My 2 year old £25 ENAC-FIRE pair have died. Well one of them has, and the Amazon seller I bought it from no longer trades. If anyone has a similar problem and needs a working LH one and a case, I’ll happily post!

Having had a set, I prefer them to the cabled versions. For a new pair, would like noise cancelling, decent battery life, good (but not £250+) sound for music/audio. Don’t use for calls. Don’t use for exercise. Also nothing too massive as I always feel I’m in some crappy sci-fi movie 😉

My daughter has the Apple ones (came with my new Mac) and they are great, but wanted to spend £100ish. Seem to be quite a lot in that price range.

Any recommendations before I have to read 20 conflicting reviews 😉

I’ve just had a set of the AirPods Pro earbuds delivered and so far I’ve been impressed.
The noise cancelling is good, they’re comfortable and the sound quality is pretty good too.
I previously had Samsung Bud things and the AirPods knock spots off them.

I’m sure there’s other stuff out there which is better/cheaper/not apple but I’m happy with these.

Argos are doing refurb’d AirPods Pro for £150. But I’m just not sure I want to spend that much. I don’t do anywhere near as much travelling as I used too, so can’t really justify 50% more than I’d set myself.

I feel the same way about upgrading my iPhone!

There’s a other thread on this in the last couple of weeks. I impulse bought the ones recommended on the thread (see link below). They’re really good – I’m sat working listening to them now. Come with an app where you can customised them equaliser – and also have some test for your hearing where it then customises the sound for you. I’ve played with the equaliser but not tried the hearing test thing yet. They also seem pretty well locked into the ear and come with different sized buds and wing things to get a good fit. I reckon they’ll be fine for running and weight training etc.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/anker-soundcore-liberty-2-pro-true-wireless-earbuds-with-wireless-charging-and-32h-total-playtime-for-ps4999-delivered-at-anker-amazon-3793645?itm_source=admanager&itm_medium=cpc&itm_campaign=3793645&itm_term=5792170798

Thanks Joe, I should have done a search as I know this topic comes up quite often.

£49 eh? That’s more in line with my budget!

Yeah they seem a bargain at that price – so say they’ve won a load of awards.

My wife has just bought AirPods and they’re small / light but they don’t stay in well for me so these are much better.

The case for them also supports wireless charging if that’s a consideration. The pods seem to magnetise the self into exactly the right position as you o it them in the case too.

Regarding the AirPods – I have a pair and I do like them, however just how much noise cancelling should be apparent? Sound is noticeably lower but it’s not always as quiet as I thought it would be. I have tried the fit test and it says they are fitted correctly but I am not 100% convinced.

I love my Jabra Elite 75t Earbuds.
At the higher end of your budget, but worth a look IMHO.

Just got some MPOW X3 , ridiculously good for £25, no way I could justify spending £150 on something Ill definitely lose

https://nerdtechy.com/mpow-x3-review

Mpow X3 review: 75% cheaper than AirPods Pro, 90% as good

No idea if any good but scan are selling Zagg ifrogz Airtime Pro 2 wireless earbuds for £28.99 on their today only page.
It’s a buy 1 get one free offer and by the looks of it you get a free power bank as well.
Must be garbage?

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/zagg-ifrogz-airtime-pro-2-true-wireless-earbuds-with-wireless-charging-case-usb-c-bluetooth-5-ipx5-w

Regarding the AirPods – I have a pair and I do like them, however just how much noise cancelling should be apparent? Sound is noticeably lower but it’s not always as quiet as I thought it would be. I have tried the fit test and it says they are fitted correctly but I am not 100% convinced.

I asked my daughter and she said it’s pretty much total in normal mode. THere’s a ‘transparency’ mode apparently that lets some noise in but she’s never used that.

A few to check out. I like Jabra kit but they seem to be AirPods money. The ones Joe and  Kimbers posted are in top spot.

I’m not even going to click that link FP!

In the grand STW tradition of recommending what you have I’ll throw in the Earfun Air pods. I bought them based on a 5 star What HiFi review, and they were in budget. There’s a newer version, Earfun Air Pro which are a bit more spendy and have fancier noise-cancellation stuff but these ones are fine for me. £60 from Richer Sounds or £50 from paynotaxtofundjeffsspacepenis.com

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/earfun-air

Ending up with the Anker ones on offer. They are definitely a big step up from my super-cheap ones. And the app is quite fun. Appears I’m not deaf yet 😉

Enacfire A9 I just got some from amazon for about £30ish. Noise cancelling, good for the money so far. The amazon item isn’t branded, however when they arrived they were enacfire.

Got the wife some E60s a while ago for £18. No noise cancelling but really very good.

I like Jabra kit but they seem to be AirPods money. The ones Joe and Kimbers posted are in top spot.

Uncle Jeff has the model down in a funky colour for £49. As per the time honoured tradition of recommending what you’ve got, I quite like my non-active ones for the money. Apparently these ‘Active’ ones have an integrated motion sensor. Oooh.

Jabra Elite Active 65t Earbuds on Amazon

Enacfire A9 I just got some from amazon for about £30ish. Noise cancelling, good for the money so far. The amazon item isn’t branded, however when they arrived they were enacfire.

I had the earlier ones, one died hence needing some new ones. They were great for the money tho.

A motion sensor! What a time to be alive 😉

Can highly recommend Cambridge Audio Melomania buds.

Sound is superb. As good as my excellent JBL over ear headphones.
I’ve got a Mk1 set (about £100) and the newer ones have more features than mine.

Having avoided BT earbuds for ages, because I’ve got a bunch of different earphones, including a pair that I was able to swap the cables for a BT unit, as well as BT noise cancelling headphones, I happened to spot a campaign on Indygogo for some neat little ’buds that weren’t stupidly expensive, so took a punt on a pair, and I’ve been really very impressed with them:

https://www.edifier.com/int/product-neobuds-pro.html

They come with a range of seven eartips, and the ones I put on are a very good fit, I wear them a lot at work, because I need to be able to hear someone calling on my radio, or be able to talk to others, having the active n/c works really well, and switching from ambient, which picks up everything through the mics, to high n/c where all the noise just vanishes is a neat trick. They produce a remarkable amount of bass, and they’re nicely detailed for vocals and acoustic music, as well as heavier stuff like Tool or Soundgarden.
Very neat little case, and ten minutes charge gives an hour of playtime.
They’re £99 on Amazon, I got them for £72 through the campaign, and I reckon they’re definitely worth £99.
Really impressed with them.

I’m totally into these Enacfires I’ve had since March. They fit nice and snugly and the bass is impressive. Waterproof. Batteries lasts ages (8hrs+ 48hrs)

Cool charging case with snaptop lid. All the tap and hold controls work as designed and are intuitive (which for me is a bonus)

Walked for 3 hours in the pissing rain yesterday and not a problem (IPX8 water-resist

I had an MP3 player communicating fine with them from a pocket in my rucksack. One millisecond signal/audio-drop in three hours was the only complaint. The E90s were a surprise gift and I was initially a little skeptical (why do I need bluetooth when my Walkman (cabled) buds sound so good?…) – but now since using them for a while I’m smitten.

Here’s a better review than mine:

Enacfire E90
https://the-gadgeteer.com/2021/01/05/enacfire-e90-wireless-earbuds-review/

I’ve a set of Aukey EP-T21. They’re awful cheap things…But, they’re cheap, they come with 3 earbud sizes and they work. There’s nothing really fancy to them, but the have a microphone, and inbuilt controls that work with I’m wearing gloves. I only really use them for commuting on the bike and I will loose one/both of some point, so at £20. I don’t really care over-much.

joebristol
Full Member
There’s a other thread on this in the last couple of weeks. I impulse bought the ones recommended on the thread (see link below). They’re really good – I’m sat working listening to them now. Come with an app where you can customised them equaliser – and also have some test for your hearing where it then customises the sound for you. I’ve played with the equaliser but not tried the hearing test thing yet. They also seem pretty well locked into the ear and come with different sized buds and wing things to get a good fit. I reckon they’ll be fine for running and weight training etc.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/anker-soundcore-liberty-2-pro-true-wireless-earbuds-with-wireless-charging-and-32h-total-playtime-for-ps4999-delivered-at-anker-amazon-3793645?itm_source=admanager&itm_medium=cpc&itm_campaign=3793645&itm_term=5792170798

damn it -i’ve just “justified” a set of those for work purposes… 😉

Bought those Anker ones on the promo for £49. Very impressed with them so far.

Thought i’d chip in with a quick review on the Ankers as they turned up today.

Pro
– Sound quality listening to music / films is very good, good depth but not overly punchy (though still plenty)
– Lots of ear tips for different shapes
– app is quite good for the ear test
– Microphone seems fine.

Con
– No Multipoint connection – this is annoying as i really need it for laptop and phone when working, there was supposedly a “fix” but it doesn’t work on the pro’s
– in windows on headset mode, the sound quality is aweful, very old school phone like – it wont let you set to headphone for sound, and headset for mic – thouhg not sure if this is a windows/Teams issue.

debating whether i keep them or not and work around some of the issues, but if anyone here has/does use them on a windows laptop let me know.. ta

Anyone got any feedback regarding the quality of the mic for making calls? A couple of reviews I’ve read of various wireless headphones say that while the sound quality is excellent the microphones are awful…

I’ve had no issues with phone call quality.

I always recommend Cambridge Audio Melomania on these threads. Not over priced, very good sound quality and excellent battery life. Also cone with a multitude of tips to try

Just got a free pair of Galaxy Buds Live with a new Samsung phone.

Much better than I expected tbh.

I was going to flog ’em but might just keep them.

Over complicated, app reliant, but does what it says on the cheap looking plastic box.

I’m sure one will get lost eventually but for now, they’ll get used.

I wouldn’t pay £150 for them, but they sound OK and don’t seem to fall out.

Sabbat e12 ultra. Perhaps 30 quid delivered.

You’re welcome.

Now the XM4’s are out the Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds can be had for around £120.

Pushing the budget a bit but Sony’s top end wireless stuff is really good at the moment and that’s what I’d get in your place.

I got a set of new WF-1000XM3’s from eBay for £85 last week and very chuffed with them. Already had over ear WH-XM3’s but wanted something more portable.

Just got a free pair of Galaxy Buds Live with a new Samsung phone. Much better than I expected tbh.

That’s because the sound signature on them are designed with following the Harman curve as closely as possible, we’ve got Dr Sean Olive of Harman (Samsung) to thank for his research into headphone design and implementation

What is the Harman curve?

Had a voucher for Amazon so went for some Jabra 75T headphones…returning to the office soon and figure wireless will be better as there will be less things touching desks and the like. Ended up paying 16 quid for them, I wouldn’t have paid full price for them.

They seem good so far but I’ve still to set them up properly…I can skip back a track but can’t seem to move forward so I need to check manual! Sound quality is good for music and speech.

Great for calls and I’ve found the smallest earbud cover gives me the most secure fit – can also connect to multiple devices which is very handy.

No way will I be using them for outdoor biking or sports, they don’t feel properly secure in my ear so I’m convinced they’d fall out given my riding style is ‘rickety’!

Had the over the ear xm3 and xm4 but got a pair of the xm4 in-ear last night.

Once I’d got the right sized tips (need a small on the left and medium on right!) and did the set up I’m quite impressed. (Actually I’ve ordered some small and medium SpinFit tips). The Sony app is quite customisable, along with apps like Wavelet and their auto EQ. Yes, they are a bit pricier but IMHO worth it. I’ve got a few pairs of wired IEM and dongle-DAC but the freedom of wireless and no cables works for me.

Probably need a little tweak here and there but listening to my go-to music testing album (Steely Dan’s “Aja”) they sounded great last night. Actually got one in now at work and listening to some LTJ Bukem on my lunch break!