Users of Sony Ericsson phones are to get bragging rights over their friends with iPhones. It’s nothing to do with the handset, but everything to do with these earphones: remove one of the MH907s from your ear and your handset’s music will pause; put it back in and your tune will continue.

This trick is performed by a capacitive switch in the tip of each earphone. It’s the same technology that is used in sensitive touchscreens, and it relies on the excellent electrical conductivity of human skin.

When either earphone is taken out of the ear canal, the decrease in electrical capacitance signals the music player in the phone to pause. Naturally, the voltage differences involved are minute, so there is no danger of electrocution.

The system works well, although users need to be careful to handle only the insulated body of each earphone — simply touching the rubber tip is enough to trigger the capacitive response.

Sound quality is very good for earphones at this price, with unobtrusive bass and good detail — a consequence of the snug-fitting, in-ear design cutting out nearly all environmental noise, resulting in music being played at lower and much more sensitive volumes. Although fatter than most in-ears, the MH907s did not shake free, as they come with a choice of three sizes of rubber tip. The auto-pause function can be overruled by using the controls on the phone for those one-eared, tune-sharing moments.

The MH907s are compatible with 35 Sony Ericsson phones, including all the company’s Walkman-branded models, but not with any other mobiles, as they rely on Sony’s 12-pin connector — a technology no other maker has adopted. But it’s such a smart idea, expect rivals to incorporate it into a 3.5mm headphone jack as soon as they can.

Sony Ericsson MH907 from £40, sonyericsson.co.uk