Yesterday, Apple made people sit through an hour of pointless blather about the Apple Watch before finally unveiling the iPhone 7, complete with its missing headphone jack. Sure, you can connect your favorite analog headphones with the included dongle, but how do you charge your phone while also listening to music? You’ll need to go wireless.
Apple showed off the odd-looking AirPods that it claims are a step up from existing wireless headsets, but those won’t be available for another month (and they also look like you have a broken plastic dinner fork sticking out of both ears).
However, our audio-testing colleagues at Consumer Reports have already put together a roundup of decent wireless headphones that should play nice with the iPhone 7. But be prepared to pay a pretty penny.
The least expensive of the bunch are the MEE audio X7 Plus in-ear headphones with a retail price of around $100 (but can be obtained for less than that at some retailers). CR says these “deliver very good sound quality” and include a built-in microphone for when you need to talk on the phone, plus integrated smartphone controls.
For a sticker price of $125 (though again, they can be found for around $100 online), there are the Jabra Sport Coach Wireless headphones. For the sportier user, there is an integrated cross-training app that lets you choose from more than 50 exercises, and a motion sensor for keeping track of distances, steps, calories expended, etc. CR says the combined in-ear and earbud design is “useful for keeping the headphones on your ears and the music flowing inside them while you strive to get your heartbeat up.”
At around double the retail price, there are the $200 Sony h.ear MDR-EX750BT. With a name that awful, they must be decent, right?
CR says the Sony headset is “ideal for life on the go,” even though it doesn’t include any noise-canceling tech. The “in-ear design will at least muffle the din from leaf blowers, jet engines, and other nuisances that threaten to interfere with your listening pleasure.”
At the same $200 price point, you’ll find the on-ear Audio-Technica ATH-SR5BT headset. In addition to the very good sound quality rating from CR, the magazine notes that these bluetooth-connected headphones are good for people who frequently switch between devices while listening to music, as their built-in memory “stores pairing info for up to eight devices facilitating quick connections to your smartphone, tablet, and music player.”
Finally, we get to the Parrot Zik 3 at around $400. The stylish, over-the-ear design is probably not ideal for sportier types, but CR says the fancy headphones offer “very good sound quality, excellent active-noise reduction, and useful features that let you quickly change settings via gesture control (on the right ear cup) or the model’s mobile app.”
For the clumsy folk out there, both the Audio Technica and the Parrot headphones come with a 24-month warranty.
Check out the full write-up on these headsets at ConsumerReports.org.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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