It always gets hectic when you are to decide which earphone to buy or what’s the best earphone for you. Most of us try to check for reviews and ratings about a product but still when the product arrives we aren’t satisfied with what we have. Here are a few things to keep in mind while buying an earphone.

Budget

Always keep a budget that higher than Rs 300 (around $4). Buying anything less than that guarantees you with faulty components which will ultimately harm your ears. A few bucks just to keep your ears safe is not a bad deal, isn’t it?

Type

Wired

Wired earphones are mostly preferred because the delay in them is less. No need to charge them and they aren’t bulky.

Wireless

On the other hand, wireless earphones need to contain the charging unit along worth the receiver and transmitter inside them they are bulky. They serve their purpose the best for outdoor purposes. With wireless comes specifications to look at is the Bluetooth range and the battery backup of the earphones.

Jack

A gold plated jack is preferred over normal jacks. And they provide more assurance that the wires are better connected into the jack. Angled jacks are better over straight jacks. In straight jacks, the wires are more susceptible to breakage.

Purpose

We should categories the purpose for which the earphones are being bought for. These purposes may be as indoor uses such as desk work, watching a movie; outdoors such as gym, jogging while riding a bus and gaming-specific needs. These determine the type of earbuds one should prefer. For outdoors “in-ear” devices are preferred over normal fit earphones. The icing on the cake will be that extra component that fits over the ear and in between the ear flaps (pinna).

Driver

Probably the most important of the feature one should definitely look for is the driver of the earphone. A driver is nothing but the magnet that is inside of the earphones. They are responsible for the conversion of electrical signals into sound waves. There are many types of drivers available such as neodymium, dynamic, electrostatic, dual (neodymium + dynamic).

Dynamic

If you want the earphone to be filled with bass, one needs to opt for dynamic drivers. The surround sound effect is enhanced and well experienced by this type of driver.

Neodymium

If you want the sound to be less on bass and more towards treble, neodymium drivers are to be chosen. They aim at clarity of the sound towards the treble. For gaming purpose where sounds play an important role (hearing footsteps of the enemies) is well covered by this type of drivers.

Electrostatic

These drivers give a stable sound with ample bass and treble. But such drivers are costly to manufacture and its more often unnecessary to spend a lot of bucks for electrostatic drivers.

Dual Drivers

A combination of neodymium, as well as dynamic driver, aims to give you the best of both worlds. Gives the most stable sound without compromising the treble or bass.  The music may be metallic or hip- hop both are justified through this. In terms of gaming from the clear enemy footsteps to the surround effect of a grenade, all sounds surreal with these.

Along with these, there are other specifications related to an earphone but one need not worry about those. If you want, you may have a look over them in order to decide what to buy or skip if you want to. These specifications are:

Impedance: It determines whether your earphone will work best with your player or not. Usually, the amount of impedance of the earphone should be 8 times more than the player output.

Frequency: the range of sounds the earphone will produce. Basically how shrill and how much low will the sound be.

Sensitivity: It refers to the loudness of the earphone.

Always Remember

Hearing is an individual experience. The experience of a product differs from person to person. Even if you keep these things in Consideration the product you will get may not satisfy your need. Only personal listening experience helps to determine the best earphone for you!