Bluetooth headphones- safety?

Cerebus

Cerebus

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Talked to a person who was wearing ‘bone conducting’ earphones.

Good for people that are pedestrians or cyclists or sailors because they can hear ambient sounds and ALSO hear a phone call or music from phone.

Leaves ears open for ambient sound, but allows phones calls to be heard and answered via Bluetooth so better than ‘ear muffler type’ headphones.

Temu sell for £16 or less.

Currys sells for about£95

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/s...b2qu-D4AWk4BOB2INvpM6JB4obEVELboaApHvEALw_wcB

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&...9s6sn96QAxXHVUEAHanSFNwQwg8oAHoECAgQXw&adurl=

Is there likely to be a difference?

Microwave emission?

Something known as SAR rating?

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/...s-rf-headphones/mdr-rf895rk/articles/00270956

Wanting to buy for a friend; wish to buy something that will not harm them.

Ultra low frequency emissions (iirc, whales use this and submarines) - not sure if this applies to any of the above.

How do I find the safest product to buy?
 
Well, I've worn Bluetooth enabled hearing aids for many years, with not the slightest effect on my health. And I wear them all day long, from waking to sleeping.

Basically, the signal strength is way below levels that will cause harm. I believe double-blind tests have been done that show that any perceived effect is illusory.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Well, I've worn Bluetooth enabled hearing aids for many years, with not the slightest effect on my health. And I wear them all day long, from waking to sleeping.

Basically, the signal strength is way below levels that will cause harm. I believe double-blind tests have been done that show that any perceived effect is illusory.
Click to expand...
Thanks,

To be pedantic; not the slightest effect upon your health you have so far noticed… ?

Perhaps.

But this page suggests Bluetooth are safer than a mobile phone and much safer than a microwave (we all know mobile phones and Bluetooth use microwaves), as you say.

I thought there was a huge issue with earbuds or ibuds years ago.

Here is what I found so far:

Google Search
 
Back to the OQ, any recommendations for bone conducting Bluetooth headsets?

I can’t believe Temu £18 ones are as good as Sony £95 ones.

Or am I too cynical?
 
I have a pair of philips that I bought on Amazon and they are useless, because they will not stay in the correct position.

It turns out they are made so that loop at the back should go above my pony tail.

My kids have ones called something like shokz, and they are really good...
 
pandos said:
I have a pair of philips that I bought on Amazon and they are useless, because they will not stay in the correct position.

It turns out they are made so that loop at the back should go above my pony tail.

My kids have ones called something like shokz, and they are really good...
Click to expand...
Thanks, I have seen the Shokz; pretty expensive.

Never having experienced anything like them, do they do as advertised - allow one to listen to music and still walk the pavement and hear traffic etc?
 
Shokz were at the leading edge of this stuff. (I’m not sure if they are the true pioneer but they were key in making them commonplace and lots of people have certainly copied them since).

I personally wouldn’t have any concerns about safety of one of the brand name product and probably not any for even the imports in terms of radiation. Firstly mostly they are receiving not transmitting, which means the dose of energy is much lower. Obviously they do transmit too, but only over a short distance - compared to your phone which needs to reach a tower 100’s of m away the power is low.

If there is a difference in the products it’s probably stuff life power efficiency, battery charging, waterproofing, quality and comfort or perhaps the software that runs inside them and how clean the signal is. If there’s a safety issue with the dirt cheap ones it’s probably a fire hazard charging rather than frying your brain (not that I have any evidence of an issue with charging them).

My one concern about buying as a gift is comfort probably had a headshape factor? As a speccy type it took a bit of getting used to them sitting on my glasses. But personally I would not go back to ear buds or over the ear headphones. I sometimes wear them on the boat for handsfree coms to my wife when one of us is on the bow picking up a bouy or dropping anchor - no more shouting or trying to see hand signals when facing the wrong way.
 
Cerebus said:
Thanks, I have seen the Shokz; pretty expensive.

Never having experienced anything like them, do they do as advertised - allow one to listen to music and still walk the pavement and hear traffic etc?
Click to expand...
Yes. I use them regularly for running and cycling.

One downside is that because they allow ambient sound in, wind noise can sometimes drown out the headphone sound.

But on balance, I find them to be excellent.
 
I always have a cynical chuckle when I see worries about bluetooth headphones being discussed, from people who have likley been strapping a celllular device close to their crotch for the better part of two decades (or closer to three for some).

To the question, a lot of runners use the bone conducting ones, they are good. I like my Airpods as the hear-through mode is excellent for safety. Honestly, just get a good name-brand such as Shokz.
 
How harmful is Bluetooth for health?

The radiation exposure from Bluetooth applications is on average lower than that from cell phones or smartphones. However, more precise statements on the harmfulness of Bluetooth radiation cannot be made because the long-term effect of Bluetooth radiation on human health has never been studied.

How harmful is Bluetooth radiation?
 
Cerebus said:
Back to the OQ, any recommendations for bone conducting Bluetooth headsets?

I can’t believe Temu £18 ones are as good as Sony £95 ones.

Or am I too cynical?
Click to expand...
There will be a difference, but doubt the difference is 80% worse!

e.g. I expect Sony make theirs in JP and the Temu ones in CN, so there's a difference in production costs (labour, infrastructure etc) straightaway - that has an impact on costs, but not on the quality of product. The internal components? They are probably all from the same handful of chipset makers anyway and the rest, battery, casing (and if a "normal" headset, speakers etc) is the only place where they can cut costs. So for an 80% saving, you can replace yearly if the battery life isn't great.

Most Common Headphone Chips -
 
snowbird30ds said:
Anything at about £16 will be about £16 worth of quality, why would you buy anything for a friend from temu?
For a crap relative is fair game...
Click to expand...

Something costing £16 ex factory in China may well be the same item sold for many times the price in UK retailers by the time importer's, wholesaler's and retailer's profits + VAT are added.
 
Cerebus said:
Back to the OQ, any recommendations for bone conducting Bluetooth headsets?

I can’t believe Temu £18 ones are as good as Sony £95 ones.

Or am I too cynical?
Click to expand...

Been using bone conductors for about 8 years. Perhaps 3 hours a day. Often all day on weekends.

Aftershokz (Now just shokz.) Are the best brand, I've bought three pairs. The warranty is 2 years, and if you're lucky, sweat and abuse will kill them just before 2 years and you'll get 4 years out of the investment.

I've had the cheap Chinese ones too and they're actually fine. Slightly quieter, slightly more fiddly. They last as well as the Shokz and the failure mode is the same - power key stops working.

Obviously the whole point is your ears are exposed so they're useless with significant background/wind noise.

My advice would be get some well reviewed Chinese ones and if you like them get Aftershokz next time.
 
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Thanks for all the replies; a lot of info there.

Yes, it appears Bluetooth emits less radiation than a mobile phone as per the table of data I linked to labelled: “Google Search” (post 8? or prior) …

And as pointed out by others with tables of data.

Good to hear real life experiences.

Thanks
 
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I have the shokz openrun (non pro) and they are great for running and listening to podcasts and audiobooks. The sound quality and lack of bass make them not that good for music. I have stopped using them on my bike as I found that to overcome the wind noise and traffic I was having to bump the volume up to the max, not great for my hearing health. I have switched to in ear headphones on the bike now and I can listen at a much lower volume and still hear what is playing.
 
Cerebus said:
Talked to a person who was wearing ‘bone conducting’ earphones.

Good for people that are pedestrians or cyclists or sailors because they can hear ambient sounds and ALSO hear a phone call or music from phone.

Leaves ears open for ambient sound, but allows phones calls to be heard and answered via Bluetooth so better than ‘ear muffler type’ headphones.

Temu sell for £16 or less.

Currys sells for about£95

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/s...b2qu-D4AWk4BOB2INvpM6JB4obEVELboaApHvEALw_wcB

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&...9s6sn96QAxXHVUEAHanSFNwQwg8oAHoECAgQXw&adurl=

Is there likely to be a difference?

Microwave emission?

Something known as SAR rating?

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/...s-rf-headphones/mdr-rf895rk/articles/00270956

Wanting to buy for a friend; wish to buy something that will not harm them.

Ultra low frequency emissions (iirc, whales use this and submarines) - not sure if this applies to any of the above.

How do I find the safest product to buy?
Click to expand...
I have all ways used wired head phones.Personally i do not like the idea of the blue tooth recievers so near my head.

They are also super easy too lose, or lose the case that you charge them
 
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