In the modern world, more students than ever use headphones on a daily basis. This can be attributed to many different reasons. One reason is that the millennial student culture revolves around multi-tasking and being on-the-go; headphones are convenient because they allow them to listen to their music while they take public transit, walk to class, and complete their homework.
However, another reason is that headphone functionalities are changing and becoming more technologically advanced. Headphones are no longer limited to the traditional corded plug-and-play with bland design and heavyweight material. We are now living in an age where people will spend $500.00 on headphones – an outrageous idea that did not exist even a decade ago. Headphones have become a large component of technological culture today and have opened up a multi-million dollar market. They are being engineered to be sleek, slight, comfortable, visually appealing, and capable of multiple functions. This essay will discuss the topic of the best headphones for students as well as the qualities and factors to consider when branding headphones as superior. For the purpose of bench-marking, providing perspective, and putting information into context, this report will review Dr. Dre’s “
Beats by Dre Studio Wireless” and discuss why they has been so successful in the market, as well as why they are potentially the best pair of headphones on the market.
Before we discuss the headphones themselves, we must discuss the buying behavior of millennials, and students in particular. The new wave of students are less price-sensitive and less reluctant to spend. However, when they purchase anything, they want to purchase premium products which are often well recognized and established in the market. This is probably why you will more often see students drinking Starbucks rather than McDonalds, buying an Apple laptop over an HP brand, or begging their parents to buy them a BMW and not a Honda.
Students are fixated on the brand image, which is influenced by effective marketing.
Beats by Dre have been marketed worldwide as a revolutionary pair of headphones which not only sound great but also look “cool.” As someone who personally owns these headphones, and as someone who has spoken with several people who also own these headphones, there are several factors which influenced our buying decisions. These factors are: Sound quality, comfortability, appearance (design/color options), device pairing and compatibility, and durability/life-expectancy.
Let us first discuss sound quality. We students like to play our music relatively loud (especially if we are listening to our favorite song in the gym). The problem is that some headphones muffle sound and generate static if you turn the sound up a considerable amount because the speakers cannot handle the amount of base running through them.
Even some of the best earphones on the market are not able to produce crisp sound at full capacity. On the other hand, Beats by Dre generate a whopping bass and are extremely capable in producing crisp sound even when they are turned all the way to the maximum sound level. These headphones recommended by
AudioReputation produce sound so well that users normally do not even have to use more than 40-50 percent of the sound level capacity. In comparison, many users with other headphones listen to music between
70-90 percent of sound level capacity, and these headphones still do not produce a comparable sound quality. The earphones also have a noise-cancelling function which allows you to do homework with the sound-level on low, while still filtering out outside noise.
The next factor relates to us being comfortable wearing the headphones. We not only want to be comfortable wearing the headphones at certain times; we want to be comfortable wearing them all the time. Some headphones are not designed to comfortably fit over your ear, so as soon as someone finishes working out or doing whatever they were doing while listening to music, they will immediately remove the headphones – even with a small bit of relief. With comfortable headphones, you can almost forget that you are even wearing anything on your head. The Studio beats are flexible and adjustable to fit any head-size. The ear cushions are somewhat soft, and you can slide the headpiece on each side to better fit around your head.
The Studio earphones are so comfortable that people will walk with them on, work out with them on, take calls with them on, and more. As a student who sometimes spends 4-5 hours on homework at a time, I found these earphones so comfortable that even after several hours of studying with the headphones on, I forget that I even have them on. I personally find that the Studio earphones are comfortable because they are circumferential around the ear, while the Beats Solo brand is on-the-ear and does not provide the same comfortability.