I’ve finally jumped on the wireless earbud bandwagon and I really enjoy using them. Except for one major flaw, which you can probably tell from the title. I don’t understand who in their right mind decided that these things needed touch controls.

My wife got me these earbuds for my birthday and I do love them. They work extremely well, unlike other bluetooth earbuds I’ve experimented with. The power lasts a decent amount of time and there’s no latency in the sound.

But I sometimes like to lie down when I watch videos or listen to podcasts. And these touch controls on the earbuds are so sensitive that even the slightest touch causes them to pause whatever I’m listening to. Even scratching an itch will trigger them to stop a video, or skip to the next track. Being bald I wouldn’t know, but I’ve found comments online saying that even a stray hair can trigger them.

Even more annoying than that, when I actually try and use the touch controls they don’t seem to work. Video accidentally stops, so I try and start it again by tapping the earbuds. It doesn’t work so I tap again. Video starts. Then stops again. Or skips to the next (or previous) track in the playlist. It can turn what should be a seamless, relaxing experience into a source of constant frustration.

I’ve scoured the internet for a way to disable these controls, but I’m met with support post after support post saying they can’t be disabled. I’m clearly not the only one annoyed by these touch controls, but there doesn’t seem to be a solution to this problem.

I love my wireless earbuds, and for the most part they are fun to use. But when I actually want to lie down and relax I’m forced to rely on traditional earbuds. I’ve searched online for earbuds that don’t have touch controls, or at least allow them to be disabled, but nothing that is recommended is being used anymore.

Perhaps some users do actually like these touch controls, but it would be nice to at least have an option for those of us that end up resorting to rants on the internet instead.