How to choose the best pair of headphones for travelling

With spring right around the corner, you may be feeling the need to hit the road and travel. After being cooped up in the house for winter, heading out on a vacation can give you a renewed lease on life. The only downside to heading off to sunnier skies is getting from point A to point B, but taking a pair of headphones along can really help. If you need help choosing a pair for travelling, there are plenty of options for blocking noise or listening to your playlists anywhere you roam.

Why do you need headphones for travel?

There are quite a few reasons why you’ll want to take a pair of headphones with you when you travel.

• You can listen to music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audiobooks on the go
• You can listen to what you’d like to without disturbing anyone around you
• They offer you complete privacy in busy environments, so you can turn up the volume and no one will know or focus if you need to work while on holiday
• They have features that block sound, take calls, let you listen wirelessly, and have a long battery life to keep you connected

Choose the best pair of headphones for travelling

There are a few types of headphones that are perfect to take on flights, road trips, or anywhere you’ll be in large groups and need to take a break.

1. Versatile in-ear earphones are very portable

For travel, one of the most important headphone features is portability. That’s why I like in-ear headphones. Also called earphones, they are much easier to take along on your travels, and they are quite comfortable when you use the right size ear tip.

When used properly earphones are an excellent choice for anyone wanting to listen to music or take calls on the go. There are many different brands that make excellent-sounding earphones with long battery life. I personally use a pair of Jabra Elite Pro 7’s and I was blown away by how powerful the active noise cancellation is.

2. Block outside noise with different types of noise cancelling

My least favourite part of travel is having to be in airports jam-packed with people. It can quickly become overwhelming. If you have air travel in the near future you might want to opt for a pair of headphones with active and ambient noise-cancelling features. You can swap between complete noise cancellation mode where you block all sounds and surrounding aware settings that filter in outside noise but still let you hear outside noise.

Over-ear headphones are also a great option for long car rides as a passenger. They are comfortable, with large, soft ear cups, and you can listen to music with a sense of privacy.

3. On-ear options are great for kids

If you’re travelling with kids, you definitely want hassle-free headphones that are comfortable to wear. On-ear headphones for kids rest on their ears and have cushions that are lightweight and unintrusive. They are also built to be a smaller size than standard headphones so they fit on a child’s head without slipping.

For kids, there are a lot of child-friendly headphones that are wireless or wired and available in kid-friendly themes and colours.

The most important feature of a kid’s headset when travelling are parental controls and safety features. You’ll find many kids’ headsets with volume limits to not damage developing ears, so if you’re distracted with your luggage or driving for hours you won’t have to worry about your child turning the volume up too loud. Kids’ audio devices also have noise cancelling so you can block sound when you’re walking through stressful environments like airports.

Which headphones will you travel with?

Headphones are one of the devices I always take with me when I travel. They give you privacy in stressful environments, offer superior sound quality for everything you want to listen to, and can help with focus if you have to take calls or take work with you while you travel.

For a more in-depth guide on choosing between headphones and earbuds, check out my article on which headphones are right for you. No matter where you’re travelling to this year, you’ll find a wide array of high-quality headphones to take along at Best Buy.