I've been interested in this product since it was announced, but made do with cheaper and less experimental products: the Jabra Elite Active 7s, for instance. It's got great noise-canceling, which this obviously can't have, and unlike most earbuds will allow you to use only the left one. But I did't like that I had to manually turn on Aware mode (or turn it off to save battery -- which was important in my use case because I was driving a USPS mail truck and would use the buds for a full work day), and think constantly about making sure it didn't fall out while going about the day's business. These are the answer to all those questions. Situational hearing is not impacted, I don't have to fiddle with settings, and I personally find them really comfortable. I can actually press a telephone to my ear and use it without having to take these LinkBuds out. And the left one works solo! In situations where I need ANC, these are obviously not the answer, but at any other time, I prefer them above all other options.