Apple Siri or Google Assistant.

Listening to music whilst working out? Then you probably won’t want cables getting in the way. Depending on the workout routine, Earbuds may be less intrusive than Headphones. Some can be classified as Sports Headphones which are both sweat resistant and designed specifically to stay in place whilst vigorously working out.

Earbuds are easy to carry around although some Headphone designs are also compact or foldable to take on travel or commutes. Some come with a hard carry case for extra protection.