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!
The Finns are an exceptional lot: they are the world champions of coffee drinking, EU champions of sustainability and have over two million saunas. They also love the silence of their 188,000 lakes. Perfect conditions for developing noise-cancelling headphones while chilling in the far north, you would think?
It must have been around 1988 when I bought my first pair of Koss Porta Pro, on the recommendation of an audiophile friend. In fact, for many people of my generation, the Koss Porta Pro was a widely used upgrade to the bog-standard headphones that came with the first Discman (or worse, the Walkman headphones that could be found on every teenager's bedroom floor).
The Master & Dynamic MW08 are True Wireless in-ears that not only want to score points with their excellent sound, but also with their active noise cancelling and a long battery life. We find out whether they succeed.
If you're looking for uncomplicated headphones that aren't too bulky, are also extremely lightweight but have a great sound, you might have found an ideal match with the Sennheiser HD 300.
With the HA-S24W, JVC is targeting the younger generation who are looking for very lightweight, robust-sounding headphones with remote control for a very reasonable price.
Skullcandy's Jib True are wireless in-ears available at an attractive price that come with IPX4 water- and sweat-resistance and offer extensive functions via remote control. With the AAC format, these bass-tuned headphones also support a high-quality audio codec.
With the Miami, the Swedish company Urbanista has expanded its range of headphones to include wireless over-ears that boast a long battery life and offer both active noise cancellation and an ambient sound mode for external awareness. In addition to Bluetooth 5.0 standard, this bass-tuned model also supports the high-quality AAC audio codec format.
This time, just for a change, gamers get something in their ears rather than on their ears. After all, we gamers have been out and about in the wild ever since the GameBoy was launched - although today we tend to use smartphones, tablets and Nintendo Switch. Not everyone likes having to wear a big headset on their head. Now we no longer need to look enviously at AirPods, Galaxy Buds or other in-ear systems, because EPOS has come up with something designed especially for gamers: their new true-wireless headphones the GTW 270 Hybrid.
With the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, Anker offer comfortably fitting, wireless in-ears that can be flexibly adapted to your own needs and environment via app connection. While a personal sound profile can be created with the help of HearID (2.0) and EQ, a total of four noise cancellation and two transparency modes are also available.
Apple has added the first over-ear headphones to its range with the AirPods Max, which must be pretty good as they cost 600 Euros - and for those of us who live in the Apple world this is certainly the case. Those who are just looking for a good pair of true-wireless headphones are nevertheless cordially invited to read the review of the AirPods Max, knowing full well that they might change their minds afterwards.