I've had some conversations where I just tap to pause and leave them in. You can hear the environment pretty decently with them in, and they don't cause discomfort. If I have anything else to worry about, I can forget to take them out for a bit, in much the same way you can forget you have sunglasses on your head. I would say that they mostly don't cause an impediment for normal activities in a functional sense, but for now, they can in the social aspect. I couldn't ride a rollercoaster or do jumping jacks in them, but I can hear the environment just fine, and they don't fall out easily, even if jogging.