★★★★☆
Released Monday, EarFun’s new Air 2 wireless earbuds are damned good for $50, even without noise cancellation. It’s a testament to how far earbuds have come that you can get Hi-Res Audio-certified wireless buds for so little money.
That said, I wouldn’t throw away your AirPods Pro 2 buds just yet.
Noble Audio’s new Falcon Max true wireless stereo earbuds are the company’s first to integrate advanced all-silicon solid-state MEMS-based drivers from xMEMS Labs, the company said Tuesday.
Release of the new earbuds with a hybrid-driver setup follows recent news that xMEMS plans to offer its first full-spectrum Cypress MEMS “ultrasonic” speaker in 2024. That should enable solid-state earbuds with remarkable full-spectrum audio quality.
xMEMS Labs is bringing what it calls breakthrough technology to the wireless earbuds market late next year after a CES 2024 debut — the Cypress ultrasonic speaker. It turns ultrasonic waves we normally can’t even hear into full-frequency, hi-res audio with remarkable detail, the California-based semiconductor company said Tuesday.
The solid-state microspeaker, which will find its way into various companies’ earbuds and headphones — hello, AirPods? — generates low-frequency sound pressure for a full bass response, according to xMEMS Labs.
That makes the ultrasonic speaker a true replacement for legacy speaker technology that has only been refined, not replaced, since your great-grandparents rocked the Victrola.
★★★★☆
Don’t want to spend hundreds on great-sounding earbuds? Affordable earbud and speaker maker EarFun unveiled its updated stemless earbuds Monday, EarFun Free Pro 3. They check a lot of quality boxes at a low regular price of $80, or $60 with current discounts (see below).
Like previous EarFun releases, the new buds nail high-quality sound and offer an array of premium features. But in this case, I found the active noise cancellation (ANC) unimpressive — that is, until EarFun sent out firmware update VO.2.1 in early November, and it improved noticeably.
Jabra just rolled out its new flagship wireless active noise-canceling earbuds, Jabra Elite 10, alongside its rugged Jabra Elite 8 Active buds.
Elite 10 features 10mm drivers, comfortable open-ear construction and, in a first for Jabra, Dolby Atmos spatial audio with head tracking.
Apple subsidiary Beats added two new color options to its recently released Beats Studio Buds+ noise-cancelling earbuds — cosmic pink and cosmic silver.
The new metallic finishes are part of a collaboration with press-on nails retailer Olive & June. They’ll become available September 7, the companies said.
EarFun Air S noise-canceling wireless earbuds just hit their lowest price ever — $37.99.
You simply don’t find this quality at that price, so if you’re in the market for earbuds, take that into consideration.
With Prime Day upon us, Earfun is offering one of its best deals ever on high-quality noise-canceling earbuds, Earfun Air Pro 3.
“This exclusive Prime Day deal represents the lowest prices in our brand’s history, and we are confident that they will be extremely enticing for consumers,” the company told Cult of Mac.
For Amazon Prime Day, July 11 and 12, you can get an astonishingly low price on earbuds of this quality — under $50.
Venerable audio brand Denon, founded in 1910 and now owned by health-and-audio-device maker Masimo, introduced its first sets of wireless noise-cancelling earbuds with audio personalization Tuesday — Denon PerL and PerL Pro featuring Masimo AAT.
AAT stands for “adaptive acoustic technology,” something Masimo enhanced when it absorbed Australian sound-personalization innovator Nura months ago. Hear that, AirPods Pro 2?
Anker’s Soundcore brand offers competitive noise-cancelling wireless earbuds, including Liberty 4, released in fall 2022. Now it plans to roll out its “all-new best noise-cancelling earbuds,” Liberty 4 NC, for a surprisingly low $100 (with an early-bird offer to pay just $80).
And the new buds claim an impressive 60 hours of battery life, too. Top features and low pricing like that might make Apple nervous over its AirPods line of earbuds.
The new Beats Studio Buds+ went on sale Wednesday as numerous initial reviews praised their good looks and tech upgrades.
Nearly every reviewer loved the ’90s-nostalgic, iMacs-of-yore transparent case option. And the new custom chipset for audio quality, new microphones for better active noise cancellation (ANC) and voice calls, and longer battery life aren’t bad, either. If you’re looking for the newest Beats, these upgrades make them a solid choice.
But some features are still missing on the $169.99 buds, up $20 from the original Beats Studio Buds when they came out — but $80 less than AirPods Pro (2nd generation) for thrifty shoppers.
Belkin is getting set to release new active noise-canceling (ANC) earbuds, and this time they pack in some premium features at a surprisingly affordable price point.
Belkin SoundForm Pulse earbuds will cost $119.99 and feature not only ANC, but multipoint Bluetooth connectivity and relatively long battery life. Available for preorder, they start shipping at the end of May.
Before Apple subsidiary Beats could get the word out, a listing appeared briefly on Amazon.com Tuesday showing upgraded Beats Studio Buds+ coming out May 18.
They take the same shape as existing Beats Studio Buds, but they feature a cool new transparent design option, upgraded performance and a slightly higher price of $169.95.
★★★★☆
Already known for surprisingly good budget earbuds, Tozo rolled out new flagship active noise-canceling (ANC) wireless earbuds at CES 2023 to compete with the big players. And the Tozo Golden X1 Wireless Earbuds do just that, with a sleek design, quality sound but somewhat meh noise cancellation for a reasonable price (especially with available discounts).
Tozo sent me a pair of Golden X1 buds to check out. They sound excellent — as good as premium earbuds that cost twice as much — but the active noise canceling could be better.
Another week, another set of active-noise-cancelling (ANC) wireless earbuds. The latest buds vying to take a piece of the AirPods pie are the updated OnePlus Nord Buds 2. They add ANC and improved sound quality over their super-affordable predecessor.
Nord Buds made a splash with good sound quality at a bargain-basement price of $39 when they came out. Now Nord Buds 2 piles on more features and boosts quality at a still-low $59 price point.
The Nothing company followed up its Ear (1) noise-canceling earbuds with the new Ear (2) version Wednesday, offering hip, hi-tech earbuds comparable to Apple’s AirPods Pro — but at a lower price of $149.
The new Nothing earbuds feature active noise cancellation, Hi-Res Audio certification, partially transparent casings for a cool look, and more personalization options than the originals.
Jabra unveiled its new Elite 4 wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation Tuesday, offering various premium sound and comfort features for a modest price of $99 — $20 less than the previous version.
“The modern earbud user is looking for tech that’s ready for work and play at their fingertips, while not compromising on key features,” said Calum MacDougall, SVP at Jabra. “The Elite 4 offers a solution to this and is the perfect well-rounded design to help users to concentrate, connect and call without distractions.”
Cult of Mac reported Tuesday that Beats Fit Pro would come out in three bright new colors. And as of Friday, two of those three new cheerful hues showed up on Amazon at $30 off. That was fast.
The somewhat dark tidal blue is sticking at the normal price of $199.95, but volt yellow and coral pink — the colors that will really get you noticed — are now just $169.83.
★★★☆☆
Calling them “the world’s 1st LE-Audio ANC true wireless earbuds,” EarFun plans to launch its new flagship Air Pro 3 active noise-canceling (ANC) wireless earbuds Thursday, February 2. The company recently sent me a pair to try out.
True to form, EarFun brings good value for the price with these buds, as it has with others. They’re not perfect, but for discounted pre-launch and launch prices at or below $60, you can’t really go wrong. See below for more details about the buds, including LE Audio.
Creative Zen unveiled its Air active-noise-cancelling (ANC) earbuds at CES 2023 and now you can buy them in the U.S.
For stylish, stemmed ANC earbuds with Ambient Mode, relatively long battery life and other solid features, they look like a good value at $45.
Need great wireless earbuds but don’t want to spend much? Woot, owned by Amazon, is currently selling refurbished Beats Studio Buds for the uncommonly low price of $59.99.
That’s $90 off the list price of $150. And it’s less than typical sale prices, like the $99.95 Amazon is charging right for the buds right now.
JBL revealed several new wireless earbud models Wednesday, including the new flagship Tour Pro 2 with a touchscreen for additional control via the “smart case.”
“The world’s first smart charging case,” as the company called it, features a 1.45-inch LED touchscreen that lets you control music, noise cancellation, calls and notifications. That gets you out of turning to an app on your smartphone — as long as you keep the case at hand.
Soundcore rolled out its new flagship Liberty 4 wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) on Friday with some upgrades.
And one of those upgrades might get under Apple’s skin a little bit. That would be heart rate monitoring via an in-ear sensor, which has so far failed to materialize in Apple’s AirPods line despite persistent rumors.
No one wants to spend $250 on a set of outstanding wireless noise-cancelling earbuds — let’s say, second-generation AirPods Pro — only to find they don’t fit well, even with a choice of ear tip sizes.
But unfortunately, it can happen. It happened to me, actually. But once I explored after-market ear tips (the part that goes into your ear canal), I quickly solved the problem at minimal expense.
★★★★☆
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro look almost exactly like the original model released in 2019. But they’re upgraded in every way that matters most, thanks mainly to the new H2 processor. In this in-depth AirPods Pro 2 review, I’ll run through all the ways Cupertino gave its flagship noise-canceling earbuds a boost.
Apple may not have gone as far as it could have in some ways. But still, the second-gen AirPods Pro are among the best earbuds on the market and a worthy upgrade for almost anyone. They’re particularly great for those who use lots of Apple gear and love how seamlessly their devices can work together.
Let’s take a look at, and a listen to, the second-gen AirPods Pro, aka AirPods Pro 2.