I need this for work. I work around a lot of loud machinery and need earbuds to be able to hear my phone.
The thing is I don’t want to plug up both my ears with an earbud so I can also conversate with people face to face.
So if I buy a set of earbuds and only use one of them, will it work?
Yes, I do it all the time.
Everyone I used worked like that. Even if it didn’t you can keep one in your pocket, it’s not going to know it’s not in your ear (and I’m not going to rat you out).
I have a set of Bose ear buds. The left one stopped charging two weeks after the one year warranty expired.
I’m now the exasperated owner of a single $300 ear bud. It still works and plays fine. It would be useful for anyone that needs one ear uncovered for conversations.
I’ve already replaced the junk Bose with a much more affordable $70 TZO that sounds just as good.
My Air Pods know if one isn’t in proximity to something that approximates the inside of my ear. If one falls out, playback is paused. But, you’re right; they usually can’t tell the difference between your ear and a pocket.
Awesome. Thanks guys.
Sometimes, the advertised battery life assumes using one at a time while the other recharges in the case.
As an alternative to buds, you could use something like Aftershokz bone induction headphones. The “speaker” sits on your head in front of your ears not obstructing your regular hearing. Bonus is that they’re a lot harder to lose than a single earbud.
Ten thousand middle school students in class can tell you one headphone works just fine.
I’ve taken to doing this at home for audiobooks and Spanish lessons that I don’t want to inflict on other people. If I have both headphones in, I worry that I won’t be able to hear if Mr. Legend calls for help. The only thing I don’t like it for is music, since that really needs to be in stereo.
The AirPods Pro 2 have transparency modes that pass outside audio through and will adaptively damp extremely loud sounds as they happen. I leave both in and switch to transparency when I go into a coffee shop to order or when I run into my neighbors while walking my dog.
I have Sony’s memorably named WF-1000XM4 earbuds, and they work great one at a time for phone calls or listening to podcasts.
They also have the feature where it pauses audio if I take one of them out of my ear, but if I leave one in the case, then only the used ear bud causes the pausing. No need to trick the other one.
They also have the sound pass through and enhancement feature, which is pretty good. One feature I really like, which others probably have, is the ability to pause sound, and switch to pass-through mode, when I say something.
If I’m wearing them and someone talks to me, I say, “wuhht,” and that pauses whatever I’m listening too, and then I can hear the other person. I’ve explained to my wife I’m not trying to be rude, just pausing the audio so I can hear her. If I’m wearing them at work I’ll tend to issue a preemptive “hello” to pause the sound before somebody starts talking to me.
Having said all that, I tend to use just one if all I’m doing is listening to a podcast. I really ought to alternate which one I use.
My Pixel earbuds, like others, have touch sensitive controls to enable various features. The first time I went jogging with them, I decided I wanted to be able to chat a bit with my jogging partner, so I took one out and put it in my pocket. The inner lining of my pocket wasn’t enough to prevent it from sensing my leg, and it kept registering touches.
If I had the case with me, I could have placed it in the case and it would have been fine. Assuming I was ok with having that in my pocket as I ran…
My right ear is useless. I use an earbud in my left ear all the time. If it needs charged, I put it back in the case and put the right bud in my left ear. Perfect.
They’re not super in really loud environments because you’re still getting the full force of the background noise in your open ears. I love mine but I don’t think they’re the right solution for the OP.
I use only one all day and when I walk. When I’m walking it assists me in hearing anyone approaching from the back and when I’m at work I can listen to whatever I want to and still hear what is going on around me. I don’t think I’d even like using two at this point.