How to Choose the Best Earbuds for Phone Calls

Advances in communications technology in the past few decades have made it possible to take your conversations just about anywhere, thanks to the increasing availability and affordability of cell phones. However, the ability to take phone calls outside the home isn't the only new comfort the advent of new technology has brought; advancements in Bluetooth and sound technology have seen the rise of earbuds that are perfect for phone calls. That said, there are many things to consider when picking the best earbuds for calls. This article will cover the various considerations involved with earbuds.

Factors Affecting Call Quality

First things first, things that can affect the quality and stability of your call. These factors can largely be sorted into two categories: external factors (environment) and internal factors (within the earbuds). To name a few of each:

Environmental

• The world is not a quiet place, and depending on where you're at, the background noise of your surroundings can be loud enough to be picked up by your microphone and impact the clarity of your speech on the other end of the call. And even if you're indoors, if you have loud appliances, they can contribute to background noise and hiss.
• The wind is another factor to watch out for, as it can blow against the microphone and register as a loud, unpleasant plosive, drowning your voice out and potentially hurting the call recipient's ears.
• Then, of course, there's signal strength; the weaker your signal gets, the less your voice will come through to the other line, and the less the other person's voice will come through to your own. In some cases, it can also distort the audio quality in addition to gating (silencing) call audio.

Internal

• The features that your earbuds have (or don't have) can also significantly affect your call. A proper fit ensures you can hear the call properly without physical discomfort, and ideal microphone quality and placement are imperative to ensure the other person understands you.
• Some earbuds come with features to combat the environmental issues listed above, such as noise reduction for both standard background noise and wind noise reduction.
• Then, of course, ease-of-connectivity and Bluetooth codecs are a must; outdated Bluetooth codecs aren't conducive to proper sound quality, and if your earbuds have trouble staying connected to your device, then they're not worth it.

How Earbuds Enhance Call Quality

The right earbuds will elevate the quality of your calls with friends, co-workers, and clients alike. While any decent earbuds come with the benefit of added privacy and focusing the other person's audio to your ears, high-quality earbuds often come with additional features for further convenience and quality:

Noise Cancellation Technology

Noise reduction helps quiet the world around you by using a mic to generate a soundwave identical to your surrounding environment and phase-canceling it, helping reduce distractions from your earbud audio. However, for busier environments where situational awareness is important, some headphones come with Transparency Mode (also known as Awareness Mode), which uses the mic to let in some outside noise so you can focus on your call without sacrificing your awareness.

Microphone Noise Reduction Technology

High-quality noise reduction is a boon for earbuds with dedicated microphones for those who call a lot. Earbuds with noise reduction clean up the microphone's input so the person you're calling receives a voice-focused output, free from distractions.

Voice Clarity and Intelligibility

Microphones with good pickup and strong digital signal processing capabilities are also key to a good pair of earbuds. Digital signal processing (or DSP) is the process of digitizing analog sounds; high-quality DSP ensures that microphone input is captured accurately and processed efficiently for a high-quality sound.

Tips for Clear Calls in Different Environments

Whether or not your calls are of good quality isn't just a question of earbud features; it's also a question of how well you can navigate calling in different environments. There's not a one-size-fits-all approach to handling calls in noisy environments, so here are some tips on how to take and make calls in various situations and ensure a good calling experience for both you and the person on the other line:

Noisy Environments

For noisy environments such as train stations, airports, and stores, earbuds with good noise reduction would be a great start, and if it is safe to do so, turning on noise canceling (or ideally, Transparency Mode) would be too; just be sure to maintain your situational awareness. However, if you can get somewhere quieter within the venue to take a call, that would be best. If possible, avoid large rooms where sound could reverberate.

Dangerous Situations

Ideally, you should avoid taking or making phone calls while driving or cycling. But if you have to, it's a good idea to keep one earbud out, as that will keep you more aware of your surroundings than Transparency Mode would. Keep phone calls brief and keep anything that isn't urgent a voicemail, and when applicable, use your earbuds' buttons to accept or reject calls rather than using your phone screen to do so.

Quiet Environment

However, if you're in a quiet environment like your home, a hotel room, or a quiet part of the office, focus on ensuring your reception is strong and that you're not near any noisy appliances; the less work your earbuds' noise cancellation technology has to work, the better.

Best TOZO Earbuds for Calls

With all that out of the way, it's time to highlight TOZO's best earbuds for calls: the Golden X1s and the NC9s. While TOZO has many different earbud models to choose from, the following models stand out as ideal for those who find themselves on the phone frequently: