When it comes to headphones for everyday use there is always a big indecision between wireless headphones and wired headphones. Even if wireless ones now dominate the market, we must not underestimate the advantages that wired headphones can bring, especially for long journeys or if we have to use headphones on multiple different devices.
Let’s try to find out advantages of wireless headphones and advantages of wired headphonesso that you can thoughtfully choose which technology to use to listen to music, watch videos or TV series with your phone, notebook or Smart TV.
READ ALSO -> How to improve the sound of wireless headphones (PC and smartphone)
1) Wired headphones
Wired headphones may seem obsolete and outdated, but in reality they still represent one of the best methods for listening to music or any other multimedia content. Below we have collected the advantages of using wired headphones:
- no battery: we don’t run the risk of running out of headphones, since they work immediately by connecting them to the audio output of the device in use. As long as the device we use has energy, we can reproduce them without limits.
- Easy connection: by disconnecting and reconnecting the cable we can switch from one device to another without reconfiguring everything (often a tedious and inconvenient operation on wireless headphones).
- Better volume control: as there is no type of preamplification, the audio output volume tends to be more coherent, without crackling and noise (typical of digital conversions).
- No interference: we do not risk suffering interference during playback, since we do not use any radio waves.
The disadvantages are obviously the impossibility of using the headphones beyond the length of the cable, the very presence of the cable (annoying for many users) and an audio quality that is often lower than expected (particularly when compared with wireless headphones with DAC or with advanced audio codecs).
2) Cuffie wireless
Wireless headphones are usually the go-to choice for all users, given the freedom they provide and the undoubted advantages. Below we find all the advantages of wireless headphones:
- freedom of movement: we can move around the playback device without having to depend on the cable, enjoying excellent audio quality (at least within a certain distance).
- Advanced audio codec support: With Bluetooth headphones you can benefit from aptX or advanced audio codecs similar capable of significantly improving the quality of the final audio, increasing both the volume and the reproduction of bass and treble.
- Multiple connection: Modern wireless headphones can connect to two or more devices at the same time, thus increasing usability (we can connect them to both the PC and the phone together).
- Dedicated volume control: wireless headphones have their own volume controller, which allows you to intelligently manage the volume of each connected audio source.
- Noise suppression and DAC: on high-end models we also find active noise suppression and DAC conversion, which make the audio decidedly more engaging than wired headphones.
The obvious disadvantage is having to depend on the internal battery of the headphones, having to recharge them often and, for some models, it is not possible to use all the advanced functions (such as codecs and DAC) because they are not compatible with the phone or device in use.
3) Buying guide
If we don’t know which headphones to buy in this chapter we will show you what, in our opinion, are the best wireless headphones and wired headphones that we can buy at the moment. All models are available on Amazon, the best platform
Best wired headphones
- SBS Wired Headphones: headphones with soft rotating earcups, 3.5 mm Jack cable, 1.2 meter cable length, integrated microphone and Answer/End Call button.
- Philips UH201BK/00: headphones with cable and foldable structure, soft earpad, Micro design and 1.2 meter cable length.
- Sony MDR-ZX310: headband headphones with a lightweight and foldable design, 30 mm driver, 98 dB/mW sensitivity, 10-24,000 Hz frequency range, 3.5 mm Jack cable and 1.2 meter cable length.
- Philips H2005BK/00: Over Ear stereo headphones with 2 meter wire, 40 mm neodymium drivers, passive noise isolation, adjustable and lightweight headband.
- Sennheiser HD 560S: professional wired headphones featuring EAR (Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement) technology, sound pressure level (SPL) 110 dB (1 kHz, 1 Vrms), frequency response from 6 Hz to 38 kHz and 1.8 m cable length.
Other headphone models can be viewed on Amazon store.
Best wireless headphones
- JBL Tune 510BT: Wireless On-Ear Headphones with Bluetooth 5.0, foldable design, integrated microphone, Multipoint connection, Voice Assistant support, up to 40 hours of battery life and fast charging support.
- Sony WH-CH520: high quality wireless headphones with Multipoint connection, 360 Reality Audio certification, Swift Pair and Fast Pair technology, built-in microphone, up to 50 hours of battery life and fast charging support.
- JBL TUNE 710 BT: Over-Ear headphones with Bluetooth Wireless technology, 40 mm drivers, Google Fast Pair support, JBL Pure Bass technology, padded ear cup and up to 50 hours of battery life.
- Cuffie Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4: in the headphone range we find these Sennheiser, equipped with adaptive noise cancellation, battery with 60 hours of battery life, equalizer and sound that can be customized from the app, foldable and lightweight design and support for the aptX Adaptive codec.
- Apple Nuovo AirPods Max: For Apple purists, this pair of wireless headphones is available, featuring an Apple-designed dynamic driver, active noise cancellation, transparency mode, Dynamic Sensing Spatial Audio with head position detection, and computational audio (with H1 chip).
Also in this case we can view other models on the Amazon store.
Conclusions
All things considered, it is not possible to decide a winner between wireless headphones and wired headphones: a lot in fact, it depends on what we like and how we listen to music or TV seriesas well as our sensitivity to the flaws that inevitably affect both technologies.
To learn more we can read our guides on how to improve headphone sound on mac and on best smartphones for audio and listening to music.