I’m very disturbed by the idea that Apple is a “tech leader” in ditching what is easily the cheapest, best, and most-used solution to audio on the go: The TRRS connector. While it’s understandable that many look to Apple as a leader in the tech world, in this case the headphone jack fiasco was nothing more than an attempt at a hostile takeover of the headphone industry, and the largest competitors to Apple seem to have capitulated without putting up a fight.

The main question here has several parts to it, so we should define some key ideas. Namely, we need to know:

1. What makes a good phone?
2. What’s the benefit of a headphone jack?
3. Is Bluetooth good enough to replace it?
4. Why would Apple ditch it?

I’ll try to answer these as briefly as possible, but some of these need some explanation.

Editor’s note: this article was updated January 6, 2023 to reflect updates in market research, and fixing outdated links and formatting.

What makes a good smartphone?

Early hand-axes created by Homo Erectus. Like smartphones, their users cared only if they worked—and threw them out if they didn’t.

Stick with me, I’m going somewhere with this. When you want to do something that can’t be accomplished by just your words or hands, humans use tools. Tools to eat, tools to create, tools to destroy—we rely on the use of machines to accomplish most of the tasks we set out to accomplish in a day, and that’s how it’s been for millennia. Tools are an extension of the human experience at this point, and it’s no wonder: we simply can’t reach the heights we’re at now without mechanical help.

A full 2.5 million years after the first tools created by Australopithecus garhi, our tools perform stupendously complicated tasks—often thousands at once. While the capabilities of our instruments have exploded past the wildest dreams of our early ancestors, the core metric by which we assess their quality hasn’t: Do they perform their task well? If the tool you hold in your hand can’t perform the function you want it to, it’s the wrong tool for the job… or it’s a bad tool.

Enter the smartphone. In the short time it’s been on Earth, it’s probably one of the most useful and ubiquitous tools humankind has created, second only to the thing that makes it so useful—the internet. The reasons for its success is that it’s a wildly useful tool: over the years, it’s been able to successfully assimilate and murder simpler tools by the dozen by offering them all in one tiny package. The point-and-shoot camera? Dead as hell. The portable DVD player? Murdered in cold blood. The MP3 player? Gone the way of the Dodo.

For better or worse, the ability to get music to your ears in a convenient fashion is now an essential part of what the world thinks a smartphone should do.

It’s that last little item I mentioned that brings us to our problem today. While the smartphone has been able to leverage its ability to stream massive content libraries over its data connection, it hasn’t quite yet provided a perfect alternative to headphones, nor the headphone jack. This is especially important because among 18-29 year olds, 87% of them have used their smartphones to listen to music streaming services in 2015. Even our unscientific polling reflects the same conclusion.

That number will go up the longer these services are available, and as those same kids age. For better or worse, the ability to get music to your ears in a convenient fashion is now—and will likely always be—an essential part of what the world thinks a smartphone should do. Consequently, a phone that eschews the most-used standard to consume audio also eschews utility to consumers. It has become the wrong tool for the job: It just doesn’t work.

Why include a headphone jack?

It seems weird to extol the virtues of a piece of nearly 140-year-old technology in this day and age, but the reason why it’s persisted this long is that… it works. It’s a solved issue: not only is a TRS (or TRRS) plug cheap, but it’s durable, small, and high quality. It can support inexpensive headphones, and it can support the best headphones—all with one universal standard. Not only that, but it’s an easy way to enable the use of microphones as well. It’s a fantastically versatile piece of tech that hasn’t really been changed all that much since the plug was reduced in size to 3.5mm in the 1950s.

Obviously, a headphone jack isn’t the only way you can listen to music. Bluetooth headphones exist, and they work well for most people. But the problem is: they don’t work well for all people. Audiophiles probably aren’t too keen on being unable to listen to high-bitrate files, and there’s no shortage of reasons why you wouldn’t want to deal with the added hassles of wireless tech… Which is why smartphone companies have used both in tandem for so long—it offers the pickiest listeners quality that Bluetooth can’t currently touch, while enabling users who want to ditch the cable. There’s almost no reason not to have both, especially when the cost to manufacture is so cheap.

Another primitive tool, the headphone plug does its job fantastically well.

Given that so many people have decided that the smartphone is the heir to the portable MP3 player, consumers’ buying habits when it comes to smartphones are extremely important. And when it comes to which types of cans consumers prefer, wired headphones absolutely crush Bluetooth headsets in gross sales, despite how badly tech blogs misread this study that claims Bluetooth overtook wired headphones in 2016. The issue is that people lose sight of the gross figures in favor of the dollar sales figure. For those keeping score at home: before the arrival of the AirPods, wired headphones were outselling Bluetooth units with 83% of the total units to Bluetooth’s 17% share.

Considering that we’re talking about a base of consumers that probably don’t buy headphones every single year—especially if they spent more than $100 on their last pair—it doesn’t seem likely that 83% is an accurate assessment of how many people use the good ol’ analog plug as their primary vehicle for sweet, sweet music. That figure is probably higher, and wired headphones won’t be in the minority for a long, long time.

Data: NPD Group, Visualization: Statista There’s a lot more wired headsets than wireless ones out there.

So why on Earth would you deign to alienate such an enormous segment of your potential audience? Well, if that data is any indication: it’s all about the money.

Bluetooth isn’t good enough to replace the headphone jack

To say that Bluetooth is bad is completely unfair, as there are several advantages it enjoys over the traditional headphone jack. Not only can it wirelessly transmit audio at increasingly acceptable quality, but it can also be used to control your listening device, and other peripherals. However, Bluetooth still has a long way to go in order to dethrone the headphone jack in terms of performance. Bluetooth itself meets the needs of a large number of people, while the inherent tradeoffs make this debate about Bluetooth’s downsides a little more hazy. Nobody’s wrong for liking Bluetooth or wired cans more—so long as they’re honest about what they value in a set of headphones.

We’ve had this debate on SoundGuys before, me snarkily siding with wired cans, and Kris taking up arms for Bluetooth. However, I should point out that Bluetooth’s downsides are largely limited to consequences of having yet another battery, higher noise, and a lack of cross-platform compatibility. While our recent investigation into Bluetooth performance revealed that there are still some huge hurdles for the wireless standard to clear, most people won’t notice the quality difference unless they crank the volume up. Aside from latency, the Bluetooth ecosystem is improving year over year.

Wireless headphones have an undeniable appeal, with slowly diminishing tradeoffs.

Still, excluding the headphone jack is still an extreme action that isn’t completely explained away by “Bluetooth is good enough.” Why would a company ditch the jack when the cost to meet the needs of every single one of your consumers’ listening habits is so easy to do? While the official line of ditching the headphone jack has been “not enough space,” we now know that excuse to be a lie: it’s definitely possible to cram in a headphone jack, it’s just not easy.

Why Apple ditched the headphone jack

Maybe it’s my provincial New Hampshire upbringing, but I place very little stock in people’s words. Instead, I pay very close attention to their actions to figure out what they’re all about. You could spin all sorts of yarn about God-knows-what, but I ain’t buying it unless I see a reason to believe you. That’s probably why I always curse and groan when I see statements like that of LeEco’s CEO Liang Jun explaining that headphone jack isn’t a necessity, or Apple’s insistence that ditching the headphone jack takes “courage.” Seriously, after reading the above section and noting how big a margin there seems to be on Bluetooth headphones, is it any wonder why Apple chose to abuse its status as a “market leader” to seize the opportunity to dominate another product category?

...Apple has essentially cornered the market on Bluetooth headphones, and they're eating up more and more of the developing segment

Money is a powerful motivator to do really crappy things, and Apple has done exactly that for decades now. You may think that shaving pennies when making iPhones might be how they make cash off of killing the headphone jack, but the real answer is much more banal than that. It’s because they’ve basically bought Bluetooth headphones as a category, and are trying to eat up another market. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at who wins when Bluetooth overtakes wired headphones in sales.

Ever since Apple purchased a majority stake in Beats Audio for $3.2 billion in 2015, they’ve earned nearly half of all money spent buying Bluetooth headphones. When Apple kills headphone jacks on their products, they’re simultaneously trying to lock people into their own ecosystem, and increase demand for other high-margin products they peddle. On top of that, a smartphone without the headphone jack means Bluetooth headphones will be a major cash cow simply because the vast majority of listeners do not currently own Bluetooth headphones. It’s a smart business plan—but a giant middle finger to consumers, who now have to decide how to fix a problem that didn’t exist until some literal Monopoly men in Cupertino decided it needed to be one.

Data: NPD Group, Chart: Statista Apple and Beats combine to earn roughly half of all sales in wireless audio.

The crazy thing is, it seems to have worked. Every market indication that I can find paints the same picture: Apple has essentially cornered the market on Bluetooth headphones, and they’re eating up more and more of the developing segment. And the situation is even more extreme if you take a look at the new category of “truly wireless” earphones. After the success it’s seen so far, why not continue?

In 2021, Apple and its affiliated brands still accounted for a huge proportion of all headphone units sold, as well as the clear leader among true wireless earphones worldwide. They are by far and away the market leader by sales when it comes to personal audio, and it’s not close.

Why other companies are ditching the headphone jack

What’s less clear is why other companies are ditching the headphone jack. Sure, there’s always the idea that cost is a main driver here, but that’s not enough to explain why so many Android OEMs have spurned the world’s most popular vehicle for audio transmission.

I can think of two immediate benefits that might tempt a big company—let’s say Samsung—when they finally move away from the connector. Namely, it helps them lock people into using their audio products, and it saves them money on manufacturing. When everyone else is doing it, it’s easy to write off complaints by your users and marginalize their opinions, right?

The AKG earbuds are included with Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphones.

Back in 2017, Samsung bought Harman International, which owns and manufactures products under the AKG, JBL, and now Samsung audio brands. Those Samsung Galaxy Buds? Made with the expertise and manufacturing might of Harman. This is where Samsung is different than, say, OnePlus is that it owns a large audio company like Apple does now. While several phone companies are looking to create another small market for their own branded audio devices, companies like Samsung and Apple can shovel people back toward existing huge brands they own to close the loop.

So when the Note 10 came out without a headphone jack, buyers of that phone suddenly needed to buy Bluetooth headphones, as well as update any speakers they use with their phones if they’re not Bluetooth. One of the most profitable brands in that segment? JBL. In that case, why wouldn’t you jump at an opportunity to simultaneously cut costs and increase demand for your products?

Dongles are an admission that the phones they come with don't work in the way the company knows its consumers need them to.

In order to quell the legions of internet complainers like yours truly, many of these companies have included dongles to meet their users halfway. However, it’s secretly a super-damning admission. If removing the headphone jack was the right move, then why would a dongle need to exist? It’s an admission that the phone it comes with doesn’t work in the way the company knows its consumers need it to. Since this article was published in 2018, dongles have started to disappear, as more Bluetooth headphones are purchased than wired ones.

You can offer as many excuses as you want, but so far the supposed benefits of getting rid of the jack haven’t panned out—and the smart money is on it never happening.

Unintended consequences

Since Apple Music made the change to add lossless listening, Apple users suddenly find themselves in a strange situation: If they’ve bought the AirPods Max, lossless audio streaming is still out of reach for them unless they use a specialized cable and a dongle—and even then there’s no guarantee. I say that because the signal path of the AirPods Max relies on a couple conversions from digital to analog and back again in order to work, and it’s possible (though unlikely) that this may result in some errors. Something that would be easily avoided if there was a headphone jack available.

No matter how you adjust the settings, a physical connection is needed for Apple Music’s lossless audio.

Because Bluetooth isn’t where it needs to be in order to make the most of lossless audio streaming, there’s little benefit to any Apple ecosystem user to use Apple Music’s lossless feature. Neither the AirPods nor AirPods Pro are capable of getting the most out of this feature of Apple Music; among the Apple audio panoply, only wired Beats products and the AirPods Max with extra accessories can. In order to get the best, cheapest setup to use Apple Music’s lossless streaming, you’re better off with an Android phone and third-party wired headphones. In a major way, Apple’s audio products don’t “just work” when used together.

However, it may spur at least some backlash to get Apple moving in the right direction if it wants to hold onto all those new subscribers jumping ship from Tidal and other streaming services. A headphone jack is a tried, true, and cheap way to get the best results possible. From a business perspective, it may be the best way to appease subscribers to Apple Music who are frustrated that they can’t reap the benefits of their lossless audio streaming.

So what’s the problem?

Killing the headphone jack was good for Apple’s and Samsung’s bottom line. For the headphone industry, less so.

This is the part of the article where I get around to telling you something you already know. That is, a smartphone without a headphone jack isn’t a good tool. It’s an incomplete one, and one you shouldn’t buy. But it goes so much further than that—it’s profiteering off of people who might not be able to afford the changes companies are foisting on them, and that’s something I take extreme issue with. Some people can only afford $20 headphones, and by God I want them to be able to enjoy their music. I have a sneaking suspicion that more than a few of you are a little pissed off at paying more for getting less, but there’s a lot to unpack in this discussion.

Bluetooth headphones are rising in popularity, but they cost for quality.

While it’s not exactly a mystery that a company will do whatever nets it more profit in the long run, pulling the headphone jack without a suitable replacement is one of those decisions that’s so cold and consumer-hostile that people should be angry about it. Bluetooth just isn’t where it needs to be to replace wired headphones completely, and that’s all there is to it. Include both the jack, and the Bluetooth, dammit.

If you’ve spent any time in audiophile circles, you might have seen people get rather heated about streaming services, lossy files, and data bitrates. Many HiFi enthusiasts will absolutely insist on only listening to lossless file formats like FLAC, or even paying for the highest tiers on certain streaming platforms to ensure high quality (that is, if they’re not relying on physical media). So, let’s take a minute to understand what’s meant by audio data compression, then see which streaming services offer lossless audio, and if they’re really worth it.

Why do we even need data compression?

The methods available for recording audio have come a long way since the first Edison Phonograph Cylinders that held two minutes of noisy, narrow-band audio. Consumer technology has improved, most notably with the introduction of digital audio, first in the form of physical CDs, where every 16-bit sample of the music was encoded at a rate of 44.1kHz, more than enough to account for the entire range of human hearing in excellent clarity.

Data compression was almost essential back when iPods were shipping with 5GB hard drives, but it’s less of a necessity today.

With the advent of the internet, a problem became apparent: full albums pulled from CDs were weighing in around 700 megabytes, a significant amount of data to move around back in the 90s. In 1991 the MP3 standard launched, which successfully managed to shrink an album down to a tenth of the size of a CD copy without significantly harming the quality of the sound for many listeners. Audio data compression (also known as audio data reduction) has gotten even better since then, but this same core concept applies—it’s about shrinking down audio files to more easily transfer and access them on the internet.

However, any data compression applied can still affect the quality of recorded music files. Audio that is stored in a format that doesn’t remove data (effectively making it the same or better than what might be stored on a CD) is called lossless audio. Audio that’s been data compressed, and is missing some of its original information, is known as lossy audio.

Can you hear the difference?

A large number of people can’t really tell the difference between a lossless audio file and a compressed audio file.

Audio data compression removes unnecessary audio information to achieve a smaller file size without sacrificing perceptual audio quality. Bad data compression can still be apparent, particularly when targeting especially small file sizes or bitrates (usually somewhere around 128kbps is where it starts to become noticeable), but most streaming services should be encoding audio at a high enough bitrate that most listeners won’t be able to tell the difference between what they hear and the raw uncompressed file. You can even test it out for yourself by listening through this test devised by NPR, which allows the listener to attempt to discern which audio sample is fully lossless. A large majority of listeners can’t tell the difference between a well-encoded lossy file and a lossless one.

Streaming services and music compression

Streaming has been the dominant form of music consumption for almost a decade. Since their inception, services like Spotify or Apple Music have primarily used compressed or “lossy” audio files to reduce transmission bandwidth and local storage requirements. However, more and more music services have recently started offering higher priced tiers that enable access to the full uncompressed lossless audio files for artists that support it. In some cases this is in the form of a regular uncompressed WAV or FLAC file, and other times it’s in the form of more questionable formats like MQA (which is actually lossy, despite some claims to the contrary). Compressed, lossy files usually come in MP3, AAC, or Ogg Vorbis formats.

Streaming is still currently the top of the music listening world, and unlike CDs many streaming services use compressed audio.

Of all the streaming services on the market right now, Tidal, Apple Music, Deezer and Amazon Music HD offer streaming in uncompressed lossless audio formats. Qobuz also allows you to listen and purchase lossless music. You can see below a comparison between most of the available music streaming services and their different service tiers.

How does Bluetooth affect my music?

Even higher-end Bluetooth audio codecs aren’t technically lossless.

If you’re using Bluetooth headphones, you won’t be hearing lossless audio, even when playing uncompressed lossless files. Bluetooth also uses lossy audio codecs to fit the data into the bandwidth that Bluetooth can support. These codecs are often fairly good quality—Sony’s LDAC codec can work at up to 990kbps—but they’re not lossless. New standards are on their way, but until  Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless Bluetooth codec arrives there is no lossless Bluetooth audio. Because of all this, it’s important to consider not just if your music files are lossless, but also if the hardware you’re using supports lossless audio.

Is there more to sound quality than lossless files?

The way a song is mastered often has a bigger impact on how it sounds than its file size.

The sound quality of a piece of music is dependent on far more than its encoding quality and file format. A large component of how good a song sounds is the mastering process. For many years, most popular recordings employed a significant amount of dynamic range compression (which is different from lossy audio compression), squishing the difference between the loudest and quietest elements of a song—read our feature on the loudness war for more about that. These days, streaming services implement volume normalization based on integrated loudness (a measurement of loudness based on an entire audio file), so there’s no point in making every sound as loud as possible, but you can still listen to tracks from that era—Metallica’s Death Magnetic is a classic example—and the dynamic range will sound pretty off, regardless of how high your streaming bitrate is.

The mastering process greatly influences the final sound of a song or album. Having a lossless file will do nothing to improve the sound of a song that is poorly mastered. Some album rereleases feature lossless FLAC files, marketed as “audiophile grade” versions, but generally they’re also remastered with a wider dynamic range than the original release, which can really improve the sound. Listeners sometimes prefer vinyl records for a similar reason, as vinyl releases often have more dynamic range than CD or digital releases—this is especially true of music produced in the 90s or early 2000s.

Should you spend extra money to get lossless audio

Amazon Music HD is more expensive than Spotify, and doesn’t offer a student rate.

Quite plainly, it’s generally not worth it to pay for higher tiers of streaming services to access lossless audio. The vast majority of people are entirely unable to distinguish the difference between a lossless audio file and a compressed file encoded at a decently high bitrate, even in an ideal environment. Additionally, the audio data compression inherent to Bluetooth will render whatever gains you’re looking for moot over a wireless connection.

However, lossless audio isn’t completely worthless. In a world where you can have the highest quality for a negligible increase in storage space (a matter of several hundred megabytes is much more trivial nowadays), why shouldn’t you? It’s certainly not worth paying for a higher tier just to achieve it, but if you’re able to find lossless files and play them on a setup that can actually take advantage of them, more power to you.

Frequently asked questions about lossless audio

My view basically boils down to the fact that I’m not comfortable with choosing convenience over reliability and quality… ever. Bluetooth headphones are often the disposable point and shoot of audio, the K-cup machine, the IKEA living room set. Sure, all those things appear to get the job done conveniently: but well? Not often.

I’m the dinosaur that still shoots with a full-frame DSLR. I roast my own coffee because I refuse to pay more for burnt beans. And if I need furniture: I build it out of mahogany, oak, or birch. Maybe you don’t have a lot in common with my worldview, but I think it’s pretty clear that the older, wired designs are still superior to wireless. At least, for now.

Editor’s note: this article was updated on September 28, 2022 to update timelier content.

1) Wired headphones perform better than Bluetooth headphones

Bluetooth simply doesn’t have the bandwidth or the performance ceiling to keep up with the best wired headphones. That’s not to say that all wired headphones are better than all Bluetooth headphones. Oh no. That just means that the performance ceiling—and floor—is much, much higher. Ever wonder why the most high-end headphones out there are all wired monstrosities chained to amps? It’s because Bluetooth can’t hack higher quality audio as well as wired cans can.

Pictured: headphones that will blow any pair of Bluetooth cans away with their audio quality.

This may change in the future with advances in battery design and Bluetooth technology. Still, in order to have a set of Bluetooth headphones that competes with, say, a Sennheiser HD800, you’d need a strong neck to support a monster battery, good shielding, and a very loose definition of “competing.” Even though there are some really awesome Bluetooth headphones out there (see: Apple AirPods Max): those are the exception, not the rule.

Bluetooth does a really great job at transmitting “good enough” music for commuters, and that’s great—but when engine noise and other sounds mask out lots of notes in your music, it’s a pretty low bar to clear. Though most people can’t really tell the difference between a FLAC file and an MP3 file at 320kbps, the point here is that Bluetooth’s ceiling is merely at that point; the actual average performance is a bit lower. MP3 compression may be able to maximize quality by deleting out sound we can’t hear, but you can definitely tell when you lose quality after a certain point.

In the future, wireless audio will easily beat the crap out of our current wired headphones where audio quality is concerned via digital audio transmission. However, that day isn’t today: and if you really want the best of digital audio, you need a cable—be it USB-C, Lightning, XLR, or preferably your standard 3.5mm. While there are codecs like aptX Lossless and LDAC that bear the “Hi-res certified” branding, the truth is they’re not actually lossless, however adamant that press material is on the point. Bluetooth just isn’t there yet.

2) Batteries are inconvenient and wasteful

Which will last longer, the latte or the battery?

Having yet another battery to charge is, in my professional opinion, an unacceptable pain in the ass. It’s also very bad for the environment!

Why on earth would you limit yourself that way, especially with the main instrument you use in situations like an airplane trip? You might find yourself without access to power, and welp: you’re outta luck. Sorry about that! While battery tech is getting better, there’s always that point where a cell will stop charging. When that happens, you need to be able to change out the battery—but almost no headphones allow that anymore. At this point, your headphones are dead. If you could change out the battery easily this wouldn’t be an issue, but nope: the whole thing is garbage now. This isn’t an issue for wired models.

That doesn’t even touch upon the issue that true wireless earphones in particular are strong drivers of e-waste. If you’ve ever had a set of true wireless earphones break on you, did you do the research to find the proper recycling facility, or did you just throw them away? Yeah, that’s what I thought. If you’re feeling bad about considering tossing your wireless earbuds, I suggest reaching out to a recycling service like Call2Recycle.

3) You’re paying extra when you don’t need to

Flickr user: reynermedia Don’t blow your cash when you don’t have to.

Bluetooth headphones in general are undeniably convenient when you discount the headaches associated with having to charge the damn thing. However, when you’re paying $50-100 more for the same set of headphones—and the wired version works just as well—you may want to just save the money to spend on better things.

Better things include:

• A good number of café trips
• Putting it into a Roth IRA
• Spring for a better streaming service
• Investing in a better phone
• Buying new music
• Showing that special someone you care
• A good bottle of whiskey

Everyone has that point where the extra cash is worth it for the convenience, but truthfully not everyone can throw around cash willy-nilly. Students, for example, should really be doing whatever they can to maximize their “textbook” budget—and $50 buys a lot of really cheap beer. While it’s tempting to really tee off on Apple right about now, I’m going to hold back because luxury products aren’t something you buy when you’re looking to save money. If you’re seriously considering the AirPods Max, cost is not really something I imagine you care too much about.

4) “Wireless” isn’t always a durability feature

In theory, the ability to ditch the wire—the most delicate and oft-broken part of any headphone anywhere—is a positive for durability and safety. And Bluetooth headphones seem to be the logical fulfillment of that idea. However, this problem can be side-stepped if headphone manufacturers use a removable cable. To wit, V-Moda, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Beats, Bose… and pretty much all of the major headphone companies use a removable cable on many of their non-Bluetooth headphones.

Removable cables are a lot more common nowadays.

But that doesn’t even address the other part of this issue: adding a battery and other sensitive electronics adds another point of failure. Ever drop a set of headphones or knock it off a table? I sure have. Ever stuff them in a bag and subsequently toss the bag onto a hard surface? Guilty. Banging around your Bluetooth headphones probably won’t kill them, but there’s more to break inside. If one of the solder points shatters, if the electronics break, or if—God forbid—the battery pulls a Note 7 on you: your headphones will die.

Wired headphones aren’t impervious to breakage, but they’re definitely much simpler (and cheaper) to fix with the right design.

5) Reliability

Now for the kill shot: Bluetooth just isn’t as reliable as a directly-wired connection, and that’s a big deal.

As with most machines, adding a link in the chain will often introduce potential points of failure, and Bluetooth headphones in particular add a point where the connection is subject to external factors not applicable to wired ones. Lots of things can affect whether your headphones will work the way you’ve come to expect them to, and the crappier Bluetooth headphones seem to consult a pantheon of frustration gods to decide how they’re going to tick you off on any given day.

Being in a room with too many other Bluetooth devices can affect your headphones, as can bad software. Maybe your phone is too old and your new headphones will only use an SBC profile instead of the A2DP or aptX you were promised. Maybe you’ll suffer packet loss for no discernible reason, and your music skips. There’s lots that can go wrong with a wireless connection.

Wired headphones don’t skip occasionally, nor are they hard to use with your phone (assuming it has a jack). They don’t have trouble when there’s lots of other Bluetooth devices around, and they won’t default to a lower-quality standard of connection if your source is 2-3 years old. They may not be glamorous, but wired headphones are extremely reliable. They don’t have lots of points of failure, they’re cheap to fix, and they work.

For the above reasons and many more: wired headphones will always be king in my eyes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Demanding the tech world’s attention, IFA 2022 is an exhaustive trade show that hosts manufacturers, media, and the public. Each year brings something novel to the table, and this year, we’re highlighting products like wireless earbuds with a smartwatch-like charging case, a module soundbar package, and more. Here are the best audio products we’re awarding at IFA.

Earbuds and headphones

Anker Soundcore Space Q45

For the price, the Space Q45 has great noise canceling.

We’re headlining the list with a great bang-for-your-buck pair of wireless noise canceling headphones. The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 noise cancellation performs similarly to the old Sony WH-1000XM3, so it’s a viable companion for your next flight. You get other great features like Bluetooth 5.3 with support for the SBC, AAC, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs. Should the 50-hour battery life deplete, you can continue to listen with a standard 3.5mm audio cable. Not only does it support a variety of connectivity options, but you also get a great microphone system for work.

The Space Q45 is available now and costs $149 USD. You can learn more about it in our Anker Soundcore Space Q45 review.

Jabra Elite 5

The Elite 5 stands out for its durability, feature set, and reasonable price.

The Jabra Elite 5 further expands the company’s portfolio and adds great features like hybrid noise cancellation powered by the Qualcomm QCC3050 chipset. The earbuds merit an IP55 rating, making them a great option for rock climbers and runners. Features go beyond brawn though, as the Elite 5 is smart and supports Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for hands-free help anywhere.

The Elite 5 is available now and costs $149 USD, making it competitive in the saturated field of wireless earbuds.

JBL Tour Pro 2

The charging case’s touch screen looks a bit like a smartwatch and lets you adjust settings like ANC on the fly.

JBL’s Tour Pro 2 bucks the usual AirPods lookalike trend among wireless earbuds, and introduces a 1.45-inch touch screen on the case. The case alone is sure to be eye-catching and separates the Tour Pro 2 from more pedestrian products. From the smartwatch-like screen, you can quickly adjust noise canceling, toggle Ambient sound mode, check the battery life, and more.

Bluetooth 5.3 connects these stemmed earbuds to your phone, so the Tour Pro 2 will support LE Audio. You get other impressive features like JBL’s spatial audio and a 10-hour standalone battery life (with an extra 30 hours from the case). The whole package will cost you €249 or £220, and currently, it isn’t launching in the US.

Soundbars and speakers

B&O Beosound Theatre

This speaker houses 12 speaker drivers, two of which are 6.5-inch woofers.

The Beosound Theatre is an all-in-one elegant soundbar that packs plenty of power. It houses 12 drivers and boats 800W of power, outputting up to 112dB(SPL)—this thing is loud. Movie junkies will appreciate that the Beosound Theatre supports a 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos listening experience.

Hard specs aside, a modular design is what really sets this Dolby Atmos soundbar apart from the rest. Listeners can turn the soundbar into a wall-mounted or floor-standing device, so it blends into their living spaces. The aluminum “wings” are expandable, meaning the soundbar can fit larger TVs as customers upgrade their current setups. The catch? The fabric cover version will cost you $6,890 USD, and the wooden cover option will cost $7,990 USD, starting on October 1. Remember though: this product is built to last a lifetime. You can pre-order your Beosound Theatre today.

JBL Bar 1000

This 7.1.4-channel soundbar supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D.

The JBL Bar 1000 is another 7.1.4-channel system comprised of a soundbar and wireless subwoofer. On paper, this may not seem special, but the Bar 1000 has battery-powered detachable speakers that you can place behind you, forgoing the need to purchase separate satellite speakers. These removable speakers work in concert with four upward-firing speakers built into the Bar 1000 to create an immersive experience for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D surround sound content. Plus, you no longer have to strain your ears to hear dialog thanks to the soundbar’s PureVoice algorithm.

The Bar 1000 will be available this month from JBL and will cost €1,149.

Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus

The AMBEO Soundbar Plus will be sold separately from the AMBEO Sub.

It seems like everyone is trying to downsize lately, and Sennheiser accommodates this with the relatively compact but certainly mighty Sennheiser AMBEO Plus. This soundbar is a more compact, affordable version of the original AMBEO (now dubbed the AMBEO Soundbar Max). Sennheiser halves the height of the AMBEO Plus (7cm tall) and nearly halves the price too. With nine drivers, two of which are upward-firing, you can enjoy a convincing surround sound-like experience when watching Dolby Atmos or DTS:X content. Like its big brother, the AMBEO Plus doesn’t support pairing additional speakers for dedicated surround channels; Sennheiser’s virtualization technology is just that effective.

You can purchase the AMBEO Soundbar Plus today for $1,499 USD.

TCL Ray-Danz Soundbar X937U

The X937U soundbar supports “Ok Google,” and works with streaming services like Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect.

We actually awarded a TCL Ray-Danz product back in 2019, and the new X937U model is a 7.1.4-channel setup, rather than 3.1. Ray-Danz technology means the soundbar uses calibrated, curved acoustic reflectors and angled drivers for a natural reproduction of 3D sound. The entire system includes the soundbar, two wireless satellite speakers, and a wireless subwoofer. TCL partnered with Google to ensure that the hot word, “OK Google,” works with the X937U. It also has Chromecast built-in and is compatible with Amazon Alexa. Bluetooth 5.3 enables the X937U to function as a standard Bluetooth speaker should your Wi-Fi ever disconnect.

You can learn more about the X937U here.

Philips FS1 speaker

The FS1 Bluetooth speaker can be used as a Dolby Atmos satellite speaker when paired with the FB1 and FW1 from Philips.

Last but not least, we have the Philips FS1 Bluetooth speaker, released alongside the company’s FB1 soundbar and FW1 subwoofer. When you pair the FB1, FW1, and FS1 together, you get a complete 7.2.4-channel surround sound system. The FS1 also works with Dolby Atmos when you use it as a satellite speaker for a compatible Ambilight TV.

Like some JBL speakers, the FS1 supports stereo pairing and playback. With three drivers inside (tweeter, driver, and woofer), the FS1 is a promising portable speaker that will sound great alone or alongside other Philips audio products. You can learn more about the FS1 here.

That’s a wrap on our favorite audio products from IFA 2022, if you want to learn more about noteworthy products beyond audio, check out our sister site Android Authority’s best of IFA 2022 awards.

Pre-order announcements are nothing new, but when it comes to headphones (or anything for that matter), the bad usually outweighs the good. Pre-orders can be misleading and usually come with a host of headaches for the customer. At its core, it’s a gamble: do you trust the manufacturer, merchant, and development team to make the product you want without any tradeoffs?

That proposition is a really bad bet. While there are some occasions when pre-ordering is your only option, most of the time it’s simply not worth it.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on August 19, 2022, to update formatting, address FAQs, and include relevant information.

What are the downsides of pre-orders?

When you pre-order something, you’re taking a leap of faith. You’re trusting the company to deliver a product that is worth the asking price. Unfortunately, that’s not always what ends up happening and sometimes you might not even get the product you paid for at all. This is a lesson that many people learn the hard way through crowdfunding campaigns that either fail to take off or deliver a substantially crappier final product than promised.

You don’t know if something is any good

Companies can make money from data.

It’s always a good idea to wait until you can experience something for yourself, but this isn’t possible before the item is released. It’s also unrealistic to try everything before you buy it, especially with the rise of online shopping and, let’s just say: “circumstances outside your control.” This is why so many people rely on websites and reviewers they trust, like the team here at SoundGuys, to use a product then catalog their experiences with it. It’s not a perfect substitute for trying something out for yourself, but it’s better than nothing.

If something is bad, you won't know until it's too late.

The problem with pre-orders is that they tend to open before reviewers and websites are even allowed to discuss the product publicly. Why? Embargoes and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

While a reporter might have a product in hand, they’re not allowed to discuss it (good or bad) until a certain date and time. In the meantime, the company can accept as many pre-orders as they want. When a product is straight up bad, the customer often won’t know until it’s too late. Take the Microsoft Surface Duo for example.

Ahead of the product’s release, Microsoft sent out loan units under the condition that reviewers could only talk about the hardware, and not the software, as it wasn’t final at that stage. Seems reasonable, right? Well, that provision prevented people from talking about how to use the device, how well it functioned, and whether or not the price tag was really worth it. That led to a lot of YouTube videos with people gushing about the hinge of the device, and… not much else. Pre-orders went live on the same day these first impressions were released, and many people preordered the Duo without a complete picture of what was going on with the device. Reviewers knew that the experience wasn’t great, but couldn’t warn anyone that they should wait on buying one.

While the final consumer software fixed many of the issues reviewers had with these devices, it didn’t fix all of those issues. Because of that, many people who preordered the device were in for an unwelcome surprise.

Unfinished software and bugs

Sometimes products ship with bugs and need to be updated.

Telling someone from 1980 that they need to update their headphones might have earned you a weird look, but in today’s world that’s normal. Everything from cars to headphones get frequent updates now. This can be a good thing as companies can add features with every update, but that also means that plenty of companies are fine with shipping out a product that isn’t 100% ready.

Be ready to fight some bugs.

Companies know they can always issue a software update at some point to resolve customer-reported issues. Unfortunately, this means that many people who get products first are just beta-testers. If you pre-order something be ready to deal with bugs. This isn’t a big deal if you’re an early-adopter familiar with bug-reporting, but for the average person: this is a mess better avoided.

Limited stock even if you pre-ordered

Flickr user: reynermedia Don’t blow your cash when you don’t have to.

People tend to think of a pre-order as a reserved spot in line for the product, but that isn’t always the case. A pre-order usually ensures that you will receive something, but it doesn’t always specify when. If a product is in high demand, it doesn’t matter how early you pre-ordered if there isn’t enough stock to begin with.

Additionally, not every retailer holds pre-order stock in such high regard. While major retailers often gladly set aside pre-order stock, others have a more liberal first-come-first-serve policy. If you need proof, look no further than gaming consoles or smartphones. In many cases, people with pre-orders can still end up waiting weeks or sometimes months before they get what they paid for.

Things happen, and products get delayed

The Pixel Buds were delayed and released in the midst of the pandemic, and even then only in one color

When you pre-order an item, you’re trusting the company to have everything figured out, so the product will get the item on shelves on time. However, we know this isn’t always possible. Manufacturing issues, supply chain interruptions, or any number of unforeseen events could cause a delay. Anyone who has ever backed a Kickstarter campaign should be intimately familiar with dreading each of these potential hiccups.

When it is okay to pre-order something?

It’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to pre-orders, and there are some real benefits to pre-ordering. It’s just that for headphones in particular there’s rarely a situation that’s compelling enough to take the risk.

But it’s your money—so you decide when pre-ordering an item is worth it. This is also dependent on the kind of item you plan to get: a laptop may not offer anything special with a pre-order, but a video game might include some exclusive content that isn’t available with the standard release.

Sometimes pre-ordering comes with perks

Occasionally, you get some extra stuff with your purchase.

Extra perks are the main benefits of pre-ordering. Whether you’re getting extra downloadable content for a video game, a limited edition item, or a fold-out map with that new fantasy book you’ve been waiting for, sometimes the only way to get certain items is through a pre-order. If the perk in question is something you truly value, then by all means you should go for it.

Another perk to pre-orders is that they sometimes come at a discounted price. While this is mainly to its own benefit, at the end of the day you pay less. Depending on how great the discount, it might be worth the risk especially if it’s an expensive item.

When there are no other options

In some cases, pre-ordering something is the only choice you have if you want a product. Whether it’s because the company is only doing a limited run, or because the item is in such high-demand, some products can be backordered for months. In these situations, you might need to put a down-payment just to get on a waiting list. This might seem crazy if you’re just ordering headphones, but it’s common practice in the automotive and watch manufacturing industries.

But headphones? Save it for an established outlet like Drop. In this example, you can get exclusives at a reduced cost if you’re willing to wait for the company’s bulk order to go through. However, Drop is the exception when it comes to headphone pre-orders, as it mostly deals in audiophile or high-end exclusives meant to leverage the benefits of bulk-ordering units.

Who’s really getting the better deal?

The house always wins

In poker you can’t tie the house.

When you compare the issues that come with pre-ordering to the benefits, you have to wonder: Who is actually getting the better deal? The answer is almost always the company.

Companies exist to make money. Running a pre-order on an unreleased product not only puts cash in their bank accounts, but they gain valuable marketing insights. They can then use those stats to make better informed decisions about where to spend their ad money. For example, if a company gets data that most of the people pre-ordering their product are in a certain age range, they can buy more ads that will target that same age range. In short, a company profits twice off your dollar.

Patience is a virtue

This may seem like an obvious conclusion, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Waiting just a little longer so that you can read the full review or check something out for yourself can save you some headaches. Not to mention the cash you’ll save if you can wait long enough to catch a good sale. While there are some benefits to pre-ordering, most of the time it just isn’t worth the risk.

Frequently asked questions about pre-ordering headphones

For most people that I talk to, the justification for cheap headphones is simple: they break all the time anyway, so why waste money on them? Headphones can sometimes seem to be a disposable commodity to be replaced after short periods of abuse.

In this light, I feel like some tough love is in order. The truth of the matter is, buying expensive headphones is worth it—especially when you consider just how much you’re getting in return. Headphones are the most important part of your audio consumption at the computer or with your phone. While I loathe telling people to spend more money, in this instance: taking the plunge on a set of really nice headphones have benefits that are very apparent almost instantly—just make sure you’re getting what you pay for.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on August 16, 2022 to clear up language, update formatting, and provide newer examples.

“They’re just gonna break in a few months anyway, so why waste money on them?”

Let’s get this one out of the way so we can talk about the more fun stuff: if you want headphones that can withstand your abuse, you need to shell out more money. Build quality means a lot of things, and people often forget that it’s not just durability that a good build will get you. Good build quality will often mean more comfortable materials, fewer annoyances, and design features that make the headphones easier to use.

It may seem a little ostentatious, but expensive headphones justify their price in many ways.

While it might seem like a foregone conclusion, comfortable headphones are super important if you listen to music for more than a few minutes a day. Sure, we don’t all need lambskin ear pads, but they certainly feel great. There are lots of premium headphones out there with creative headbands that offer levels of comfort not possible with cheap plastic. On top of that, when was the last time you truly enjoyed wearing cheap headphones? You probably have more than a few complaints about drugstore headphones or in-ears, so why not give something that’ll actually last a try?

More expensive headphones also tend to have replaceable parts, like removable cables, bands, and ear pads. If you find that you tend to chuck your headphones when the pads get torn and gross from excessive use, picking up $20 replacement pads every year or two is one hell of a lot cheaper than getting a new set of headphones in the same time frame. Even the most common breakage point on headphones, the 3.5mm TRS cable, is replaceable on most higher-end sets.

...picking up $20 replacement pads every year or two is one hell of a lot cheaper than getting a new set of headphones in the same time frame.

Sometimes brands will also stand behind their products with surprisingly good warranties, even in the face of misuse. For example, V-Moda has something called the “immortal life program” where they’ll give you 50% of the original cost of the pieces of your broken headphones, allowing you to get a new set for a pittance compared to their original cost. On the other hand, good luck breaking V-Moda headphones; they’re mostly metal.

This level of durability will cost you. However, buying a more durable set of headphones means spending less money in the long run if it means not having to replace a broken set every few months.

Are Beats the best?

For most people, buying a more expensive set of headphones might mean looking for Beats at Best Buy or Amazon. While there’s nothing wrong with these headphones if they suit your needs, there’s so much more out there that you’ll most likely find something else that does better for less.

Beats’ strength is also their weakness: They target the general user, and don’t stray too far out from their marketing niche. That works to drive sales, but if you’ve gone so far as to come to us to research headphones, you’re probably the type of person who’s looking for more in their lives. Though Beats have come down in price over the years—specifically the earphones—they certainly don’t really hit the high notes of expensive headphones.

There are so many established and competent brands out there that anyone telling you one brand or another is “the best” doesn’t know what they’re talking about. There’s lots of really cool models out there, even if most people don’t recognize them.

Expensive headphones have very interesting features

Creative’s Super X-Fi Amp uses machine learning to tailor sound to your ear.

We’re now at a point in headphone history that will be remembered as the beginning of something beautiful, and a little sad. By that I mean: headphones are moving away from simply being vehicles for music, but they augment our daily lives. Not only are they getting more complex with virtual assistants, wireless connectivity, and active noise canceling—but they’re also starting to become the subjects of big tech innovations.

For example, the coming MPEG-H broadcast and streaming revolution is going to change the way people listen to… everything, really. While it’s a long ways off, the software is going to make much more of a difference than your physical headphones will for anything you listen to. On that day, features will finally become more important than performance.

Until then, however, we’re going to see a long, steady increase in features that will improve your listening experience outside of performance. Things like off-the-wall fashion statements, tech features, and upgrades to streaming services are all going to trickle out in the meantime. However, unique features cost money—and you’ll pay a premium to get them.

Some of the features you should absolutely shell out for are:

1. Active noise canceling
2. Sound control via dedicated mobile app
3. Bluetooth connectivity
4. Voice assistant access
5. Atmos or 3D sound support
6. Water/sweat resistance
7. Multi-point connectivity

Of course, there are countless more features out there that are worthy of your attention, but those are the most useful so far. Hell, you can even get cat ears for your Razer gaming headset if you want. Headphones aren’t merely a cheap tool, they’re so much more nowadays. You may not be able to get the perfect set of cans, but you can get real close.

Expensive headphones often sound better by a country mile

Of course all of those things are firmly in the “nice to have” camp, and it doesn’t really mean much if your headphones don’t sound good. That’s where expensive headphones set themselves apart. While the sound of each model is right for someone, if quality is your main concern: you’re probably going to be looking at the higher end of the spectrum in terms of cost.

ANC headphones have a lot to offer, but even the “cheap” ones come at a hefty price.

It might seem like a pretty obvious thing to say, but it’s really true: whether you’re buying headphones that are loaded with audio features, or passive cans with none: if you want higher audio quality, you probably need to increase your budget a bit. While it’s not true that spending more money will always mean better audio quality—or that items like a DAC or amp will always make things sound better—it is true that the best-sounding headphones are mostly north of $100.

My colleague over at Android Authority, C. Scott Brown experienced this when he decided to kick the tires on the Sony WH-1000XM3. He had been used to using mostly sub-$100 on-ear headphones which didn’t quite fit his head in an ideal way. Longtime readers of SoundGuys will know that this affects sound quality considerably, no matter what type of headphones you use. Once he switched to over-ear headphones that delivered high quality, isolation, and a correct fit:

The thing that blew me away the most was the immersion into the sound. I have been so used to hearing music in headphones that sounds like it’s all happening in a two-inch radius around my head (I am not a technical audiophile, so that’s the best way I can describe it). With the XM3s though, it sounded like the music was happening 20 feet around me, as if I was surrounded by the band performing a live concert. — C. Scott Brown, Android Authority

This can be explained by observable phenomena, but the full experience is always tough to contextualize. Sometimes the jump in audio quality really is that drastic. Of course, as you age this becomes less and less possible, but there’s almost always better out there if you want to get lost in your music. Just as long as you don’t get addicted to chasing “perfect” audio, a one-time investment in your headphones can leave you happy for a good long time.

How do I know which headphones are quality, and which ones are a ripoff?

That’s where we come in.

Reviews can be a pain to divine purchasing decisions from, and trial and error is as expensive as it is tedious. That’s why we show our work, use the latest equipment, and offer up as much proof as we can muster—whether that’s via experience or data. That way, you don’t need to take our word on anything: you can see things for yourself. Additionally, you can check out our consumer education pieces that help you learn what really matters, and what doesn’t.

You can also just check out our best lists or reviews—but we do our best to earn that trust and keep it.

We here at SoundGuys love all types of headphones, from in-ear buds to giant studio cans, AirPods to wraparounds, on-ears and over-ears and everything in between. But if you’ve never owned a pair of Bluetooth headphones before, you might be wondering if they’re really worth it. We’ve already shared a list of reasons not to buy Bluetooth headphones, but today we’re looking at the reasons why you absolutely should.

Editor’s note: this article was updated on August 2, 2022, to update links, examples, and context surrounding the disappearance of the headphone jack. 

1) They’re wireless, duh

Perhaps surprisingly, the main reason for buying wireless headphones is not to support the tireless efforts of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. No, the number one reason for picking up Bluetooth headphones is of course because they’re wireless. Not that I have anything in particular against cables, per se, but the freedom going wireless offers you is unparalleled.

The freedom going wireless offers you is unparalleled: no more tangled headphone cords, no need to even take your device with you.

No more tangled headphone cords, no need to take your device with you as you walk around the house, no accidentally yanking your headphone cable out or knocking your phone off the table, no wear and tear, no safety worries with the new breed of smartphone with no analog port. The first time you head to the gym with a pair of wireless Jaybirds or Jabras on, I guarantee you’ll become an instant convert. It’s no mystery why so many people like AirPods: they’re pretty friendly little buds.

2) Sound quality and connection stability are much improved

The Shure AONIC 50 use Bluetooth 5.0 firmware, support almost every Bluetooth codec under the sun, and can still connect by wire for optimal audio quality.

Back in the heady early days of Bluetooth headphones, connections would drop out, pairing was a pain, they were crazy expensive, playback was unreliable and audio quality was the musical version of the old tin can telephone you made as a kid. But times have changed.

These days, pairing is often as simple as tapping an NFC tag or flipping open the lid of your AirPods’ case. Bluetooth 5.0 is here, and promises double the coverage distance, and four-times the throughput. The reliability and stability of wireless connections are as good as they have ever been, and practically everything electronic has Bluetooth audio support (except the Nintendo Switch, ahem!). Even true wireless connection stability is improving: more companies are forcing an independent connection from a smartphone to each earbud to lessen connection drops and delays.

What’s more, we see a lot of people describe Bluetooth audio as awful, and this is rather harsh. It’s true that it isn’t as high-quality as wired audio as there’s still data loss, but Bluetooth quality is good enough for most general consumers. High-quality Bluetooth codecs have come a long way since their inception, and even the standard SBC codec has made headway. We’re at a wireless audio inflection point what with the advent of Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec. Again, this isn’t to say wired audio has lost is place; quite the contrary, its impassioned followers are clutching their cables tighter than ever, but saying Bluetooth streaming is “awful” is just hyperbole in 2021.

The point I’m trying to make here is that if wired headphones are still better than their wireless counterparts, the quality gap between them is growing smaller every day.

3) Battery life is great (for headphones, earbuds are another story)

Wireless headphones can house huge battery cells for all-day play.

While I know charging yet another battery is a pain, all portable products of convenience come at a cost: want a wireless desktop? Get ready to charge your mouse and keyboard. Smartphone, laptop, Nike AirMags: everything fun and convenient needs a battery. The same is true for audio.

Fortunately though, the battery life of Bluetooth headphones can easily approach—if not exceed—the 20-hour mark, depending on the pair you buy. Wireless neckbuds supply 10 hours of playtime on a single charge; while true wireless earbuds are a bit more of a gamble: those battery cells are tiny, and deplete rapidly since they’re always cycling through charges.

Regardless, most all headphones provide more than enough playback for an entire day at the office, several trips to the gym or countless laps around the block (on a larger pair like the Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones, you can easily get 20 hours). Considering you already have to charge half the stuff you take with you every day, what difference will plugging one more thing in really make?

With exceptional standby times on some products—I’ve picked up a pair of Plantronics on-ears after six months that still had a full battery—charging your headphones’ battery can be something you only have to do once a week or so. Not a bad price price to pay for being wireless all the time. Plus, plenty of larger wireless headphones allow you to simply connect them with a cable if the battery dies: win, win.

4) Keep your phone unlocked with Trusted Devices

Some headphones may be designated as Trusted Devices, and will keep your phone unlocked when in close proximity.

If you don’t know what Trusted Devices are already, they are basically gadgets that you own or “trust” that you can use to keep your smartphone unlocked. The only requirement for establishing a trusted Smart Lock pairing is the presence of a battery and Bluetooth. You can use a fitness band or smartwatch to keep your phone unlocked while they’re in close proximity, and the same thing works with your wireless headphones.

Trusted Devices let you keep your phone unlocked when a Bluetooth-powered gadget is in close proximity.

Wired headphones don’t support this feature because they’re not able to broadcast anything to your phone. But if you’re not into fitness straps or other wearables, you can still enjoy the benefits of Trusted Devices by granting your Bluetooth headphones the power to keep your phone unlocked. And if you’re the type to keep your headphones either on your ears or around your neck at all times like I am, Trusted Devices can save you minutes of frustration every single day.

5) Freedom of choice

A good pair of Bluetooth headphones may serve as a jack-of-all-trades audio product.

One of the least-noted benefits of Bluetooth headphones is that they’re non-exclusive, unlike wired headphones. Smartphones have all but ditched the headphone jack entirely, and using a wired connection typically means getting a dongle for your phone on top of whatever you spent on your headphones.

Bluetooth headphones are non-exclusive, so there's no reason not to have both wired and wireless headphones for different situations.

But Bluetooth headphones work on basically everything, so long as you have a dongle or phone with a headphone jack. If you feel like higher quality audio for a bit, just plug your regular headphones in. Want to go play basketball but don’t want wires getting in the way of your three point jumper? Switch to Bluetooth. There’s absolutely no reason not to have both wired and wireless headphones and use one or the other depending on the situation. Unless you’ve actually got a pair of Bluetooth headphones, you’re stuck without options.

So those are five very simple reasons to give Bluetooth headphones a shot. Considering some of the great wireless headphone deals going around, you can pick up a decent pair for next to nothing and see for yourself how great they are. The best part of all though is that buying Bluetooth headphones doesn’t mean you have to throw away your old cabled ‘phones. Use them when it’s convenient, and switch to cabled when it’s not. The question isn’t really why you should buy wireless headphones, but why wouldn’t you?

If you’re shopping around for headphones, you’ve probably asked yourself: “why the heck are all the best headphones so expensive?” Despite being the author of our piece arguing the opposite, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to forget about expensive headphones and aim for something a little cheaper.

Though it can be very difficult to tell when standing in the store, expensive doesn’t always mean good, nor does price reflect how big (or small) a difference there is to the cheap stuff. Remember, the goal here is to find something you’re happy with, not something to marry. Sometimes, a set of cheap headphones can help you find the last ones you’ll ever buy.

“Cheap” doesn’t mean “bad” all the time

Spending money is hard nowadays, but it’s never been easier to spend it wisely.

Most people tend to buy cheap headphones because they’re not really able (or willing) to shell out a few extra bucks for something else. After all, there’s no point in spending more when it’s probably going to break in a few months anyway. Others may realize they don’t need expensive cans if they only listen to podcasts. Some people also just don’t care about high-end audio quality—the cheapest buds you can get are much better than they used to be, after all.

We’re not going to sit here and say you’re wrong for avoiding more expensive headphones, but it is worth considering if our preconceptions are even true.

There are exceptions to almost every rule… and that’s especially true for headphones. If you’ve been reading SoundGuys for a long time now, you may have noticed there isn’t a strong correlation between price and a “desirable” frequency response, and we’re not the only ones to note that. Some $300 USD headphones sound better than $1,000 USD ones, and some $20 USD headphones sound better than $100 USD ones. Price doesn’t mean performance.

Break yourself of the habit of looking for the 'best

Truth be told, even “bad” headphones are pretty okay nowadays, thanks to endless research and manufacturing upgrades. Truly terrible audio quality is more an aberration than the norm, and this more level playing field is driving people toward the less expensive options on the market. The difference between “okay” and “great” is also a lot closer than it ever has been, so it’s probably not always worth chasing sound quality. If someone’s telling you a well-regarded set of headphones or in-ears is garbage, find another opinion.

Basically, it’s important to break the bad habit of looking for the “best” thing to buy, and start thinking about what the “right” thing to buy is.

What do you actually need?

To cut down the price of the headphones you buy, think about what features really matter to you. Features like active noise canceling (ANC), transparency modes, Bluetooth multipoint, and even additional audio codecs can bring with them a pretty remarkable increase in price. If you’re just looking for something simple you can stick in your ears and play some music with, how many bells and whistles do you really need? Not want, but need. Sure, Spatial Audio sounds like it’d be great, but trust me when I tell you that nobody needs it.

Make a list

Bust out the pen and paper, it’s time to get thinking about what you actually want.

Go ahead, make a list. Sit down, and think about what things would actually bother you if they were missing from your next headphones—don’t you dare write down “balanced sound.” I mean honest-to-God features you’d want that have nothing to do with the headphones or earphones making noises. When you’re done: cross off “spatial audio” of any kind, change the price to a range of prices you’d be okay paying, and if the word “AirPods” is anywhere on there throw the list out and start over.

I’m serious. If you’re starting this exercise with a particular product in mind, there’s probably nothing anyone can say to change your mind. It’s useful to look to other products as a comparison, but writing down that you want “AirPods” limits your pool to three products, and none of them are cheap.

Think about how you actually use headphones

Athletes, it’s worth paying extra for some kind of IP rating that denotes water resistance.

Are you a klutz, or do you lose things easily? Then don’t buy true wireless earphones! It may seem a little patronizing to say, but if you know that you have a personality trait that makes owning a particular thing more of a risk than a benefit: don’t roll the dice. They’re just not that good for people who don’t have ears conducive to their fit, or those who are prone to losing little things. They’re also not cheap over the long run, as replacing them every two years adds up fast.

If you work out, upgrade water resistance from “nice to have” to “need to have” on your list. Additionally, you may want to look more for in-ears with ear hooks rather than any of the million TicTac lookalike earphones out there that can fall out or go flying at the shake of a head. Manage your risks, and address your needs.

If this is a likely sight at your home, don’t get expensive headphones.

Honestly assessing your needs is just as important for headphones as earbuds, too. If you have children running about, maybe don’t spend a ton of money on headphones you can’t afford to replace. Your lifestyle should have a much bigger impact on what headphones you buy than any review. And you can trust me on that: SoundGuys is one of the most-read headphone review sites out there.

People who don’t sit on a bus or train every day (or work in a crowded office) may find headphones without ANC just fine, actually. If a transparency mode is attractive, consider how difficult it would be to just take your headphones off when you want to hear what’s going on around you.

Your lifestyle will have a much bigger impact on what models of headphones you buy than a review.

If you don’t consider yourself a golden-eared music snob of the highest order, something that sounds fine is good enough. You will probably have trouble noticing a difference between the aptX Bluetooth codec and the default SBC. Most people are far more used to lesser audio quality than they’d like to admit—again, nowadays even the bad stuff isn’t truly terrible. A product like the JLab GO Air POP is dirt cheap and… really quite alright for most people.

You may be better off with wired headphones

Speaking of Bluetooth, it’s striking how even in 2022, the wireless standard is often straight-up annoying to use. Whether you’re having difficulty pairing, your music starts skipping as soon as your phone is in your pocket, or you run into any of the other roughly one million little things that can negatively impact your experience: it’s easy to understand why you may not want Bluetooth headphones. If you’re among the lucky few with devices that have a headphone jack, the proposition of something that won’t drop connection or need recharging is pretty attractive. Batteries aren’t just bad for your wallet, they’re bad for the environment, too.

Wires may appear to be bulky and inconvenient, but in the right situation they’re perfectly fine.

Of course, jettisoning Bluetooth is no guarantee of a low price, but it’s not hard to find a sub-$100 USD wired headset that sounds excellent. The JBL Quantum 50, the Grado SR60x, the KZ ZSN Pro X—there are tons of good-sounding wired audio products and you don’t need to drop a chunk of change to get them.

Don’t be afraid to buy what you want

Once you’ve broken yourself of the habit of “looking for the best” or just buying based on scores, the task of finding headphones becomes much easier. While it may sound a little messed up for a headphone review site to say this: stop focusing on scores so much. They can be a good indicator of whether or not other people like a thing, but they’re a pretty poor metric for how you, personally may like something.

Nobody said your next pair of headphones have to be your last.

Despite how badly we scored the Sony LinkBuds and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, people who want earbuds that don’t seal the ears love them. They’re not wrong for feeling this way, it’s just that their needs differ from most people’s—and that’s perfectly fine. What’s important is that you’re honest with yourself and do the work to find the things you need.

Once you stop second-guessing and mash the buy button, you’ll be much further along the path of finding your best audio products. Having a lot of choices can be paralyzing, but nobody said your next headphones absolutely have to be your last. It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to get something that doesn’t last you forever if it helps you find the thing you really want! Cheap headphones are worth it.

Since addressing the issues we found last year, we did note a few common themes in our user-submitted FAQ that merited attention, and a few upgrades we were able to make. Our team, site, and content have changed quite a bit since early 2020, so let’s take a look at where things currently are and where it’s all going.

We updated our testing apparatus

For headphones, we upgraded from less than ideal testing fixtures and replaced them with one Bruel & Kjaer 5128. Consequently, we’re now more confident in our measurement quality, so we’re going to start adding a bunch of measurements to our standard reporting as we get to dig into the data more.

We settled on this head for a number of reasons—mainly that its electronics and anthropomorphic ear do a much better job at approximating how an actual human head would behave listening to headphones. Most test fixtures use a straight cylindrical tube to simulate an ear canal which… isn’t ideal. You can correct for all sorts of stuff with math, but you’ll run into issues if the physical chamber you’re measuring doesn’t match the one you need (or at least come close), and the same is true of ear canals.

The downside is that this head is so new, so there’s a dearth of target curves adapted for it currently. Standards like the Harman target haven’t quite yet been cobbled together for this particular fixture.

However, a target curve isn’t always the best way to figure out what you want to know. Essentially, when you weigh a response against a target curve, you’re attempting to calculate the probability that your envisioned listener will like whatever device you’re testing. Our envisioned listener is actually over 1 million people a month, and since all of you have different bodies, your experience may vary from our targets—That’s okay! We’re more concerned with finding the best way to serve the most people.

Human ears aren’t as perfect as a robot’s? You don’t say!

Additionally, many testers who use this particular head have a lot of trouble fitting in-ears to it. To that, I say: “Gee, no kidding. It’s a head with a realistic ear canal, the heck did you expect?” Of course, that’s rude and unnecessary, because most people are simply looking for reliability in their test fixtures for data integrity. We’re a review site, so it matters a great deal if it’s difficult to get a good fit with anything, or if you can expect some performance wonkiness from that issue. So we’ll collect that data and report it.

Solution: house standards for the testing process

Because of these issues, we’re developing two major updates to our testing:

1. A way to ensure if in-ears are fit as best they can with these ears before testing, or at least the best a normal person can reasonably expect.
2. We’re going to be adapting our own house curve loosely based on research done by Bruel & Kjaer in the 1970s, and Dr. Olive and the Harman team in the 2010s.

Of course, your ear canals are likely going to be shaped differently than those of our dummy head, but they’re much closer than a straight cylindrical volume of air. Consequently, you can expect minor variations from our charts to what your head would be like, but our equipment can get it much closer than other fixtures could. While our house curve will be another variable, that will only be used for our scoring—so if you’re comfortable letting the measurements do the talking you’ll be able to see everything we do in upcoming content.

We updated our charts

To telegraph which measurements are taken with our new setup, we’ve changed the aesthetic of our charts to something that’s starkly different. Instead of having a white base, we now use a black one to show measurements taken with our new setup.

We also noticed that our isolation and attenuation charts used colors that were difficult for our readers with deuteranopia (a type of color blindness) to read, so we’ve changed the ANC response to a dashed line instead of a solid cyan one. This way, it’s easy to pick out which line is which without color cues.

To our readers: if you see a way we can improve the accessibility of our content, please contact us on Twitter or by email!

We updated our microphone and speaker testing

We also updated our microphone and speaker testing to reflect the upgrades in our headphone testing as well. To this end, we’ve added a much more exacting test microphone to our setup that allows us to make more granular measurements, and upgraded equipment to support it.

However, for microphone units in headphones we’ve changed our scoring methodology. You might have seen those polls accompanying mic samples on our reviews in the past, but they’re now on all of our new reviews.

Readers of our reviews are prompted with a microphone sample and asked to rate it.

Instead of scoring the microphones on headphone models, it will follow what our readers rate these mic samples with. While this may be a little controversial, we feel mic performance in these products should be assessed in a manner appropriate to how they’re going to be used. In this case, these mics will primarily be used to talk to others on the phone or in a remote meeting while others are listening on their headphones. Consequently, we feel they should be judged in aggregate using the same things your average user would be using to judge quality.

Philosophy is everything

Where we diverge from many other audio sites is our philosophy. While we all say that we want to help you buy the right audio products, most every outlet has a different method of getting you an answer. It may not surprise you to hear that different types of consumers want different information, and there’s no real reliable way to satisfy everyone at once.

We don't want our readers to get lost or feel confused when they're looking for a certain piece of information, because that defeats the whole purpose of what we do.

We recognize that not everyone’s going to be able to dig deep into measurements and specs, so we do our best to ground descriptions in concrete examples that most anyone can experience. Even though our reviews are quite long, we don’t want our readers to get lost or feel confused when they’re looking for a certain piece of information, because that defeats the whole purpose of what we do.

However, keeping things this simplistic often leaves some of the more passionate enthusiasts behind. We aren’t going to tailor our content to leave the masses behind either, so rather than change how we do things we’re just going to add new content on top of what we already do. For that, we’re looking at adding posts that accumulate all the measurements we take and what each means for you. We don’t expect these pages to get a lot of traffic or to be as interesting as the main reviews, but it’s still good for completeness’ sake.

We’re on to 2022

This isn’t everything we’ve updated, and there will likely be more things that crop up as we expand our team (and coverage). If you’re curious about our process, how we do things, and why, be sure to stick around for more features regarding this very topic.

Editor’s note: this review was updated on June 18, 2020 to fix formatting and update information about Google Podcasts on iOS.

Podcast app Anchor shared its data on which apps people use to listen to podcasts.

I should start this off with the disclaimer that, yes, I know the app isn’t perfect. However, it’s as good as Apple Podcasts and better than the podcast interface on Spotify which apparently accounts for 19 percent of listeners. I know there are plenty of options available that do a better job at nailing every single feature you might need but as a relatively new entry to podcasts apps, Google Podcasts nails a lot of the main features that initially drew me to other options.

Google Podcasts is compatible on Anroid, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Blackberry, and ChromeOS.

What features does Google Podcasts have?

Search

The library of podcasts available is great.

One of my biggest issues with some podcasts apps I’ve tried in the past is the lack of all the podcasts I listen to. Realistically I don’t expect any single app to have every podcast ever, but it shouldn’t be so lacking that I download a secondary app.

I consistently listen to around 15 podcasts, which I don’t think is an absurd number. So needing to download two or three different apps because “Pocket Casts has this one, but Apple Podcasts has that one” is just a hassle. That isn’t a problem with Google Podcasts.

Aside from only one podcast that has an exclusive deal with Spotify, all of my podcasts are in the app. Not to mention that Google Podcasts isn’t only free to download, it’s also ad-free so you get an uninterrupted experience.

Recommendations

The recommendations get better the more you listen.

In the same way that you can get lost in YouTube recommendations or how Spotify Weekly playlists always have great tailored picks, I’ve received some great recommendations in Google Podcasts. Plus, as is the case with anything Google, the more you listen, the better it gets at predicting similar topics you might enjoy.

Google is doing to podcasts what YouTube is doing with videos.

It’s just so clean

Google Podcasts makes good use of widgets instead of tabs.

What initially drew me into the app is the interface. It’s just so clean.

Android’s material design is nice and all, but I was getting tired of having to pop out a menu for every little thing. All of your podcasts are listed in a simple widget that you can easily scroll through. A similar widget is directly below that and it shows any new, in progress, or downloaded episodes each organized into their own tabs. Below that is where you’ll find all of the recommended episodes or trending categories. In fact, besides the main screen, the only other screens in the app you see are the feeds of the playlists themselves or the search results.

The whole thing is simple, gorgeous, and intuitive. It’s a nice break from the myriad of layers and tabs that I feel most podcast apps rely on for organization.

Playback

One thing that every podcast app needs are sufficient playback controls. Everyone listens differently, and the features I look for aren’t the same ones that my friends look for. In my experience, Google Podcasts nailed the basics.

In the bottom left corner, you get the option to change playback speed ranging from 0.5x to 3.0x. You also get the option to trim silence, another feature that’s great for speeding through episodes without missing anything important. Though I do wish there was more customizability when it comes to skipping backward and forwards through podcasts like in Pocket Casts, the 10-second rewind and 30-second skip is a fine baseline most people. Still, further customization would be nice.

What features does it need?

More customization

The playback controls only let you skip back 10 seconds and forward 30 seconds.

That brings me to the features that the Google Podcast app needs. As I said, more customization for the number of seconds you can skip back and forth is number one. Another feature that you can find in almost all the other apps is a sleep timer. It seems like a simple addition that would give users that much more control over how they listen.

Bookmarking and playlists

After that, the ability to bookmark a podcast episode so you can return to it later without needing to subscribe to that podcast would be super useful. It would allow people to focus on discovering interesting episodes of a podcast, versus needing to find the podcast first and then locate the relevant episode.

Similarly, the ability to create a playlist of podcasts would be great. If I know I’m going to be listening to certain episodes over the next few days, being able to add them to a playlist so they can autoplay back to back would remove the friction of scrolling between podcasts in order to locate the next episode that I want to listen to.

Despite its imperfections, the Google Podcast app is better than it gets credit for. If you think of individual podcasts as YouTube channels and podcasts episodes as Youtube videos, then discovery is only going to get better in the Google Podcast app. Plus, it offers the most useful playback controls, and other features are likely a few updates away considering how new the app is. All of this wrapped in a simple and clean interface just makes me wonder why only 0.9 percent of my fellow podcast people are sharing this experience with me.