We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-23 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a single-ear listening tool built for speech clarity and total environmental awareness, choose EXMAX 3.5mm; if you need a cheap way to keep your existing headphones off the desk and within reach, choose Angoily 4-Pack. These two products share almost nothing except a small footprint. One is audio gear you wear; the other is a plastic accessory that holds audio gear you already own. Once you see that, the decision takes about ten seconds.
• EXMAX 3.5mm biggest strength: a deliberately bass-free, speech-first single-earpiece design with a 360-degree pivoting ear hook, so you hear talk radio, podcasts and commentary clearly while one ear stays open to traffic, coworkers or your surroundings.
• EXMAX 3.5mm biggest trade-off: it is not a music headphone. With a thin, bright sound profile and a 100-ohm impedance, it will disappoint anyone chasing bass or immersive stereo.
• Angoily 4-Pack biggest strength: compact monitor-edge hooks that give compatible on-ear and over-ear headbands a defined resting spot, keeping a desk or classroom tidy.
• Angoily 4-Pack biggest trade-off: it produces no sound at all, it only fits certain screen edges and bezel shapes, and it is a light-duty plastic part rather than a heavy-duty stand.
• Who EXMAX 3.5mm is for: runners, cyclists, drivers, transcriptionists, night-time radio listeners — anyone who listens with one ear and works with the other.
• Who Angoily 4-Pack is for: gamers, office workers, teachers and shared-desk users who want their headphones hanging beside the monitor instead of lying on the keyboard.
The EXMAX 3.5mm is one of those products that makes perfect sense once you stop judging it as a music headphone. It is a wired, single-side earphone built around a 3.5mm jack, a flexible rubber ear hook that pivots a full 360 degrees, and an intentionally bass-light tuning. The spec sheet says the quiet part out loud: no bass, a thin and bright profile, and circuitry that folds both stereo channels down into one mono earpiece so you never miss the left or right half of a broadcast. That last detail matters more than it sounds. On a normal pair of earbuds, wearing only one side means you lose whatever was mixed into the other channel. Here, you hear everything.
Who should skip it? Anyone who wants music with weight. The impedance is 100 ohm, which is on the high side and typically means you need decent volume headroom from your source. If you plug it into a weak phone output, expect to push the volume harder than you would with ordinary earbuds. And if stereo separation, deep bass or a full soundstage are the point of listening for you, this is the wrong product. Buy it for speech and awareness. Judge it on anything else and you will be unhappy.
Angoily 4-Pack: Who It's For
The Angoily 4-Pack is a set of black plastic headphone hooks that sit on a compatible monitor edge and give a headband somewhere to hang. That is the entire product. Each holder measures roughly 3.14 x 1.77 x 1.18 inches, and the raised curved section is shaped to catch the headband of compatible on-ear and over-ear headphones. The practical result: your headphones live beside the screen instead of on the desk, in a drawer or balanced precariously on a speaker.
The use cases are obvious to anyone who has shared a workspace. Gaming setups, office computers, classrooms, call centres and hot-desking environments all benefit from a fixed, predictable spot for audio gear. In a classroom or lab, a hook also keeps headbands off surfaces that need to stay clear. The hooks can likewise hold lightweight earphone cables or small accessories when the shape allows, though the listing is explicit that this is light-duty organisation. It warns against overloading and tells you to check stability before hanging anything valuable.
That warning is the honest core of this product. The fit depends on your screen. Curved monitors, unusually thick bezels and irregular rear profiles may not work, so you need to compare your monitor's edge thickness and shape against the holder before buying. The low-profile plastic construction also means it is not a weighted desktop stand — it is a hook. Treat it as a tidy, unobtrusive organiser and it does its job. Treat it as a load-bearing piece of furniture and you will be disappointed. One more small thing worth knowing: the decorative pattern on the hooks is chosen at random, so the set you receive may not match the product images exactly.
• Best for speech clarity → EXMAX 3.5mm. The no-bass tuning and stereo-to-mono circuitry are purpose-built for voices, not music.
• Best for staying aware of your surroundings → EXMAX 3.5mm. The single ear-hook design leaves one ear fully open for running, cycling, driving or working in a busy space.
• Best for music and bass → Neither, honestly. The EXMAX is explicitly bass-light, and the Angoily makes no sound at all.
• Best for tidying a desk or classroom → Angoily 4-Pack. Hooks on the monitor edge keep compatible headbands off the work surface.
• Best for shared or hot-desked workspaces → Angoily 4-Pack. A fixed hanging point stops headphones wandering off between users.
• Best for long single-ear sessions → EXMAX 3.5mm. The soft foam pad, lightweight build and adjustable 360-degree hook are designed for extended wear in one ear.
• Best for device compatibility → EXMAX 3.5mm. The standard 3.5mm plug covers phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, radios, MP3 players and more — though note it is not compatible with phone jacks that lack a standard 3.5mm socket.
• Best for a monitor with a curved or thick bezel → Neither automatically. Check the Angoily holder's dimensions against your screen edge first, because fit is not universal.
If I had to pick one, I would buy the EXMAX 3.5mm. In my opinion it is the more useful object by a wide margin, because it actually does something: it lets you listen to speech with one ear while the other stays in the real world, and it solves the stereo-channel problem that plagues ordinary single-earbud use. The Angoily 4-Pack is a tidy little accessory, and it is a sensible add-on if your desk is already cluttered with a headband — but it is a holder, not a product you build a listening habit around. Buy the EXMAX for the ear. Buy the Angoily for the desk. If you need both, they do not compete.
what are the best open ear headphones
In my opinion, the best open-ear option for speech-first listening is a single-earpiece design like the EXMAX 3.5mm, because nothing blocks your ear canal at all — the sound sits beside your ear rather than inside it. For music, open-ear designs generally trade bass depth for awareness, so pick based on whether clarity or low-end matters more to you.
are on ear headphones good
They are good for specific jobs. On-ear and single-ear formats shine when you need awareness, quick on-and-off wear, or clear speech rather than deep bass. The EXMAX 3.5mm is a good example: its tuning is deliberately thin and bright, which makes talk radio and commentary easier to follow but makes bass-heavy music sound weak.
are open ear headphones good
They are good when safety and awareness come first. An open design keeps you connected to traffic, coworkers and your surroundings, which is why the EXMAX ear-hook style suits running, cycling and warehouse or office work. The trade-off is isolation — you will hear the world along with your audio.
are on ear headphones comfortable
Comfort depends on the pad and the fit. The EXMAX 3.5mm uses an extra-soft foam pad on a lightweight, 360-degree pivoting ear hook, which is designed to rest gently on one ear for long sessions without pressure. That said, a single-ear fit can take some adjusting to sit at both a comfortable angle and the right volume.
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