Gone are the bulky headphones of old, with their huge over-ear cans and miles of cabling. For most, discreet earbuds are the way forward. With a good pair of earbuds popped into your ears, not only can you make and receive calls when on the move but also relax to music or your favorite audiobook, and even isolate yourself from the noise and bustle of the world around you.
But there are countless different earbuds out there to choose from, and since many are quite expensive, you’re making a significant investment, and buying the wrong ones can be a costly mistake.
Here’s my tour of what I believe are the top earbuds currently available.
Excellent hardware with deep integration with iOS
Everything about the AirPods Pro is beautifully engineered. They are small, sleek, comfortable, have great audio output while at the same time doing a magical job of shutting out the rest of the world, and are surprisingly easy to use.
Everything from the initial set up to operating the buds is just mind-blowingly miraculous.
The clicker for operating different modes is also a brilliant touch, and lightyears better than the touchpad that other companies seem to be using. It offers all the tactile feedback of a button, without being a button.
They also offer up to 4.5 hours of listening time with a single charge (up to five hours with Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency off), with the case taking this up to 24 hours.
These earbuds look as good in the gym as they do at the office. They offer great sound, comfortable, and amazing active noise cancellation for those situations where you want to block out the world.
On the battery front, the earbuds offer 5.5 hours of battery life, and with the charging case, they offer a total of 24 hours of use between full recharges.
On the durability front, the Jabra Elite Active 75t are sweatproof, having an IP57-rated design. Backing this is a 2-year warranty against sweat and dirt damage.
More like Apple AirPods Pro Lite
Think of these third-generation AirPods more as AirPods Pro Lite.
These AirPods feature a new, more compact design, up to six hours of listening time, spacial audio so you hear the sound coming in all around you, and you have the peace of mind that they are sweat and water resistant.
Another great thing about choosing Apple AirPods is that they are so well integrated into the Apple ecosystem.
Like AirPods, but cheaper and better battery life
Great sound, fantastic active noise cancellation, crystal clear calls thanks to six noise-canceling microphones, and up to 32 hours of battery life — with the earbuds capable of an amazing 8 hours on a charge.
They are also super comfortable thanks to having a myriad of different earcup options, so you can get a truly personalized fit.
I simply cannot fault these earbuds.
These are amazing.
Want Alexa in your ears? There’s no better way than with the 2nd-generation Echo Buds by Amazon.
These are everything you’d expect form Amazon — good, solid hardware at a decent price.
The Amazon Echo Buds last for about five hours per charge, and with the case, are good for 15 hours.
Currently available at a dramatically reduced price, making them a great deal for those who are big Alexa users.
No more sticking things into your ears!
Not earbuds as such, the AfterShokz Aeropex use bone conduction to carry the sound through your cheekbones into your ear canals. Sounds weird, but it works.
And works well.
While I like the transparency mode that some earbuds offer, these offer complete transparency, because there’s nothing plugging your ears.
The sound quality is very good, not as good as high-end earbuds, but it’s up there. They are super comfortable, and you get 8 hours of use per charge.
And a feature that I love is that they come with two charging cables. This is a nice touch because these have a proprietary waterproof charging system.
Use these for a few days, and shoving buds in your ears will feel… weird!
How have these products been chosen?
I have tested and extensively used every product in this list. I’m no audio expert but can tell good earbuds from bad ones (and there are a lot of bad ones out there!), and while my ears are very likely different to your ears, I believe that these earbuds offer enough enough flexibility to work for most people.
I’ve also tested battery life, along with any sweat/dust/waterproof claims.
Any one of these will make an awesome pair of earbuds — you just need to decide what works for you!
Which earbuds are best for you?
There are a number of things that I look for when it comes to earbuds.
- Comfort
- Battery life
- Noise cancellation
- Price
- Design
Picking an overall winner is impossible — everyone is different, so I’ll leave it to you to decide what works for your particular application.
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