The best lightning earbuds for iPhones

With the Rayz Lightning Earbuds, Pioneer eliminated the worst part about using wired headphones with an iPhone 7 or later.

The iPhone 7 (and now the iPhone 8) has a lot going for it. It's fast, sleek looking, and is generally more powerful than an "actual computer" was only a few years ago. The problem is that without a headphone jack, you've had to decide whether to charge your phone or listen to music — unless you made the jump to Bluetooth headphones.

Pioneer's Rayz Lightning Earbuds make that a non-issue. They connect to your iPhone's lightning jack, but they have an addition lightning port built into them to charge your phone.

Overall these headphones sound pretty good, and you'll be happy whether you listen to top 40 music through a streaming service or audiophile lossless versions of jazz albums. There are earbuds that sound better, but at this price, you're getting a really good pair.

That's especially true when you consider that these earbuds actually make good on Apple's promise that lightning headphones would be able to do more than normal wired headphones. Through an app, you can adjust noise canceling, and enable a couple of extra features called "Smart Mute" and "Hear Thru."

The former mutes the microphone on these earbuds when you're on a phone call, but not speaking, that's hugely beneficial if you're in a windy area. The latter automatically pauses your music when you take the earbuds out of your ears, which is a lot more elegant than fumbling for the pause button when someone asks you a question. —Brandt Ranj

Pros: A bunch of extra features, good sound quality overall, lets you use wired headphones and charge your iPhone without a dongle

Cons: Only works with iPhone