Picking between earbuds and headphones can sometimes be a real head-scratcher. After all, they both serve the same purpose, so why choose?
Consider these key differences that might affect your decision: sound quality, is there a built-in mic, comfort, and others. Before making this hard choice, though, here’s a quick rundown on the pros and cons, which is better suited towards our needs.
Pros and Cons of Using Headphones
- Deeper, but softer bass- Covering the full range of sounds from lows to highs. The sound in headphones is more voluminous if you love to listen to music while you work.
- Active Noise Cancellation- A feature found in most headphones that eliminates external noise from interfering with your listening experience.
- Comfort or Discomfort- The majority of brands have phones made of soft cushions and premium materials, providing a tight, yet comfortable seal. Although headphones can cause sweaty ears in warmer climates, wearing them for an extended period can be uncomfortable.
- Headphones are bulky. While there are some that are compact and foldable, they still take up a lot of space. If you are short on space, this will not be ideal.
Best all-around headphones
The Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones 700 offer slightly better sound and noise cancellation, along with top-notch headset performance for voice calls. They're a strong all-around audio performer that can last up to 20 hours when charged, providing you comfort during your listen.
Pros and Cons of Using Earbuds
- Music sounds “closer”. The quality varies by brand, but most earbuds are as good as headphones. However, since the sounds are closer to the ear canals, they're louder.
- With earbuds, you can hear more ambient sounds. This was done specifically for this purpose. Since runners commonly use earbuds, they need to be aware of their surroundings. You may hear some ambient sound if you use this for work.
- Earbuds don’t have ear-tips. Since only one size is available, they can easily fall off.
- Earbuds are more compact. Some, in fact, are even smaller than mint containers. You won't need a lot of storage space if you have a small workspace.
Best all-around earbuds
The JBL Club Pro+ TWS Earbuds is the perfect set of earbuds for your home office! These buds come with a total 24-hour battery life and can be recharged in just over 8 hours. They also have adaptive noise-canceling technology, so you'll never need to worry about those Zoom meetings again — unless it's a meeting that should have been an email.
Use the Earbuds That Goes With Your Phone
If you want to avoid spending so much, you can save up by using the headset or earbuds that come with your smartphones! Use apps like Krisp to filter out background noises. The free plan gives you 240 minutes of noise cancellation for one week. And it’s good enough for most people who have minimal calls week in and week out.
What other work-from-home essentials would you like us to review? Share in the comments below! Meantime, check out this work-from-home essentials list we made.