I need some new earbuds, and live in a place with severe winters. I want to be able to access the controls using gloves or mittens if possible.

The online reviews I’ve seen all assume that you can just touch the earbuds with bare hands, but when it’s well below freezing, that sometimes isn’t possible. If I have to take off a mitt to use my earbuds my hand might not warm up until I can get back indoors again. Earbuds that work with touchscreen-capable gloves aren’t good enough either. I’ve never seen touchscreen-capable gloves that keep your hands warm at -40C.

Any suggestions?

  • QualifiedKitten@discuss.onlineEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    Ugh, I indirectly feel your pain. I don’t have the issue with cold, but just didn’t enjoy the touch controls on any earbuds I’ve tried, so I’m stuck using my older, slowly falling apart earbuds with inline controls. The earbuds have a wire connecting the two buds, and there’s a little lump of plastic along the wire with 3 buttons, but there’s no wire connecting them to the device. Short press turns volume up, down, pause/play. It also has functions mapped to long press and double press for things like next/previous, assistant, and I forget what else.

    It’s super hard to find any headphones lately that are Bluetooth, but still have a wire connecting the two ear pieces, and therefore a spot for the inline controls. I have no clue about the quality of these, just linking as an example of the style that has worked well for me: https://www.amazon.com/Scosche-Rechargeable-Bluetooth-Microphone-Isolating/dp/B01KU7EYZO

    • merc@sh.itjust.worksOP
      1·
      8 days ago

      Yeah, I used to have a pair like that. If you don’t like poking at your ear, the in-line controls are nice. But, in winter those can often get buried in your scarf/coat which is a bit annoying.

      You might be interested in what some other people have said in the thread about bluetooth remotes.

      There are somewhat expensive ones that seem to be meant for either steering wheels or handlebars, and ultra-cheap ones that are basically a handheld remote. Some others are designed to be worn as rings. I might see if one of those will work inside a mitten. It could be ideal for winter. Maybe it’s useful for you too.