These are among the top trending searches these days. They are available in different sizes, colors, and styles, and almost every brand has launched its specific earbuds. To be precise, they are not the second choice but the first when one decides to get a headphone for them. Also, it doesn’t matter whether they are buying it for themselves or giving it to someone else.
This is mainly because they are available in almost all the price ranges from a few dollars to thousands. They possess so many features; in general, everyone loves them. You can go awestruck with their lightweight range of available color shades, and their unique designs and they come in a tiny box that makes it easier to carry them around in purses, clutches, handbags, and side bags.
We are not saying that everyone wants to spend a considerable sum of money on headphones. But it is without a doubt everybody’s concern that the headphones have to be as lightweight and convenient as possible. The most important thing while purchasing one is that it has to fit in their budget. Therefore, earbuds are becoming the top and a fantastic product for all buyers. They are inexpensive and available in a wide range of varieties, which makes it easier for the users to opt for a bud as per their requirements and budget.
Initially, they were built just for listening to music, but now they are doing almost everything you want them to. So let’s discuss further all the features, functions, and types of earbuds.
To make your decision soon, we have covered an earbuds buying guide for you which is worth reading. If you are going to buy headphones, you should definitely go through our buying guide on headphones.
What is Unique About Earbuds?
Before going to its specialty, let me tell you what an earbud is. These are cute tiny speakers that go and fit right in your outer ear. Specifically, the part where the speaker lies is known as a driver, which is supposed to produce sound whenever an electric current is passed through its voice coil. Then The ring starts to vibrate against the magnet present inside it, hence making the sound.
Among all the other features of earbuds, the one that has attracted the most people in the past few years is that the earbuds are easily portable like they are ready to fit in your pocket purses and whatnot very smoothly. They also come with this cord, by which you can share the music with someone you know, want, or love. However, cordless earbuds are also available nowadays for fulfilling this purpose.
You can keep a few points in mind while going for your new Buddy’s wireless earbuds.’‘
Talking about technology, they are the most commendable worth buying products these days. The exciting part of these buds is that they are available in all shapes and sizes on the market. These wireless earbuds are offered at affordable prices, making them the go-to option for all buyers.
Still, having these many variations can create significant confusion among you all about which one you should go for. It can become quite a heft to decide on this matter. So, if you are looking for your perfect fit in the market, you might as well consider going through this article once.
Brands and pricing
The first thing that comes to mind while purchasing any electronic product is its brand and, of course, its price. Well, every one of you doesn’t need to consider a brand before buying an earbud. But we strongly suggest that if you are looking to get excellent audio-quality earbuds, you should choose them from a brand you trust.
It is more understandable that the brand, which has been in the market for years producing audio devices, will make excellent quality earbuds. They will also provide better sound and will last longer than the others.
Now, let’s talk about the money you will spend to get a pair of wireless earbuds. Before thinking further about the other qualities, it is a must that you look for its price because once you have put your money in, it doesn’t matter how much, and still not able to enjoy or appreciate the device or music itself.
It’s just a total waste of your precious money. Therefore, always try to look for a well-known brand product that fits your budget. You might as well look out for the offer period or sales to get one.
Design
It’s no doubt that our generation is more of a showoff generation, so while looking for a pair of buds, keep in mind that you also have to take proper care of its design. Additionally, when you spend a sum of money on an electronic device, it is for sure going to be with you for a more extended period. Therefore, its design and fit in your ears are some of the points you should always consider. Another critical factor in design is comfort, so always consider your convenience before deciding on your partner.
You have to choose their size accordingly because if they are too small, there will always be a concern about them Falling out, or if they are pretty big, they won’t be able to fit in your ears. This is the crucial point with plastic earbuds like the Apple AirPods or the OnePlus Buds, as they don’t feature silicon tips. So if you fall under the category of buyers who are unsure of their size, make sure that you opt for buds with multiple sizes of replaceable ear tips.
The next thing to keep in mind is their grip. As for the buyers who will use them in the gym or while running, it is crucial that it stays in your ear only and doesn’t fall off. This is only possible if your buds offer a tremendous mechanical grip. You can go for the Amazfit PowerBuds, which have optional ear hooks.
Features and gestures
Whenever you look for a product, several features stand out in all the variants. So, instead of being mesmerized by those features, you should look and stick to the most relevant ones to your requirements. It can be better understood with example like if you are going to use them in your shower or swimming, it’s no use if you are going for water-resistant earbuds. Instead, you can choose the product offering absolute features needed by you at that price.
So, let us tell you what basic features are needed in a wireless earbud; they are
- Ability to control music.
- Ability to Playback music.
- Ability to control calls.
- Ability to trigger the voice assistant.
- The power of quick pairing.
- The power of reliable connectivity.
- Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
There is another feature that is not needed by all, so don’t get too excited about this feature, touch-based gestures. If you fall under the category of users who wish to use their buds while staying in bed, during sports, or around water, these touch-based gestures will fail to get triggered or even worsen, which may get triggered without your intention. Therefore, earbuds with physical buttons that you can start to have more control, but they will also lose water resistance.
Sound Quality, Call Quality, and Audio-Codec Support
It is an automatically analyzed point that, if you are buying a pair of earbuds, you can use them for different purposes, but the main property that it has to have is the best sound quality. It has to offer a rich, balanced sound that is neither too heavy in bass nor light. So, to make sure that the music doesn’t sound hollow, you have to look at the driver’s side, which is being used in the earbuds. You can go for a 10 mm driver size if you look for excellent instrument isolation and a better sound. Otherwise, a driver with 6 mm is not that bad either.
Apart from that, it’s a given point that if you are putting your money into the buds, you will receive your calls via them only. So, always ensure that your mic-reception quality of the buds is not compromised. Because if that’s the case, you have to suffer a lot due to it.
Well, we suggest you opt for a pair with multiple mics or a good ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) if you use your buds for calls and multiplayer gaming.
However, if money is not a problem for you and you wish to get a little better pair by adding a bit more money, you can also look for the audio-codec support you will have on your buds. Because the earbuds with mid-range quality are only built to support the SBC codec, the products which are a little more in cost will surely be able to support AAC, AptX, or LDAC codecs and will provide you with better and higher-resolution audio.
Battery life (Case and Earbuds)
Even though a pair of earbuds contain all the above features, it will still not be considered the best if it doesn’t have great battery life. You can not just charge them the whole day or expect them to get discharged in a few hours after a single charge. Therefore, you should always look for a pair that can work for long hours after getting charged once. It is not entirely dependent on the earbuds, but the case also has a vital role. The better the capacity of the case, the more times it will charge your buds.
It would help if you also kept in mind that while advertising the number that the brands keep mentioning about the battery life, it is totally for the music playback time. It doesn’t count for your regular calls because the numbers will drop.
For a pair to be considered for having a good battery life, it should at least work for 4-5 hours after a single charge, and when we talk about its case, it should be able to charge the buds thrice at the very least. Less than that is acceptable but not for great power users because then you have to look for the charger very often.
Types of Earbuds by Connectivity
As we have spoken about, almost everyone who features a good pair of earbuds should possess one. Let’s move forward with how a team can be connected to different devices.
Wired earbuds
These are the first category that comes to mind and that any online site shows to us whenever we search for a pair of good earbuds. As evident by the name itself, they will be connected by the device through a cord. Like your computer speakers or your phone, they also come with an audio jack that can be easily plugged into your device later on. Also, you will get additional cords for playing video game consoles or headphones if there are multiple users at once. They will be directly connected to your PC or computer; they do not need batteries as they will get them from the device itself.
Still, you can’t carry them everywhere as they are not easily portable because there must be something to connect them with. It can be considered as one of their limitations. We have also heard from many that the connection cord has been broken due to time, wear and tear on the wire itself.
Therefore, it is now seen almost everywhere that brands are offering free wired earbuds with their devices to attract customers, such as Apple and Samsung used to do.
Wireless earbuds
Bluetooth is the fastest and easiest way to connect these days. Almost every transfer or transaction can be done over Bluetooth. Because of this popularizing concept of Bluetooth, wireless earbuds came to knowledge. They are connected to other devices with the help of Bluetooth only. So, it is entirely understood that there won’t be any wires or cords in them. Instead, they have some wireless receiver that will do all the work, like connecting them with the Google Home speakers. There is another reason for no wiring connection here: they rely on radio frequencies instead of cords.
We have already mentioned that wired earbuds have a disadvantage as they can not be carried everywhere, but with wireless earbuds, we get the ease of portability. You won’t have to worry about doing chores and listening to whatever music, podcast, or audiobook you are listening to at the same time. These can become quite helpful while gymming and while being on public transport.
Well, additionally, there isn’t going to be a hassle of tangling up in wires every time you move around, making it much more convenient and comfortable for the users. But being wireless also creates another problem: you can quickly lose either one or both of them, and the worst part is you won’t even have a backup with you then.
They will require charging too full before you head out anywhere, so you will have to make sure that they are fully set before making a move. However, it’s not going to be a massive problem as they can be easily charged by plugging them into your computer or through the headphone receiver itself if it has charge capabilities built-in with a cord.
Types of earbuds by Fit
After reading about the earbuds fit by the connectivity, let’s move ahead with the next category, which is how they will work. Some earbuds will be worn around the ear, while some are designed to go directly into your router/inner ears.
Standard earbuds
These are the most basic kind of earbuds you all must have encountered. They are built so that each side contains speakers and are connected to the device through wires or wirelessly.
You can guess its advantage over other pairs, which is that everybody knows them. No one needs to hassle about using them, as they are straightforward to wear and will not fall out of your ears.
Every device that provides comfort for a long time doesn’t become a hit for everyone. So its style of not going into the ears themselves becomes uncomfortable for many users. Apart from that, they are also not capable of binding the music out, and hence they let in a lot of ambient noise.
In-ear earbuds
These are some of the most impressive styles of wireless earbuds. They are built with silicone or foam tips, which go in your ear to create a seal. The tricky part that comes with these earbuds is that they have to be held in a place by the shape of your canal, and that becomes quite hectic to find the ones that perfectly fit you.
An additional benefit of these earbuds over the standard ones is that they will provide a better sound quality because their speakers are closer together and are properly sealed off from outside noise. So, the buyers who are looking for a pair that can completely block the ambient noise out, these are going to be your best options.
Around-ear earbuds
These earbuds are pretty similar to the in-ear ones. But they slightly differ from them as they will not be placed directly in your ears; instead, they have the speakers placed on top of them, and they go around the ear.
All the worries that were quite concerning in the other pairs have been resolved in these around-ear headphones. You can use them for a very long time without worrying about them falling out of the ear as they are very comfortable, and familiar and will also provide you with the best sound quality.
The fact that they are not going inside your ears makes it a bit more comfortable for the buyers to use them longer.
The only problem you can face with them is that they don’t fit well on everyone’s ear, so you have to make sure that you try them on before purchasing them.
Bone conduction earbuds
After searching for almost every kind of headphones, you can opt for these bone-conduction headphones/ earbuds if you are still wondering what to choose. These buds are designed in a way that their speakers rest on the top of both sides of your skull, and then through vibrations, sound waves are sent directly to your inner ear through them.
Brownie points out these Earbuds:-
The main benefit these earbuds are going to give you is that they will not block the sound around you. Instead, they will let them in, similar to the standard headphones. So, all the buyers who are willing to be aware even after wearing them must go for these bone-conduction earbuds. Another astounding fact about these buds is they don’t go and directly fit into your ears. Therefore many people can use them as every individual has a different head size and shape.
You can understand by the simple fact that these buds ain’t going to be affected by the shape and size of your outer ear. Also, there won’t be any direct contact of your ears with the speaker at all. They also possess a firm grip and will not fall easily off your head even after there is nothing present there to block to let them stay at a particular place.
In addition to the firm grip, a few models of these buds come in various shapes like a headband or glasses making them perfect to wear while exercising or jogging without worrying about them falling off.
However, it also possesses some demerits, as it doesn’t provide excellent music quality because the sound is confined only. So, you might need to turn the volume up more than usual if you want to ignore the outside sounds.
These buds will not be your best choice if you are looking for something that can give you a moment of peace with your favorite music or want to block out the ambient noise while listening to something. However, some buds come with assistants that will let you take calls and use voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google Now!
Even though they are not as popular or common as regular buds, still there have been some concerns regarding the safety of these buds as vibrations go through constantly to your inner ear.
Types of Earbuds by Technology
Earbuds can also be classified based on the technology, which purely affects their convenience and safety.
Noise-canceling earbuds
The noise-canceling term is nothing new for anyone out there, but the surprising part is that earlier, they used to come in only headphones; however, now they are available in earbuds. Noise cancellation allows work by canceling out all the background sounds to enjoy the music solely.
In the noise-canceling earbuds, small microphones capture any outside or background noises and then play those frequencies back with the opposite polarity. That’s how they get canceled out and cannot reach up to your ears anymore. So that leaves you and your music or podcasts or whatever you listen to alone without any disturbance.
Among the other brands, it’s just Apple and Samsung that have launched their wireless earbuds with this technology so that you can get a disturbance-free musical experience. The best example of this technology is installed in the Apple AirPods Pro.
Ambient sound technology earbuds
The other type of headphones that has gained popularity these days is ambient sound technology. They act similarly to noise-canceling headphones. They also let you hear what’s happening around you while listening to something else through wired or Bluetooth connections. They are made to let you become a part of the conversation simultaneously while listening to a podcast or an audiobook. You all must have heard about the Apple AirPods Pro; they are built with this same technology.
Conclusion
After explaining all the information related to earbuds, we strongly hope that now that you have gone through the article, it has helped you answer your questions and also helped you to decide which one you are going to make your Buddy.
You can quickly try all the styles in person and then decide after finding which one suits you the most as per your preferences. Even after this, if you still have any questions or queries to ask, you can drop them in the comment section, and we will surely solve your problems.