Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Headphones Journey

Disclaimer: I almost always listen to music during a workout. It helps me keep focused during my workouts and helps get me energized when I am struggling.

Here has been my journey with the different types of headphones used and what I thought of them.

The headphones I started out using were the on-the-ear headphones. These worked for me to listen to music, but it wasn't the most comfortable. The headphones had a tendency to slide off my ears during a run. They would also get wet from sweat, which made it uncomfortable after a while. It was also tough to get them to fit well over both ears.

It wasn't until a few years ago I started to use earbuds. The ones I started with were Apple earbuds that came with my iPod shuffle. These worked for me to listen to music, but they kept falling out of my ear during my workout. It was difficult to change the volume and change songs during my workout. I moved on to use the Apple EarPods with the mic. These solved the problem of changing the volume and songs during my workout, but still had the problem of them falling out of my ears during my run. I decided to try Yurbuds. These were very similar to the Apple EarPods with the mic, but they had a rubber piece over each ear bud that helped 'lock' the ear bud into your ear so they wouldn't fall out during the workout. I still had problems of them falling out of my ear or having to adjust them during my workout. It was less than a year when the ear buds started cutting in and out while a song was playing.

Recently, I moved on to Bluetooth earbuds. I knew I wanted to go wireless. It made things easier during my workout. I didn't want to have a wire slapping me during my workout or be constrained where I put my phone. I tried the Altec Lansing sport headphones. These worked for the most part. The problem I kept having was the ear buds kept falling out in my ear and they would slip out of my ear during a workout. I was also having problems where the Bluetooth connection would cut in and out with the phone less than a few feet away.

Over the past year, I've been hearing more and more about Aftershokz headphones. These headphones aren't your typical over-the-ear headphones or earbuds. Aftershokz uses bone conduction to guide vibrations to the inner ear to deliver sound without covering or having something inserted inside your ear. Many people were talking about Aftershokz and how they don't cover your ears or have anything to put inside your ear.

A few months ago, I finally purchased a pair of Aftershokz headphones. I'm glad I did! These have been the best pair of headphones I've worn. It definitely lives up to the hype! I've worn them indoors, outside in the heat, and even in the rain - never had any problems. I'd highly recommend purchasing a pair.