Cool Little Headphones That 'Clip' To Your Ears
Intended for active uses, 'Clip-On' headphones (also called 'ear-clip') attach to the flap of your ear (pinna) with a small lever that looks like the earpiece on a pair of glasses. Despite their somewhat odd appearance, clip-on headphones can both sound good and feel secure and comfortable to wear. Clip-on headphones are good for walking, bicycling, and other outdoor sports activities because they do not seal the ear canal, and you can hear ambient noise in your surroundings if you don't play your music too loud. They can be worn under most bicycle, skating, sports and ski helmets.
Top HeadRoom Picks For Clip-On Headphones
If 'slick' was a headphone it might be the Sony MDR-Q68LW. With a retractable cable and lanyard between each tiny gloss black and chrome earpiece, the Sony MDR-Q68LW could easily be packed in half a shirt pocket with no cable tangle. The only problem with these earphones is that they generally have small-ish bass; otherwise the sound is quite good for news, talk, sports, and casual music listening. The way better-sounding (but not quite as stylish) Koss KSC75 has been our long-time favorite for this type of headphone and at only $20, it lives large in our HeadRoom Top Ten Headphones list. Being the audio fanatics we are, we're pleasantly surprised to see the Yuin G1A appear in this category. Essentially identical to the KSC75 but with slightly better bass, these little cans are great fun. Amongst the most sports-oriented 'Clip-On' headphones for exercise and jogging are the Sennheiser OMX680 or the OMX680i (with mic) both offering a very secure flex-loop fit design. For studio pros and audio enthusiasts, the top Sony MDR-7550 comes from a long lineage of stage work and studio monitoring headphones for amazing 'Clip-On' sound quality.
We've listed our top picks below but click here to see all clip on headphones.
