I think we’ve done this before, but technology moves on apace. Certainly faster than my brain can cope with.
I’d like to buy some wireless in ear buds/phones things, but there’s a bewildering array.
As there’s no-one I trust more than you fine people in matters like this, any help you can offer/recommendations you can make will be very gratefully received.
Budget is perhaps up to 3 figures if your praise is suitably effusive. But doesn’t have to be. (The budget, not the praise.)
Thanks in advance.
I’m liking my VAVAs – once you understand how to put them in they are excellent. Not so good for running mind.
VAVA Bluetooth Headphones, MOOV 28 Wireless Eadphones with 9 Hrs Playtime In Ear Earbuds for Running (IPX6 Splashproof, aptX Stereo, Magnetic Aluminum Design, cVc 6.0 Noise Cancelling Mic) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072C4ZFZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OyqpCbHSSAJ72
Flares: https://www.flareaudio.com/products/flares
There’s a sale on at the moment. The Flares Pro are great. I bit the bullet in the Black Friday sale. They come in a very nice box too.
When you say wireless, do you mean no wires or just Bluetooth? I have a pair of Nu Force BE Sport3 that I highly recommend. They have a little wire that connects the two earbuds and houses the battery/remote control. £60 Richer Sounds
https://www.richersounds.com/optoma-nuforce-in-ear-mic-wireless-bluetooth-headphones.html
I have been using Apple Air Pods for the last 3 months. I am a huge fan. Almost can’t feel them in the ear but stay in place. I use them at the gym. Through the working day I keep one in and use for Bluetooth phone connection. The sound quality is fine – not audionerd – and there is no noise canceling but perfect for casual listening or walking around an airport (a weekly thing for me). The thing where the music stops when you pull it out of your ear – blows my mind. The handy charging case is a great innovation.
Once on the plane I use Bose air cancelling wired headphones – excellent quality and allows me to fly in my personal sound cocoon.
Snap to both of those (apart from walking round the airport). The apple airpods are great for the office and really good as a hands free telephone. Great clarity, really comfortable.
If the train windows are closed then they are fine for that too although nine times out of ten I use the Bose for the 1 hr plus commute.
I agree with Drew!
Initially, I struggled to get on with the Air Pods – mainly because they kept falling out – but have now got some little silicone gizmos which have dramatically improved the fit – and the sound quality. They are ace.
As are the Bose noise cancelling headphones. I know Bose kit tends to be pricey – sometimes eyewateringly so – but I like the sound quality and am finding theirSound Link Revolve portable speaker very useful, while I contemplate a Sonos solution.
I am sure if I had those separate ones I’d lost one in minutes. I like my BT ones as they have a magnet to stick them together like a little necklace which you take them off for a moment.
“little silicone gizmos”…… Any links or info about these at all Fifer? I think I might need some of these as I have the same falling out problem!
Inevitably they come from the tax dodgers. I got two items, the first – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CTJH1HW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – has some useful items, including a simple connecting cable to deal with the issue that Twang raises, and a protective shell for the charging case amongst other goodies.
However, I didn’t find their covers particularly good and these –
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HG7PC4T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – are much better.
Other options are available – including some covers that can stay on the Pods as they charge. However, they were a little too prone to tearing for my liking. The covers with the little ears have to be removed for charging, but they are are quite robust and easy to remove/replace. I’m finding them a good solution.
Hope that helps
Cheers Fifer…I will look into those.
I don’t have any myself, being a paid-up audionerd. But I’d say the same to this as I would to questions of wired headphones, or loudspeakers:
There are no perfect headphones, each has their own design compromises, and each are designed by someone with different ears to yours. Make sure you hear them first. Some people think Sennheiser cans are clear, others find them tinny. And so on. Brands like AKG, Beyer, Grado, Sennheiser, Philips, SoundMagic, etc have lots of experience of designing cans.
All of the electronics is going to be pretty similar, the main differences are going to be battery life and noise-cancelling. If you’re using them on a train or plane, noise-cancelling is handy but eats up battery power, you’d do better with ones which seal out the outside world with silicone buds.
If you’re using them for walking about, you want open cans so you can hear things around you. Being sealed-off when crossing roads could be lethal. I recently nearly ran someone over in the dark as he crossed a road without looking, only the tell-tale white wire hanging out of his ears gave me a clue as to why!
My Bose QCs get me from Brisbane to London or vice versa on one charge (not used every minute, obviously), so they seem to have cracked the noise cancelling eating batteries problem.
Buy a little bluetooth receiver (smaller than a cigarette) and plug in any of your favourite headphones.
Yep, I’ve just bought one of these:
I’ve had it just over a week and it does exactly what it says it does and I can leave my phone in my pocket. It means I can, at last use my old foam style earbuds wirelessly listening to music and what’s going on around me.
That is extremely cool.
I know they’re a little over your quoted budget, but I never go anywhere without my Bose Quiet Control 30s.
I had no intention of spending that much, and made do for a while with some BeatsX, but after my second pair broke, I got a refund, and the price leap to the Bose didn’t seem quite so big as buying them from scratch.
An indulgence? Probably… But I’d say they’re my most used and appreciated bit of tech.
https://www.whathifi.com/bose/quietcontrol-30/review
I’ve got the wired version. They’re very good and comfortable too.
If you are running then I can recommend these:
https://www.jabra.co.uk/sports-headphones/jabra-sport-pulse-wireless
Have stood up to the sweat, rain etc for 18 months now and (not compulsory) as well as lovely sound you get a voice every 1/2k reading out your average speed, heart rate, pace etc through an in-ear heart monitor widget.
I have a few pairs of headphones including wires and non wired but I default to my Soundmagic E10 BT. Cost around £40 and sound very good. They are discrete and battery life is good (the battery is on a little clip in the middle of the wire. I clip it to the back of whatever collar I am wearing).
The only problem is that the led showing it is on is very bright. A little piece of black electrical tape has sorted that.
The AirPod option is too expensive for me. And then having to buy a cable to guard against them falling out feels mad. Not to mention the battery life.
When I’m working, I use Plantronics Bluetooth headphones which are noise cancelling both on the ears and mic. They happily sound great with music as well so I tend to use them on the train.
I have a set of Jaybird Run which are completely wireless.
They are designed for running, so stay in very well, and come with an app for adjusting equaliser settings. The company are very fitness-oriented, as is the app.
I had to stop using them at work because nobody noticed I was wearing them and people would come up and start conversations with me, oblivious to the fact I couldn’t hear them.
No noise cancelling but decent isolation. Work ok taking calls. Limited control functions on the buds. You can customise the buttons but only to swap between two options. Nice compact case that will keep them charged and recharge them.
Bluetooth was a bit flaky at first. I had one of the first pairs when they were launched, but there was a firmware update that fixed that.
These aren’t in ear phones but I can highly recommend the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. The battery lasts forever and charge up very quickly. They are incredibly comfortable, I can wear them all day with no problems. The noise cancelling is brilliant, it reduces the sound of a noisy factory (80-85db) to a barely audible background hum. But best of all the sound quality is fabulous, stick an mp3, Spotify or a Flac of pretty much anything and they all sound stunning. They are pricy but are worth every penny.
https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/headband-headphones/wh-1000xm3
I believe the Sony’s are rated more highly than Bose in reviews these days
Thankyou all, I knew you’d know.
I’ll try and keep you posted, as of last night the taxman owes me £300, so I may treat myself…
Thanks again.