Looks like the next iPhone won't have a headphone jack. Luckily, you don't need to spend a lot to replace your wired pair.
If the rumors and leaked product photos are to be believed, the iPhone 7 won't have a headphone jack.
The horror!
This
might require a little decision-making, either now or down the road.
Obviously you can keep your current iPhone if you like (at least for a
while), or you can call Apple's bluff and switch to Android.
A great option for the gym, the Sol Republic Shadow Wireless is a steal at $40 refurbished.
Sol Republic
But if you're planning to buy the new iPhone and you've previously relied on wired earbuds or headphones,
it's time to consider a Bluetooth option. There are several advantages
to cutting this particular cord, not the least of which is eliminating
that forever-tangled, always-in-the-way cord.
Best for: The gym
If
you've ever used wired headphones at the gym, you know how easy it is
for cords to catch on equipment. That's why a Bluetooth set makes a lot
more sense anyway.
Needless to say, that set needs to be
sweatproof, otherwise your 15-minute treadmill warmup might
short-circuit the earbuds before you lift a single weight. I also
recommend a noise-isolating headphone that can block out loud lifters
and whatever radio or TV is blaring in the background. After all, you
want to be able to hear your own music and podcasts, right?
There
are countless inexpensive gym-friendly earbuds that fit the bill -- most
of them from brands you've never heard of. Hit up Amazon and you'll
literally find dozens of "sweatproof Bluetooth earbuds" priced at $40 or
less.
However, I recommend the Sol Republic Shadow Wireless,
a sweet-sounding in-ear Bluetooth headphone with a list price of
$99.99. However, Amazon is currently selling them refurbished for as little as $39.99, depending on color. I've been using these at the gym for the past six months; they've been outstanding.
Best for: Running
These Cambond earphones come with hooks so they won't fall out of your ears.
Cambond
Runners don't need high-fidelity headphones; they need earpieces that will stay put and resist sweat. My preferred pick: the Cambond Bluetooth 4.1 Earphone.
Available on Amazon for $29.99, these runner-friendly 'phones have earhooks to help keep the earbuds from falling loose.
They run for close to 10 hours on a charge and include inline play/pause and volume controls along with a microphone.
The
Cambonds also support Bluetooth 4.1, meaning you can keep two different
devices paired (very handy) and even come with a zippered, hard-sided
carrying case.
Best for: Around the house
When you're just kicking back and enjoying some tunes, consider an on-ear pair that's comfortable for long bouts of listening.
Comfortable means expensive, right? Not necessarily: CNET's David Carnoy is a fan of the Creative Sound Blaster Jam, an on-ear headphone that lists for $49.99 and routinely sells for $36.99 on Amazon.
Although
you won't mistake these for a set of Beats, either in style or comfort,
you will enjoy a lightweight, head-friendly design for considerably
less money. Perhaps most amazing, these Bluetooth 'phones include NFC
for one-tap pairing to devices that support it.
Dlodlo,
pronounced "dodo", is the latest company entering the virtual reality
market. The Shenzhen, China-based company showed off its new device, the
Dlodlo V1, at an event in New York City on Monday.
While this
was the first time that working models were available for demos, the
device has been teased for quite sometime. Dlodlo is looking to change
the VR landscape with its new and lightweight headset. Current VR
headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive
are bulky and require being tethered to an expensive computer, but the
Dlodlo V1 resembles a large pair of sunglasses and can be powered by
your smartphone.
The headset weighs only 3.1 ounces, or about half the weight of an iPhone 6S Plus,
and can be folded to fit in your pocket. While the design and hardware
showed promise from afar, actual usage fell short of my expectations.
The
glasses feature a 2,400x1,200-pixel resolution display in front of each
eye, which is equivalent to over 800 pixels per inch, and has a
105-degree field of view. Yet, my experience certainly didn't look like
2K -- images, videos and gameplay appeared blurry and not as sharp as
on an HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or even the Samsung Gear VR. We tested early production models, though, so there is a possibility the display will improve.
This autumn, when the new
software for the Apple Watch (watchOS 3) is launched, along with a new
interface and extra watch faces there’s an app called Breathe.
One
new feature may be a touch-screen strip that would replace the function
keys with icons that change appearance and behavior depending on what
you're doing, says Bloomberg.
