I have been looking for 2 specific types of headphones for months. It's extremely difficult to find what I need for a couple of reasons. I'm 41 F, but I'm the size of a 6th grader. 5ft, 100 lbs kind of tiny. Everything is proportionate however, so adult sized stuff is almost always too big for me. To give you an idea… when covid first hit, and everyone started making masks, nothing fit me. I went to visit my sister and her 2 yr old (at the time), and we went somewhere masks were required. I had misplaced mine (which I'd had to rig to fit), and the only other extra clean mask on hand was one of my baby niece's. With no other option, I went with it. I put it on.. and it fit me perfectly. That was a bona-fide "stunned to silence" moment. That was also the moment when I first realized that I was a fully grown early middle aged adult.. with child sized features. A bit unnerving. Also significantly complicating my search, is that I suffer from a painful chronic illness which causes unrelenting nerve pain all over my body. What would typically be a relatively mild reaction to a minor painful stimulus, is amplified by my condition.. by a lot. Ex: I live in FL, mosquitos are a thing. Getting bitten by a mosquito, for me, feels like a hornet just nailed me. Actual hornets mean a trip to the ER (I'm a lifelong Floridian and I like it that way.. so I have a decent stockpile of citronella. It works). Given that I've got all of that mess going on, headphones and ear buds are typically too big, absurdly bulky, inevitably become painful to wear after mere minutes, and due to poor fit.. they also have an annoying habit of falling out/off very easily, and I have to be overly aware of not moving around too much.. or even talking/eating at all. That includes stuff with ear hooks, because even regular sized ear hooks are too big on me. So, in my search for audio gear, I have two major non-negotiable requirements. 1) They have to fit well. 2) They have to be comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Lesser, but still important is that they be wireless. And finally, if the option is available, blue or green. The one absolute deal breaker, even if the size and fit are on point, is if they're pink. I hate the color pink vehemently, and refuse to have anything to do with it. While sound quality is a major requirement and focal point for many, it really isn't for me. I'm not super picky about that.. for the most part. If I can clearly hear what I'm listening to, without crunchy interference, I'm good. When I found these, I wasn't looking specifically for wrap neck headphones. I was actually trying to find headband styles. These looked lightweight, small, and low profile, they are also foldable (I wasn't sure how that worked until I bought them). The price was very reasonable as well, and because Amazon Prime is a thing, free returns exist. I figured what the heck, and ordered a blue set. Once I figured out how they unfolded (or more accurately, untwisted… important note: do NOT let go of one side of these after unfolding them, they WILL spring back into a coil and target a finger in the process), and how to position them properly around my neck, I was impressed. I will say that they are indeed a bit big on me, and due to that factor, I'd initially intended to return them. But, after finding a way to position them so they fit a little better, I decided to give them a fair shot and try them out for a bit. I can't really comment on their battery life as I haven't yet used them for more than a couple of hours at a time, but in my experience, they hold a charge well (5 hours watching Netflix is the longest stretch thus far), and recharge quickly enough for my needs (full disclosure, I immediately put them on the charger after every use, and haven't yet tried leaving them unplugged between uses.. likely not the healthiest way to treat the battery). Despite them being too big for me to wear/use while I'm active (they'd fall off my smurf-sized self in a heartbeat if I did more than power walk), I ultimately decided to keep them due to how comfortable they are. These are hands down the most comfortable headphones I own. They're snug enough to not slip off in a stiff breeze, but not so much that my pain/pressure sensitive ears start screaming after 20 minutes. They're not soundproof by any measure, but the sound quality (for the style and structure) is there. I personally think these sound better than my original model galaxy buds do (I'm not an audio nerd, so I don't know how well or poorly the buds performance actually rates). In my opinion (as someone who also suffers from severe ADHD, and understands/appreciates the trade-off) decent sound quality can effectively offset the lack of soundproofing. Not everyone holds that opinion obviously.. but for those who do, these do that. These are not high quality, state-of-the-art, ultra tech headphones. You are not going to find anything like that for the price of these, so don't buy these with that expectation in mind, or you're going to be put off. I only have one slight gripe with these (aside from them being too big on me), which could be a big gripe for left handed people.. and that is the location of the controls. As I've mentioned.. I'm not an audio nerd (I'm a mechanic and maintenance tech) and don't know what the standard is, but this is the first set of gear I've seen that have all controls on one side. Everything is on the right side.. nothing on the left. Being a righty, it's generally not an issue for me, but sometimes my right hand is occupied with something I can't put down (I'm a woman.. so naturally, I'm usually doing a bajillion things at once), and not having an option for left sided controls can be a pain. I didn't take off a star for the gripes because nothing is perfect.. and they're not deal breakers for me. Bottom line, if you want a decent and comfortable set of audio gear, that are compact, low profile, flexible (extremely flexible.. they'd make Gumby jealous), that put out better sound than they look like they would… and not have to forfeit your utility bill or insurance payment to buy.. try these!
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