So like I said in the full review, I absolutely love the MW08’s stainless steel case. The MW08’s
also have an impressive combined battery life of up to 42 hours and I really like
their ambient mode. But personally for me it is still pretty hard to justify getting these
earbuds because they are still lagging behind main competitors in this market like the AirPods Pro,
Jabra Elite 85T’s, Galaxy Buds Pro, and even the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s.
Regarding pricing, the MW08’s retail for $300 which is pretty pricey if you ask me. Now the
Momentum 2’s also retail for $300 but they can usually be found on sale these days for $250.
The AirPods Pro also have a retail price of $250 but they can be found on sale
for $230, then there’s the Jabra Elite 85T’s with a retail price of $230
and the Galaxy Buds Pro have a retail price of $200 but they can be found on sale for $190.
Now depending on your needs one of these earbuds will be better suited for you…
but nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the cases here cause like I said I absolutely love the MW08’s
stainless steel case over all of these other plastic cases. The MW08’s case is noticeably
larger than the AirPods Pro’s case, Galaxy Buds Pro case, and Jabra’s case… but it is smaller
than the Momentum 2’s case. Specifically its thinner. Now the Momentum 2’s case is manageable
but I do hope the future Momentum 3’s case gets shrunken down similar to the CX 400BT’s case.
Overall you can daily drive any of these cases but if you are looking for maximum convenience
and the least noticeable case then you are better off going with either the AirPods Pro or
Galaxy Buds Pro. But if you’re looking something luxurious… then yeah the MW08’s are the way to go.
There’s just something about this dense, cold hard case in your hands
that makes taking your earbuds out and putting them back in an experience every single time.
However one major drawback about the MW08’s stainless steel case is that it doesn’t have
wireless charging. Now the Momentum 2’s also don’t have wireless charging
which is unfortunate cause basically for 2021
wireless charging is becoming a rather standard feature. Especially for these more premium earbuds
cause the AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Jabra Elite 85T’s all have wireless charging.
Now even though the MW08’s don’t have wireless charging… they do have the
longest combined battery life here. With their ANC turned off the earbuds themselves can go
for 12 straight hours. Plus the case can supply an additional 2 and a half charges we’re looking at a
combined battery life of 42 hours. And with their ANC turned on the earbuds themselves can go for 10
straight hours, plus 2 and a half charges were looking at a combined battery life of 25 hours.
Where as both the Momentum 2’s and Galaxy Buds pro have a combined
battery life of 28 hours with their ANC turned off… and with their ANC turned on
the Galaxy Buds Pro have a combined battery life of 18 hours. Which is definitely still usable but
its nowhere near the MW08’s combined battery life of 35 hours with their ANC turned on.
And then there’s the AirPods Pro which have a combined battery life of 24 hours with their ANC
turned on and the Jabra’s with a combined battery life of 25 hours
with their ANC turned on. Now with the Jabra’s with their ANC turned off they have a combined
battery life of 31 hours…but its still nowhere near the MW08’s combined battery life of 42 hours
with their ANC turned off. So even though the MW08’s don’t have wireless charging,
they make up for it by having a monster battery life in a relatively small package.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Regarding fit,
the Momentum 2’s are the only earbuds here that fit like your standard pair of in ear earbuds.
As in they go into your ear canals a decent amount. The Momentum 2’s offer good lockdown
and they stay in place very well… but they can get itchy after awhile.
Where as with the AirPods Pro and Jabra’s… they’re both shallowing fitting earbuds as
in they don’t go in super deep into your ear canals. So the AirPods Pro and Jabra’s feel
more natural and they don’t get as itchy… but the AirPods Pro do like to wiggle out more often.
Now the jabra’s can also wiggle out but they don’t wiggle out as much as the AirPods Pro.
But then there are the Galaxy Buds pro and MW08’s which fit in-between a pair of shallow fitting
earbuds and a pair of standard fitting in earbuds. They both go in a little deeper than the AirPods
and Jabra’s offering better lock down… but they don’t go in as deep as the Momentum 2’s. However
since the MW08’s are still using round earbuds these do tend to wiggle out quite a bit. So if you
are someone thats concerned about fit then I would recommend either the Galaxy Buds Pro or Jabra’s.
The Galaxy Buds Pro offer better lock down than the Jabra’s… but they aren’t as comfortable.
Regarding connectivity… the earbuds on the AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds Pro, and MW08’s each establish a
connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either on it
doesn’t matter. And this is the type connection set up that we want to see from earbuds in 2021.
Where as both the Momentum 2’s and Jabra’s are using a hero and sidekick set up.
So one earbud, the hero earbud actually establishes a connection with your phone
and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if you just want to use one earbud
at a time you gotta use the correct earbud. The hero earbud in this case the right earbud.
Now at this point earbuds that are still using a hero and sidekick set up do feel rather last gen,
however the Jabra’s do justify their use of a hero and side kick setup cause they
can be simultaneously connected to any 2 devices regardless of operating systems.
So if you’re a power user that uses an iPhone but you’ve also got a windows machine
you can still easily hot swap between your two devices.
Where as with both the AirPods Pro and Galaxy Buds Pro, they allow you to hot swap between
multiple devices as well… but only in their respective eco systems. So if you’re an Apple
power user then AirPods are great or if you’re a Samsung power user then Galaxy Buds are great.
But when it comes to performance, all of these earbuds have zero latency across the bard when
watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device…
but when it comes to performance, the AirPods Pro,
Jabra’s, and Galaxy Buds pro all only have support for SBC and AAC… where as these more
premium options like the MW08’s and Momentum 2’s both have support for SBC, AAC, and APTX.
But now let's talk about listing to music with these earbuds. If sound quality is a priority
for you then the AirPods Pro are the last earbuds you wanna be looking at here. Compared to these
other earbuds the AirPods Pro sound very narrow, they put an emphasis on the mids, and their bass
does not resonate what so ever. Personally for me I never use my AirPods Pro to listen to music.
For me I only use AirPods Pro to watch videos or listen to podcasts. Now personally im also not the
biggest fan of how the MW08’s sound because they have a very bass heavy sound signature and their
mids are fairly recessed. So for me it is harder to hear the vocals and instrumentals on these
earbuds. And for me this is the main reason why I find it so hard to justify getting these earbuds
I just don’t like how they sound. Now the MW08’s do have a companion app… but unfortunately you
can’t change the EQ here. So for now you’re still stuck with the MW08’s bass heavy sound signature.
But then there are the Jabra Elite 85T’s that sound much more open than the AirPods
Pro and they also have hard hitting bass that does resonate a little bit.
But more importantly these earbuds sound much more balanced than the MW08’s. Now these earbuds also
have a fully customizable EQ… but these ear buds are better suited for people who like a warmer EQ
cause these earbuds just don’t sound as open as the Galaxy Buds Pro or the Momentum 2’s.
Now if sound quality is a high priority to you then either the Galaxy Buds Pro or Momentum 2’s
are good options. Actually right the momentum 2’s are my favorite sounding earbuds and the
Galaxy Buds pro are close second. Both of these earbuds sound much more open than these other
three earbuds… they’re also both going to be able to either please people who like a bass heavy EQ
cause they both have rich hard hitting bass, and they’re both going to be able to please people
who like a more vocals focused EQ cause they both have crystal clear highs. However the Momentum
2’s do manage to inch out ahead here cause they do sound just a little more open, their
bass does hit a little harder, and they also don’t put as much of an emphasis on the mids and highs
as the Galaxy Buds Pro. Theres also the fact that you have a fully customizable EQ with the
momentum 2’s where as with the Galaxy Buds you just have a list of preset EQ’s to choose from…
and unfortunately as of mid April 2021 Samsung still hasn’t updated their iOS app.
So you’re not going to get the most out of the Galaxy Buds pro with an iPhone. So if you’re an
iPhone user and you’re really concerned about sound you do wanna go with the momentum 2’s…
or you can even go with the CX 400BT’s and save yourself a good amount of dogecoin.
Now when it comes to media controls the Jabra’s,
Momentum 2’s, and MW08’s allow you to play or pause your music, skip a track, go back a track,
cycle between active noise cancellation and your ambient mode or even raise or lower your volume
all straight from the earbuds themselves. And personally I really like when you have
all of this control straight from the earbuds themselves. The difference here is that the
momentum 2’s are using a touchpad where as both the Jabra’s and MW08’s have physical buttons.
But then there are the AirPods and Galaxy Buds who controls are a little more limited.
With the Galaxy Buds you can map pressing and holding to either cycle between your active
noise cancellation, adjusting the volume, or activating your voice assistant. But you can’t
have it all like with the Jabra’s, Momentum 2’s or MW08’s. And then there are the AirPods who’s
controls are even more limited cause you can only have pressing and holding to either cycle between
your active noise cancellation or activating Siri. And if you want to adjust your volume then you’re
going to have to ask Siri to do it. Which does take forever versus just taking out your phone.
However one key thing to keep in mind is that both the AirPods Pro and Galaxy buds pro have
always listening voice assistants with their respective device. So if you’re using AirPods with
an iPhone you can be like Hey Siri call so and so or if you’re using the Galaxy Buds with a Galaxy
device you can be like hey Bixby send so and so a text and boom its done with just your voice.
But now lets move on to the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now first I do
want to taper expectations here the active noise cancelation on the these earbuds mostly focuses
on constant low frequency sounds and they aren’t going to block out as much noise as a proper pair
of over ear headphones like lets say either the AirPods Max, Sony 1000XM4 or the Bose NC 700’s.
Now with that being said, the Jabra Elite 85T’s block out the most amount of noise here.
They used to be neck and neck with both the Momentum 2’s and AirPods Pro,
but after a firmware update their ANC did get better. A step below them are the Galaxy Buds
Pro… and then there’s the MW08’s which do block out the least amount of noise here.
So if ANC is very important to you then go with the Jabra’s.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past, I only use the Active noise cancelation on
my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me
is the quality of their ambient mode. Now all of these earbuds have decent sounding
ambient modes and they all do a decent job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
However both the AirPods Pro and MW08’s do have the best sounding ambient modes here. They sound
the most natural and both of their microphone array do the best job
of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors. Cause in situations where you’ll might be walking
out doors and you get hit by a gust of wind these other earbuds will might pick up some wind noise…
both the MW08’s and AirPods Pro will still manage to reject that wind noise. So for me, someone who
basically uses their ambient mode all the time when they’re outside thats a pretty big deal.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now all of these earbuds have decent sounding microphones
for phone calls but the Sennheiser’s do have the most amplification here.
Now the MW08’s also have a decent amount of amplification to them…
but its not over done like with the Momentum 2’s which is good.
Where as the Jabra’s don’t have as much amplification and personally I
wish they focused a little more on my voice.
However you do want to try to take phone calls with either the Jabra’s,
Sennheiser’s or MW08’s in a quiet room cause they all let in a decent amount of ambient noise.
Where as with both the Galaxy Buds pro and AirPods Pro,
both of these earbuds do a better job of focusing on your voice and they also do
a better job of blocking out ambient noise. Cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone
you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter. But if we switch back over to the Galaxy Buds Pro
it is severely reduced but more importantly my voice is front and center.
And again but this time with the AirPods Pro,
if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter
but if we were to switch over to the AirPods Pro it is severely reduced.
So definitely if you plan on taking lots and lots of phone calls with your earbuds
then you’ll either want to go with the AirPods Pro or the Galaxy buds Pro.
Cause right now with the amount of remote work people are doing having
a good sounding microphone for phone calls is very important.
So with all that being said… there’s plenty to like about the Master and Dynamic MW08’s
like a monster battery life, a really good ambient mode that both sounds very natural and
does a spectacular job of blocking out wind noise, and I can’t get over their stainless steel case.
However for me its very hard justify getting the MW08’s cause of their bass heavy sound signature
that you still can’t change even though they now have a companion app and their ANC isn’t all that
impressive. So if active noise cancelation is very important to you then I highly recommend the
Jabra Elite 85T’s. They block out an impressive amount of noise without a lot of cabin pressure…
and unlike the Bose QC earbuds which also block out a ton of noise… the Jabra’s case is way
more manageable. If you’re somebody thats mainly concerned about sound then I say go with either
the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s or Galaxy Buds Pro. However if you’re an iPhone user you do wanna go
with the Sennheiser’s cause unfortunately you can’t get the most out of the Galaxy Buds pro
with an iPhone cause Samsung still hasn’t updated their iOS app to support them. But if you’re an
iPhone user looking for maximum convenience then you do wanna go with the AirPods Pro.