With the JBL Flex earbuds, you can enjoy music and hear what's happening around you. These earbuds have an earbud design with steel. These earbuds don't stay in your ears as firmly as in-ear earbuds, for example. You can also hear more of your surroundings because the earbuds don't block your ear canal. You can control these earbuds with the stem. For example, you can switch songs or adjust the volume. The controls differ per model, so keep in mind what you can use the stem for per earbud.