These Smartphone Audio Settings Could Save Your Hearing (If You Use Headphones)

Equipping yourself with the right pair of headphones (which can require knowing which headphone brands to avoid) can make a major difference in your enjoyment of music, movies, games, and other such audio-heavy experiences. However, while it can be tempting to push your headphones to their limits volume-wise, it's important to remember that listening to headphones with the volume too high can damage your hearing. Luckily, depending on the types of headphones and devices you use, there are often adjustments you can make to a smartphone's settings that may guard against these potentially harmful effects.

For example, perhaps you use Apple devices. If so, you can open the Settings app and select Sounds and Haptics if you're using an iPhone, or just Sounds on an iPad. Select Headphone Safety and toggle Headphone Notifications on. With this feature activated, your device will send notifications when it detects that your listening habits may be putting your hearing in harm's way. If you want an additional level of protection, you can also enable Reduce Loud Audio. This feature allows you to set an upper limit on the decibel level for that device. If you listen to any audio above that decibel level, the feature automatically reduces the headphone volume.

If your preferred earbuds are the Google Pixel Buds Pro, Pixel Buds Pro 2, and Pixel Buds 2a, you can apply Hearing Wellness features to keep volume levels in check, providing many of the same benefits that Apple products afford its users. In particular, this feature allows you to review your listening habits to determine when you're getting close to over-exposing your ears to dangerous volume levels.

How you activate the feature can vary depending on your device. With a Pixel phone using Android 10+, you can open Settings and tap Connected Devices, then select Settings with the name of your paired Pixel Buds. For other Android devices, you can open the Pixel Buds app. Once you've taken these steps, tap Hearing Wellness. Now you'll have access to critical information about how the way you're listening to audio through your Pixel Buds may be affecting your hearing. After you've turned on Hearing Wellness, you can also turn on Volume Level Notifications.

Enabling these features and notifications is easy. The benefits of doing so, however, can be substantial. While listening to your music loud might be fun, it's not fun enough to be worth sacrificing your hearing. In the meantime, if you prefer to optimize your listening experience by choosing the right gear, consider researching quality audiophile headphones or reasons to choose wired headphones over Bluetooth. With the right equipment, you might not feel the need to compensate by blasting the volume.