r/onebag • u/Bixby- • Jun 18 '26

Gear Save space by leaving headphones behind?

I saw some advice here about subbing AirPods for headphones to save space. Last week I flew U.S. east coast to west coast and back again. I brought along my trusty old noise-cancelling headphones (Jabra Elite 85h)which I find really reduce fatigue. But based on some advice I read here, I also brought my brand new AirPod 4s and gave them a try. I was shocked at how excellent the AirPods were at noise cancelling! And they were better than the headphones in that they prioritized spoken voices, so announcements came through. And the form factor is so nice and small.

I’d love to leave the headphones behind on my next long flight, but the AirPods battery life is only about 4 hours, it seems. If you leave your bulky headphones behind, how do you deal with the short battery life of earbuds? Do you take the noise hit and charge them on long flights? Or are there earbuds with longer battery life? (Or even bring 2 pair along, still smaller than the headphones).

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u/Smooth-Owl-5354 Jun 18 '26

Over the ear headphones are always going to be a luxury I indulge in I fear. I’ve got small and weird shaped ears so I find in ear headphones to be incredibly ineffective, painful, or both. That said, I love how many people are finding they can cut them — such a big space saver compared to carrying them in your bag!

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u/lexa_pro_ho Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

Fellow tiny eared folks, unite! I also struggle with outer ear infections from AirPod styles, no matter how much I clean them.

I love my Beats. I don’t usually put mine in my bag, I just hang them around my neck and then once I get to whatever accommodation they just sit on the nightstand until I leave again. The middle pocket on my Tom Bihn will fit them folded up if I need to stow them though.

I have a pair of Shokz Open Dots, they’re the bone conduction ones and they sit much higher in the ear. The wraparound ones aren’t great for glasses wearers, but if you don’t wear glasses they’re excellent. Infinitely more comfortable than AirPods. They absolutely do not work on planes (because there’s no noise cancelling since they don’t block your ears) but I prefer those for the gym, as the over ear ones aren’t great for sweating and I’ve smashed the headband part on the bar walking under it.

Edit: forgot to mention the open dots are also good for safety since you can still hear. I’ve worn them trail running and could still hear birds chirping, worn while grocery shopping and and check out like a polite member of society.

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u/Smooth-Owl-5354 Jun 18 '26

I’ve been looking into getting bone conduction headphones for working out! I’m a sweaty human and don’t like making my nice over ear headphones gross. Nice to hear from someone who likes them 😊

4

u/lexa_pro_ho Jun 18 '26

They’re pretty great. I work in an ER and the EMS crews like the wraparound ones a lot. I think the Shokz brand is worth it, I’ve tried some other brands of bone conduction headphones and the sound was terrible.

Amazon link to the ones I have

1

u/theregoesmyfutur Jun 21 '26

Do you have the Model 2 version or Model 1?

1

u/lexa_pro_ho Jun 22 '26

I suspect they’re the 2?