The Headphone, The Headset And Earphone, What's The Difference

Electronics can be confusing and the same things can often have very different names. This poses a big problem when shopping both online and when asking for goods at your local bricks and mortar store.

Nothing can be more confusing than those personal listening devices known as headphones, earphones and headsets.
Here is a quick guide to establishing exactly which kind is which

Headphones

Headphones are the largest of the bunch and you would usually, but not always, use them when you are sitting in one location and not moving around.

An on ear headphone are two cans or earpieces held to the side of your head by a band that goes over the top of your head.

They can cost anywhere between seven and 1600 dollars depending on the quality of the components and how cool they look.

Some headphones that you are likely to find are:

• On ear or supra-aural headphones
• Around the ear or circumaural headphones
• Headset headphones

Strictly speaking headset headphones are either 'on-ear' headphones or circumaural headphones with a microphone added but are worth adding on their own right because they often serve different functions and have different desirable to dedicated headphones.

Headphones can be used to:

• Listen to music from a stereo, TV or computer
• Chat with people over the computer.

Earphones

These are small and fit in the ears or near to the ears.

Their light weight and lack of bulk makes them great for commuters and people exercising and they are often less expensive than the more bulky headphones.

Common types of earphones include:

• Earbud earphones
• In-ear earphones
• sports earphones
• bluetooth earphones
• headset earphones

Bluetooth earphones and headset earphones can look very different to standard earphones because of the addition of a microphone.

There is a more detailed examination of the different types of headphones at the FocalPrice blog. Check it out by heading to Headphones And Earphones Explained