Pass me your opinions on wireless earbuds

In the market for some wireless earbuds. This market is completely saturated.
Any standouts that y’all might recommend?

The balance I am looking to strike: really good sound (obviously), comfort, not hundreds of dollars (preferably under $200…but this is elektronauts, so if you have a case to make for something premium, I would enjoy hearing it :upside_down_face:)

What are you using them with? If Apple gear, AirPods Pro for sure, and they can often be found heavily discounted.

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I had the Airpods Pro, hated them- the little rubber nozzle(?) thing kept getting squished up in my ear canal (i have small ears…) and so the sound was nearly always muted. Sent them back, got the regular airpods (whichever are the latest iteration) and they are great. Connectivity is super reliable, sound is very good, tho no noise cancelling or anything like that, battery life is really good too. I also have the sennheiser PXC 550-II, which of course arent earbuds, but are great at noise cancelling (even without it being activated) and they sound great. They are fairly bulky and make my ears sweat tho, so they are more of a winter headphone, and the airpods are for more clement temperatures.

Nothing Ear(1)

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The Nothing Ear (1) buds are comfortable, sound great, and I love the charging case they come with. But I do notice they drop connection more than I would like. Does that happen with yours?

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Another vote for AirPods Pro if you use Apple hardware, I’ve never liked any Apple headphones before but they are great.

Comfortable (I have fairly large ears and they stay in place fine), great sound (maybe not audiophile but enjoyable to listen to, as good as the Bose in ears they replaced), fairly good noise cancelling for the size, and so simple to use (no messing around with power switches and bluetooth settings etc., handoff between Apple devices is pretty seamless).

I think it’s the simplicity I like most, other wireless headphones always feel like a bit of a hassle to turn on and use whereas the AirPods are just ready to go instantly.

Obviously would recommend buying from somewhere where you can return in case they aren’t right for you, but I think they are so popular for good reason.

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…great for listening…bad for producing…

I recently bought the AirPods Pro and i think they’re really GREAT. I’ve chosen them over the Sony wf-1000xm4. The reason? Even if the sound quality of the Sony is better to me, you can not replace batteries on this model. Thus, they are disposable and they are not for me. Apple charges $49 per ear to replace the battery. My two cents :slight_smile:

I got the Air Pods Pro heavily discounted by my phone provider (would have never bought them for the normal price to be honest) and I really like them. The sound is really nice. Even more than the noise cancelling I use the transparent mode whch doesn’t shield you from your surroundings which is very nice when someone else is in the room. May even be an option to use while biking e.g., but when I’m on the bike it is one of the very few opportunites where I enjoy the silence :wink:

When I was on holiday I noodled a little bit with garage band and the air pods pro but the latency makes it fairly unusable for me for anything remotely live. I got some Sennheiser IE-100 Pro for that now and they are also really good and seem to translate very well to my Beyerdynamic headphones. But of course those come with wires :wink:

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Sony wf-1000xm4 sound very noticeably better than airpod pros or Jabra 85ts. Really no contest sound wise. But I’ve suffered interminable bluetooth connection issues with them and am now using airpod pros because they just work. Sound good enough for podcasts at least. Jabra 85ts are probably better than the airpods. By far the most comfortable from my experience. But maybe more expensive. Not sure.

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Yeah, I had headaches with the over ear Sonys. Switching device was much more tricky than it needed to be. I think Bluetooth is just a crappy protocol but AirPods add their own magic to make it more reliable

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I use wireless earplugs heavily during my runs. Favourites are definitely AirPods Pro. BUT: I’ve had various (3 to be precise) charging cases die on me after a year and a day and at their price point I cannot keep buying them. Last winter I got two pairs of Amazon Echo Buds. They are from Amazon, they look shit, they sound mediocre, but at €79,- a pop they are a steal and they get the job done (stop me from stopping). If I ever get AirPods Pro again (which I likely will once the next generation is out) I’ll definitely get Apple Care to be on the safe side.

If you want headphones for music making please keep in mind that Bluetooth latency is too high… even with something like APT-X…

If apple devices another + for the AirPods Pro…

For hearing music I would never go without ANC again. There is just too much noise outside.

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Aaaaaand I would wait till October. Apple should release the new Airpods then.

Really like my Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro. Pretty decent noise cancelling and the best match for my Samsung phone.

I’ve had way too many earphones over the last 10 years… AirPods included.

Best ones by far IMO are the Sony WF-1000xm4.

In fact, they’re that good it pisses me off that they didn’t give them a catchier ‘airpod’ type name so it’s easier to recommend them to people who appreciate sound quality.
Luckily @Merlinash brought them up so I didn’t have to Google them, again.

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but they look so big. I have so small ears. cannot see them in those…

Among the many lovers: I hate the Apple airpods pro. Sound is thin, noise cancelling virtually nonexistent and the promised ease of use sometimes just gives up on you and then you need to factory reset them and re-paur all your devices. Wish I had gotten the Sony ones. Version 5 should be coming “sometime soon” and then the 4 can be had with a nice discount.

Another vote for wf-1000xm4, I love mine. Device switching is a pain, but in every other regard I like them. Sound quality is great, ANC is amazing.

Befre that Jabra Elite 65t (I think) and they sound great, but are a bit of a faff to insert.