Theoretically, any headphone that has a mini-jack can be used with a smartphone. Theoretically. In real life, there are a few things to keep in mind:
London calling
Anyone listening to music or podcasts on their smartphones will hear incoming calls via a ring tone. If one wanted to accept the conversation, miserable fumbling is necessary, which was already sufficiently documented in various funny movies.
So, the first requirement for a smartphone headset is: you need a microphone and a phone control. In simpler models, this is a button that interrupts the music and accepts the conversation. Better models have that feature set integrated in a controller …
Skip
Pause, back and forth, turn the volume up and down. You do not want to grab your smartphone when you want to skip a track or change its volume, especially when doing sports. So please consider a headphone with a good remote control, offering buttons for music control, but also additional features such as activation of voice assistants like Siri or Alexa.
Universal
One smartphone headset for all your mobile phone models? Many manufacturers offer different versions for different devices! Again, you definitely should pay attention to it. As certain smartphone protocols vary, manufactures sometimes sell the same model but optimized for Apple iOS or Android, i.e. Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG and others.
Impedance
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind comes at the end. Smartphones supply their headphone jack output only with relatively little power. This means that a headphone needs to have a low impedance to work properly, typically around 20 to 80 ohms. Here at headphonecheck.com we measure the impedance and you can find this important spec in the sidebar of the respective review. The higher the impedance, the less volume a headphone have!
Compared to their predecessor, the highly successful Soundcore Life P2, Anker has significantly increased the Life P3's feature set. This is mainly due to the headphones' app connection, which provides three ANC and two transparency profiles, a special gaming mode and versatile sound adjustment options. The new touch control can also be set up according to your own needs via the app.
The new premium model among the True Wireless headphones from Lypertek is an upgraded version of the model formerly called TEVI. The Chinese manufacturer has set higher standards for sound quality. The PurePlay Z7 uses a hybrid driver configuration. For the first time, Lypertek is using one titanium-coated dynamic driver and two balance-armature drivers on each side; these work together in tuned frequency ranges in a correspondingly tuned housing and are thus supposed to ensure particularly good detail resolution.
With the Barracuda X, Razer brings a one-fits-all solution to the table: thanks to mini-USB-C wireless transmitters, the Barracuda X is supposed to excel with PCs, Playstations, Switches as well as Android devices. We tried it out.
These new low-cost true wireless headphones from Sennheiser go by the name CX True Wireless and, with a recommended retail price of 129 euros, are cheaper than the now discontinued CX 400BT and also remain well below the price of the Momentum True Wireless 2.
Boasting almost the same features and almost the same look - with the new Pixel Buds A-Series Google offers a cheaper alternative to the Pixel Buds that appeared just under a year ago. The search engine giant has cut the price in half so that the new Pixel Buds no longer cost 100 Euros. We find out what the differences are in the features and whether the new A series is worth it.
The successors to the Huawei FreeBuds 3 are called FreeBuds 4. Like their predecessors, they rely on an "open-fit design", i.e. an ear fit without silicone attachments - also called "Ear-Buds". Despite this airy design, which the first noise barrier does not have due to the design because of a sealed ear canal, they want to ensure peace with a two-stage active noise cancelling.
With the stylish ColorBuds, 1more offers Bluetooth in-ear headphones in classy colour variations that set them apart from sterile stylings of AirPods.
After we tested the PI7 some time ago and found them to be pretty good, we were naturally curious to see how the PI5s from Bowers & Wilkins, which have been stripped of a few features, would perform. It was already clear after the first time we tried them that there was no need to worry about the sound quality from the smaller model: the British naturally set the bar high in terms of sound quality.
With their previous model WF-1000XM3, Sony already offered one of the most comfortable True Wireless in-ear models. Now in its fourth generation, the popular device has undergone a general overhaul - both internally and externally. Is the upgrade worth it?
Priced under 30-Euros, the CX 80S in-ears deliver an amazingly balanced and transparent sound. The built-in remote control not only operates the music played exclusively via cable but also handles telephone calls. The enclosed ear tips in three different sizes ensure an optimal fit.