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I think that's what they call it, where you can set it to hear what's going on around you?
Are there any others options with it that aren't AirPods?
I find that at times I'm increasingly not enjoying not being able to hear the outside world when I'm wearing earphones.
Don't really want to spend £250 on a pair though!
Cheers
Cambridge Audio Melomania earbuds have a transparency mode. Around £100
Think Sony Linkbuds will do what you're after.
No idea of sound quality though
I’m fairly sure my Sony ones do that. My Bluetooth settings would suggest they are a pair of WH-XB900Ns.
The Anker ones my Wife has; soundcore, I think, have this feature. I think they were only about £50-60.
Sweet cheers, thought it was just an Apple thing.
Will take a look 👍
If you’re feeling flush the Sony WF-1000M4’s are utterly brilliant. Great sound and the noise cancelling is pretty good for earbuds and the transparency option works really well also. Battery life if more than adequate also
Edifier earbuds have transparency mode too. Quite a lot do.
My Jabras (Elite ACTIVE 75t) have a hear through function which is the transparency bit.
My Sony WH-1000XM4s have something similar which I think is adaptive - not sure what the adaptive bit does through.
Basically they allow you to have a normal conversation and hear ambient noise without having to take them out/off.
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/articles/00229328
I'm shocked that 10 posts in and nobody has suggested just wearing one earbud?
That's what I do with my £20 Amazon ones that have been going strong for 4 yrs now. Only really use them for listing to podcasts while walking the dog or scrolling through nonsense on my phone but having the decency to not make the rest of the family listen. Couldn't tell you the last time the RH bud came out of the charging pod.
I guess if you want higher quality audio then spend some money. But if you just want to be aware of what's around you...
Sony WH1000-XM3s have it, you can cycle through noise cancelling, no noise cancelling, or 'ambient sound' which gives you some high frequencies around you but not the full spectrum. This actually makes some stuff clearer than if you had NC off, but less obtrusive as it cuts out the low frequency noise. Really good for hearing people trying to talk to you. You can also have the accompanying app auto detect what setting to use based on what you are doing e.g. sitting at home or on a plane, walking down the road etc.
Assume their earphones have something similar.
I’m shocked that 10 posts in and nobody has suggested just wearing one earbud?
That is rubbish for audio though. If I am walking down the road I wear no earbuds.
If you want to hear what is going on around you, I use Aftershokz (they may just be called Shokz now), they are the bone conduction ones. I use them all the time when running or on the turbo trainer.
Haven't bought anything yet but just looking at Sony, the XM3 & XM4 seem to have been "replaced" with the LinkBuds S. They're a bit cheaper than the XM4 too.
I've been happy with Sony in the past.
I think the WF1000-XM5s are imminent, if the leak sites are to be believed. The Linkbuds S look like a pretty good, cheaper, alternative. Still happy with my XM3s.
I think the WF1000-XM5s are imminent
Presumably they'll be around the £200 price? I prefer the price of the LinkBuds, they're on Amazon for £117
I have WH1000-XM3's (5 is the current model) and WF1000-XM4's. Both have Ambient/NC/off modes - not sure about the headphones (WH), but definitely with the earbuds (WF) you can alter the amount of noise cancelling/ambient sound coming through in each setting (other than off). They also have adaptive noise cancelling, so they learn your surroundings and adjust the ambient let through to suit
LinkBuds ordered 🙂
From John Lewis with 2 yr warranty.
The Oladance headphones mentioned in FGF are actually really good for being able to listen to what's happening in the real world. I know they are sponsoring our podcast this month but I was genuinely impressed with the sample set they sent us. One staffer has bought a set as a result.
The Oladance headphones mentioned in FGF are actually really good for being able to listen to what’s happening in the real world. I know they are sponsoring our podcast this month but I was genuinely impressed with the sample set they sent us. One staffer has bought a set as a result.
Ah too late this time!
I have some of these Sony WH-1000XM4s. They have this 'ambient' mode which allows a pass through of the noise around you. Also, you can touch and hold the left one to temporarily switch on the conversation mode for the same purpose.
It works, but I can't really say I find it useful.
They are great earbuds in all the other respects though. I did find that the tips were not to my lug holes liking, but I swapped them over for some others (JBL I think?) and they're really comfy and brilliant now.