Inside My Backpack: Kensington Noise Canceling Headphones

You could hardly consider me a huge music fan. I can't name the 90% of the artists singing the songs I like nor can I tell the difference between 128kbps and lossless audio recordings of the same songs. Heck, I barely even listen to music anymore these days - most of the time it is a podcast that I am trying to get though whether I am on the road or at a gym. And for that reason, I resisted for a long time getting a noise canceling headset. Then last year I really flew a lot and got frustrated with not being able to hear my precious podcasts while on an airplane. So I cave in and got myself a Kensington headset:

Besides not really caring for the quality of sound, I also was under impression that I would have to pay lots of money for a Bose or something similar with active noise cancelation.

And then I believe I saw a lifehacker article rounding up some cheaper headsets, with Kensington making the top of the list. Amazon reviews concurred. The best part - it was under $30! At that price, I was willing to give it a shot and I am glad I did.

Besides working wonders on airplanes, I also love using it while getting some work done inside Regus business lounges - it really helps me avoid the distractions of TVs and other people there. Sadly, it is not something you would take to the gym - I would sure appreciate being able to tune out some of the grunts from the hulk-wannabes there.

The headset is surprisingly comfortable and operates using a single AAA battery while the top portion cleverly folds to minimize the space it takes in my luggage:

I only have two gripes about it. First, it comes with a little carrying sack which does nothing to protect its On/Off switch from somehow always ending up in the On position and draining the battery while it is inside my bag. To combat that, I started taking out the battery and flipping it around when not in use.

The second gripe I have with it is the fact that even after using it on and off for over a year, I am still not used to bringing it along with me and have forgotten it at home many times when I could of gotten some use out of it. They really need to work on fixing this!