Survey: Earbud users want a more comfortable design

Earbud users who wear their earbuds multiple times each day at work and leisure want comfortable earbuds that won’t completely block out their external environments, according to a survey of 2,000+ earbud global consumers, conducted by ams. They also want great sound, long battery life, and devices that won’t damage their hearing.

The Comfortable, Smart, High-performing Earbuds Survey polled users in China, Europe, and the U.S. on their audio earbud uses, habits, and preferences. There was no surprise that listening to music was the top use of earbuds across all regions (80%), followed by sports/exercise (61%), voice calls (51%), and gaming (45%).

A key finding indicates that consumers don’t want to lose awareness of their surroundings. Although many users prefer tight-fit earbuds for sports or exercise, they are uncomfortable for extended use or they don’t fit correctly, according to 45% of survey respondents, and they can make them feel less aware of their surroundings (21%).

The survey also found that users of tight-fit earbuds often cannot hear themselves in a natural way during voice calls (14%) and they block out too much surrounding noise, such as approaching vehicles, or where the sound is coming from (31%).

In comparison, 26% of survey respondents said loose-fit earbuds are more comfortable than tight-fit airbuds and 20% report that loose-fit airbuds allow them to hear some surrounding noise and activity. However, 21% of respondents said they hear too much background noise with loose-fit earbuds.

By region, some of the biggest findings include:

• Consumers in China use multiple types of earbuds (36%) to listen to music (85%) several times a day (68%). They want active noise cancelling (ANC) (70%) and high sound quality (64%)
• In the U.S., users prefer tight-fit ear buds (25%) for their better fit/staying in place (59%) especially during exercise (53%), but they can hurt when worn all day (29%).
• In Europe, consumers use their earbuds several times a day (37%); want at least five hours of battery time (50%), and less than one-third realize that ANC is available for loose-fit buds.

Market opportunities

There are technologies to make the earbud experience for both loose-fit and tight-fit earbuds more enjoyable for users, said ams, along with sensor solutions that provide comfort and performance. Across all regions, the most important feature was volume-limiting technology to prevent hear loss or damage, according to 56% of respondents. In China, it was even higher at 63%.

The need for improved performance also opens up market opportunities for earbud designs with ANC technology, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. Only 17% of U.S. survey respondents report using ANC headphones and just 16% in Europe. In comparison, nearly 50% of respondents in China use ANC headphones.

Consumers also want longer battery life. Nearly 49% of respondents agreed battery life must be at least five hours and 32% said they prefer battery life of over eight hours and up to 24 hours.

In addition, 42% of respondents said it was important for earbuds to be waterproof. Also, wireless users fear losing their earbuds (10%), due to them falling out or not fitting correctly (20%), which drives the need for a “find me” feature with nearly one in three respondents requesting it.

Other features on their wish lists include 3D or spatial sound and high volume without distortion. In China, 3D or spatial sound features rank high with 48% expressing interest compared to only 24% in the U.S. and 20% in Europe. Consumers in China also want high volume without distortion mostly for gaming (50%), though it was less desired in the U.S. (31%) and Europe (19%).

Ams offers a variety of wireless earbud solutions and technologies. These include noise cancellation for both tight- and loose-fit earbuds in a small form factor and with ultra-low power consumption. The company also provides ultra-sensitive and miniaturized proximity sensors to detect when the earbuds are in use or not, which helps to extend battery life between charging.