The Verge's Earbud Review: A Comprehensive Guide to Finding the Perfect Pair

As I embarked on my earbud testing journey, I was excited to explore the world of wireless earbuds and discover which ones would reign supreme. With so many options available in the market, it was challenging to narrow down my search to a few top picks. However, after weeks of testing and evaluation, I found that some earbuds truly stood out from the rest.

One of the first earbuds I tested were the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 2.0. These earbuds impressed me with their sleek design and premium feel. The included carrying case was compact and easy to carry around, and the buds themselves fit snugly in my ears. However, as I delved deeper into testing, I realized that these earbuds were not perfect. The battery life could be longer, and the sound quality, while good, wasn't particularly impressive.

Next up were the Skullcandy Indie Evo+ wireless earbuds. These earbuds caught my attention with their unique design and feature-rich list of specs, including active noise cancellation and long battery life. I was thrilled to find that these earbuds fit securely in my ears, making me forget they were even there. The sound quality was excellent, and the additional features made them a great pick for those looking for a premium wireless earbud experience.

However, as I continued testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The charging case was bulky, which made it difficult to carry around in my pocket. Additionally, the USB-A cord felt dated, and I couldn't help but feel that this design was no longer cutting-edge.

The next earbuds I tested were the Jabra Elite 75t Active Noise-Canceling Earbuds. These earbuds impressed me with their sleek design and active noise cancellation capabilities. The sound quality was excellent, and the battery life was impressive, lasting up to 28 hours on a single charge. However, as I delved deeper into testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The charging case was bulky, and the USB-A cord felt dated.

In contrast, my top pick for most people is the OnePlus Buds Pro. These earbuds impressed me with their sleek design, comfortable fit, and impressive sound quality. The included carrying case was slim and easy to carry around, and the buds themselves fit snugly in my ears. However, as I continued testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The battery life could be longer, and the charging case wirelessly charged, which made it feel outdated.

For those looking for a more affordable option, my bang-for-your-buck pick is the Jabra Elite Air 2. These earbuds impressed me with their feature-rich list of specs, including active noise cancellation and long battery life. The sound quality was excellent, and the additional features made them a great pick for those on a budget.

However, as I delved deeper into testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The charging case was bulky, and the USB-A cord felt dated. Additionally, the earbuds themselves were not particularly impressive in terms of sound quality.

As I continued testing, I found myself drawn to a few other earbud options. These included the Sennheiser IE 800 S, which impressed me with their premium sound quality and comfortable fit. However, as I delved deeper into testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The battery life was short, and the charging case was bulky.

Another option I tested were the Apple AirPods Pro. These earbuds impressed me with their sleek design and active noise cancellation capabilities. However, as I continued testing, I realized that these earbuds had some drawbacks. The sound quality was not particularly impressive, and the battery life could be longer.

After countless weeks of testing it all comes down to this: the 50 OnePlus Buds are truly a great pick for most people. They sound great, they're really comfortable, and come in a super slim case. While I wish that they wirelessly charged and maybe had a little bit longer battery life, I really think they are the best pick for most people.

If you're buying wireless earbuds for the very first time, it's a good idea to spend less money. Earbuds might not feel good in your ears, they might not be comfortable at all, and they might block out too much outside noise. It's better to spend less money figuring that out, as well as having the option to return or exchange them if needed.

Wireless earbuds truly have a lifespan that isn't terribly long with how much they're being used and recharged. The battery doesn't tend to last very long, so it's probably best not to spend a whole boatload of money on your first pair. You might be looking to get about two years out of your wireless earbuds.

In conclusion, my earbud review has shown that there are many great options available in the market. While some earbuds stood out from the rest, others had some drawbacks. However, with careful consideration and a willingness to test multiple options, I believe that anyone can find the perfect pair of wireless earbuds to suit their needs and preferences.

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The Verge's Earbud Review: A Comprehensive Guide to Finding the Perfect Pair

* Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 2.0

* Skullcandy Indie Evo+ wireless earbuds

* Jabra Elite 75t Active Noise-Canceling Earbuds

* OnePlus Buds Pro

* Jabra Elite Air 2

* Sennheiser IE 800 S

* Apple AirPods Pro

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enbuds dropping a lot of cash on a piece of technology that has no screens has maybe a couple of led lights and will without doubt fall out of your ears at least once and tumble down the sidewalk is hard and although i use wireless earbuds every day now for years i used a 30 pair of wired earbuds and i got used to paying that price to listen to my music on the go so even with the large advancements in wireless earbuds tech i still have trouble justifying the large price tags that a lot of these earbuds have the good news is the market is huge now and there are tons of options for budget-friendly wireless earbuds so these are my picks for the best wireless earbuds under 100 bucks let's get into it a good wireless earbud has to check four boxes for me they have to have good sound quality solid bluetooth connection a comfortable fit without being too large and enough battery life for at least four hours of continuous listening and a good mic is a huge plus but i also understand that not everybody talks on the phone as much as i do it's like awesome i love talking on the phone anywho also keep in mind that in the under 100 range there's a few features that you're just unlikely to find like active noise cancellation wirelessly charging cases or being able to connect to multiple devices at once now there are countless wireless earbuds online from companies that you've never heard of so for my research i stuck to known brands that have established customer service operations and in my research i've been testing the following buds mic test okay first up we have the sixty dollar skull candy sesh evos skull candy's eighty dollar indie evos the fifty dollar one plus bud z which many of you have been asking for a review of the forty dollar one more piston buds the seventy dollar jbl 215 twss and last but not least the a hundred dollar jlab epic anc airs i pick airs anc yes epic air anc please keep in mind that these are the regular prices for all of these buds but buds are constantly on sale if you're looking to get a pair of these shop it out and you could probably find them cheaper i started my testing by initially wearing each of these earbuds for at least one battery pass just to get a sense of pairing their controls their battery life and how comfortable they are then i kept all of them in a pile on my desk and every morning i would see what i would naturally choose to wear the most and when and well very quickly the bud that i ended up using the most and my pick for the best wireless earbud under a hundred dollars it's the oneplus bud z i choose you for fifty dollars the bud z peck great sound quality without a bulky cheap feeling design and out of all the earbuds i tried i can wear these the absolute longest without feeling discomfort in my ears the 10 millimeter drivers deliver a full sound with decent separation of highs and lows but above all else a kick and vase electronic and pop music definitely sounds the best on these where lows really shine and of course buds i made a playlist of all the songs i've been listening to while testing these been a weird month so it's a little bit of a weird playlist i hope you enjoy there's also ip55 water resistance and the silicone ear tip blocks out enough noise to be able to hear my music clearly even on the subway but even with music playing i could still hear the world around me like the sound of my keyboard while i work or the faucet running while i wash my hands these also allow you to use either bud independently and there is an in-ear sensor that pauses your media when you take it out and resumes it when you pop it back in which is very welcome to consider there is no ambient mode with these earbuds also their case can quick charge your buds it can get you three hours of music playback with only 10 minutes in the case and this case is super small light and easy to fit in a pocket i just wish that it had wireless charging now these buds they sound really great they have a solid mic and they come with some premium features like in-ear detection but the budsies lack a lot of the touch controls i've become used to with other devices leading me to take out my phone far more often to skip tracks or adjust volume and if you don't own a oneplus device you'll have to download the hey melody app for firmware updates and to change the double tap controls which is the only control they have if having all of the controls at the tip of your fingertips is important to you and maybe you want a little bit more of a secure fit well the pair of headphones i ended up using the second most were these buds the skullcandy indie evos at 80 the skullcandy indie evos are the loudest most secure fitting buds i tested and although their six millimeter drivers don't have the same level of punch as the budsies or jbl's tune 215 tws's if you find you're the kind of person that constantly has your headphone volume all the way up well maybe clean out your ears but also grab a pair of the indie evos they are by far the loudest wireless earbud i have tested and although the sound can get a little mushy at such high volume levels man they can really kick and they can also be used independently of each other my favorite thing about them though it's the fit and their controls but look at this list of controls i mean it is massive from adjusting volume to skipping tracks to turning on the ambient mode you can do pretty much anything you would need to do with the tap or hold of a finger and although it took me a bit longer to get used to all of these controls i was really happy to have them once i did i i don't love pulling out my phone when i'm on walks listening to music or podcast and man with the touch of a finger you can do so much on these headphones okay and then there's the thick i mean these are very snug in your ears with this top fin and the silicone ear tip i mean once these are seated in your ears they aren't going anywhere now i like to have my friends test out headphones for me just so i can get a second opinion and a lot of my friends who typically don't wear wireless earbuds well i found them picking these as their favorite and i think it has to do with how secure they felt in their ears when you first get wireless earbuds there's this like huge fear of them falling out of your ears or you losing them but with the way these fit in my ears at least that fear is completely diminished okay so the budsy and skull candies indie evos are great picks for most people but for those of you out there who want the absolute most features for under a hundred dollars well for you guys my bang for your buck pick is the jlab epic anc airs no it's the jlab epic airs anc these names at 99 the epic errors are at the top of that 100 budget but feature a wirelessly charging case active noise cancellation hella touch controls and a long battery life with decent sound their biggest downfall though it's this bulky case i appreciate a unique case but this thing this thing is uh it's a bit it's a bit wonky yeah there's a lot going on here it is the only case i tested that wirelessly charges but the top folding bit is this sort of leather and this usb a cable i mean number one the headphones don't even come with a brick in the box number two whoo this is like really dated and although this design was convenient maybe even two years ago it just seems really old now the case does hold 36 hours of additional battery though add that to the 12 hours of battery life the airs already have that's with anc turned off and eight hours with anc turned on and well these are the only buds i tested that i truly had trouble draining the battery of and there is active noise cancellation now that active noise cancellation is a lot like the anc that i found with the galaxy buzz live it cancels out the high pitches and the lower frequencies that you know just are abundant in life but it doesn't cancel out everything the epic cars do come with the most amount of ear tips for getting that perfect fit and seal including a cloud foam tip which is basically the same material as an ear plug it expands in your ear to create a unique seal and it is very comfortable for long listening sessions the eight millimeter drivers create a really full sound but without adjusting the eq settings in epic airs app the bass is a bit flat and even with the bass turned all the way up i found myself wanting a bit more but overall the difference in sound quality between these and the one plus bud z is hard to find these weren't my top pick because this case is just a bit big for carrying around in your pocket and this usb-a cord i don't love this but for 99 there is truly a lot to love about these buds so after countless weeks of testing it all comes down to this and the 50 one plus budsy they sound great they're really comfortable they come in a super slim case and although i wish that they wirelessly charged and maybe had a little bit longer battery life i really think they are the best pick for most people and will truly make you feel free in the cord cutting future i also think that if you're buying wireless earbuds for the very first time it's a good idea to spend less money i mean earbuds might not feel good in your ears they might not be comfortable at all they might not stay in they might block out too much outside noise and it's better to spend less money figuring that out also wireless earbuds they truly have a lifespan that isn't terribly long with how much they're being used and recharged the battery doesn't tend to last very long and you're probably looking to get about two years out of your wireless earbuds so maybe it's best to not spend a whole boatload of money at first thank you so much for joining me buds i wrote a little piece on the site about how i test earbuds and a little bit more about the runners-up and why i didn't choose them so check that out at theverge.com uh catch me on instagram uh maybe see me walking around brooklyn i don't know wear a mask be well that's all i gotta say bye budsbuds dropping a lot of cash on a piece of technology that has no screens has maybe a couple of led lights and will without doubt fall out of your ears at least once and tumble down the sidewalk is hard and although i use wireless earbuds every day now for years i used a 30 pair of wired earbuds and i got used to paying that price to listen to my music on the go so even with the large advancements in wireless earbuds tech i still have trouble justifying the large price tags that a lot of these earbuds have the good news is the market is huge now and there are tons of options for budget-friendly wireless earbuds so these are my picks for the best wireless earbuds under 100 bucks let's get into it a good wireless earbud has to check four boxes for me they have to have good sound quality solid bluetooth connection a comfortable fit without being too large and enough battery life for at least four hours of continuous listening and a good mic is a huge plus but i also understand that not everybody talks on the phone as much as i do it's like awesome i love talking on the phone anywho also keep in mind that in the under 100 range there's a few features that you're just unlikely to find like active noise cancellation wirelessly charging cases or being able to connect to multiple devices at once now there are countless wireless earbuds online from companies that you've never heard of so for my research i stuck to known brands that have established customer service operations and in my research i've been testing the following buds mic test okay first up we have the sixty dollar skull candy sesh evos skull candy's eighty dollar indie evos the fifty dollar one plus bud z which many of you have been asking for a review of the forty dollar one more piston buds the seventy dollar jbl 215 twss and last but not least the a hundred dollar jlab epic anc airs i pick airs anc yes epic air anc please keep in mind that these are the regular prices for all of these buds but buds are constantly on sale if you're looking to get a pair of these shop it out and you could probably find them cheaper i started my testing by initially wearing each of these earbuds for at least one battery pass just to get a sense of pairing their controls their battery life and how comfortable they are then i kept all of them in a pile on my desk and every morning i would see what i would naturally choose to wear the most and when and well very quickly the bud that i ended up using the most and my pick for the best wireless earbud under a hundred dollars it's the oneplus bud z i choose you for fifty dollars the bud z peck great sound quality without a bulky cheap feeling design and out of all the earbuds i tried i can wear these the absolute longest without feeling discomfort in my ears the 10 millimeter drivers deliver a full sound with decent separation of highs and lows but above all else a kick and vase electronic and pop music definitely sounds the best on these where lows really shine and of course buds i made a playlist of all the songs i've been listening to while testing these been a weird month so it's a little bit of a weird playlist i hope you enjoy there's also ip55 water resistance and the silicone ear tip blocks out enough noise to be able to hear my music clearly even on the subway but even with music playing i could still hear the world around me like the sound of my keyboard while i work or the faucet running while i wash my hands these also allow you to use either bud independently and there is an in-ear sensor that pauses your media when you take it out and resumes it when you pop it back in which is very welcome to consider there is no ambient mode with these earbuds also their case can quick charge your buds it can get you three hours of music playback with only 10 minutes in the case and this case is super small light and easy to fit in a pocket i just wish that it had wireless charging now these buds they sound really great they have a solid mic and they come with some premium features like in-ear detection but the budsies lack a lot of the touch controls i've become used to with other devices leading me to take out my phone far more often to skip tracks or adjust volume and if you don't own a oneplus device you'll have to download the hey melody app for firmware updates and to change the double tap controls which is the only control they have if having all of the controls at the tip of your fingertips is important to you and maybe you want a little bit more of a secure fit well the pair of headphones i ended up using the second most were these buds the skullcandy indie evos at 80 the skullcandy indie evos are the loudest most secure fitting buds i tested and although their six millimeter drivers don't have the same level of punch as the budsies or jbl's tune 215 tws's if you find you're the kind of person that constantly has your headphone volume all the way up well maybe clean out your ears but also grab a pair of the indie evos they are by far the loudest wireless earbud i have tested and although the sound can get a little mushy at such high volume levels man they can really kick and they can also be used independently of each other my favorite thing about them though it's the fit and their controls but look at this list of controls i mean it is massive from adjusting volume to skipping tracks to turning on the ambient mode you can do pretty much anything you would need to do with the tap or hold of a finger and although it took me a bit longer to get used to all of these controls i was really happy to have them once i did i i don't love pulling out my phone when i'm on walks listening to music or podcast and man with the touch of a finger you can do so much on these headphones okay and then there's the thick i mean these are very snug in your ears with this top fin and the silicone ear tip i mean once these are seated in your ears they aren't going anywhere now i like to have my friends test out headphones for me just so i can get a second opinion and a lot of my friends who typically don't wear wireless earbuds well i found them picking these as their favorite and i think it has to do with how secure they felt in their ears when you first get wireless earbuds there's this like huge fear of them falling out of your ears or you losing them but with the way these fit in my ears at least that fear is completely diminished okay so the budsy and skull candies indie evos are great picks for most people but for those of you out there who want the absolute most features for under a hundred dollars well for you guys my bang for your buck pick is the jlab epic anc airs no it's the jlab epic airs anc these names at 99 the epic errors are at the top of that 100 budget but feature a wirelessly charging case active noise cancellation hella touch controls and a long battery life with decent sound their biggest downfall though it's this bulky case i appreciate a unique case but this thing this thing is uh it's a bit it's a bit wonky yeah there's a lot going on here it is the only case i tested that wirelessly charges but the top folding bit is this sort of leather and this usb a cable i mean number one the headphones don't even come with a brick in the box number two whoo this is like really dated and although this design was convenient maybe even two years ago it just seems really old now the case does hold 36 hours of additional battery though add that to the 12 hours of battery life the airs already have that's with anc turned off and eight hours with anc turned on and well these are the only buds i tested that i truly had trouble draining the battery of and there is active noise cancellation now that active noise cancellation is a lot like the anc that i found with the galaxy buzz live it cancels out the high pitches and the lower frequencies that you know just are abundant in life but it doesn't cancel out everything the epic cars do come with the most amount of ear tips for getting that perfect fit and seal including a cloud foam tip which is basically the same material as an ear plug it expands in your ear to create a unique seal and it is very comfortable for long listening sessions the eight millimeter drivers create a really full sound but without adjusting the eq settings in epic airs app the bass is a bit flat and even with the bass turned all the way up i found myself wanting a bit more but overall the difference in sound quality between these and the one plus bud z is hard to find these weren't my top pick because this case is just a bit big for carrying around in your pocket and this usb-a cord i don't love this but for 99 there is truly a lot to love about these buds so after countless weeks of testing it all comes down to this and the 50 one plus budsy they sound great they're really comfortable they come in a super slim case and although i wish that they wirelessly charged and maybe had a little bit longer battery life i really think they are the best pick for most people and will truly make you feel free in the cord cutting future i also think that if you're buying wireless earbuds for the very first time it's a good idea to spend less money i mean earbuds might not feel good in your ears they might not be comfortable at all they might not stay in they might block out too much outside noise and it's better to spend less money figuring that out also wireless earbuds they truly have a lifespan that isn't terribly long with how much they're being used and recharged the battery doesn't tend to last very long and you're probably looking to get about two years out of your wireless earbuds so maybe it's best to not spend a whole boatload of money at first thank you so much for joining me buds i wrote a little piece on the site about how i test earbuds and a little bit more about the runners-up and why i didn't choose them so check that out at theverge.com uh catch me on instagram uh maybe see me walking around brooklyn i don't know wear a mask be well that's all i gotta say bye buds\n"