Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read a lot of reviews of a wide variety of wireless earbuds like these. My main criteria was battery life, sound quality, wireless compatibility, and reliability. I'll review each one. See reliability for fix. Battery life: I use these on my commute on public transit and while riding my bike. They last about 1:30 - 2 hours. It's not amazing, but for the size, it's not bad. They're great for something like a workout because they last long enough to cover a session and they're light, so they don't feel like they're really there. They also fit really nicely in the ear (and provide 3 different size fittings), so you don't have to worry about them flying out while you're moving. Sound Quality: They sound better than the wired earbuds you get with an iPhone or iPod. They have good mid range and high range, but the bass is understandably underwhelming. They don't sound tinny but they do lack the oomph of a regular over ear headphone, due in large part to their compact size. Still, they don't sound bad, I think they sound pretty good considering you don't want these little things making horrible rattling sounds while trying to pretend they have a woofer is packed into them. I'd rate them an 8/10 on an earbud scale. Wireless compatibility: I tested it on an iPad, my LG G4 Android, my Lenovo laptop, and a small bluetooth enabled SoC board I had fun screwing around with. They synced with all of them. I will say that reliability of the signal was variable between devices. My laptop actually allowed me to walk across the room with them being connected while my iPad and phone would cut out much sooner. I suspect both the power to the bluetooth radio and the larger antennae in the laptop played a part in that. Still, I was able to play music through them unfettered for at least 10 ft for each minus my SoC board which had no external antennae and therefore required me to sit next to it about 3 feet from it (otherwise it would cut out). Reliability: The sore spot for many users that I think I've resolved. Originally when I received them, they would pair perfectly but I found at times, they would fade in and out or one of them would cut in and out. The manufacturer recommends turning the earbuds inside your ear so they are oriented correctly. Basically the antennae isn't a wire in these things, they're a trace of metal printed on the tiny board inside, so they're a flat piece of metal printed on the board. How the antennae is aligned on a x,y,z axis relative to each other matters a lot (especially with such a small antennae). This helped slightly, but it wasn't until I discovered a buried help article in their site that my review went from 3/5 to 5/5. What you need to do is put both earbuds into the case and hold down the power button (for about 5 seconds) until it blinks white and then goes back to red. This resets the earbuds to default "settings" and clears everything out of them. How these "settings" (the term the manufacturer uses) get set or get messed up is beyond me. But by doing so, I found my connectivity to my phone went from "sort of annoying" to "holy crap, I'm never letting these go". They now no longer cut out at all. No matter how much I turn my head, move my phone, or put it in my bag/pocket/cup holder. I highly recommend trying this before giving up on them. The case itself is nice. I find 15 recharges to be a bit generous. I noticed that the case is constantly trying to charge the earbuds when I leave them in and it discharges itself slowly, which is a bad thing for something that's supposed to second as a battery charge pack. I don't use it as such, so it doesn't matter to me, but it is something to note. Basically there's the inevitable internal discharge of the tiny battery in the earbuds and when the case senses a lower voltage caused by the discharge, it tries to charge it back up again. I found with regular use I get about 10-11 charges out of it. It takes about an hour or a little more for a full charge. The case feels like it's made from anodized aluminum with a brushed finish. It doesn't pick up fingerprints easily and is nice and sturdy. The earbuds magnetically pull into the sockets and don't fall out, a big plus for those who worry about losing one. Overall, I'd say that the price to quality is great. I actually had an issue with the first charging case and the customer service was phenomenal. They sent me a replacement before I even had a chance to send back the defective unit. They were responsive and quick, a rarity. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a lightweight set of earbuds who have some money to spend (I will absolutely admit they are a bit pricey). Go for the single charge version if you're looking to save some money (the earbuds are the same, it's just the charger that's different).