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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a compact, cable-first pair of in-ear buds you can drop in a pocket and forget about, choose Sony MDREX15LP; if you need a foldable on-ear pair for a kid, a petite adult, or a shared family tablet on a long trip, choose ELECDER i37. That's the whole decision in one line. The rest of this page is me walking through why, spec by spec.
• Sony MDREX15LP — biggest strength: tiny 3 g in-ear design with hybrid silicone tips, a 9 mm dynamic driver and a Y-type cord with a slider, so it packs into nothing and stays untangled.
• Sony MDREX15LP — biggest trade-off: it's an in-ear bud with no microphone and no active noise cancellation, so it leans on tip fit for isolation and it's wired only.
• ELECDER i37 — biggest strength: foldable on-ear build with an adjustable headband, plush ear cushions and an L-shaped 3.5 mm plug, which makes it easy to fold flat into a suitcase or school bag.
• ELECDER i37 — biggest trade-off: it's 5.6 oz, so it's far bulkier than a bud, and the on-ear fit and sound-isolation design are aimed at kids and smaller heads rather than critical listening.
• Pick Sony MDREX15LP if you're the traveler carrying the bag — one cable, no bulk, nothing to lose.
• Pick ELECDER i37 if you're packing for a child or you want a pair that survives being folded, tossed and shared.
The MDREX15LP is a pure travel-minimalist product. In-ear, rounded-tip, plastic enclosure, 3 g per side — there is essentially nothing to this thing, which is exactly the point when you're living out of a carry-on. The 9 mm dome-type dynamic driver with neodymium magnets is the part of the spec I'd pay attention to: that combination is what Sony uses to push bass out of a very small housing, and the stated frequency range runs from 8 Hz up to 22,000 Hz, which is a genuinely wide band for a bud at this level. Sensitivity is listed at 100 dB with 16 ohm impedance, meaning it's an easy load for a phone, a laptop jack or a cheap seat-back adapter.
Who should buy it: the one-bag traveler, the commuter, the person who wants headphones that disappear into a jacket pocket, and anyone who prefers a cable because there's nothing to charge. The Y-type cord with a slider is a small but real travel win — it keeps the cable from turning into a knot at the bottom of a bag.
Who should skip it: anyone who wants a microphone for calls, anyone who wants active noise cancellation, and anyone who genuinely dislikes things sitting inside their ear canal. There's no mic here — the style is explicitly listed as 3.5 mm aux with no mic — and the control is a basic inline media remote, not a full set of call controls. If you want an over-ear feel or a foldable headband, this isn't it.
ELECDER i37: Who It's For
The i37 is a different animal entirely, and it's not pretending otherwise. This is an on-ear, plush-cushioned, foldable headphone built around one idea: a kid should be able to plug into whatever screen is in front of them and not destroy the headphones doing it. The L-shaped 3.5 mm plug is the tell — that right-angle connector is a durability decision, because it takes strain off the cable where it meets the jack, which is exactly where cheap headphones die.
The folding design plus adjustable headband is what makes it a travel product rather than just a desk product. It collapses and goes into a suitcase or school bag, and ELECDER explicitly positions the size as suitable for short or petite adults as well as little kids with their own devices. If you've ever watched a child try to wear adult over-ears on a plane, you know why that matters — the cups slide around, the headband won't stay put, and the whole thing becomes a toy within ten minutes.
On the audio side, the i37 uses a 32 ohm dynamic driver with a 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range. Higher impedance than the Sony means it wants a little more from the source, but any phone, tablet, Chromebook or laptop jack drives it fine. There's no wireless here — it's wired only, 3.5 mm — and the noise control is listed as sound isolation, i.e. the plush cushions blocking some ambient noise physically. There's no active cancellation and no battery to worry about.
Who should buy it: parents packing for a flight or a road trip, families sharing tablets, teens and kids who need something for school, and smaller adults who find full-size over-ears too big. Who should skip it: critical listeners, anyone who wants ANC, and anyone traveling ultralight who resents 5.6 oz of headphone in their bag.
• Best for packing light → Sony MDREX15LP. At 3 g per earpiece it's the closest thing to carrying nothing.
• Best for kids and small heads → ELECDER i37. Adjustable headband, plush on-ear cushions, explicitly sized for kids and petite adults.
• Best for cable durability on the move → ELECDER i37. The L-shaped plug protects the most fragile point of a wired headphone.
• Best for bass and detail from a tiny driver → Sony MDREX15LP. 9 mm neodymium dynamic driver with an 8 Hz–22,000 Hz range.
• Best for easy driving from any jack → Sony MDREX15LP. 16 ohm vs 32 ohm means it needs less power to get loud.
• Best for folding flat into a suitcase or school bag → ELECDER i37. That's the entire design premise.
• Best for no-fuss, charge-free travel → either one, honestly — both are wired 3.5 mm with no battery at all.
• Best for a family trip where one pair gets shared → ELECDER i37. A foldable on-ear survives handling that a loose bud in a pocket won't.
In my opinion, the honest answer splits by traveler. For myself — one bag, no kids, phone in pocket — I'd buy the Sony MDREX15LP, because 3 g of in-ear with a slider cord and a 9 mm driver is the least friction you can add to a trip. But if I were packing for a child, or I were a smaller-framed adult who finds over-ears uncomfortable, I'd buy the ELECDER i37: the folding headband, plush cushions and L-shaped plug are designed for exactly the kind of rough, repeated handling that travel inflicts. Match the form factor to the person and you won't regret either.
FAQ
what is the best headphones for traveling
what are good headphones for travel
Good travel headphones are the ones that survive a bag and are easy to drive. The MDREX15LP is a 16 ohm wired in-ear with a 9 mm dynamic driver and hybrid silicone tips, and the i37 is a 32 ohm wired on-ear with plush cushions and a foldable, adjustable frame. Both use a standard 3.5 mm jack, so both plug into phones, tablets and laptops.
how to pack headphones for travel
For the i37, use the folding design: collapse the headband and lay it flat against clothing in the middle of a suitcase or in a school bag, where it's cushioned on all sides. For the MDREX15LP, use the Y-type cord slider to keep the cable tidy and tuck the buds into a small pocket or pouch so the tips don't get crushed.
how to wrap headphones for travel
Don't wrap the cable tightly around the earcups or the buds — that's how jacks and drivers fail. With the i37, fold it first and then coil the cable loosely before stowing it. With the MDREX15LP, slide the cord slider up near the buds and loop the cable in a loose figure-eight so it can't tangle or pull on the 3.5 mm plug.
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