Best Headphones With Microphone Reviews 2018

Price plays a very important part here. A simple factor like the brand of a headphone can affect the price you pay for it, especially with brands already popular for the quality of their products. However, we understand that people have different budgets so we made sure we picked quality products from a wide price range to give as many people as we can an opportunity to own good headphones with microphones.

From our research we were able to identify good quality products from about $25 to about $300. This surely is a wide range. As you can already guess, the more expensive ones will have many more features than those on the lower rungs of the price range.

One thing you should bear in mind, however, is that every product here listed has been chosen on merit. These will offer you good value for the money. These are not cheap headphones with microphones that are poorly made and lacking in value. These will serve you. Just decide how many features you want and see if the price makes them worth it!

What are the features you should be looking out for when choosing headphones with microphones? Thankfully there are not a hundred features that’ll determine the headphone you should choose. There are just a few and we will list them here:

• Type of headphone – On-ear or Over-ear
• Wireless or wired
• Foldable
• Water resistant
• Noise cancellation or sound isolation
• Sound quality
• Sound stage – accurate spatial representation, surround effect etc.
• Fit and comfort – quality of ear cups, headband etc.
• Frequency response
• compatibility
• Durability

Now let’s look at these in some detail.

When considering whether to choose an on-ear headphone or an over-ear version what should you know? There are 3 basic types of headphones – in-ear, on-ear and over-ear. In ear goes in the ear (ear buds), on-ear sits on the ear while over-ear covers the ear. We’re focusing on on-ear and over-ear types. On-ear headphones are usually more portable when compared to over-ear models. Their sound qualities differ in that while the on-ear uses drivers are bigger than in-ear phones, delivering better sound quality and a more distinct sound stage (spatial representation), over-ear headphones have even larger drivers for an even better sound quality and the best sound stage of the three.

Again, between the on-ear and over-ear headphones (because they cover the ears) the over-ear headphones provide more sound isolation. This brings us to something very important which is noise cancelation and noise isolation. When you see any of these features, just know they’re not the same even if the look like they are. The keywords to look out for are: cancelation and isolation. Noise cancelation and noise isolation are similar but not the same.

Noise isolation is simply the presence of a material barrier between your ear and the external noise. Noise cancelation or active noise cancelation, on the other hand, is an acoustic process that involves the presence of a tiny microphone in the headphone which picks up the external noise. The headphones create the opposite of the noise and by simple physics, cancel the noise. If this is something you want, understand this difference.

What’s the impact of closed or open back headphones? To put it in the simplest of terms, a closed back headphone will reduce audio leak in or out of the headphone. This means you have more sound isolation. This is a great option if you don’t want what you’re listening to be heard by those around you or if you don’t want to hear what they’re saying or doing. Open back is the direct opposite.

Now, should you go with wired or wireless headphones? More people are turning to wireless headphones because of the ease of connectivity. The wired models, however, are still in high demand especially by those who don’t want any audio degradation. Wired headphones will give you a more stable and clean audio quality. You can get these from wireless headphones too but that’ll depend on the quality of the Bluetooth and some other factors.

With the ease of wireless connectivity comes the challenge of compatibility. Be sure that the wireless headphone you choose is compatible with your devices. Wired headphones don’t have this issue. With wireless headphones, you also have to worry about battery life. You need a headphone with a very good battery life. On the other hand, you won’t have to worry about this if you go with a wired model.

What’s frequency response and how does this affect my choice? Unless you’re an audiophile, this won’t be too much of an issue for you. On average, most headphones have a frequency response of between 20Hz and 20KHz. This is sufficient. A frequency response is simply the frequency range that the headphone can reproduce. The human ear cannot hear above or below this range. However, if you’re an audiophile, then you know you’ll want to go for headphones with a wider range as it’ll marginally improve the quality of the audio you’ll be listening to.

Generally, some people prefer headphones with heavy bass to others with a flat frequency response. If you want to use your headphones for music production, then you want to go for one with a flat frequency response so it doesn’t color the sound you hear. For bass lovers, look out for headphones with accentuated bass frequencies.

The microphone on your headphones is important especially if you use your phones with them or play games with the headphones. Most gamers prefer microphones with inline control so they can operate them easily independent of other controls. If you want a microphone that’ll be precise, then you may want to go for a dynamic microphone. Some headphones come with omni-directional microphones. These tend to pick more sounds than you want them to. Dynamic microphones will be more precise especially if they’re positioned close to your mouth. For calls, many may not mind the omni-directional microphones.

Another thing gamers especially should take seriously is the sound stage of the headphone. To be really immersed in your game, you need a headphone that offers surround sound. With surround sound, the true spatial structure of the audio of the game will be represented.

The durability of a product will be determined by the quality of materials used. Check out the material used for the headband. The higher the overall quality of the materials, the more durable your headphone will be.

People use their headphones for different things. Whatever the use, everyone wants their headphones to last. If you workout or go on runs with your headphones, consider getting a water resistant model. If you move around a lot with yours but have them stored most of the time, then you certainly will need a foldable model that you can easily fold up and store, especially those that come with a carrying case.

For those who have theirs on for hours on end, from experience you know you should get a model that has very comfortable ear cups so your ears don’t hurt after a while. You also may want to look at the headband. Headbands that are malleable tend to be better for long wear as they don’t press as hard as others that aren’t. Just consider the comfort level of the headphones you choose.

Just in case you missed this point earlier, here it is again – make sure the headphones with microphone you choose are compatible with your device(s).