WO2022122696A1

WO2022122696A1 - Wireless earbuds

Info

Publication number: WO2022122696A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/084506
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yadgiri ELE VIJAY
Original assignee: Ams International Ag
Priority date: 2020-12-08
Filing date: 2021-12-07
Publication date: 2022-06-16
Also published as: GB202019276D0

Abstract

A wireless earbud. The wireless earbud comprises a housing provided with a speaker, part of the housing being configured to be placed in a user's ear. The wireless earbud further comprises an ambient light sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor is positioned in the housing such that in use, a field of view of the ambient light sensor is directed towards a user's body. The wireless earbud further comprises a control circuit configured to determine, based on an output from the ambient light sensor, whether the earbud is in the user's ear.

Description

WIRELESS EARBUDS

BACKGROUND

Computing devices such as mobile telephones, tablets, wearables and other electronic device generate audio during operation for playback to a user.

Both wired and wireless ear buds are known for the playback of audio to a user.

It is known to use one or more proximity sensors in wireless earbuds to detect whether a wireless ear bud has been placed in a user’s ear. A proximity sensor comprises an infrared (IR) emitter and an IR receiver to detect the target, and measures the target distance from received IR light. An example can be found in US10,117,012

SUMMARY

The inventor has identified a number of problems associated with using a proximity sensor to dense whether a wireless earbud is in an ear, and in embodiments of the present disclosure ambient light detection is instead used to determine if an earbud is being worn.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a wireless ear bud comprising: a housing provided with a speaker, part of the housing being configured to be placed in a user’s ear; an ambient light sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor is positioned in the housing such that in use, a field of view of the ambient light sensor is directed towards a user’s body; and a control circuit configured to determine, based on an output from the ambient light sensor, whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

With no light emitter being needed to determine if an earbud is being worn, this provides a number of advantages. In particular, more space is provided in the housing of the wireless earbud which allows for a bigger battery and thus extends the battery life of the wireless earbud.

An example of an emitter typically used in proximity sensors is a light emitting diode (LED) or a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) requiring a higher supply voltage (e.g. VDD = 3.3V) than other components of the wireless earbud. Due to no emitter being required, in embodiments of the present disclosure the circuitry is simplified by only requiring a single supply voltage (e.g. VDD = 1.8V). The decoupling capacitor normally associated with the higher supply voltage is also not needed, providing further simplification and space advantages. Furthermore VCSELs can be subject to failure, thus embodiments of the present disclosure avoid such reliability issues.

The absence of the light emitter (and thus any crosstalk issues between the light emitter and the receiver) also advantageously simplifies production because calibration for crosstalk by both sensor manufacturer and device manufacturer is avoided.

The control circuit may be configured to compare the output from the ambient light sensor to a predetermined threshold to determine whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

The ambient light sensor may be provided in the part of the housing which will be in the user’s ear in use.

The housing may comprise an aperture for passing light towards the ambient light sensor. This aperture can advantageously be sized to be smaller than those found in known wireless earbuds utilising a proximity sensor. This aperture can also be used as the aperture for a microphone of the wireless earbud. That is, the microphone may be provided in the housing adjacent the aperture that is for passing light towards the ambient light sensor.

Alternatively, the ambient light sensor may be arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of a wall of said housing. This advantageously avoids the need for requiring an aperture in the wall of the housing thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the wireless earbud. This portion of the wall may be of a reduced thickness compared to other portions of the wall to advantageously allow more ambient light to be incident on the ambient light sensor.

The wireless ear bud may further comprise a further ambient light sensor, wherein the further ambient light sensor is positioned in the housing such that in use, a field of view of the further ambient light sensor is directed away from a user’s body, and the control circuit is configured to determine, based on an output from the ambient light sensor and an output from the further ambient light sensor, whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear. Thus the further ambient light sensor provides a reference level of light used in the determination of whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear. The use of two ambient light sensors advantageously improves the accuracy of the determination performed by the control circuit. The control circuit may be configured to compare the output from the ambient light sensor to a predetermined threshold and compare the output from the further ambient light sensor to the predetermined threshold, to determine whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

The further ambient light sensor may be provided in a part of the housing which will receive ambient light when the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

The housing may comprise an aperture for passing light towards the further ambient light sensor. This aperture can advantageously be sized to be smaller than those found in known wireless earbuds utilising a proximity sensor. This aperture can also be used as the aperture for a microphone of the wireless earbud. That is, the microphone may be provided in the housing adjacent the aperture that is for passing light towards the further ambient light sensor.

Alternatively, the housing comprises a wall, and the further ambient light sensor is arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of said wall. This advantageously avoids the need for requiring an aperture in the wall of the housing thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the wireless earbud. This portion of the wall may be of a reduced thickness compared to other portions of the wall to advantageously allow more ambient light to be incident on the further ambient light sensor.

These and other aspects will be apparent from the embodiments described in the following. The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by this summary nor to implementations that necessarily solve any or all of the disadvantages noted.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Some embodiments of the disclosure will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a system comprising an electronic device in communication with a pair of wireless earbuds;

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless earbud;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of an illustrative wireless earbud;

Figures 4a and 4b are perspective views of an illustrative wireless earbud positioned in an ear of a user; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a wall of the housing of a wireless earbud. Detailed Description

Generally speaking, the disclosure relates to using ambient light detection to determine if a wireless earbud is being worn without needing a light emitter. If a determination is made that the wireless earbud is not being worn, the wireless earbud can be turned off or placed in a low power consumption mode, to conserve power.

Some examples of the solution are given in the accompanying figures.

Figure 1 illustrates a system 100 comprising an electronic device 101 in wireless communication with a pair of wireless earbuds 102. The electronic device 101 may be any device operable to generate audio for output to a user. For example the electronic device may be a mobile telephone, tablet, gaming device, wearable device (e.g. smartwatch) etc. As shown in Figure 1 , the wireless earbuds 102 may also be in wireless communication with each other via a wireless link.

Figure 2 illustrates a simplified view of a wireless earbud 102.

As shown in Figure 2, the wireless earbud 102 comprises control circuit 202, to which is connected a memory 208. The functionality of the control circuit 202 described herein may be implemented in code (software) stored on a memory (e.g. memory 208) comprising one or more storage media, and arranged for execution on a processor comprising one or more processing units. That is, the control circuit 202 may comprise one or more processing units for performing the processing steps described herein. The storage media may be integrated into and/or separate from the control circuit 202. The code is configured so as when fetched from the memory and executed on the processor to perform operations in line with embodiments discussed herein. Alternatively it is not excluded that some or all of the functionality of the control circuit 202 is implemented in dedicated hardware circuitry (e.g. ASIC(s), simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.) and/or configurable hardware circuitry like an FPGA.

The wireless earbud 102 comprises a wireless communications interface 210. The wireless communications interface 210 enables data to be transmitted to and received from a remote device such as the electronic device 101 and/or another wireless earbud 102.

The wireless earbud 102 may comprise a microphone 206 for receiving audio (e.g. a user’s voice). For a pair of wireless earbuds 102, one or both of the wireless earbuds may comprise a microphone 206. The wireless earbud 102 also comprises a speaker 207 for outputting audio into the ear of a user. The electronic device 101 is configured to transmit audio data to the wireless earbud 102 for output by the speaker 207.

The wireless earbud 102 also comprises an ambient light sensor 204a (also referred to herein as a first ambient light sensor 204a). The ambient light sensor 204a is configured to sense the level of ambient light in its field of view and output a signal indicative of the level of ambient light in its field of view to the control circuit 202. The ambient light sensor 204a may be a discrete component (e.g. a photodiode) that is coupled to the control circuit 202. Alternatively, the ambient light sensor 204a may be integrated into the control circuit 202 (e.g. the ambient light sensor 204a and the control circuit 202 could be on a single CMOS die).

In some embodiments, the wireless earbud 102 comprises a second ambient light sensor 204b which is configured to sense the level of ambient light in its field of view and output a signal indicative of the level of ambient light in its field of view to the control circuit 202. The second ambient light sensor 204b may be a discrete component (e.g. a photodiode) that is coupled to the control circuit 202. Alternatively, the second ambient light sensor 204b may be integrated into the control circuit 202 (e.g. the second ambient light sensor 204b and the control circuit 202 could be on a single CMOS die).

A battery (not shown in Figure 2) provides power to components of the wireless earbud 102. This battery may be rechargeable and in these embodiments the wireless earbud 102 comprises a suitable connector to facilitate battery recharging operations.

The components of the wireless earbud 102 are housed within a housing 200. The housing has walls comprised of plastic or any other suitable material known to persons skilled in the art.

For illustration purposes only, Figure 3 illustrates one example form that that the housing 200 may take. Figure 3 illustrates the housing 200 having a body portion 302 that is shaped so that it can be placed in a user’s ear. The body portion 302 comprises a speaker port 306 that allows sound emitted by the speaker 207 to be output to a user. In Figure 3, the housing 200 is shown as having a stem portion 304 that extends away from the body portion 302 which allows a user to hold the wireless earbud 102 and place it in their ear. It will be appreciated that the exact form of the housing may vary to that shown in Figure 3, for example in some variants the stem portion 304 is not present. In these variants the wireless earbud 102 may comprise an over-ear hook that extends from the body portion 302. In embodiments, the ambient light sensor 204a is positioned in the housing 200 such that in use, a field of view of the ambient light sensor 204a is directed towards a user’s body (e.g. a user’s ear, head, neck or other body part). That is, when the wireless earbud is placed in the user’s ear, the ambient light sensor 204a is positioned in the housing 200 such that it will detect zero light or a low light level. The ambient light sensor 204a may be positioned in part of the housing which will be in the user’s ear in use e.g. the body portion 302. It will be appreciated that the ambient light sensor 204a may be positioned in other parts of the housing 200 and in use still have its field of view directed towards the user’s body.

The housing 200 may be provided with an aperture for passing light towards the ambient light sensor 204a. Because no light emitter is used for the detection of whether the wireless earbud 102 is in a user’s ear, the size of the aperture for the ambient light sensor 204a can be reduced to a diameter of 1 mm (whereas apertures provided for a proximity sensor comprising both a light emitter and received have a diameter of 1.5mm-2mm. Alternatively, no aperture is provided for passing light towards the ambient light sensor 204a, and instead the ambient light sensor 204a is arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of a wall of the housing 200.

In one embodiment, the wireless earbud 102 is provided with a single ambient light sensor e.g. ambient light sensor 204a. In this embodiment, the control circuit 202 is configured to receive the signal that is output from the ambient light sensor 204a which is indicative of the level of ambient light in its field of view. The control circuit 202 is configured to process the signal that is output from the ambient light sensor 204a to determine whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear. For example, the control circuit 202 may compare the output signal of the ambient light sensor 204a to a predetermined threshold representative of a threshold level of light. In particular, the control circuit 202 may compare a voltage or current level of the output signal of the ambient light sensor 204a to a predetermined voltage or current threshold. The control circuit 202 may perform the processing of the signal that is output from the ambient light sensor 204a periodically to determine whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, for example this periodic processing may be performed at a frequency of greater than 10Hz. The control circuit 202 is configured to determine that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear if the output signal of the ambient light sensor 204a is less than the predetermined threshold (i.e. the ambient light sensor 204a detects zero light or a low light level). If the output signal of the ambient light sensor 204a is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold (i.e. the ambient light sensor 204a detects a high light level) the control circuit 202 determines that the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear. In other embodiments, the wireless earbud 102 is provided with two ambient light sensors e.g. a first ambient light sensor 204a and a second ambient light sensor 204b.

In these embodiments, the second ambient light sensor 204b is positioned in the housing 200 such that in use, a field of view of the second ambient light sensor 204b is directed away from a user’s body. That is, when the wireless earbud is placed in the user’s ear, the second ambient light sensor 204b is positioned in the housing 200 such that it will receive and detect ambient light from the environment. As a mere example, with reference to Figure 3 the ambient light sensor 204b may be provided in the stem portion 304 facing away from the user’s body.

The housing 200 may be provided with an aperture for passing light towards the second ambient light sensor 204b. Because no light emitter is used for the detection of whether the wireless earbud 102 is in a user’s ear, the size of the aperture for the second ambient light sensor 204b can be reduced to a diameter of 1 mm (whereas apertures provided for a proximity sensor comprising both a light emitter and received have a diameter of 1.5mm-2mm. Alternatively, no aperture is provided for passing light towards the second ambient light sensor 204b, and instead the second ambient light sensor 204b is arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of a wall of the housing 200.

In embodiments whereby the wireless earbud 102 is provided with the two ambient light sensors, the second ambient light sensor 204b provides a reference level of light. The control circuit 202 configured to receive (i) the signal that is output from the first ambient light sensor 204a which is indicative of the level of ambient light in its field of view; and (ii) the signal that is output from the second ambient light sensor 204b which is indicative of the level of ambient light in its field of view. The control circuit 202 is configured to process both the signal that is output from the first ambient light sensor 204a and the signal that is output from the second ambient light sensor 204b to determine whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear. For example, the control circuit 202 may compare the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a (e.g. a voltage or current level) to a predetermined threshold representative of a threshold level of light, and also compare the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b (e.g. a voltage or current level) to the predetermined threshold representative of the threshold level of light. The value of the predetermined threshold may be stored in memory 208. The control circuit 202 may perform the processing of these two signals periodically to determine whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, for example this periodic processing may be performed at a frequency of greater than 10Hz. The control circuit 202 is configured to determine that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear if (i) the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a is less than the predetermined threshold; and (ii) the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold. Due to the sensitivity of the ambient light sensors, even if a user is using the wireless earbud 102 to listen to music in the dark, there will be sufficient amount of ambient light for the control circuit 202 to detect that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear.

The control circuit 202 is configured to determine that the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear if (i) the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a is less than the predetermined threshold; and (ii) the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b is also less than the predetermined threshold. This scenario may occur if for example the wireless earbud 102 is being stored in a case or in the user’s pocket.

The control circuit 202 is configured to determine that the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear if (i) the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold; and (ii) the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b is also greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold. This scenario may occur if for example the wireless earbud 102 is placed on a table.

Figure 4a illustrates the wireless earbud 102 position in a user’s ear 400. As noted above with respect to Figure 3, the form of the housing 200 shown in Figure 4a is merely illustrative.

Figure 4b illustrates the wireless earbud 102 positioned in a user’s ear 400, the wireless earbud 102 comprising both the first ambient light sensor 204a and the second ambient light sensor 204b. As shown in Figure 4b, the wireless earbud 102 is inserted into the ear 400 so that the speaker port 306 is aligned with the ear canal 402 of the user’s ear 400. 1 n the example shown in Figure 4b the first ambient light sensor 204a is positioned in the housing 200 such that the field of view of the first ambient light sensor 204a is directed towards the user’s ear. For example the field of view of the first ambient light sensor 204a may be directed towards a feature of the ear 400 such as the concha, tragus or antitragus. The second ambient light sensor 204b is positioned in the housing 200 such that the field of view of the second ambient light sensor 204b is directed towards the environment of the user (which may for example be an indoor environment such as a user’s home or workplace or an outdoor environment such as a city street). That is, the field of view of the second ambient light sensor 204b is directed away from the user’s body. When the wireless earbud 102 is positioned in a user’s ear 400 the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a will be less than the predetermined threshold, and the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b will be greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold.

In embodiments, once the control circuit 202 has determined that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear or not, the control circuit 202 performs one or more actions.

For example, the control circuit 202 may transmit the result of the determination (i.e. a message indicating that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear or not) to the electronic device 101 via the wireless communications interface 210. The electronic device 101 can then take appropriate action. For example if the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, the electronic device 101 can continue transmitting audio data to the wireless earbud for playback to the user. Similarly, if the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear, the electronic device 101 can output audio data via a speaker of the electronic device 101.

Additionally or alternatively, once a determination has been made as to whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear or not, the control circuit 202 may control an LED of the wireless earbud 102 in dependence on the determination. In particular, the control circuit 202 may control the colour of the light emitted from the LED or a light pattern of light emitted from wireless earbud 102 in dependence on the determination. For example, if the control circuit 202 determines that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, the control circuit 202 may be configured to control the LED to emit light of a particular colour and/or to blink in accordance with a particular light pattern. If (i) the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold; and (ii) the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b is also greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold (which may occur when the wireless earbud 102 is placed on a table), the control circuit 202 may be configured to control the LED to emit light of a different colour and/or to blink in accordance with a different light pattern. If (i) the output signal of the first ambient light sensor 204a is less than the predetermined threshold; and (ii) the output signal of the second ambient light sensor 204b is also less than the predetermined threshold (which may occur when the wireless earbud 102 is being stored in a case), the control circuit 202 may be configured to turn off the LED after a predetermined time period (e.g. 10 seconds).

Additionally or alternatively, once the control circuit 202 has determined that the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear, the control circuit 202 may turn off functionality of the wireless earbud 102 or operate in low power consumption mode, to conserve power. In the low power consumption mode the the wireless earbud 102 may be operable to communicate with the electronic device 101 but not output audio via the speaker 207.

Additionally or alternatively, once a determination has been made as to whether the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear or not, the control circuit 202 may disable or enable other sensors (e.g. a like gyro-sensor or accelerometer) provided in the wireless earbud 102 (these are not shown in Figure 2). For example, once the control circuit 202 has determined that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, the control circuit 202 may enable one or more other sensors provided in the wireless earbud 102. Similarly, in another example once the control circuit 202 has determined that the wireless earbud 102 is not in the user’s ear, the control circuit 202 may disable one or more other sensors provided in the wireless earbud 102.

Once the control circuit 202 has determined that the wireless earbud 102 is in the user’s ear, the wireless earbud 102 can continue outputting audio to the user.

In embodiments described above whereby one or more of the first ambient light sensor 204a and the second ambient light sensor 204b are arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of a wall of the housing 200. The respective portion of the wall may have a reduced thickness compared to other portions of the housing wall. This is illustrated in Figure 5.

As shown in Figure 5, the wall 500 of the housing 200 has a thickness of D1 in regions of the wireless earbud 102 that are not aligned with an ambient light sensor 204. For example in region 502 the wall 500 of the housing 200 has a thickness of D1. In contrast, a portion 504 of the wall 500 of the housing 200 that is aligned with the ambient light sensor 204, is locally thinned to enhance light transmission towards the ambient light sensor 204 and has a thickness of D2 which is less than D1 .

In embodiments whereby the wireless earbud 102 comprises only a single ambient light sensor 204a and the wireless earbud 102 comprises a microphone 206, if the housing 200 is provided with an aperture for passing light towards the ambient light sensor 204a, the microphone 206 may be provided in the housing adjacent the aperture that passes light towards the ambient light sensor 204a. Even if an aperture is provided for passing light towards the ambient light sensor 204a, the microphone 206 may have its own dedicated aperture in the housing 200 for passing audio towards the microphone 206.

In embodiments whereby the wireless earbud 102 comprises a first ambient light sensor 204a and second ambient light sensor 204b and a microphone 206. If the housing 200 is provided with an aperture for passing light towards the first ambient light sensor 204a, the microphone 206 may be provided in the housing adjacent the aperture that passes light towards the first ambient light sensor 204a. Similarly, if the housing 200 is provided with an aperture for passing light towards the second ambient light sensor 204b, the microphone 206 may be provided in the housing adjacent the aperture that passes light towards the second ambient light sensor 204b. Even if one or more apertures are provided for passing light towards the first ambient light sensor 204a and the second ambient light sensor 204b respectively, the microphone 206 may have its own dedicated aperture in the housing 200 for passing audio towards the microphone 206.

Although the disclosure has been described in terms of preferred embodiments as set forth above, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative only and that the claims are not limited to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and alternatives in view of the disclosure which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the appended claims. Each feature disclosed or illustrated in the present specification may be incorporated in any embodiments, whether alone or in any appropriate combination with any other feature disclosed or illustrated herein.

List of Reference Numerals

100 System

101 Electronic device

102 Wireless earbud

200 Housing

202 Control circuit

204a First ambient light sensor

204b Second ambient light sensor

206 Microphone

207 Speaker

208 Memory

210 Communications interface

302 Body portion of wireless earbud

304 Stem portion of wireless earbud

306 Speaker port of wireless earbud

400 Ear

402 Ear canal

404 Concha

406 Tragus

408 Antitragus

500 Housing wall

502 Portion of housing wall

504 Thinned portion of housing wall

Claims

1. A wireless earbud (102) comprising: a housing (200) provided with a speaker (207), part (302) of the housing being configured to be placed in a user’s ear (400); an ambient light sensor (204a), wherein the ambient light sensor is positioned in the housing such that in use, a field of view of the ambient light sensor is directed towards a user’s body; and a control circuit (202) configured to determine, based on an output from the ambient light sensor, whether the earbud is in the user’s ear.

2. The wireless earbud according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to compare the output from the ambient light sensor to a predetermined threshold to determine whether the earbud is in the user’s ear.

3. The wireless earbud according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ambient light sensor is provided in the part of the housing which will be in the user’s ear in use.

4. The wireless earbud according to any preceding claim, wherein the housing comprises an aperture for passing light towards the ambient light sensor.

5. The wireless earbud according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ambient light sensor is arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of a wall of said housing.

6. The wireless earbud according to claim 5, wherein the portion (504) of said wall has a reduced thickness compared to other portions of said wall.

7. The wireless earbud according to any preceding claim, further comprising a further ambient light sensor (204b), wherein the further ambient light sensor is positioned in the housing such that in use, a field of view of the further ambient light sensor is directed away from a user’s body, and the control circuit is configured to determine, based on an output from the ambient light sensor and an output from the further ambient light sensor, whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

8. The wireless earbud according to claim 7, wherein the control circuit is configured to compare the output from the ambient light sensor to a predetermined threshold and compare the output from the further ambient light sensor to the predetermined threshold, to determine whether the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

9. The wireless earbud according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the further ambient light sensor is provided in a part of the housing which will receive ambient light when the ear bud is in the user’s ear.

10. The wireless earbud according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the housing comprises an aperture for passing light towards the further ambient light sensor.

11. The wireless earbud according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the housing comprises a wall, and the further ambient light sensor is arranged to receive light that passes through a portion of said wall.

12. The wireless earbud according to claim 11 , wherein the portion of said wall has a reduced thickness compared to other portions of said wall.

13. The wireless earbud according to claim 4, further comprising a microphone (206), wherein the microphone is provided in the housing adjacent the aperture for passing light towards the ambient light sensor.

14. The wireless earbud according to claim 10, further comprising a microphone, wherein the microphone is provided in the housing adjacent the aperture for passing light towards the further ambient light sensor.