Speaker 1: Hey folks, wireless ear buds. There's a ton of 'em out there right now, which model's right for you. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 1: Okay. So I'm gonna start by going through what I think are the most important things to consider when buying wireless ear buds. And by that, I mean, true wireless ear butts, not wireless buds that have a core between them. Then I'll offer up a few recommendations as always feel free to bride your own views in the comment section below. And if you found this video informative at all, hit the like button [00:00:30] and subscribe. If you haven't already number one, shouldn't surprise anyone fit is the most important thing. When it comes to wireless earbuds, open cell earbuds, like the AirPods often are more comfortable because you don't have to jam a ear tip into your ear. And some people can only wear open earbuds for that reason. However, open buds allow sound leak in which impacts sound quality and they don't always fit securely. I was one of those people who had trouble keeping the original AirPods and AirPods two in my ears, redesign AirPods.
Speaker 1: Third generation are a bit larger and fit my ears better, [00:01:00] but they now don't fits some people with really small ears. And it's that way. With most buds, they work well for 80 or 90% of people, but unfortunately not everyone. Majority of noise, isolating earbuds come with three to four sizes of ear tips. Although I've reviewed some models that include more options, including both silicone and foam tips, some buds come with wing tips for sports bin that lock the buds in your ears and others like the beats power beats pro have a hook that goes over the top of your ear for added security. I do [00:01:30] run with plenty of earbuds that aren't considered true sports models, but a lot of people like having some sort of hook or fin for sporting activities, because if a bud drops off your ear, it can be sometimes hard to find, especially if you're bike at high speed.
Speaker 1: When you do it, most of the time you get a good fit with one of the included Eart tips, but not always in my review of the beats fit pro ear buds. For example, I noted how I got a good seal with the largest included Eart tip, but I got an even better seal with my favorite set of cen HIZ or Eart tips, which you can check out in the link below [00:02:00] those Cener tips. Inner tubes sits flush with the edge of the ear tip instead of being recessed slightly. So the tip ends up raised a few millimeters. Once it's on the earbud post, when it comes to Eart tips, a few millimeters can make a big difference. Not only can it mean getting a better seal, which is crucial, but a more comfortable fit, a slight change to how a earbud sits in your ear can reduce or eliminate potential pressure, your points that might cause pain or irritation, particularly over longer listening sessions.
Speaker 1: All I can say is if you're not satisfied [00:02:30] with how your Eart tips fit, you should either try to find some new tips for them or return the earbuds, no matter how good the you say they are, you won't get optimal performance from them unless they fit really well. Okay. After fit, I think sound on quality is the next most important thing. Some people might say that a reliable wireless connection would be at number two, but the fact is with the arrival of Bluetooth, 5.0 most earbuds, even many cheap ones deliver a reliable connection. I like earbuds that have well balanced out with well defined base, good [00:03:00] detail in the triple and natural sounding mids where vocals live earbuds that sound open with a wide sound stage are also a key part of good sound quality. You can get affordable earbuds that sound quite decent, but you get, when you jump up to premium buds from likes of Sony bows and Wilkins send highs or master dynamic, an extra level of depth and nuance to the sound it's richer and smoother.
Speaker 1: And you're more likely to be able to hear each instrument playing more complicated tracks where a lot of instruments are playing at the same time. Some lower [00:03:30] price buds may sound good with certain tracks, but when you hit them with more complicated material, things can start to sound a little more mashed up or even slightly distorted. I don't have time to really discuss audio codex, but some buds offer support for Sony's LDAC and Qualcomms Appdex adaptive codex that can offer higher fidelity sound. When used with the proper devices and music streaming services, some Android devices support LDAC and Appdex Bluetooth streaming, but not iOS devices like the iPhone. Number three, voice calling [00:04:00] performance. Yes, most people still use earbuds to make voice calls and participate in video conference calls. So how well earbuds pick up your voice and reduce background noise is a big priority for a lot of folks these days, including me.
Speaker 1: When I test earbuds, I make calls in the noisy streets of New York city and check how well callers can hear me in my book. If you have ear that fit well, sound good and work well for making calls. You've got the key bases covered, but people usually want a little more than that, which brings us to number four extra features. [00:04:30] That's a pretty big bucket, but there are a few key features you wanna look out for the big one for a lot of people is active noise canceling, which is designed that muffle ambient sound around you. Most act noise, canceling ear butts also have a transparency mode that lets ambient sound in and even sometimes amplifies it a bit. Apple currently has the best transparency mode and by best, I mean the most natural sounding. If you do anything where you need to hear the outside world, while you have your butts on, it's important to have a transparency mode, especially if you aren't using open butts.
Speaker 1: [00:05:00] That automatically, that sound in it's for instance, a good safety feature for runners who want to hear traffic around them while they're running some noise, canceling is better than others in Bo Sonian bows are a topnotch in this department. Others, including apple are only a small step behind another key feature is your detection. That's when an optical sensor is on the bud and can detect when you ear bud out of your ear and pauses your music and then resumes playback. When you put the earbud back in. I also think it's a good idea to get earbuds that pair with [00:05:30] companion apps. So you can upgrade the firmware budget, earbuds that cost less than $75. Usually don't offer this feature, but it's pretty standard. With more premium earbuds, you can get feature in performance and enhancements via firmware upgrades, and the app might have EQ settings that allow you to tweak the sound profile to your liking.
Speaker 1: Also, some earbuds allow you to customize the controls via the app. I personally prefer physical buttons for controls, but a lot of earbuds have touch controls. And sometimes you can program the tap and whole gesture to be volume control. [00:06:00] That's an option. Some people like so you can justify from Thebus themselves and not just your phone. Apple has made a big deal about a S spatial audio, virtual STR feature, and other companies like Samsung of added versus STR to its earbuds or at least one model of its earbuds. Apple is doing it best right now. And I do think it's a nice bonus feature. It creates a neat effect in watching movies and TV shows on apple devices, but it's a bit more hit or miss with music listening, where it can sound kind of cool with some dopey at most mixed tracks and less cool with [00:06:30] others.
Speaker 1: Finally, as more people are working remotely, they're looking for a feature called multipoint Bluetooth pairing that allows you to, to connect your buds to two devices simultaneously that allows you to accept an incoming call on your phone while your buds are connected to your computer and vice versa, apples AirPods automatically switch audio between apple devices logged into your iPod account. And Samsung buds have a similar arrangement with Samsung devices, but multipoint Bluetooth pairing is currently a pretty rare feature [00:07:00] though expect it will be added to more earbuds in 2022. Okay. Moving on to number five durability, you obviously want a set of earbuds that holds up well over time. And you could argue this should be higher on the list. And for some people it might be particularly if you're looking to use your earbuds heavily sporting activities like running the earbuds you buy should at least be splash proof with an I P X four rating and ideally dust proof.
Speaker 1: Some charging cases are now splash resistant. [00:07:30] Those scan few are waterproof. The charging case should also feel solid with a strong hinge and not be too big. You want it to be able to fit in your pocket, but avoid putting it in a pocket with keys or other sharp objects. Last time I listed number six is battery life. It's important, especially if you use your earbuds throughout the day for work, but most ear butts offer at least 4.5 hours of battery life. Then usually more. And they also have a quick charts feature that gives you an hours worth of battery life with a five or 10, 10 minute charge in their [00:08:00] charging case. And those charging cases usually hold an extra two or three full charges. More battery life is better of course, and getting a set of earbuds that are rated for six hours or more and moderate buying levels is preferable.
Speaker 1: Wireless charging is a nice bonus feature that most but not all premium buds offer. Last battery life will wa over time. And I haven't seen any earbuds with replaceable batteries. So after a couple of years, if you use them a lot, you will probably be looking at replacing them as promised. I'll finish up with a few recommendations [00:08:30] that you can find links to in the description below on CNET, I actually have about 20 models on our best wireless earbuds list. So these few I'm gonna mention are only a fraction of the top earbuds out there right now, but you can always do a Google search for best wireless earbuds CNET to find more great earbuds options. Sony's w F 1000 Xbox four earbuds are among my favorites and they earned a CNET editor's choice award. They sound really good, have great voice canceling and improve call [00:09:00] quality from their predecessor.
Speaker 1: They may be slightly big for some people's ears, but they're an excellent set of earbuds. They list for $280, but have been on sale recently for around $250. I also like the $200 beats fit pro, which are essentially AirPods with an integrated wingtip that really locks them in your ears. They have very good sound, the same solid noise canceling and impressive transparency mode of the AirPods pro along with space audio with head tracking, some of their extra features only work with apple devices, but beats does have companion [00:09:30] app for Android users. If you can't afford the Soen Heiser CX plus buds are a good alternative though. They're also a little large. They sound really good. Have active noise canceling have been on sale for around $160. Meanwhile, the standard CX that model doesn't have noise canceling is often on sale for a hundred dollars, another decent value for around the same price as the CX plus, or the sound core by anchor Liberty three O buds they're smaller than their predecessor. So they fit my ears better. They [00:10:00] also deliver very good sound with active noise canceling and good call quality. My final pick and current budget pick would be the ear fund air pro two buds. They sound good, have active noise canceling and some nice bonus features like ear detection, sensors for only around $65 and excellent value and sometimes cost even slightly less. That's all I've got for you now. I'm David Caron for CNET. Thanks for watching and stay safe.
