How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
For Zoom calls, my top pick is the SIMOLIO Long Cord Headphones — a wired over-ear set with an in-line mic, a cable that stretches far enough to pace your room, and zero battery anxiety during a long meeting day.
• SIMOLIO Long Cord Headphones — best for desk-bound callers who want a wire they can trust; pick this if you want an in-line mic and a coiled cable that reaches 21.6ft so you can stand up mid-call.
• Koss KSC32iGry — best for active, on-the-move calls; pick this if you want a true ear-clip fit with a flexible hook, three cushion sizes and an in-line one-touch remote.
• SIMOLIO Sound Amplified — best for hearing every word of a meeting; pick this if dialogue clarity matters most, thanks to the tone control and sound amplification.
• JBL Soundgear Clips Open — best for wireless freedom with awareness; pick this if you want open-ear Bluetooth with beamforming mics and a charging case.
This is a wired over-ear headphone built around one idea: listening without technical fuss. The coiled cable runs 15 feet, and SIMOLIO includes an extra 6.6ft extension, so the total stretch reaches about 21.6ft. For Zoom calls specifically, that matters more than it sounds. You can leave your laptop on the desk, stand up, walk to the whiteboard, and still be heard. No pairing, no charging, no "your battery is at 10%" warning halfway through a client call. It connects over a standard 3.5mm jack, and the box includes an RCA converter cable for TVs and older gear.
The in-line control is the part I'd point a Zoom user toward. It gives you a microphone plus hands-free call handling and music control, and SIMOLIO notes it works for video calls and games on phones, tablets and laptops. One honest caveat straight from the spec sheet: some in-line functions depend on your device's make and model, so don't assume every button works on every machine. The 32-ohm impedance and 20Hz–20kHz range are ordinary, sensible numbers for speech.
Comfort is where this one quietly wins. The ear muffs are described as super soft memory foam, the headband has five adjustment levels and rotates 90 degrees, and the whole thing folds flat and stays light. The over-ear design also acts as passive noise reduction, which blocks some room noise and makes voices easier to follow. There's a shirt or collar clip in the box, which sounds trivial until you've spent an hour with a cable dragging on your desk.
The main trade-off is that this model has no sound boost. SIMOLIO says so plainly and points anyone needing professional amplification to its SM-905TV instead. So if your reason for buying is "I can't hear the meeting," this isn't the right SIMOLIO. If your reason is "I want a reliable wired headset for calls," it is. The other trade-off is that it's wired only — no battery, no wireless mode, no Bluetooth at all. It's also worth knowing that TVs with only optical or coaxial output need a separate digital-to-analog converter, though that's a TV problem, not a Zoom problem.
Koss KSC32iGry
The in-line microphone and one-touch remote handle answer and end calls plus pause, play and skip, and Koss mentions voice assistant activation too. That's a practical setup for a call you take while cooking, walking the dog or moving between rooms. The 16-ohm impedance is low, which generally means easy to drive from a phone or laptop jack, and the stated frequency range of 15Hz–25kHz is wide on paper. Sweat resistance and a sporty theme make it the obvious pick if your calls sometimes happen mid-workout.
Here's the honest trade-off, and it's a real one for a Zoom-focused buyer: this is an in-ear clip-on, not an over-ear set. There's no headband, no sealed ear cup and no passive blocking of background noise, so a noisy house will come through on your end and theirs. Sound isolation is listed as the noise-control approach, which is modest. It's also wired over a 3.5mm jack, and the spec sheet lists Bluetooth under wireless technology while the connection itself is a physical plug — so don't buy it expecting wireless pairing. If you want an actual red-adjacent, low-profile clip headphone for calls on the go, this fits. If you want to disappear into a two-hour meeting, look at the over-ear options.
This is the sibling of my top pick, and the difference is the whole point: this model does amplify. SIMOLIO describes volume being boosted rather than weakened as audio travels from source to earphones, with a stated figure of up to 114dB, plus a rotary tone switch under the right earphone cover that you turn to sharpen voice clarity. The company's own framing is that this headset prioritizes voice clarity over sound richness, and it says outright it's not for bass lovers. For a Zoom call, that's the correct bias. Speech intelligibility beats thump every time.
The practical kit is generous. You get a 5.5m spring coiled cable and a separate 1.5m cable with an in-line mic for phone calls, conference calls and voice chats. The headband is 12-level retractable and cushioned, and the protein earmuffs are padded and fully sealed for comfort and noise isolation over long sessions. If you're the person who turns captions on because you keep missing words, this is the model in this group aimed at you.
The battery detail is unusual and worth understanding: there's a replaceable battery inside the left earphone, recharged over USB, and a full charge is rated for up to 40 hours of playtime, with about 3 hours to charge. So it's wired for signal but battery-powered for amplification — not wireless. SIMOLIO's own note is to switch it off after use. And the compatibility caveats are the same as its sibling: TVs with only optical or coaxial output need a separate converter, and a big 6.35mm jack needs an adapter.
The trade-off list is short but real. It's heavier in concept than a simple wired set, it needs charging to amplify, and it's tuned for dialogue rather than music. It also carries a 32-ohm impedance and the same 20Hz–20kHz range as the non-amplified model, so the difference you're paying for is the amplification and tone control, not exotic drivers. If clear speech is the goal, I'd take this one. If you just want a dependable cable and mic, the plainer model is simpler to live with.
JBL Soundgear Clips Open
The call hardware is the strongest here on paper: four beamforming microphones with an AI-trained noise reduction algorithm, and JBL notes you can choose in its app whether to use one or both mics in each earbud depending on how you wear them. Bluetooth 5.4, Fast Pair for Android one-tap connection, and multipoint for two devices at once round that out. Multipoint is a genuinely nice touch for Zoom life — laptop and phone connected simultaneously, no re-pairing when a call comes in.
Battery is rated up to 32 hours total: 8 hours in the earbuds plus three more full charges in the case, and a 10-minute USB-C top-up gives roughly 3 extra hours. Weighing 52.7g for the set, in a copper finish with translucent detailing, they're built to be worn all day without pinching. The case is included; the charging cable is not, which is a small thing that will annoy you exactly once.
The trade-offs are honest ones. Open-ear means no isolation — you'll hear the room, and the room will hear a little of you, however well the leakage is controlled. That's the deal you make for awareness. Active noise cancellation is listed under noise control, which sits oddly against an open design, so I wouldn't buy these expecting to block out an office. There's no jack at all, so everything depends on Bluetooth and a charged case. And for pure speech clarity in a quiet room, a wired amplified set will still beat them. If you want the freedom of wireless Bluetooth headphones for Zoom calls and you can't stand things in your ears, these are my pick.
I compared the published specification sheets and feature lists for these four models and ranked them by how well each one's design and features serve video calls — microphone setup, cable or battery arrangement, comfort over long sessions, and how the sound is tuned. The order reflects my independent editorial opinion, and no brand paid for placement or had any say in it. Where a product has a clear limitation, I've said so rather than glossing over it.
FAQ
They're good for awareness, less good for privacy. Open-ear designs like the JBL Soundgear Clips leave your canals unobstructed so you hear the room around you, and some sound travels outward too. In a shared office or a noisy home, a sealed over-ear set will keep your calls more private.
None of these four models lists an IPX7 rating, so I won't claim one. The Koss KSC32iGry is described as sweat resistant with a sweat-resistant coating, which suits workouts and light moisture but is not the same as being submersible. If you specifically need IPX7 protection, that's a different spec to shop for.
Only for certain TVs. The two SIMOLIO models need a separate digital-to-analog converter if your TV has only optical or coaxial audio output, and a 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter for older gear with a large jack. For a laptop or phone Zoom call over 3.5mm, you don't need either.
For Zoom calls, my recommendation stands with the SIMOLIO Long Cord Headphones: the in-line mic, the 21.6ft reach and the no-charging wired design make it the least stressful of the four to live with day after day.
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