While shopping for new headphones or earbuds, you may have come across a company that claims their product has an inline microphone. This means that the device has a microphone built into the headphone cord, allowing you to answer calls from your smartphone or use voice commands without removing your headphones.

Headsets with a microphone that swings out in front of your mouth are not considered inline microphones. Wireless headphones and earbuds may have an inline microphone built into the housing or connector band.

Inline microphones also typically come with inline controls that let you adjust the volume, answer and end calls, mute the sound, or skip tracks on your music player or smartphone. If you have a choice, the type of controls and ease of use can be a major factor in deciding which one to buy.

The mute button can mute the microphone, the audio from your phone or music player, or both. Read the instructions to understand whether your voice is still picked up by the microphone when you use the mute button.