A few years ago, I noticed that some of the folks running the heavy equipment on our manufacturing floor at work were wearing what looked like a cross between company-issued earplugs and earbuds. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was talking to a buddy of mine who was wearing some of these things. He said, “Plugfones! They’re great! I can wear them out on the shop floor and they work as hearing protection, AND I can listed to music, podcasts—whatever I want—at the same time!” I investigated and found that Plugfones do indeed make several types of hybrid hearing protection/earbuds that have been independently tested and certified to meet various US, EU and Australian safety standards. Their Liberate 2.0 model (pictured) is priced at $99.99 and is a fully Bluetooth wireless system that is rechargeable and includes an in-line remote, different types of tips for best ear canal fit, a charge cable and case. Plugfones also has some wired models that are lower in price. I think these could work well not only for folks who work in areas where hearing protection is required, but for anyone who wants to block out ambient sound and just focus on whatever it is they want to listen to. Visit Plugfones.com for more info or to order.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
I have used Plugfones for several years primarily the corded version. They don’t last very long, usually one side or the other stops working. So why you ask did you keep buying them? Well, the foreman where I worked didn’t like us to wear music earplugs. Not for safety reasons but more, I think, for an ego reason. Anyway, Plugfones in the yellow version look exactly like the earplugs we use at work. So I could get away with it. If he came over to talk I could pull one side and he would not hear my music. However, I know longer that kind of camouflage.
I have a pair of Bluetooth Plugfones but after 6 mos one side has gone out. The buttons are hard to figure out, the instructions are a joke and they don’t near as good a job with sound over machine noise. There are better and cheaper ones out there that have gotten excellent reviews. This is my last pair of Plugfones.
Maybe you will have better luck…………..then again I wouldn’t count on it.
Brad, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. That’s very useful feedback. A bit disappointing to hear that in your experience Plugfones didn’t perform all that well.
I own the corded version of Plugfones. I find the silicone tips to be quite comfortable and they really do work very well at blocking out noise (I’ve even used them without plugging in any audio to block out noise on a plane to sleep) However, I also experienced the relatively quick failure of one earphone to consistently make noise. I mostly listen to podcasts and am flying a lot less than I used to, so I haven’t pulled the trigger on a higher end replacement noise cancelling or isolating earphone yet. The unreliability of the product is a shame as the concept is a really good one. The corded version is cheap enough to buy that the reliability is less of a concern, but the Bluetooth ones are pricey enough that I would be leery of trying them.
David, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to post your experiences. I’m wondering why Plugfones seems to have reliability issues, considering that corded earbud have been around for a LONG time. Even cheap earbuds have often lasted quite a long time for me.