20 Best Wireless Earbuds Under $20 (2023 Updated)

I find myself preferring my Galaxy buds+, while the pro feels like I overpaid for a downgrade. To start off, the fit SUCKS. It falls off every few minutes unless you stand perfectly still, and then it’ll fall off within a half hour or so.

You’ll find yourself constantly trying to adjust it and shove it deeper into your ear, but the bulbus part of it is so large that it doesn’t quite stay fit. After awhile, they start to hurt on my ears, because the skin in my ears is feeling the pressure from trying to hold these slippery things in, whereas with the buds plus I never had any ear discomfort or issues whatsoever.

Then there’s the tapping- everytime I try to jam the pros back in it’ll do a tap or a double tap and completely mess up whatever I was listening to or watching. Somehow it’s super sensitive to touch, particularly when I’m trying to push it back in my ears, but when you actually need to touch it for pausing music or skipping videos, it lags in the touch and won’t always respond to light tapping.

I feel like I have to slam my finger several times so it can recognize the triple or double tap. With the buds plus, there was an edge in the buds where you could place your fingers and not worry about the touch controls going crazy.

Unfortunately, the buds pro’s touch button takes up the entire surface, so no matter how far on the edge my fingers are as I try to readjust them, the touch controls still respond and start pausing/playing my music.

As for sound quality, it’s pretty good, except you hardly enjoy it at full capacity because half the time these things are slipping off my ears and muffling the sound in the process. It also feels like I’m underwater half the time with the pressure these things place, it’s really uncomfortable.

I only bought these for the noise cancellation and to substitute my lost buds plus for something that would still have the same wearable app compatibility along with the familiar touch features. Sound quality and battery life are about the only neat things I can say of the buds pro.

But I miss my buds plus.

I’ve used several sets of Bluetooth earphones and headphones before, from the twenty dollar pharmacy specials to multi-hundred dollar top brand ones, and these are by far my favorites. I mostly use them to listen to media; voice (podcasts) as well as music.

They fit comfortably, they have excellent sound quality, the battery life is amazing, noise canceling works great and the wireless operating range is excellent. The earphones can only be charged in the case but the case has its own battery which will keep you going all day.

The case has a USB-C connector for charging from a wall charger; no charger is included but it does come with a short USB A to C cable. The case also charges wirelessly on any QI compatible wireless charger.

When the earphone batteries die, it takes just a few minutes in the case to get them charged up enough to put them back in your ears for hours. And you can use and charge each ear bud individually. Putting one ear bud in the case while you keep the other one in your ear won’t end your phone call (unless you accidentally touch the button of course) and neither will getting the second bud out of the case while wearing the other.

The earbuds can be paired with multiple devices at the same time (leave the case open, put both earbuds in your ears and hold the buttons for a few seconds until you hear a tone to go into pairing mode).

I have them paired with my phone, my work computer and my home computer. When you want to switch devices, you sometimes have to tell the currently connected device to disconnect, before you tell another device to connect.

You don’t have to use pairing to switch from one device to another. When using these earbuds for phone calls, the people on the other side have a much easier time to understand me than with any of my other earbuds.

Noise canceling is as good as you can expect. If you jam the earbuds all the way into your ears so no air gets past them, you’re completely cut off from your surroundings. But at least in my case, that also increases bone conductivity so I can hear every footstep or other motion in my ears, which is just too annoying.

So I usually pull them out just a tiny bit. I’m sure your mileage may vary: everyone’s ears are different. When you’re in a room with other people and you want to converse with them while wearing these, or when you’re in traffic, you can switch to “ambient sound” mode by pushing and holding the button on one of them (buttons are reprogrammable using an app).

In ambient sound mode, the earbuds play the sound from the microphones in your ears instead of using them to cancel noise. It makes it so it’s almost as if you’re not wearing them. I’m very happy with these earbuds, and I’m wearing them more often than I expected, and longer than I expected.

They’re not cheap, but definitely worth the money.

When talking in a quiet environment, the other party can hear me perfectly. Outside, however, they are a complete tragedy – my voice can barely be heard, as they mainly capture the background noise. I have also listened to recorded conversations – I really want to scold myself for talking from half a kilometer away from the phone.

I don’t know what tests you are doing there, but this is inadequate. This is a major functionality. In general, if you plan to have a call in an urban environment, don’t buy them until there’s info for a fix, because this problem has been around for a long time and it’s not just to me.

And for the Samsung folks – I’ve tried with and without the “Ambient sound during calls”. Speaking of which, if you want to hear colleagues in the office and people on a call, well you know, it won’t work.

The ambient sound function is also very bad, don’t expect to hear as if you were without headphones. In a noisy environment, you will hear everything but people’s voices. For example, in the gym, I have to take them off so that I can hear a person talking to me.

In general, certain frequencies that you are usually used to hearing and are important to the perception of your surroundings are dulled. If your idea is to listen to music at work and talk to your colleagues simultaneously – well, it won’t work.

Unless you keep the music to a minimum. and again, don’t expect much. I’ve tried all sorts of settings. Active noise canceling – well, I can’t judge with it or without it, the noise is reduced. If I’m not listening to music and it’s activated it’s as if I didn’t play it, even some outside noises are heard more distinctly when I switch it on.

So much for active noise cancellation. For music and conversations in a quiet place, the buds are great – but only for that. If you’re a total introvert, you’ll be happy. For the more communicative – don’t take them!.

To date I have always used wired earphones whilst listening to music on my phone, most recently Sennheiser Momentum M2’s, combined with the Cyrus Soundkey DAC. The sound is excellent but I found it difficult to find ear tips to fit and they were forever slipping out as the cable snagged on zips etc.

With a huge range of wireless earphones now available I decided to have a closer look, having followed several brands for a couple of years on and off. Excellent reviews of Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ caught my eye.

They took a bit of setting up at first but bear with it as, once done, they perform superbly. Sound-wise, for me they are very comparable to my wired set-up above and, with a snugly fitting set of memory foam ear tips supplied, they are so much more convenient in usage and carrying.

They actually come with 10 pairs of ear tips of varying sizes (6 pairs of silicone and 4 of memory foam) so I was able to find a comfortable and snug fit. The accompanying app has a great equaliser which you can fine tune to your own tastes and, whilst they don’t have active noise cancellation, the foam tips give very good noise isolation so great results can be achieved well within maximum volume levels.

An all round excellent purchase, very pleased to date.

I used to be a very picky audiophile until the gradual degradation of music via streaming and settling for bass over purity wore me down. Mobile music began well for me via a pair of Shure corded ear buds but when those broke down, I broke down and purchased Beats thinking they would be a good choice for hip hop.

At first, I enjoyed the enhanced bass but the problems that came along with them through really poor software and manufacturing saw me go through four pairs. This was the ultimate settle. Then I saw a mention of the Melomania 1+ in a audiophile reviews column, read about the purity of the sound and saw they were on sale for $60.

I figured they couldnt be worse than the Power Beats I was using and picked up a pair. I literally couldn’t believe my ears! It was like listening to vinyl again on high end speakers. I have worn them around the house and at the gym and the sound quality is excellent in both environments.

The accompanying app is convenient and well designed. The buds pair easily with my iPhone and I have not had a single problem with them since I opened the box. This is in stark contrast with Apple’s Beats.

I am a convert and will never go back!.

First time I buy bluetooth earphones. It will be the last. Nothing beats wires, I am sorry. These pair of earphones arrived yesterday and since then I was doing everything I can and used all tricks I found in Cambridge Audio’s website to at least make them sound bareable.

I changed the earbuds, I placed them in my ear carefully, I tweaked the equalizer. None of these make this product producing descent sound. The sound is thin, the bass is just not there and volume has a very low range.

Treble is ok but bass and mid- range is a no no. There is absolutely no detail coming out, no bass and the snare sounds annoying and out of tune. Then connectivity is a mess. They disconnect all the time, sometimes disconnects only the one and connects back again.

So, noone can enjoy music like this. Battery is very weak. Lasts max a couple of hours. And finally, microphone is just of a very bad quality. The other person in the line hear you like you have just fallen in a deep well.

Delivery was fine. Delayed because of strikes and I had to rearrange but all finally went according to plan. Richer Sound staff were also very helpful All in all, these earphones is a waste of money, time and energy.

After reading the reviews I was expecting to listen something descent, but they perform awful. I would definitely need to give them back. Thanks.

I am absolutely in love with these earbuds! They are truly wireless, have excellent battery life, are VERY comfortable and the quality is just outstanding. I really am blown away by Anker. The more I use them, the more I love them.

I have become such a fan of this company as a result. I have a lot of faith in their products and would purchase again in a heartbeat. I look forward to the next earbuds I eventually buy because I can only imagine how great they will be.

And you have to mention the savings when compared to Apple AirPods, which I’ve owned previously (2nd gen) and the Anker Liberty Air 2 are honestly better, especially because they come with the silicone buds so they actually create a good seal and secure fit into the ear without that constant feeling of worry that they might fall out like with the AirPods.

I can’t say enough good things about the Liberty Air 2. One thing to note, when you first set up the headphones with the Soundcore app, be sure to set the default to “Soundcore Signature”. This will make a HUGE difference in your listening experience.

It’s a little tip I came across and made a world of difference, so I wanted to pass that along.

If you are familiar with Anker products, you know they try very hard to deliver incredible quality at competitive prices and the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 (SLA2) are true to form. They easily pair with your device as soon as you open the case and sound quality rivals Airpods, Boltunes and Samsung buds.

The phone app is easy to use and gives you a few audio profile options that make the SLA2 sound great; of course, you can create a custom profile as well. The app also has audio optimization for each ear and since many of us have ears like eyes (different Rx), the app does an incredible job of building an audio profile specific to my ears and everything sounds brilliant.

Sound stages are clear and I can feel the bass guitar on my left and acoustic guitar on the right front, etcetcetc. Also gives you the option to change what single tap and double tap does for each ear, very nice.

Audio for calls is top-notch, not just what I hear, but everyone I’ve spoken to says that I’m crystal clear. even in Teams meeting through my computer, it’s all sharp audio. I can see some folks hating the touch surface, but my old boltunes had a physical button.

trust me, touch is awesome and miles above a clicky button. I must have gotten a left earbud reject because it only gives me 4-5 hours of total audio time compared to the 7+ I get on my right earbud.

So part way through my workaday, I run out of juice on my left side. not very convenient or useful and the reason I dropped 2 stars. If you get a pair that both units can go 7+hrs of audio on one charge, you’ve got an awesome pair of quality, value earbuds, Congrats!.

I really like the sound from these earbuds. Highs and Mids sound great to me with good bass amount. The Bluetooth pairing is a little different from some JLabs I had. If you use both or only the right earbud it pairs as “liberty air 2”.

If you use the left only it shows “liberty air 2-L” and then if you pull the right one out of the case both stay paired as “liberty air 2-L”. I’ve noticed that if I pull the left earbud out and leave the case open too long it will pair as “liberty air 2” because is connecting both.

When I close the case it disconnects the right earbud. I don’t know how to get the left earbud to reconnect other than by using my cellphone. (I tried tapping the touch sensor but doesn’t reconnect).

When I open the case and pull the left earbud and close it quickly it will pair to “liberty air 2-L” no issues. The mic sound is better than the JLabs I had, but not perfect. These I have the setting set to a noisy environment and still picks up a lot background noise but my voice is understood.

I like the white mate case it is very small and should fit in your jeans watch pocket. I don’t have a wireless charger but may look for one for convenience, in order not to fiddle with a cable. The app is something I was surprised with the design it’s really nice and yes these earbuds do have a single tap, double tap and press&hold options to customize.

Including customizing the EQ with HearID and choosing one of the many EQ available. App even has music streaming by LUM with some very nice beats. Overall yes I do recommend these earbuds!.

These are lovely, light in-ear headphones! Black on the main body, they come with three, differently sized grey attachments to help make them sit discreetly inside your ear. The earphones are very comfortable, feel secure and don’t budge even when exercising.

When handling these small things, they’re easy to grip onto and aren’t so likely to slip from your fingers. Plus, they come with a small, curved, black and grey case that holds them in place by a magnet.

You can charge up the case reasonably quickly by plugging it into a USB socket. And when you’re on the go, the case will charge up your headphones. Setting them up is blissfully straightforward. The instructions are just a set of clear, uncomplicated illustrations.

Pairing with an iPhone takes moments. Pausing music and adjusting the volume is easily done with a decisive press of a finger on each headphone. And sound quality is clear. But. there’s no option to skip songs mid-play.

It would be great to have an accompanying app that would allow users to fine-tune sound quality for different types of audio. The case feels like it could crack too easily if left in the bottom of a bag under a pile of school books.

And ideally I’d like noise cancelling. Other than that, I think they’re very decent value for money and live up to Sony standards.

A very solid product and for the price they are excellent. The bad points: – The button to control them is the back of the ear bud, so if you want to push them in to your ear you will accidentally press it – It would be great if they could come with a lanyard to keep them together, it would also mean taking them out they could hang round your neck.

These are widely available for apple air pods, hopefully one will fit these as well. – They do work themselves out of my ears if I move around, I am still experimenting with fit but they won’t hold themselves in place if you are running around.

However someone else with different shape ears may find differently. The good points: – They are lightweight and have a fairly flat profile, I absolutely didn’t want earphones that stuck out as I think they look awful.

Not a problem with these. – The pairing process and general control is easy enough, especially considering they are restricted to a single button on each earphone for all controls. – Good battery life and easy to charge, the charging pod works well and is a nice small size as well.

– Finally, they sound great. I haven’t tried them for calls yet, but the sound quality playing music is fantastic.

I bought these around February of 2022 and had them working up until March of the same year. Not only have they stopped charging, but they’ve also stopped connecting to my phone. Note that I’ve taken the utmost care with these items, as I wished for them to last as long as possible.

Note, that I’ve tried resetting them countless times, to no avail. Do yourself a favor and avoid this product.

These wireless earbuds are phenomenal! They have a 40 hour battery life with the cradle, and they charge super fast. Quality clear quad microphone for excellent phone calls. Music is crisp, solid sounding and earbuds boast serious outside noise cancelation which is a bonus! These are great for long trips, hikes and or workouts, desk jobs go fast using these! Only drawback is I have nearly lost these earbuds numerous times since they are so small.

Recommend that you put your earbuds back into their cradle right away when not in use, so you dont lose them. They are convenient unless you put them down separate from its cradle and forget where theyre.

Otherwise, best earbuds I have purchased, and for the reasonable price the product is a stunningly lucky find!.

The ear pods sound great! Just popped them out the box and as soon as I slid down the case they went into pairing mode and paired pretty easy. I used the set up it came with at first with the wing and end pieces but changed them to the larger size to fit my ear better.

Comes with 4 wings, 6 ends I like the end L+ which adds bass but still fits good. Had them on for a while and didn’t feel any irritation. I downloaded the app and did the hearing test. It basically showed me the I hear WAY MORE in my left ear then my right!! I then selected the preset of hip hop eq.

for a bit, it was alright. but then tried the recommended adjustment from the hearing test and have never heard my music this way!!! It basically adjusted the missing sound levels of my right ear to my left to make it more even.

It sounds amazing!! It makes me want to listen to my entire Playlist to see what I was missing all this dang time!!! The highs,low, and mids are on point in my opinion, especially for the price!!! I still haven’t tried the advanced Bluetooth settings but I will update later after I have tried it.

I have and have had several earbud style headphones. These have excellent sound and features but they do have a couple of issues. Why a one-star deduction and why wouldn’t I pay full price. The one-star deduction is because no matter what tips I use I cannot get the earbuds to fit securely in my ears.

I get them to seal but because of the short speaker stem they do not allow the tip to go far enough in my ear canal to get a tight fit. The seal is easily broken with activity and they always feel like they are going to fall out.

The other issue i have with these is while noise cancelling works fairly well noise blocking is virtually nonexistent. Not sure why an earbud that touts itself at noise reduction would not pay any attention to ambient noise levels and not just droning noise.

Of course this may be slightly affected because of the fitment issue. So, putting those two issues aside let’s say everything about these was perfect. Why wouldn’t I pay full price? First, let me say again.

Even with the issues I described these sound very good and have a number of features that others simply don’t have. I would not pay full price because there are other noise cancelling earbuds on the market that cost a fraction of what these do, have excellent sound, about the same battery life and perform just as well.

Yes they may lack many of the features, don’t come with such nice packaging, extra tips and such yet the sound and call quality are on par with these. Let’s face it, if you are like me you will set the eq to your liking, you may even customize the tap features to how you want them beyond that however, the app really is not needed.

The newer Bluetooth protocols allow you to see battery life on phone, most phones have built in equalizer, and the tap features will be memorized with use. I will use these around the house and I am fairly certain that I will be happy with them for what they are but I will likely not repurchase.

I decided to buy these earbuds after watching a few reviews on YouTube. My go-to true wireless earbuds are first the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Pro followed by the Galaxy Buds Plus (since I’m a Samsung phone user).

I absolutely love the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Pro earbuds and they are my preferred earbuds to use while on my laptop for work or gaming and when casually listening to music. My main gripe with the Razer earbuds are that the touch controls do not include a long press for volume+/volume- (even when modifying through the Razer Hammerhead app), which is the main reason I bought the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds.

In addition to these earbuds having great sound quality and noise cancellation, the downloadable app is by far the most feature-rich wireless earbud application I’ve ever seen. The app sports 22 preset equalizers and allows you to customize and save up to 15 additional equalizers.

You do have to set up a profile, which I didn’t mind because it allowed me to download the app and login on both my personal (Android) and work (Apple) phones and allow for all of my presets to be uniform across both these devices.

Another couple of cool and helpful features is that the app has a HearID Map test, which “maps” your hearing sensitivity at multiple frequencies and develops a personalized EQ based on the results, and the app also has a Tip Fit Test to ensure you’re using the right size earbud tips for a proper fit and no sound leakage.

The only cons (very minimal) that I have about these earbuds are that they do take a bit of getting used to since they are shaped differently than most in-ear earbuds and there is no continuous long press touch functionality for volume+/volume-.

Instead, when the touch functions are preset to volume+/volume- a two-second long press only raises or lowers the volume by one increment. Additionally, since there are only the double tap and “hold for two-seconds” press touch options on the earbuds all of the functions cannot be mapped to the earbuds (all functions available are volume+/volume-, next track, previous track, play/pause, voice assistant, and ambient sound).

I ended up mapping mine for double tap to next track on thr right earbud and previous track on the left earbud with volume+ (right earbud)/volume- (left earbud) for the hold for two-seconds function.

Would have liked an additional single tap function for a pause/play and voice assistant/ambient sound function in each earbud. There is a feature in the app to pause music if one earbud is removed though, and this does still support listening to music if one earbud is removed and the other is left in – just have to hit play on your device after removing the first earbud.

Despite these minor shortfalls, I would still recommend the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro. Especially for their sound quality and feature-rich app capabilities.

These are AMAZING! I purchased these to replece the Skullcandy Indy evo xt’s i bought a couple of days ago, because they sucked, and these are an amazing jump in quality. From the box and the actual earbuds themselves, its nothing but high quality.

The box contains 9 different pairs of replacement eartips, so they are almost guaranteed to fit, unless you have really weired ears. The earbuds are made from some kind of metal, and the case is made of a high quality plastic.

With the Soundcore app these earbuds support LDAC audio, which basically means it supports high bitrate audio streaming through the earbuds, which is amazing. The case has wireless charging. The earbuds have noise canceling, and the noise canceling is actually better on these than they are on my Skullcandy Hesh ANC’s.

With this all said, Soundcore may be replacing my Skullcandy Hesh ANC’s. These definitely compete with the Apple Airpods, for the same price you get noise canceling, A wireless charging case, and LDAC support for audio streaming.

I bought these buds to use with my Samsung Galaxy Note10 (Android) phone. I have the Soundcore app installed on my phone to manage settings. The good news: – The phone app works well. Setting changes are instantly audible.

The interface takes some exploration and familiarizing, but it’s fine once you know where Anker put everything. – The noise cancelling works pretty well. As I cycle through the “Noise Cancellation,” “Transparency Mode,” and “Normal” ambient sound settings while wearing the buds, I can clearly hear the difference.

Mostly, I leave them on the “Vocal Mode” of “Transparency Mode. ” This allows easy conversations while de-emphasizing some of the lower frequency background sound. – The sound quality for podcasts, music, and voice calls is great! – I have been told by callers that the sound quality from my end is very clear and realistic.

– As far as I can tell, the build quality is solid. – The charging case is easy to use and fairly compact. However, I can’t see anyone carrying it in the front pocket of pants unless they’re pretty roomy.

The bad news (all unique to my personal physical characteristics or preferences): – The buds don’t fit securely in my ears. I am constantly pushing them back in. I have had a couple near disasters while washing dishes.

Note: ear bud fit is extremely individual. Buds that work for some people, don’t work for others. Unfortunately, I didn’t open them up as soon as I received them, so I’m not able to return them. I hope I can find larger 3rd party wing tips for them.

Oh, well. – If you’re coming from buds that have voice announcements of incoming calls/numbers or changes in settings (as I was) you may feel like something’s missing. – If you’re looking for buds that integrate voice control (Google Assistant, Alexa, etc.

) look elsewhere. – If these buds lose their connection to my phone the only way I have found to re-establish the connection is to pop them back in the charging case for a bit and then take them out again.

This happens when I’m in my car and the car’s bluetooth appears to supplant the buds’ connection to my phone. It also happens if I take them out of my ears for an extended period of time and don’t put them back in the charging case (which really is my fault).

Overall, the Soundcore Life Dot 2 NC buds are a solid choice with high quality audio for a reasonable price in this product category. If they fit you, you’re going to enjoy them.

In all honesty, despite decent sound quality when you finally manage to connect these, these are on par with any other $5 Bluetooth headphones from the dollar store. Its should be illegal to sell these for $100 let alone advertise all the bogus features it has like “noise cancelation” which is doesn’t actually have.

The amount of problems these things have for the price tag is ridiculous. Despite no damage or misuse, one earpod will always disconnect or refuse to pair, or somehow pair as a separate device seperate from the other earpod (how is that even a thing), headphones always making random annoying noises every few minutes while in use despite full battery, audio randomly cuts off all the time and resumes, charging these things can be a nightmare with the cheap USB port on the case which doesn’t grab the charger at all, you literally have to rest the case against something at an angle while its plugged in or the charger will easily fall out of the charging port.

On top of this, most of time it will charge for only like 30 seconds when plugged in then stop charging unless you unplug it and plug it back in (really like how?) Oh and the most annoying thing, anytime you plug these these things in to charge, you literally have to jump start the headphones to get them to turn on again.

By this, I mean that anytime you plug them in to charge, you cannot reconnect to them via Bluetooth unless the USB charger is plugged in while you’re pairing them despite them having full charge already.

If you charge them, take the charger out, then try to pair, the headphones will not even turn on when you open the case unless the charger is plugged in, even if you clearly just charged it to 100%. These things legitimately have a mind and personality of their own.

Somedays they can be semi-normal, other days they will cycle through every problem i just mentioned. Yes, this happened all straight out of the box. JBL, your company should be ashamed to be selling such garbage, ill never buy a product from this mediocre company again.

I knew I should’ve taken the same amount of money and just bought apple earpods instead which would have actually worked like regular Bluetooth headphones and lasted years, unlike this garbage. These things are good for if you feel like solving a puzzle everytime you want to listen to music, bc thats what these will feel like.

Funniest part is everything I said has been said by others in reviews prior to me buying these. I wish I read reviews on these before buying. How these have over two stars for reviews is proof that these childish companies fake their reviews instead of making solid products.

Big L, on this product and your company image JBL, ill personally never waste a single calorie of energy even making eye contact with a jbl product ever again. As soon as I buy actual functioning Bluetooth headphones I’m going to stomp on these until I feel like I got a $100 workout from a personal fitness trainer so I can atleast feel like I got some moneys worth out of it.

If sound quality is your primary concern when shopping for portable audio, then look no further than these JBL Tune 230NC TWS earbuds. As expected with JBL, the sound quality is superb — full, clear and well balanced with crisp highs, natural mids and proportional bass at all volume levels.

There’s also no artificial “hyper” bass like some brands use to fake a big sound at the expense of true sound quality. Even better, use the companion JBL app to create a custom EQ profile that totally suits your listening preference! Added noise canceling really makes a difference in creating a pristine listening experience.

When activated, my surroundings virtually disappear allowing me to more deeply experience my favorite music in minute detail. I find noise canceling is most effective at canceling steady droning sounds, like fans and engine noises.

For times when sound isolation is not desired or would compromise safety, I can change modes to “Ambient Aware” and the earbuds will actively blend the environmental sound with my audio allowing me to stay connected with my surroundings.

I find this useful for outdoor exercise or public shopping where ambient awareness is necessary for safety and courtesy. I found the pre-installed medium sized tips to be just right for my comfort and I have worn them for many hours at a time with no fatigue.

They are surprisingly comfortable and stay in my ears better than other stem-type earbuds I have tried. Additional tip sizes are included for adaptation to different ear anatomy. Incoming phone call audio quality is excellent, but as with many similar type earbuds, the experience for the caller is somewhat compromised by the marginal quality of the microphone technology.

People I call tell me that the outgoing audio is clear, but they can also tell I am calling through earbuds and the sound is a bit “off”. One minor downside I have found is the controls are a bit difficult to navigate (-1 star) as there is a single active “tap” point on each bud that accepts single-tap, double-tap, triple-tap and long-tap gestures, each invoking a different command, and the other bud accepting the same gestures invoking yet another set of commands.

I find I am very often missing the right number of taps or getting confused and tapping the wrong bud. This can be alleviated to some degree by the companion app which allows some customization of the gestures to suit your preferences.

The printed “Getting Started” guide that documents the tap gestures is painfully small and difficult to decipher. I would rather see the command interface simplified with additional tap or squeeze points, such as on the stems, to not overload so many commands onto a single tap spot per bud.

As stated, sound quality is where these earbuds shine, and overall, I’m thrilled with my new JBL Tune 230NC noise cancelling earbuds and find my music enjoyment has been taken to a new level. Highly recommended!.

These earbuds provide very clear and pure sound, and are loud enough as well. Battery lasts much longer than I can listen to music continuously, and the case holds for 3 full recharges. They fit firmly and comfortably, never had problems with them falling off while walking or cycling.

They do not stick out of the ear too much and do not make me look funny. Touch controls work nicely, after you get used with the exact place of the touch sensors. Bluetooth connection is stable and without interruptions.

The tap combos are a bit of a weird solution for controls, but they do a fine job after you memorize them. I miss a strap and a small hook for the case – I’d like to strap the case to my keychain or be able to carry it in my hand without having to be all-careful about not dropping it.

Some people say active noise canceling is not as good for a high class product like these earbuds, but I found it to be perfectly fine. The ambient aware feature is a very good idea. Sometimes the noise canceling can make you miss important details of your surroundings, but the ambient aware feature makes this problem non-existent.

Hands free calls are fine, I haven’t had any complaints about people not hearing me clearly. The app is a bit annoying, popping up, asking to connect every time I start using the earbuds. This must be an automatic and background process, not bothering the user with unnecessary interactions after the initial setup.

I’m thinking of uninstalling it. A codec better than AAC would be very nice, aptX or LDAC for example, although few people would notice the difference in sound quality. Anyway, such good hardware can easily handle and benefit from codecs more advanced than SBC and AAC and it’s a shame they are not supported.

Overall, these earbuds are excellent, the case and app need one or two finishing touches. Don’t forget to set the streaming app to high quality sound to fully enjoy your 100 wisely spent dollars.

The two small annoyances about these is 1) one has to disconnect them from the phone several times a day if one wants to use their phone without them, and 2) whenever they start to fall out of one’s ears, as one puts them back in their ears, the earbuds pause the music, causing one to touch them again to resume playing.

Again, these are just small annoyances; overall I am happy to have them at the price I paid for them (I’ll take this price over Apple AirPods any day). I also love the color – the light blue.

Sound quality was good and paired nicely with my iPhone, but the battery was awful. Right earbud died more quickly than the left no matter how long I left it in the charge. Not sure if they sent this defect on purpose or not.

The sound is great. I have no problems getting it to connect. I only gave it four stars because I can’t seem to be able to control the volume from the earbuds. I have to use the computer to adjust the volume.

Other than that, I love them. I can still listen to programs that I am watching while doing other things. The range is great, although I do have a small apartment. I would recommend this product.