My Iphones charging socket is buggered. If I try, I can get it to charge. However, the headphones refuse to work if I move so it’s time to treat myself to some bluetooth ones.

I am not an audiophile and am not prepared to pay much more that about £70.

I like the sound from my old Bose Sound-dock and tend to tweak bass up a bit to get the sound I like and I also like things to be loud.

Someone leant me some Bose wired earbuds last year and they sounded too tinny and a bit quiet so I have realised that I probably shouldn’t just buy any set that fits my budget.

I am fine with the standard Apple supplied wired headphones, but am not prepared to pay for their EarPods.

So what do people recommend?

I have some Skullcandy Sesh earbuds.

Got them for £40 on a deal at Tesco and they’re perfectly adequate. The battery life isn’t fantastic about 3 hours-ish but they charge quickly in the case and I don’t wear them all day anyway.

I recently got some Soundcore P2 life, I’m very impressed so far. They last a good 6 hours between charges and even a quick charge goes a long way. Think they can be had for £30ish from Amazon

Soundcore P2 life, I’m very impressed so far.

This

Have you tried cleaning the charging port with a pin? I have to do mine (USB-C but still kinda similar) every now and again to keep it sweet.

I can’t get on with the rubbery plugs on stuff like the Soundcores mentioned above, they just fall out my ears. Much prefer the Apple shaped ones.

I would genuinely recommend BeatsX which I bought a few years ago for ~£70.

Currently down to £30 at Currys.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/audio-and-headphones/headphones/headphones/beats-x-wireless-bluetooth-headphones-black-10186509-pdt.html?awc=1599_1606820349_0766d65466a87b070a5d49f81c27b76d&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Discount%20Code~47868~Pepper+Deals+Ltd

There’s a newer version out RRP £50. Beats ‘Flex’ I think.

The Apple W1 chip is definitely a bit of extra convenience if you use anything Apple (but especially if you have more than one thing) so worth paying a bit extra for.

P.S. Have you cleaned the lint out of the lightning jack?

Thanks for the ‘clean the socket’ comments, but sadly I have tried multiple times. I think some sand got into the socket in the summer and caused some damage when I plugged a lead in without checking as I was desperate to charge my phone. I am normally careful with it on the beach, but I had to run out to a boat to help and just tucked it into my wetsuit, it came out soaking wet, but I just towelled it dry and blew into the socket a few times 🙁

Echo Buds for the last year and once I buggered around d with the fitting options they are pretty good, have the Bose noice cancelling stuff, and Alexa. If you are an Alexa user they make sense. Comfy on long runs or walking the dog.

I have been through tonnes of earphones and actually really like the JBL Reflect Contour 2 (Sports). They have decent sound and actually stay in place for me when exercising.

I do think though that pretty much all bluetooth earbuds or wireless seem to have a limited shelf-life unless I am really unlucky. I’ll be pleased if I get 3-4 years use out of these tbh based on previous experience of others.

You can get Jabra Elite Active 65T’s from their refurb shop on eBay for £64.99 and there’s a discount code too that takes £9 off.

Re: beats X.
Wife had a pair, worked well, sounded good. 6 weeks later i bought a pair.
Fast forward until the warranty runs out, and 3 weeks after that (to the day) they refuse to work.
6 weeks later, which was 3 weeks (to the day) after the warranty ran out on my pair, they ‘failed’ in exactly the same manner.
Hell of a coincidence imo.

Creg- ta for heads up ‘re jabra 65 s, nearly bought some last year for 140 quid.

Where’s the discount code, I am on jabra shop in Spain, 60 quid equivalent, cracking deal

Creative Outlier Air 2. Really decent sound quality and by far the longest battery life of any I’ve seen or used. Well priced too…

Where’s the discount code

I think the code on eBay is PRESENTS15. Put it in at checkout and it takes the money off.

I have a pair of these. I am really impressed with sound quality for the price 100x better than a cheap £20 pair we got from TK Max for the youngest

I know you aren’t prepared to pay for Air Pods, but I’ve had some VERY expensive wired Klipsch in-ear headphones I couldn’t wear any more (in-ear and ear canal psoriasis don’t mix). I used the wired Apple earpods and found the shape fitted very well and the sound agreeable when they sat outside the ear. I then bought some Airpods mainly for the shape and convenience. I have not been disappointed. Comfortable and a reasonably neutral sound. Just the basic ones, without the extra in-ear covers, nor wireless charging. I shall be buying a pair for my stepfather.

My Airpod listening is normally speech and Radio 3 if that helps. I miss the utility of the volume switch on the wired earpods too.

These Cambridge Audio ones:

Currently half price, very good sound, very good battery life, UK company.

I have some Skullcandy Sesh earbuds.

These ^^^^
Got myself and the lad a set.
£40 from Amazon.

I’ve got some Creative Outlier Air’s, they’re cracking for what I use them for (running mainly), easy to use, no complaints.
But, they’re not as good as Mrs Lunge’s Jabra’s Elite Sport. The Outliers are 1/3 of the price though…

Urbanista – I have the stockholm and inherited the paris too, use them for listening to podcasts whilst running, they’re very good.

Am I the only one whose jawbone seems to intrude into the ear canal?

If I stick a finger in my ear and open and close my mouth I can feel the canal constricting and changing shape (hard to describe) this means that any ear bud that doesn’t have a hook on it for over the ear just works its way out/gets pushed out of my ear. This happened with a set of Jabra Elite 65T’s so I had to return them which was annoying because I liked the sound from them, now I’ve got some cheap MPow ones from Amazon which are “good enough”.

Mentioned already by lunge, Creative Outlier Air

https://uk.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets/creative-outlier-air 45 quid at the moment.

Creative are a great company who make quality stuff* but for some reason they’ve never gained the good rep that they deserve.
The earbuds are good. They’re a bit bigger than Apple AirPods, but I reckon the sound is better, and the battery life certainly is. You don’t get that “it’s Apple so it works with everything Apple’ stuff, and the controls aren’t quite as intuitive. However, for the price they are an absolute steal.

* I have a 12 year old mp3 player, well used and still going strong. I use it as a backup these days, but I think it might outlive me.

Bought a set of Philips something or others after my JBL thingies gave up the ghost.

The JBL had the cable connecting them. The Philips are individual buds and come with a box that includes a battery. Can get 40 hours out of them. Usually only use one at a time (left or right) when at work or on the bike. Has the advantage that they last ages.

Looked at the likes of Bose, but the Philips were about half the price.

Would buy again.

Had a pair of Creative Outlier Gold and they had great battery life with decent sound. One of them kept losing a lot of volume. Googled it and it’s a known issue. Replaced them with a set of Cambridge Audio ones like the pair up there ^^

Similar amazing battery life, much easier to use, wider selection of ear plug bits, same water and sweat resistance and much better sound quality. Can be had for £70 or £80 at the moment and very much worth it.