Wireless earbuds 2023

[gregs656]

I've used foam tips in the past. I like them but I find them a little bit too isolating for day to day. Rubber tips you can get away with incidental conversation without taking them out - cashiers and so on. I found with foam tips I had to take one out or I'd be coming across as rude. The flip side is the isolation helps improve the sound quality.

In theory the pass through feature of the Sony's solves this, but you have to have your left hand free to use it. I'll see how I get on with the standard ones for now.

[Terzo123]

g4ry13 said:

Rumblestripe said:

g4ry13 said:

Dave. said:

Rumblestripe said:

For cheapies have a look at the "Ear Fun" (black are £40, white £50

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088H7GMHZ/ref...

Won a "What Hi Fi" award so the sound is decent and they work well enough, at 40-50 squids you don't worry about losing them

A further £8 discount too, ordered, thanks.

I might give these a try as well. What's the comfort like?

Good spot on the £8 too!

I did have my eye on some of the ~£20 ones on Amazon but will give these a try first

Edited by g4ry13 on Thursday 16th March 19:18

I find them comfortable enough to wear (they come with three different sizes of silicone ear pieces) whilst walking the dog and to be honest in that context music reproduction is rather a moot point as you are in a pretty noisy environment even if it is just the wind and you need a certain amount of awareness of what is happening around you so complete isolation would not be ideal (IMO). I mostly use them for podcasts but do occasionally listen to music on them and find the quality pretty good. The mike is quite good when taking a phone call too. Obviously they are not going to compete with £200+ B&W jobbies but I've used Apple ear buds and I think they are pretty close to them for music.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will give them a try.

I'm not bothered about the microphone and at that price point know they're not going to be concert quality audio. Comfort is probably one of the more important factors for me.

Can you use these whilst running, or are the likely to fall out?

[gregs656]

Terzo123 said:

Can you use these whilst running, or are the likely to fall out?

Not super helpful I know but I think that depends on the shape of your ears.

This style is more prone to catching on things though, like when you take a t shirt off or something. Don’t have to think about it with flush fitting ones.

[twing]

I lose them so often I buy only cheapies from Wish now. Just had some Lenovo ones arrive and they're fine for Podcasts, the unit is even a battery pack so can charge phone from it in emergencies. THey were £1500 ish delivered and if I lose them I won't cry

[benjipeg]

my current faves are cambridge audo melomania+ with foam tips - use these every day for general and running, good sound, good isolation and comfy- dont fall out and the case is small.
sony xm3 - great sound quality and noise cancelling is very good, they dont feel as secure in my ears and the case is massive - best for using when sound quality is most important
cheap amazon famoo earbuds are my spare pair, waterproof - use them in the shower, tried them in the pool but the blutooth disconnected but fine in steam room and hot tub with phone not far away. feel sure in the ear and go louder than the others - i sometimes use only the left when on the bike

[RammyMP]

I bought some Beats Fit Pros for the gym as my AirPod Pros were failing, they’re terrible.

[Merry]

twing said:

I lose them so often I buy only cheapies from Wish now. Just had some Lenovo ones arrive and they're fine for Podcasts, the unit is even a battery pack so can charge phone from it in emergencies. THey were £1500 ish delivered and if I lose them I won't cry

In guessing you mean £15.00. £1500 seems a little steep.

I'm still after something that can deal with one of my ears not working. Seems a waste to buy a pair when I can only use one. Unless the other one relays people talking to my good side....

[nordboy]

benjipeg said:

my current faves are cambridge audo melomania+ with foam tips - use these every day for general and running, good sound, good isolation and comfy- dont fall out and the case is small.
sony xm3 - great sound quality and noise cancelling is very good, they dont feel as secure in my ears and the case is massive - best for using when sound quality is most important
cheap amazon famoo earbuds are my spare pair, waterproof - use them in the shower, tried them in the pool but the blutooth disconnected but fine in steam room and hot tub with phone not far away. feel sure in the ear and go louder than the others - i sometimes use only the left when on the bike

I really should have got some melomania +'s when they were cheap. They're out of stock or no longer available on most sites now.

[g4ry13]

gregs656 said:

Terzo123 said:

Can you use these whilst running, or are the likely to fall out?

Not super helpful I know but I think that depends on the shape of your ears.

This style is more prone to catching on things though, like when you take a t shirt off or something. Don’t have to think about it with flush fitting ones.

I'm not so keen on the flush fitting ones. Personally i'd want as little in my ear as possible.

It could just be a case of getting used to it, but the wireless offer little advantages to me than wired.

[Dal3D]

benjipeg said:

my current faves are cambridge audo melomania+ with foam tips - use these every day for general and running, good sound, good isolation and comfy- dont fall out and the case is small.
sony xm3 - great sound quality and noise cancelling is very good, they dont feel as secure in my ears and the case is massive - best for using when sound quality is most important
cheap amazon famoo earbuds are my spare pair, waterproof - use them in the shower, tried them in the pool but the blutooth disconnected but fine in steam room and hot tub with phone not far away. feel sure in the ear and go louder than the others - i sometimes use only the left when on the bike

Totally love my melomania ear buds. Great at work running Bluetooth off the laptop, free to walk to the kitchen without losing signal.
Sound and build quality are great.

[Digger]

Dal3D said:

benjipeg said:

my current faves are cambridge audo melomania+ with foam tips - use these every day for general and running, good sound, good isolation and comfy- dont fall out and the case is small.
sony xm3 - great sound quality and noise cancelling is very good, they dont feel as secure in my ears and the case is massive - best for using when sound quality is most important
cheap amazon famoo earbuds are my spare pair, waterproof - use them in the shower, tried them in the pool but the blutooth disconnected but fine in steam room and hot tub with phone not far away. feel sure in the ear and go louder than the others - i sometimes use only the left when on the bike

Totally love my melomania ear buds. Great at work running Bluetooth off the laptop, free to walk to the kitchen without losing signal.
Sound and build quality are great.

Yes they are good, but I sold mine very recently as they are too isolating & managed to get an ace deal on some Google Pixel Buds A Series bundled with a phone purchase from John Lewis. I much prefer the Pixels as they are more flush & fit better with the ear design. They don't sound as good but i prefer them overall

[gregs656]

g4ry13 said:

I'm not so keen on the flush fitting ones. Personally i'd want as little in my ear as possible.

It could just be a case of getting used to it, but the wireless offer little advantages to me than wired.

I don’t think there is any difference to what sits in your ear canal between the flush fit designs and the AirPod style designs.

If you’re just sat at home your not going to get the benefit.

[twing]

Merry said:

In guessing you mean £15.00. £1500 seems a little steep.

I'm still after something that can deal with one of my ears not working. Seems a waste to buy a pair when I can only use one. Unless the other one relays people talking to my good side....

Yes £15.00 I only ever use one as it's safer walking at night. Once I lose the first I just use the other in the same ear.

[g4ry13]

As a little update: I messed around with the earbud sizes which came with my earphones and managed to find a size which was more comfortable.

Today was my first day using the earphones and actually quite impressed with the sound / comfort levels. The earbuds had 10% battery and I put them in the case, 10 minutes later they had 70% which I was surprised about.

From my initial experience I think £30 was a great deal and struggle to comprehend how something can be 6x better than these. I'm not sure how the long-term comfort will be but after an hour or two of use they've been good. Thanks for the recommendation

[ridds]

Rumblestripe said:

g4ry13 said:

Dave. said:

Rumblestripe said:

For cheapies have a look at the "Ear Fun" (black are £40, white £50

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088H7GMHZ/ref...

Won a "What Hi Fi" award so the sound is decent and they work well enough, at 40-50 squids you don't worry about losing them

A further £8 discount too, ordered, thanks.

I might give these a try as well. What's the comfort like?

Good spot on the £8 too!

I did have my eye on some of the ~£20 ones on Amazon but will give these a try first

Edited by g4ry13 on Thursday 16th March 19:18

I find them comfortable enough to wear (they come with three different sizes of silicone ear pieces) whilst walking the dog and to be honest in that context music reproduction is rather a moot point as you are in a pretty noisy environment even if it is just the wind and you need a certain amount of awareness of what is happening around you so complete isolation would not be ideal (IMO). I mostly use them for podcasts but do occasionally listen to music on them and find the quality pretty good. The mike is quite good when taking a phone call too. Obviously they are not going to compete with £200+ B&W jobbies but I've used Apple ear buds and I think they are pretty close to them for music.

Bought a set of these Sunday night as well. Coming from a set of JIB Bluetooth but wire linked and JBL 120TWS.

Good sound, Bluetooth Mic for calls works pretty well even without shouting whilst driving (what I needed them for really). For £32, when I bought them, you can't go wrong IMHO.

[shirt]

benjipeg said:

my current faves are cambridge audo melomania+ with foam tips - use these every day for general and running, good sound, good isolation and comfy- dont fall out and the case is small.
sony xm3 - great sound quality and noise cancelling is very good, they dont feel as secure in my ears and the case is massive - best for using when sound quality is most important
cheap amazon famoo earbuds are my spare pair, waterproof - use them in the shower, tried them in the pool but the blutooth disconnected but fine in steam room and hot tub with phone not far away. feel sure in the ear and go louder than the others - i sometimes use only the left when on the bike

agree on the melomania, they sound better than my sony xm4s and were 1/3 of the price.

[gregs656]

I added some Azla SednaFit ear tips to the Sony's. A soft silicone rather than foam. Impressed with them so far, feel a bit more secure than the standard Sony ones.

The only thing I find a bit annoying is you can't switch off ambient sound during calls (they call it something else, but that's what it does).

[S100HP]

liner33 said:

I have the same problem , I have airpods but much prefer using my Bose Soundsport headphones but just found out they are discontinued and as mine are 3 years old they are getting tired

I had the soundsports, which were great, but I got the Bose Quite Comfort 2 at the end of last year. They are utterly, utterly incredible. They blow me away every single time I use them, which is daily. The quality is out of this world.