True wireless earbuds are all the rage right now. Everywhere you look, you’re sure to spot people wearing these ubiquitous wireless wonders. While the AirPods have dominated this market for the past few years, there are plenty of alternatives out there that are capable of delivering the same quality sound – sometimes even better. Three great-sounding, long-lasting, and feature-packed true wireless earbuds right now are the Samsung Galaxy Buds, Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 2.0, and Sennheiser Momentum. Save as much as $71 when you get them on Amazon today.
Samsung Galaxy Buds – $102, was $130
The Apple AirPods might be the most popular option, but the Samsung Galaxy Buds are of the best true wireless earbuds that you can buy right now for Android. They offer a super comfortable and secure fit, six hours of playtime (an hour longer than the AirPods), and they’re sweatproof. Right now, you can buy them on Amazon for a cool $28 off. Get the Galaxy Buds with a wireless charging case for just $102 instead of $130.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds are triangular and ergonomically shaped to fit the ears snugly. They attach to three sets of silicone eartips and sport fins, and although they seal the ears shut and provide a physical layer of noise reduction, they’re among the most comfortable truly wireless earbuds we’ve worn in a long time.
The Galaxy Buds promise a solid six hours per charge. That’s an hour longer than the more expensive AirPods. Unfortunately, the playback time isn’t equaled by the amount of juice the wireless charging case can hold. The Galaxy Buds offer just seven hours of additional battery life, but not to worry. These true wireless earbuds can charge wireless on the backs of recent Galaxy phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and S10e.
Samsung’s buds come with a lot of neat features. Controls can be accessed via tapping and touching the buds to switch songs or adjust the volume. The controls can be customized using the Samsung Wear app which also offers great customization for your listening preferences. Activating ambient sound mode allows the Galaxy Buds’ built-in microphones to adjust the level of noise that goes in, letting you hear traffic noises, flight announcements, or your coworkers calling out to you. And if you lose your Galaxy Buds, don’t worry. Just activate “Find my earbuds” on the app and you will no longer have to dig through the numerous couch cushions, bags, or jeans pockets whenever they go missing.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds pose a serious threat to the AirPods’s popularity with their superb design, sound, and ease of use. Get them for just $102 on Amazon today.
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 2.0 – $262, was $300
Just like the Beoplay H4, the Beoplay E8 2.0s are incredibly good-looking. These earbuds look exactly like the first generation of the E8. They are still really tiny and are made entirely of plastic, with the B&O logo printed on the exterior. The buds offer a secure in-ear fit that provides excellent passive noise isolation, making them perfect for commuters. Then we have the gorgeous charging case: It is pill-shaped and is no bigger than a matchbox, covered in genuine leather. The case now has a USB Type-C charging port, ensuring faster charging, and can provide about four hours of playback for each full charge.
The biggest change on the Beoplay E8 2.0 is their improved signal strength and connectivity. While the original version sounded great, it took multiple attempts for them to pair via Bluetooth, repeatedly rejecting pairing requests. Another issue with version 1.0 is they would occasionally stop working for no apparent reason and you would be forced to perform a hard reset. Thankfully, these problems are no longer present on the E8 2.0s. These buds now pair seamlessly with any device on the first attempt, and there are almost no signal dropouts. We did, however, experience some dropouts in places where there were lots of people, which is understandable as pretty much any wireless set is prone to signal interference.
In terms of sound quality, the Beoplay E8 2.0s are impressive for truly wireless earbuds. Songs sound rich and textured regardless of what genre you listen to, with an incredible amount of detail and subtleness left intact. Drum-heavy songs sound rightfully punchy, while more delicate music is a delight to listen to.
The second generation of Bang and Olufsen’s Beoplay E8 are very stylish, offer improved Bluetooth connectivity, and most importantly, sound superb. The touch controls are a little awkward to operate, but other than that, these are excellent truly wireless earbuds that are worth their premium price tag. You can purchase them on Amazon for an awesome $38 off. Normally worth $300, you can now get your own for $262.
Sennheiser Momentum – $229, was $300
The Sennheiser Momentum are surprisingly light. Yes, they are truly wireless earbuds so lack of weight is to be expected but honestly, you might forget you have them on unless music is playing. Their lightness also makes them quite comfy. They’re also designed to stay put in your ears without you having to apply too much force. The earbuds shimmer with Sennheiser’s signature silver logo and when you pull them out from their magnetic charging stands, they’ll flash red and blue, signaling that they’re ready to pair. Simply select them in your phone’s Bluetooth pairing list and — that’s it.
The Momentum headphones not only pair to Bluetooth quickly and seamlessly, they automatically pause music when you pull them out of your ears and they are capable of quick charging. One cool (albeit common) feature is transparency mode, which when activated allows you to pipe in ambient sound to keep you aware of your surroundings.
These earbuds are operated through touch control. Using your fingertips, you can pause/play music, skip tracks, change the volume, make calls, or talk to your phone’s voice assistant. Just make sure you use the entire pad of your finger; otherwise, they’ll be unresponsive. Further control could be done using Sennheiser’s Smart Control app, where you can also fine-tune your listening experience through the digital EQ.
When it comes to sound, these earbuds are unmatched. Music sounds lush regardless of the genre that you listen to. The basses are smooth and brawny, the mids are rich and ruddy, and the highs are clean and crisp.
Now for the bad part: Battery life. At four hours of playback per charge, that’s a full hour short of what the AirPods offer. Furthermore, the case only offers two extra charges (Apple’s offers four), so you have to keep plugging these in fairly often. For their price, that’s not really acceptable.
Still, what you’re really paying for if you get the Sennheiser Momentum true wireless earbuds is the incredible sound experience. Get your own pair on Amazon for $71 less. Instead of their usual retail price of $300, get them for $229.
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