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I'm going to have to retire my trusty wired Sony MDR-EX650AP as I need to buy a new phone, and apparently it's now illegal to make phones with 3.5mm audio jacks.
Any suggestions in the £40-£60 price range?
Usage will just be for commuting really, so I don't need any 'sports specific' features.
Bonus points if they work with iPads as well as android without any faffing about, so presumably as long as they are bluetooth it shouldn't be a problem, but you never know with apple stuff being a pain in the backside.
Sound quality is pretty important, but I'm not prepared to spend the best part of a hundred quid on the google pixel buds, for example.
Ta!
Watching with interest... I'm the market for something pretty similar myself.
Either of the offerings from Nothing? I’ve got the ear two and they aren’t bad.
I recently bought some Audio-Technica SQ1Tw wireless ear buds in this price range for hill walking. They're okay but nothing compared to my wireless Grados. Probably not a fair comparison. They're good enough and I wont mind if they get soaked. Worth adding to a shortlist?
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MMX62ZM/A/lightning-to-35mm-headphone-jack-adapter
Perhaps consider a Headphone Jack adaptor
depending on your phone manufacturer, then you can keep using your trusty wired Sony MDR-EX650AP
ooh, ok thanks.. the SONY WF-C500 looks like a strong contender looking at reviews and look a bit more descrete than the Audio-Technica SQ1Tw?
I got a pair of these https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/earfun-air a while back and really like them. only £25 at Amazon
I bought some anker p3i earbuds for myself a couple of weeks ago and have been pretty happy with the sound and function of them so far. Though I don’t have anything similar to compare them to.
Quite happy with my Jabra earbuds.
Quite happy with my Jabra earbuds.
https://www.jabra.co.uk/bluetooth-headsets/wireless-headphones
God that website makes my brain hurt... they appear to range from £80 to over £200 and they are all 'advanced' and 'brilliant', which tells me exactly nothing other than the website is really annoying!
I got a pair of these https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/earfun-air a while back and really like them. only £25 at Amazon
They're pretty decent, well worth the £26 song price. Cheap enough to take a punt on.
Looking at this, I think my default choice will be the SONY WF-C500
But it's what-hifi, so who knows whether they are sponsored or whatever, but my current Sonys are great... and the amazon reviews seem to concur they are a safe bet.
I'm struggling to see how a pair for say £26 quid can be both good sounding and good wireless connectivity, or maybe I'm missing a bargain with that, but I'm not sure if I could return them once they've been tested in my dirty lug holes, if I don't like them!
EDIT, for example:
Earfun Air
Reasons to avoid
-Treble needs more refinement
To me that says the treble might be harsh/uncontrolled and ear piercing?
I’m going to have to retire my trusty wired Sony MDR-EX650AP as I need to buy a new phone, and apparently it’s now illegal to make phones with 3.5mm audio jacks.
Deary me! Illegal 🙄 Several phone manufacturers stopped using the 3.5 mm Jack before Apple did, and it was almost inevitable it would happen, better waterproofing being a requirement. The kool kids are all going back to wired earphones, it seems, mainly because losing one ‘phone of a pair that costs a lot to replace gets expensive after a while, and they’re also expensive when the built-in batteries inevitably die on their ass.
Using a 3.5mm > Lightning adapter allowed the use of any ‘phones with a Jack to carry on being used, with two advantages: 1) for £10 you get a flexible joint that takes stress off the headphone plug, and 2) you get to enjoy Lossless playback, which isn’t possible with existing BT technology.
My phone has a USB-C port, so I just bought several 3.5mm > USB-C adapters so I could carry on using all my legacy wired headphones and earphones. I also bought a Fiio DAC with a USB-C > USB-C connector so I could get the best signal to my Røde NTH-100 headphones.
I’ve got several pairs of Apple EarPods with wired USB-C plugs, which, as they play Lossless, are really incredibly good, sound-wise. The downside is they don’t fit everyone, and they don’t block background noise.
But they’re £19/pair… 🤷🏼
I did buy some BT earphones a while back, but I got fed up with the battery running out then having to wait ages to recharge them.
Some BT headphones, like the Sony and new Beats Studio Pro’s can be used with a cable if the battery dies, and you then get Lossless, or you do with the Beats, but you lose noise cancelling. Swings ‘n’ roundabouts, innit.
Deary me! Illegal 🙄
T'was a tounge in cheek comment 😀
My 40something self is slightly annoyed that my perfectly good wired ear buds are now basically redundant.
I don't want to mess about with lightning to USB-c or 3.5mm adaptors etc, as it's just more junk to carry around, and eventually lose when I need it... so I may as well go properly wireless.
Good point though... I do wonder about loss of fidelity using bluetooth rather than a wired connection, I've never really tried any semi decent BT headphones so I'm a bit wary about them, certainly too wary to drop a hundred quid on apple air pod pro's or Google pixel pods or whatever they are called.
I've got, and recommended previously the Earfun Air ones. Very reliable in terms of connectivity and sound great to me
I’m struggling to see how a pair for say £26 quid can be both good sounding and good wireless connectivity
Easily sorted, wait until they're not on offer and pay £50 for them.
I have the Sony cf500 and they're great. I'll buy another pair when they die or I lose them.
Another vote for "SONY WF-C500". Not compared them to any high-end offerings, but (to my, undemanding, ears) they're perfectly adequate for listening to Spotify while out walking the dog.
Another recommendation for Earfun. Sound great to me for £25 although I am no audiophile
I love my Anker Soundcore P3i
Paid £35 so wasn't expecting too much. The ANC is great, good sound quality and very comfy/secure. They do bud type ones too. I've had them 6 months and would replace with identical ones tomorrow if I lost them.
Just looked -Currently £50 on Amazon but £35 direct from Anker
"I don’t want to mess about with lightning to USB-c or 3.5mm adaptors etc, as it’s just more junk to carry around, and eventually lose when I need it…"
Why wouldn't it be attached to your headphones?
I have the Anker Soundcore also - but mine are the P2 Mini.
I have to say for £35 they are pretty darn good - I've used them lots and never had any issues and they sound good.
Anker Soundcore here as well. Bought in the sale to replace some even cheaper "ENACFIRE" rubbish off Amazon. Long battery life, sound good to my not-very-interested-in-expensive-headphone old ears. Small case that also charges them, connect to phone every time. What's not to like?
If you like your wired headphones so much why not just get a wireless receiver?
I've used things like this in the past, they're good enough.
I got some airpods pros at Christmas and they're great, but before that was using some Mpow M30s which are also great but the touch sensitive controls aren't great in the rain, and I've got some soundcore airpod shaped things which are surprisingly good (I use them for teams calls now) - edit these are soundcore p2i still available for £28
I don’t want to mess about with lightning to USB-c or 3.5mm adaptors etc, as it’s just more junk to carry around,
It's not really. It just sits on the end of the cable.
I don't see the point on spending a fortune on Bluetooth headphones, even with fancy codecs they are still quite lossy.
My kids have those Earfun Air buds, they like them more than their Airpods.
I have the Beats Flex - mainly as I just know I would lose/drop true wireless earbuds when walking the dog. I like them.
I was in your exact position not long ago now. Loved my Sony MDR-EX650AP's (in fact I got through 4 pairs of them!!). The WF-C500 is the best replacement I can find - similar sound signature, and they don't have ANC (which I think is needless in an IEM anyway), which massively reduces battery life in other products.
I've just this week bought another pair for my partner in the green colour, which looks great.
https://www.richersounds.com/denon-ah-c830ncw-black.html
I bought these over Christmas - think i paid about £80 for them.
Very pleased with the sound quality - my only gripe is they can move a little when i get really sweaty at the gym.
Another vote for the EarFun buds. Excellent value for money and great sound.
Damn you STW….now I’ve gone and bought some of those Earfun buds. Don’t need them but seems too good an offer to turn down!
Even if my phone had a 3.5 socket I wouldn't use it and I use wired buds 75% of the time. Most phone dacs are beyond cruddy.
You can buy a pair of KZ chi-fi buds off amazon and a Fiio dongle dac for £75 all in and get proper hi-res sound like you've never heard before out of a pair of blutooth buds.
If I use wireless and sometimes its very useful, ie noise cancelling then its Soundcore all the way. I have Liberty 3 Pro and they are pretty good for the money.
I have tried a few and I have to say all of them are really a bit sub par compared to wired headphones. Anyway I finally settled on a Technics set for about £70 - really impressed with the sound compared to others.
I bought JBL Wave 100 for the bass. £25.
JLAB for about the same price but bass just slightly less than JBL.
Off the back of this thread I bought some Soundcore P3i headphones directly from Anker/Soundcore with the discount code for £35.
These replace some older bluetooth Anker headphones that are wired together. Still work but the battery life is pretty poor and one of the mesh bits covering the driver has broken.
They arrived this afternoon.
Used them on a teams call and for listening to some tunes. The ANC is surprisingly effective, certainly helps block out the noise of the vacuum cleaner. Didn't go full Freddie.
The default sound settings are a bit bass heavy but using the app to tweak them to acoustic soon sorted that out.