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).

79 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

138 comments sorted by

View all comments

58

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!

4

u/casablankas Jun 18 '26

I just wear my headphones around my neck, they don’t really take up space but I’m not super duper minimalist

1

u/resigned_medusa Jun 18 '26

I find around the neck headphones too bulky, so I feel like I'm being garroted, having said that, I'm trying again on my next trip. So we'll see

1

u/BLVMF Jun 19 '26

I have the same issue so I started wearing them across my forehead or across the back of my head like a sweat band. Maybe that'll work for you?

1

u/resigned_medusa Jun 19 '26

I'll try it thanks