[Written By External Partner]
When choosing what headphones to buy there are certain things you should consider. If you are an outdoorsy person, always active, or on the go a lot, and love to listen to music while being active there are important considerations you should take into account.
1. Water Resistance
Waterproof headphones are primarily in the style of In-Ear Headphones or Earbuds. When purchasing waterproof headphones you should consider everything that they will be used for. Now when it comes to whether something is waterproof or water-resistant in the name they are pretty much the same. When it comes to buying however waterproof and water-resistant headphones are quite different so you should be well aware of this. Water-resistant means that a brief shower of rain here and there is ok and shouldn’t damage the product. Waterproof however can be defined differently. It most commonly will tell you to what depth of water in meters it is waterproof too.
2. Battery Life
If you are choosing to go with a wireless set of headphones one of the most important things you should look out for is its battery life. Generally speaking, wireless earbuds are most common to have between a 5 to 8 hour usage time. On the other side, however, Bluetooth headphones can last up to and greater than a staggering 25 hours.
3. Active Noise Cancellation
Active noise cancellation is the cancellation of ambient or background noises. If you are outside and you are using your headphones for exercise you most probably want to be in the zone and that would be a lot easier with good ANCs like the new Sony WH-1000XM4 noise cancelling wireless headphones.
Noise cancellation uses tiny microphones to pick up on outside sounds and produces noise in the opposite frequency. This technology does not work as well with sounds that change frequency a lot as the microphone cannot pick them up fast enough to adjust. Instead, they are useful in drowning out regular sounds such as a running lawnmower or perhaps an airplane. With this being said active noise cancellation can be of great benefit for those using headphones outdoors.
4. Durability
When choosing the best set of headphones for use in the outdoors you should always take into account its durability. They should be made from good materials, hardened plastic with good speakers. This does not mean to say that the speaker drivers have to be large to be good. The general rule is to say that very cheap headphones are usually made from cheap materials and have poor build quality.
5. Style
There are many different styles of headphones to choose from that are suitable for the outdoors. From large to very small whatever size suits you best is available. However, it must be taken into account that not all styles offer the same amount of features and will not be all at the same caliber of definition. Below is a list of the best headphone style for the outdoors.
- In-ear/Earbud Headphones
These headphones are the smallest and most portable headphones available. Each earbud is so small it fits into your ear canal.
- On-Ear Headphones
Much bigger than the headphones above are the On-Ear Headphones which as its name suggests they literally sit on top of your ears. This, therefore, means the speaker drivers are much bigger. Most commonly the drivers for these headphones are 30 to 40 mm.
- Over-Ear Headphones
These headphones are the largest of the 3 and as a result are usually found to be the most comfortable. With being much larger they are too very comfortable and the speaker drivers can also be much larger at 45 mm and above.
6. Wireless
With wireless headphones you don’t have to worry about cords getting in the way or tangling up they can be used outdoors with comfort. There are three major technologies for the transmission of wireless frequencies; Bluetooth, Infrared, or Radiofrequency. We find that in headphones case Bluetooth works the best with headphones. Firstly, infrared requires a line of sight to work, radio frequencies are most commonly used over long distances whereas Bluetooth does not need line of sight, is compatible with most devices, and it has a range limit in most cases of 30 meters.
Conclusion
With everything mentioned above like how resistant to water are your headphones? Do you want them to be wireless? What style are you looking for? Its active noise cancellation and lastly its durability you should have the right amount of information to make a wise choice. Happy hunting for the best headphones for the outdoors!
