Through the hallways of U-High, headphones are everywhere: on heads, desks and shoulders, and in bags, pockets and purses. But the sorts of headphones students have to choose from are more wide-ranging than ever, from chunky Apple AirPods Max headphones to compact options like AirPods or Powerbeats.
Showcasing a sea of colors, sizes and styles, headphones have become an integral part of a student’s sense of taste and expression.
Standard AirPods, versions of which have been around for much of the last decade, remain popular with students. Hannah Bueno de Mesquita prefers them for her music listening.
“I like that they’re like noise canceling, and you can change how much you hear out of them,” she said.
She explained that one of the benefits to having AirPods is being able to use her phone to locate them without too much hassle.
“I feel like I would lose them a lot, but I can use ‘Find My iPhone’ on them and know where they are,” she said.
But Olivia Adams, who has lost multiple sets of AirPods, said she has found herself annoyed by the headphones.
“I used to decorate my headphones, but I always lose them so I stopped. I think the one negative thing about AirPods compared to regular headphones is they are more expensive, and if you lose them then that’s just a lot of money,” she said.
Since she lost her latest pair a couple months ago, Oliva has been using some simple wired earbuds throughout her day to day. Despite the risk of losing the AirPods, which operate wirelessly with Bluetooth, Olivia said she still prefers them over her current wired headphones.
“I don’t like using them because they always get tangled in my bag, especially during passing periods when I want to listen to music and it takes like two minutes to untangle them,” she said.
Ryen Williams also dislikes wired headphones and thinks that they’re becoming outdated.
“I think Bluetooth is good personally. I think wires are kind of outdated, but it’s becoming a style where people will buy things and use things from the past,” he explained.
Rathin Shah is a fan of older technology. Their go-to headphones are Koss Porta Pros, a Walkman-style over-the-ear headphone model that was first introduced in the 1980s.
“I learned about them through this album cover, a Caroline Polachek album, ‘Desire, I Want to Turn Into You,’ and she wears these very pretty headphones and I looked them up,” they said.
They explained that although the audio quality they get is not the best, the style and the compliments they receive are worth it.
