Options Galore
Earphones and Headphones are something very personal and as such need extra bit of thinking before the decision is made.
Broadly speaking there are 2 categories of personal audio speakers, i.e.,
- Headphones
- Earphones or earbuds
But these are further classified as
- In-Ear Earphones
- Half In-Ear Earphones
- Over Ear Headphones
- On Ear Headphones
and of course then there are 2 more iterations of each category namely
- Wireless
- Wired
So basically there is a style for everyone’s need and requirement, and all these also come with various features and unique functionalities. For instance you can now buy headphones and earphones with Ambient Noise Cancellation or ANC. This feature generates an audio signal equal in amplitude but in reverse phase to the ambience, thereby effectively making the sound null to your ears. This is especially useful when traveling in flights, trains and or other noise environments.
Also read a good article on earphone, earbuds here.
Price Range
The prices start from as low as 2$ that is 150 Rupees and can go way over 1000s of Dollars depending on the product, feature set and brand in question. So there is a product in every price range. In India 10000 rupee price range are especially the sweet spot if you want to buy a pair of earbuds which not only do not cost too much but also offer Hi-Fi audio and excellent feature set.
Durability
A recent survey of 2287 candidates showed that nearly 84% of respondents had to buy newer headphones or earphones as the case maybe because they previous ones had their wire broken, hinge broken, case broken, earbud broken. What that means is it is critically important to make sure that our choice not only sounds good or is cheap but is also durable. Because as stats would say this piece of audio equipment is gonna have durability issues above all else, so select wisely.
As has been mentioned on A4D.CC it makes a lot more sense to have good earphones which lasts longer than having to replace them again and again.