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What is In-Ear Wear Detection in TWS? How Does it Work?

A beneficial feature comes in some TWS earbuds called in-ear detection. It helps the earbuds detect whether you’re wearing them or not. But, do you ever think about what wear detection feature is in your earbuds and how it works? Well, in this article, we will discuss everything about in-ear detection in TWS and how it works.

Related | What is Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) in TWS? How Does it Work?

What is In-Ear Detection in TWS & How it Works?

What is In-ear Detection in TWS

In-ear detection is a feature available in several TWS earbuds in the market. This feature detects whether you’re wearing your earbuds. If a person removes an earbud while listening to the music, it automatically stops playing the music. Similarly, when the person wears the earbud again, it automatically starts playing the music again.

This makes it quite convenient while listening to music as you don’t have to play or pause manually. TWS with in-ear detection has a sensor embedded in both the earbuds. This sensor detects whether the earbud is worn, and based on its calculation, it pauses or plays the music.

Types of In-Ear Detection Function

There are two different types of in-ear detection functions used in TWS. Let’s check about them in detail and which one is a better type of in-ear detection.

Physical In-ear Detection (Photosensory)

Physical In-ear Detection

Physical in-ear detection is done through a capacitive sensor embedded in the pair of TWS. This sensor senses the temperature of the human body to perform this action. When you remove the earbud from your ear, the temperature is gone from the sensor, based on which it stops playing the music. And, when you put back the earbud in the ear, it senses the temperature again and starts playing the music.

Optical In-ear Detection (Somatosensory)

Optical In-ear Detection

Optical in-ear detection is done through a light sensor embedded in the pair of TWS. This sensor works upon the light reflection area. When you take out the earbud from your ear, the light starts passing through the sensor, which stops the music on the earbud. Similarly, when you put the earbud back again, the lights get blocked with your skin, and it starts playing the music again.

Which Type of Wear Detection is Better on TWS?

Now that we have discussed the types of in-ear detection, the question arises: which type of in-ear detection is better? We have to look out for both the types and their cost.

The physical in-ear detection that uses a capacitive sensor to sense the temperature can sometimes be wrong in cold weather or other conditions. Because the skin temperature can fluctuate, the sensor may miss out on performing in-ear detection. This is the shortcoming of physical in-ear detection.

The optical in-ear detection is more accurate and fast because the light sensor acts instantly when the light passes or stops passing through the sensor. But, because of this benefit, optical in-ear detection is more expensive. It comes only in the expensive TWS like Apple AirPods, but the physical in-ear detection is available in budget TWS.

So, if you want fast and accurate in-ear detection, you have to spend more on expensive TWS. But, if you are budget-centric, you can also go for physical in-ear detection TWS.

Should You Buy TWS With In-ear Detection?

Should You Buy TWS with In-ear Detection

If you are buying a new pair of truly wireless earbuds for yourself, you can consider the ones with the in-ear detection feature. Practically, this feature makes the earbuds more user-friendly and convenient in everyday use.

If you want to talk to someone suddenly while listening to the music, you can remove either earbud, and the music will stop playing. But, as we discussed above, this may not be functional in some cases, like in different weather for physical in-ear detection.

How to Check if Your TWS Have In-Ear Detection?

Now, you may be thinking about how you can check whether your TWS has the in-ear detection or not. Well, you can check this thing in the following ways:

  • Check for a black dot on both earbuds
  • Stop the music and cover the black dot to check if the music starts playing.
  • Put one earbud in the case and check if the music stops.
  • Remove any earbud from the ear and check if the music stops.

Popular TWS Earbuds With Wear Detection

There are some amazing TWS available with the in-ear detection feature that you can consider buying. Here are the best ones to go for:

1. Apple AirPods 3rd Gen

The Apple AirPods 3rd Generation is the latest TWS by Apple that features in-ear detection. It comes with optical skin-detecting sensors for a better in-ear detection experience. This TWS has interesting features like spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, adaptive EQ, up to 30 hours of battery life, and an IPX4 water-resistance rating.

Check on Amazon India

Huawei Freebuds Pro

The Huawei Freebuds Pro is also a premium TWS with wear detection. These earbuds have active noise cancellation with a 3-mics system, 10mm drivers, and up to 14.5 hours of battery life, but no official water-resistance rating is available. If you want to have a crisp audio experience with many useful features, you can consider this one.

Check on Amazon India

Realme Buds Air 3

Realme Buds Air 3

The Realme Buds Air 3 is the latest TWS in the market with many features under Rs 5000. It features the in-ear detection feature that you can manually enable from its app. One of the main highlighting features of this product is the 42db active noise cancellation technology.

Other features like 10mm dynamic bass boost drivers, IPX5 water resistance, up to 30 hours of battery backup, and customized audio tuning make it a very interesting buy for under Rs 5000.

Check on Flipkart India

Wrapping Up

That’s all for the in-ear wear detection feature in TWS. We discussed everything about it, its types, benefits, and the popular TWS with wear detection in the market. Do your TWS earbuds have this feature, tell us in the comments below. And, stay tuned with WearablesToUse for more informative articles!

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Himanshu Kansal

Himanshu roams around the Internet to find the latest happenings in Tech Industry to stay updated about everything Tech. Apart from being a Tech Writer, he also makes content on YouTube and is passionate about Smartphones and Gadgets.