Recommendations for wireless earbuds for extended PC use?
I've always been a speakers kind of guy because I'm not a fan of how bulky headsets are, but because of the fun of Zoom meetings and things, I've kind of gotten over my hatred of headphones. That said, I'd still prefer to commit to earbuds rather than big, bulky GamerTM headphones long-term. Instead, I'd like to pivot to earbuds.
So my first problem is: I've always been under the assumption that 2.4Ghz dongle is superior to Bluetooth, but apparently modern Bluetooth is almost/practically as good. If that's the case, I wouldn't care about getting a Bluetooth-only set, but that does mean dropping more money on a dongle for my PC.
My other caveat is that I hate having to pause what I'm doing to charge something. The only wireless thing I own is a headset I use for Zoom meetings and things, and it's a Arctis Wireless that can easily do 20+ hours without a charge. I would be using these for my weekly RPG that I run online, which is almost always 8+ hours long, not counting me watching videos/listening to music in the leadup to to the game.
So yeah, with that in mind-- low latency and battery life are my big things, and I don't care about a microphone at all, but I'd like it to be fairly budget-friendly. Again, it just seems like... since I last used headphones 15+ years ago, things have changed a lot and even just googling and reading opinions on reddit-- all the opinions are varying and often opposing on what I should be shooting for.
I don't care all that much about brand loyalty, or what color it is, or anything like that, either. So, what all would anyone here recommend?
Personally I love my Air Pod Pros I think they would be perfect for you.
Are Airpods okay connecting to a PC?
I use mine for gaming sometimes because apparently the mic in them is much clearer for everyone else than the one in my bigger headphones, and they’ve been pretty much fine with Windows once they’re connected.
There seems to be some kind of sync issue about half the time when they power on - took a while to work out but it seems like they connect to Windows individually as you take each one out of the case, and then the audio comes through with each ear a few hundred milliseconds off from the other, which is enough to be unusably distracting. Good news is that just hitting disconnect/reconnect from the Windows Bluetooth settings once they’re in your ears seems to reliably sync them up again. I’ve had a million issues with Windows audio over the years in general, across a whole range of hardware, so that counts as fine based on the expectations I’ve got here!
They'll connect to anything any other Bluetooth earbuds will, though you do need an iPhone to manage settings and get firmware updates.
I'm a big fan of AirPods Pro. They have excellent active noise canceling and are easily the least frustrating wireless earbuds I've used.
Exactly this. I haven't been able to find anything as comfortable/unobtrusive and functional than the AirPods Pro. Which is a shame because I don't use Apple devices. Meaning I can't check the battery level, change settings, or update the firmware.
I use them 8+ hours a day listening to music from my Android during work. Then connected to my PC for everyday use.
Another vote for Air pods here too, but mine are not the pro ones. I had some noise cancelling headphones at a time when it was early on and really kind of weird and intrusive, so I shy away from that- and I want to be able to hear ambient noise if someone is calling for me or something.
The deal breaker on headphones for me is the mic. I hung up on my sister repeatedly for like two months because whatever headset she was using was intolerable to everyone she talked to. (Also, frigging trash android phones should be outlawed) That sounds worse that it was. She give me all sorts of shit for being an Apple-head.
So- for the sake of your people, be sure it’s got a quality mic. Oh, and if you have one of those halo models you can’t wear dangly earrings or it’ll drive everyone insane banging on the hoop.
Anker makes a bunch of Bluetooth ear buds that come with a mic. They come at a variety of price points - I have an A20i that cost me in the $30 range.
Depending on your needs though, if you aren't in an open environment and don't need things to be "private", I've been using a Jabra Speak 510 Bluetooth speaker. It's designed for conference use, has a battery but you can just plug it in via USB. Because it's basically a speaker / mic combo, you aren't tethered to anything.
I have a set of Anker Soundcore earbuds that I pretty much have in my ears all day long for meetings, listening to music, etc... They sound great and are super comfortable. Been using my current set for about the last 2 years. The set before that I bought before the pandemic and would still be using them if they hadn't been accidentally ruined by a trip through the washing machine.
I also have an expensive set of bowers and wilkins buds that barely get used because the cheap Anker buds are just way better in almost every way.
Came to recommend the same as they're well priced, sound good, and last; I have two pair of the Anker Soundcore Life U2 one for the house, one for the car, and have only had to replace a set that I accidentally left under a car I was working on and ran over. They've lasted years with shockingly long battery life in my experience.
After spending a while looking, I ended up going with a pair of Soundcores. They seem to have crazy good battery life, especially if you're not worried about ANC (which I'm not).
So thank you so much! Ditto @prostetnicjeltz.
What about working out / running? Do they stay in?
I have the pixel buds and they stay in great, but the mic picks up everything.
the A20i is my sleep earbud. being able to customize the controls, the lack of physical buttons, the not-great-but-fine EQ… it’s perfect for bed.
Not earbuds, but I have the Anker Soundcore 2 portable stereo speaker for more than 5 years and it is still going strong. Use it every day and love it.
I'm not sure I can give the most informed recommendation because these are the only wireless earbuds I've used, but I love my Pixel Buds (first generation, I think they are equivalent to what is now branded Pixel Buds Series A. There are also Pixel Buds Pro now which are probably nicer). When used with my phone they have extra Google Assistant features and such, but I often use them with my MacBook too and that works just fine even though it's 3rd party / they aren't AirPods. I imagine they'd also be just fine with a PC via a dongle.
This is probably true of all modern wireless earbuds, but one great feature is that I can just have one earbud in use while the other is charging. If you know you'll be using them for a very extended time, you could just use only one earbud at a time and then swap to the other whenever the battery gets low (no interruption in audio -- going from single bud to dual bud usage is seamless and vice versa, so just pop the second one in, wait a moment for it to come on, then pop the first one out). Also if you're using both and the battery gets low in both, you can swap back and forth between single buds every 15 minutes or so to get them charged back up without interruption because they charge faster than they discharge. A bit awkward, but you get used to it.
I've had completely terrible luck with my Pixel buds, I have both the Pixel Buds A and the first gen ones, the first gen one's battery life is terrible, sometimes not even lasting an hour, and have serious connection issues. The A series are better on both fronts but sound worse and don't have volume control on the buds themselves. Pretty unfortunate.
Weird! Maybe quality control is bad, mine have been fine. That's a bummer.
For pure listening, Bluetooth has gotten quite good with the LDAC codec which can stream high resolution audio quite reliably. There is still a small degree of lag but it would only become apparent if you were, say, monitoring / recording a percussive instrument, such as a piano.
I don't use earbuds myself, I find headphones to be a little easier on the ears over longer sessions (though always take breaks!), but you would rarely go wrong with companies such as Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Sony, and Beyer Dynamic, to name a few.
Regarding this, does this mean buying a higher-end Bluetooth dongle for my PC, or will any of them still work just as good?
I'm not 100% sure on Bluetooth 4.* compatibility, but you should certainly be ok if your dongle is ver5. You may just need to install an A2DP driver. Best to consult the manufacturer spec of your particular device.
No, most* dongles these days make use of the bluetooth stack provided with windows so for that aspect this does not matter.
* There might be some exceptions, I am not aware of those. A few years ago there were bluetooth dongles that did audio only, basically they acted as a soundcard towards windows. These did claim better codec support, etc. But from what I can tell, the one brand that was pushing these does not make them anymore.
If you're into great sound, the world of wireless in ear monitors (IEM) is amazingly interesting. It's one of the markets, where the Chinese manufacturers are eating everybody's lunch. You can get $20 earbuds that sound like $500 earbuds.
The reason for this is that the relevant components — the cables, the casing, the drivers, the wiring, the wireless modules, the batteries — are all relatively cheap, even at the highest quality. And Sennheiser, Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, et. al. also just buy them from their respective Chinese factories.
The rest, assembling all into a compact package and guiding the sound into the ear, is usually just injection molding, which doesn't have a high barrier to entry. This is greatly simplified by the fact that the shape of the wave-guide can be simulated in software pretty accurately, because it is sitting right inside the ear canal. This greatly simplifies boundary conditions (unlike for speaker design when the speakers are sitting inside a room, or for over-ear headphones sitting on the skull).
So there's tons of cheap Chinese OEMs that now also make fantastic IEMs. When I did my research last, Truthear Zero: Red was widely hyped in the budget audiophile community. By now, they are known for their quality, and they don't sell for $25 anymore. Still below $50, though.
Possibly a stupid question, but if latency, charging, and cost are all important would wired be an option? That’ll likely get you the best combination of those three things if it’s a possibility.
I am far too fidgety and move around. I've never been able to use wired headsets. Something about being literally tied to my PC just feels awkward to me.
Up front, I am not an audiophile of any kind. I mostly listen to audiobooks.
Up until recently, I have always used the bluetooth headphones that have a wire between them (wired wireless?). These are not very stylish for walking around with, but are pretty good for leaving at your desk. These are the ones I had been using, they were always fine. You get 30 hours on a charge and they are pretty cheap.
On black Friday, I got a pair of Skullcandy Indy Evos for $15, although they are $40 on Amazon right now. They work pretty well. They are supposed to have a six hour battery life. I often have them in all day and don't usually have them run down. The case is the natural place to put them when not using them, so they can often get a recharge if I'm taking a break or I take them out to talk to a human.
One thing that is really cool about them is that they have implemented the Tile protocol, so you can register them in the Tile app and use it to find either individual earbud (signal strength search as well as a sound coming from the earbud). You cannot, however, search for the charging case itself which is my biggest complaint, so my rule is "if the earbuds are in the ears, the case is in my pocket".
Bluetooth audio and 2.4ghz are equivalent on audio output quality now, but I still think 2.4ghz is superior for the mic.
For my work from home setup, I use the Sony WF-1000XM3 Bluetooth earbuds which is a 3 piece setup: charging case, left, and right earbud. Each earbud can only do about an hour of confinual use before needing to be recharged. Each earbud can be run individually though, and I actually do appreciate being able to hear stuff around me when I'm talking (otherwise I'm just yelling because I can't tell my own volume). So I'll use either the left or right bud individually and be charging the other one. That gives me good continual use all day if necessary.
Then I have a separate decent quality USB mic on the desk so my audio is clear to those in the meeting. I spent way too much time at the beginning of lockdown working from home irrationally hating every person I met with that was using their laptop mic or some piece of crap headset they found for $30.
Communication is a two way thing. You need quality in both directions.
Oppo has a great range of wireless buds.
Cheapest and best bang for the buck: Enco Buds 2
Best audio quality: Enco X2
I've been listening to hours and hours of audiobooks a day on wireless earbuds. I went for a relatively cheap option and have two pairs so that I can easily switch which one is being charged. It does require a brief pause to swap them out, but you can pause via a configurable bluetooth driver so it doesn't bother me.
But honestly as for which pair to get, you have to treat this a bit like clothing - you won't know a priori which one(s) are comfortable because it's very dependent on ear size & shape. Buy a few pairs and return the ones that don't work.
And change the tips out pretty frequently, it's not just for hygiene but also because the rubber starts to deform pretty quickly and the fit isn't as good.