I bought this headset because I thought it was like headsets I'd used with all my previous phones, where the plastic arm comes straight off of the bud (like standard iPod earbuds, for example) -- that's how it looks in the picture. Turned out to be the same headset I'd previously bought and returned in stores (albeit cheaper); the earbud is a sort of megaphone shape, so where the downward pull of the cord keeps a regular earbud in place, on this headset, it just pulls it out of your ear. The angle of the pic in this particular listing makes it look like a regular earbud -- see this pic of another headset for a side shot: http://www.amazon.com/Hands-Free-Headset-Motorola-SYN0896-Eforcity/dp/B000VKAJJ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1213019078&sr=8-4).