Wireless earbuds: buy cheap, buy twice?

I’m after some wireless earbuds for when I’m out doing my daily amount of government approved exercise. Is it worth buying a decent higher end pair like the new Powerbeats(non pro with the wire) for £130 or are the random brand £30-£50 amazon ones worth a look?

Any recommendations would be brilliant!

Cheers

I’ve got a set of Anker earbuds, which are doing okay so far. There’s a more expensive version with more touch functions if you prefer. I’ve got several bits of Anker kit, and it’s all been reliable up to now.

Anker earbuds

I bought cheap and bought twice, but that’s because I wanted a pair for work and home.

Taotronics bh16 and bh25 models from Amazon Bluetooth with link wire. Sounds good, good battery life and cheap enough that if I lose them I won’t be greetin!

£20ish.

I’ve always bought cheap (<£30) wireless earbuds. Mainly because there’s plenty reviews out there suggesting the more expensive ones don’t last any longer.
My current set are Aiwons true wireless buds from Amazon….£16.99 when I bought them a couple of weeks ago.
Sound quality is ok, not super loud in terms of volume. So far, they’ve stood up to the rain. The main plus point has been the 9.5-10 hour playtime before they need charged. I just hope they last.

If you’ve got an iPhone, something with a W1 chip in makes the operation pretty flawless.

Anker here too. £18-ish. Solid.

Anker +1. Generally quality kit.

Cheers guys! Any specific pair of Anker ones you rate? Seems to be quite a few different ones.

I had some of the super cheap Anker type ones. They were ok, but a but if a pain in the arse when running, as I couldn’t get them to stay in, and the cable rustled really badly. Upgraded to a set of Creative Outlier Airs, so much nicer. Stay in my ears infinitely better when I’m running (but had to change the tips) I’d say they’re not far off my wife’s far more expensive Jabra’s.
When I got them I think they were about £55, not sure what they are now.

Mpow are worth a look. I paid extra for some Jabra ones which are all singing and dancing and fantastic.

RHA are supposed to decent and there’s a deal on https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/50-off-all-headphones-at-rha-3426846

I’ve had a few pairs of Anker from Amazon and they’re fine but always had the oddly, nightly annoyance. Some just didn’t fit quite right, some lost signal too easily, some rattled, etc.
So I gave up and bought some Jabra Elite Active. They are perfect, fit well and the sound is great too. Not cheap mind you.

Creative Air Outliers for me. Really good quality and well under £100. Battery life is way longer than most of the competitors (10hrs plus per charge and 3 charges per case)

Good sound as well…

I’ve had various pairs of MPOW buds which I damaged or just stopped working, until I bit the bullet and got some Beats X.

They still have a cable, but I like that as they are harder to lose.

W1 chip so pair across multiple devices (own iphone, work iphone, mac) easily. Decent battery life but do a 5 mins=2 hours thing too.

Only £90 too…

I have a pair of Bose which are great for exercising.

These look similar from B&O at a half decent price – old model I think.

Its Sportpursuit so you need to make an account to view items – all legit though.

https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/1883281

I’m selling some Cambridge Audio ones in classifieds…excellent sound quality, battery life apparently v good, I’ve only used them a couple of times (hopefully this is OK to post here?)

Waiting on some FIIL T1 X to arrive…. $50 and ace reviews. There’s a few around this price. The tech is moving fast so I don’t mind $50 on a pair now and upgrading in 6 months time. Have a squizz on youtube there’s heaps of options at this pricepoint.

I have the Anker Soundcore Spirit X. They have the hook over the ears, helps keep them in place while running. Works fine with my Garmin watch, pretty good battery life.
Though the sound quality isn’t exactly great, rather lacking in bass. But not bad for £30.

100s of reviews
https://www.scarbir.com/

I want a set to use under ear defenders, anyone recommend a cheap set (not fussed about sound quality as will be using 2 stroke machinery) that are comfortable with them?

Cambridge Audio Melomania 1.

Superb sound and battery life.

Its definitely the case with ear buds and earphones and is my experience. However that necessarily isn’t a bad thing and depends on how you use them. If you use them alot for music then it is definitely worth getting more expensive and better gear…you’ll benefit from longer life and better sound quality. If you use them infrequently and for things like taking calls on your phone where sound quality isn’t so important then no problem buying cheap and just replacing as and when they konk out – of course in the long run you’ll spend more but the cash flow will be easier.

However I’ve not really had great experiences with earbuds for running or exercise. Never really invested in a decent premium set, but of the cheap and mid range ones I’ve used I find they never last long. sweat running into them usually shortens their life considerably (months) and on the cheaper brands I find the BT connectivity very flakey. But I’ve never really wanted to splash out on more expensive ones for running and physical activity because I just think its is asking too much for them to survive exposure to sweat and moisture when the weather is bad etc. so just don’t bother now and find the metronomic noise of feet on pavement or the clicking of bike drive train takes you’re mind away, sets you up in a kind of trance and time just flies by anyway.

I’ve a set of RHA MA390s and they’ve been excellent for me. Sub €70

I’ve got two sets of headphones. Some £350 Etymotic research ER4 Micro Pros (wired) and some £20 Ankers wireless.

I listen to the Anker’s most of the time because a) wireless is so much less hassle and b) digital download music sounds bad on good headphones.

So for me, i get a better experience on the cheaper headphones. And i don’t care when i accidently wash them!

I’ve got two sets of headphones. Some £350 Etymotic research ER4 Micro Pros (wired) and some £20 Ankers wireless.

I listen to the Anker’s most of the time because a) wireless is so much less hassle and b) digital download music sounds bad on good headphones.

So for me, i get a better experience on the cheaper headphones. And i don’t care when i accidently wash them!

Which set of anker do you use?

I’ve got Anker Soundbuds, I’ve also got too dollar Sony Headphones and I’ve had their expensive earbuds too.

The Anker Soundbuds are brilliant for the money as is all Anker kit I’ve had. They are secure as anything with the right sized ear buds on, so much so I have to pull them out carefully otherwise the suction hurts my eardrum. I use them for gym and turbo and I get pretty sweaty; they are fine and even stay clean and nice. Only annoyance is that the volume controls dangle from the right ear which is annoying when running. But this is a very common design. I’d look for a pair with the gubbins at the back or a pendant if you want to run. But with regards Anker quality, no complaints. Sound is also great too, good enough that I don’t notice the difference between them and the £280 Sony jobs when exercising.

We’ve had 2 pairs of beats x.
Both stopped working 1 month after the warranty had run out.
I wouldn’t buy anything by beats again.

Which set of anker do you use?

These ones

They’re fairly heavy on the bass response.

I know they’re not earbuds, but I bought and really rate Aftershockz for exercising.

Link to the Anker earphones I have is in the second post up top.

My MPow set actually caught fire while charging. It appears water got in and shorted something. I’d avoid like the plague.

Iphones have gone on fire, no plagues were experienced. 🤗

For exercise I don’t think you can beat AfterShockx bone conduction. IME, less wind noise, no issues with them falling out/loosening and losing bass response (which I’ve had with all in ears) and you retain more awareness of what’s going on around you.

I’ve had some cheap Chinese in ears and the sound quality was good – loads to choose from
https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/7/20943377/chinese-hi-fi-audio-chifi-fiio-hifiman-tin-audio

Has anyone tried Enacfire Future?

Has anyone tried Enacfire Future?

My son has them – he’s not lost or complained about them for 6 months, so they must be OK.

I have a set of Anker soundcore liberty neo bluetooth buds. 30 quid ish from Amazon. I bought them 3 or 4 months ago, mainly for the gym. They’ve been fine, I particularly like the way they stay put. No idea how it works but you twist them 90° when you put them in and they lock in place! So far as I know my ear ‘oles aren’t screw threaded but who knows, magic?

Sound quality is OK, not amazing and sometimes you get a sort of thud, thud sound in them when your feet strike when running. Moving them a bit or concentrating on not having a gait like a hippo usually solves this. Otherwise though they do what I need and are great value.

Bomaker Sifi – consistently surprise me by how good they sound. Better than Lypertek Tevi, Tronsmart Spunky Beat & Anker Soundbuds Slim.

I ended up buying a set of Anker SoundBuds for £17, tbh you can’t really go too far wrong at that price. I’m only using them for podcasts and they seem decent enought for that.

Cheers, Guys.