Western Rover wrote:Plus, I haven't seen a wired earpiece that just barely goes into my ear canal while deriving its support from a bracket around my outer ear, like a Bluetooth earpiece.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs ... 31848976-p
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/7369043
I've had that type or other (neither of those exact kinds), in the past. The 'ear hooks' have tangled in the midst of luggage/pockets and broken/been awkward to retrieve. I prefer wired earbuds. Very little to break. The wire is the wire, and liable to tangle even if described as 'non-tangling' (often means it's a wide and flat profile so that it's
twist-proof, or at least obvious when it twists so you don't get accumulated helicity) and I know wirelessness is the attraction where there is no chance of accidental 'plucking' or catching of the wire and forcing the speakers off/out/from the ears or jack from the device (or both; or not so easily disconnecting, so as to actually launch things that shouldn't be launched across rooms or roads).
There's a type of earphone (sometimes advertised as 'soft', but for no reason I can see as they're as hard-shelled as they can be) that are designed to be pinned by the pinna (aka auricle) without going into the canal. They just never work for me. The buds-with-rubber-grommits (often with smaller and larger grommits you can use if necessary, but I rarely need to change them) do me best.
My wireless ones were like that, wireless except for a rubber-band link. It kept them together, and must (as the charging port was only in one plug-assembly) also have had at least a charge-carrying wire through it. These broke when they tangled and jammed in luggage and the extrication broke the 'pin with the grommit on it' off of the flat bit (bulkier than the wired plug-ends, for obvious reasons).
All the wired earpieces I've seen either go all the way into my ear canal, which bothers me over the long term, or they sit on top of my head and cover my ears, which seems dangerous while driving.
IMO,
any ear-based speaker is dangerous while driving. Obscures ambient noise that you might find it necessary not to miss. Rogue noises played into your ears (intentional or unintentional sound effects from the sound-source) aren't differentiatable as not coming from outside. Less so than a non-private in-car speaker (even with surround-sound capability).
But each to their own.
(Though the number of casual bike-riders - the kind that ride on the footway, but unfortunately not just - that wear Beats-style over-eaark headphones… The dangers they can face from deliberately removing one entire sense makes me almost
glad they aren't trying to sensibly ride upon the road.)
For home-use I have wireless (not Bluetooth, something proprietry with a powered base-station transmitter) over-ear headphones. A bit battered, needing a set of spare AAAs (rechargable, kept in several matched pairs in ready-to-use and waiting-for-recharge queues - because… why not?) but gives reasonable connectivity from my media machine out to
nearly the full lengths of front and rear gardens, and thus all throughout the house. I'm listening to a Doctor Who audio drama on them as I tap this out. My non-media machine (with things worth listening to) has fancy but source-powered headphones connected to it via a long socket-to-plug extension cable, sufficient to reach around the room (and even part way into another) for a little bit more freedom than without the extension, but still has (a managable amount of) 'umbilical' nature to it.
