Quick Links
- Integrated Health Tracking
- Customizable Sound Profiles
Key Takeaways
- Look for headphones with multiple ANC modes for different environments.
- Opt for earbuds with at least 30 hours of battery life to avoid constant charging.
- Headphones with wear sensors can automatically pause music to save battery life and prevent awkward situations.
Buying new headphones or earbuds can feel overwhelming. There are so many different styles and shapes, and the amount of jargon thrown at you makes it confusing.
But it doesn’t have to be. I’ve tested and reviewed heaps of earbuds and headphones over the years, and these are the most important features I won’t do without.
1 Multiple ANC Modes
Noise cancellation is a game-changer when it comes to enjoying your music in noisy environments, but not all ANC implementations are created equal. I look for headphones and earbuds that offer multiple ANC modes tailored for different scenarios.
For example, a “transparent” mode that allows some ambient noise to filter through can be useful when you need to remain aware of your surroundings, while a more aggressive “noise cancellation” mode can provide a blissful audio sanctuary when you want to immerse yourself in your music completely. The ability to switch between these modes seamlessly is a must-have for me.
2 30+ Hour Battery Life
Okay, you can let this one slip a little. But your headphones shouldn’t need charging every four hours. That makes them basically useless, especially if you’re planning to use them for travel.
If you want to ensure you never run out of charge at an inopportune moment, opt for a large battery life. For example, you could pick up the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (up to 60 hours), Jabra Elite 85h (up to 85 hours), or the Sony WH-1000XM5 (up to 30 hours).
3 Wear Sensors
Wear sensors might seem like a minor feature, but they’re incredibly useful, and not enough headphones have them.
These sensors detect when you’ve removed your headphones or earbuds and automatically pause the music, ensuring that you never miss a beat. When you put them back on, the audio resumes seamlessly. This not only saves battery life but also prevents those awkward moments when your music continues to play for everyone around you to hear.
Small, but very handy.
4 Integrated Health Tracking
It’s taken me a while to come around to headphones and earbuds with integrated health-tracking features.
They seem a little superfluous when most folks have a smartwatch and a smartphone, but they’re handy for extra fitness and health tracking. I actually enjoy not having to wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker when I work out (I know, that’s what they’re for), and it makes the headphones even more useful.
5 Multi-Point Connection
If you’re like me, you’re constantly juggling more than one device while listening to music: smartphone, laptop, tablet, computer, the list goes on.
With multi-point connection headphones, you can connect your headphones or earbuds to several devices, allowing you switch audio between them without issue. It’s really useful when you’re connected to your laptop and your smartphone rings; answering the call is simple and doesn’t require a massive scramble to get connected properly.
6 Customizable Sound Profiles
Now, another headphone feature that has really grown on me in the past few years is customizable and unique sound profiles.
Basically, everyone has unique preferences when it comes to sound. It means that every set of headphones or earbuds sounds different, which might mean you’re not getting the outright best audio experience possible.
Better still, some headphones will create a unique audio profile for you after running a hearing test. Responding to the hearing test prompts in a companion app helps tailor an audio profile specific to your ears, making every song sound as good as it should. The images above come from our Anker Space One review, headphones that feature both types of custom audio profile.
Admittedly, some of the unique sound profiles work better than others, and it’s also dependent on your ears. For example, if you have hearing issues, your unique audio profile can help to compensate for that. But it might also overcompensate and drastically boost any particular audio frequencies you struggle with, creating an unbalanced sound profile.
Manually customizing an audio profile is your best bet in this case. But either way, customizable sound profiles are a must have.