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Get a set of Bluetooth sport earphones for $17.99

Normally $29.99, these lightweight, activity-friendly 'phones perform surprisingly well.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read

CNET's Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page.


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TaoTronics

There's no single set of headphones, earbuds or earphones that's perfect for every occasion. Indeed, if you're the sporting type, you probably don't want wires bouncing around, and you certainly don't want cans covering your ears.

Rather, you want a set of sport earphones: lightweight, wireless and designed to stay put while you're working out.

Ta-daa! For a limited time, and while supplies last, Sunvalleytek has the TaoTronics TT-BH06 Bluetooth sport earphones for $17.99 when you apply coupon code KP4ENMFE at checkout. Regular price: $29.99. Shipping is free for Prime subscribers, or if you pad your cart to that magic $35 mark.

That code will work with either the black or white version; for whatever reason, the green model is stuck at $39.99.

I got a chance to take these for a test drive (test listen?) and came away impressed -- though there are a couple caveats.

First, they fit perfectly in my ears right out of the box, no fiddling with earhooks or earbuds necessary (though it comes with different-size sets of each). Second, they passed the test most other Bluetooth headsets have failed, at least for me: They worked outdoors without cutting out, even when my phone was tucked away in my pocket.

As for sound quality, that's always a subjective thing. I found it quite good, and certainly good enough for when you're running or hitting the gym or the like, when perfect sound isn't really the priority.

That said, because these are noise-isolating earbuds, the kind that make a seal inside your ear canals, there's a lot of fwump-fwump noise when you're running; that's just the nature of the beast. It's a safety issue as well though; if you're running or cycling along a road, you want to be able to hear cars coming.

Those issues aside, this is an amazing deal. For more evidence, look to the 175-odd user reviews, which average out to 4.3 stars -- most of which were probably based on a $30 price tag. Your thoughts?

Bonus deal: Good heavens, you can buy massive amounts of storage for cheap. For a limited time, and while supplies last, B&H has the Western Digital My Book 3-terabyte (!) external hard drive for $89 shipped. (Actually, it's a couple bucks less at Best Buy, but you'll most likely be on the hook for sales tax.) This backup-friendly drive has great reviews, a two-year warranty and three terabytes of space. Holy hard drives, Batman!