Buying advice

Your first main decision to make is whether to buy cordless or corded headphones :

Cordless headphones

These have two main advantages over corded types – no trailing wires and, instead of plugging into the headphone socket, they can be used with the audio sockets at the back of your TV or stereo. This prevents the loudspeaker on your TV or stereo from cutting out, so you can sit back, relax and listen through your headphones knowing that others around you can listen too. There are two types of cordless headphone – infrared and radio. Both types have two parts: the headphones, or headset, that you wear and a small transmitter base unit that doubles up as the charger for the batteries that power the headphones. A lead connects the transmitter to the audio socket at the back of the TV or stereo. Infrared headphones work well as long as you use them in the same room as the infrared transmitter, whereas radio headphones should work anywhere in your home.                    

Corded headphones

These only work when plugged into the headphone socket but you’ll probably find they will cut out the loudspeaker on your TV or stereo. If you try plugging into the audio sockets on the back of the TV or stereo, the headphones may not work because these connections are not powerful enough to drive the headphones directly. So corded headphones are ideal if you are listening on your own. There are a couple of other things to consider, though, including how long is the cord? If it’s too short, you’ll end up sitting too close to the TV screen. If this is the case, get an extension lead from your local electrical store. Corded headphones often have an in-line volume control for easy adjustment. We are often asked if there are headphones with separate left and right volume ‘balance’ controls. The Sennheiser HD65-TV has this feature but, in general, most corded headphones have only a single volume control.

Now, consider our verdicts and the features which you might find helpful. Use this information to help you select any suitable products. The models we looked at varied greatly in their comfort and this also varied according to the users themselves. As comfort is such an important factor with these products, especially if you are likely to wear them to watch a long film, we recommend that you try wearing these headphones in a shop, if possible, to see how they feel to you. Also consider how easy the controls are to use as they may be rather small and fiddly.

Where to buy

The Philips, RadioShack and RNID headphones are available from our online shop. All other models are available from large electrical retailers and online stores.