(upbeat music)
- [Michael] It's finally summertime,
which means the season of sweaty cups is upon us.
Ear cups, I mean.
Yes, it's gettin' a little hot for big over-ear headphones,
so today I'm putting five sets
of wireless earbuds head-to-head.
Meet the contenders.
Samsung's Galaxy Buds, because they're bundled
with several higher-end Galaxy phones,
the Earin M-2s, which earned a great review
a few months back,
Apple's second-generation AirPods,
some of the most popular wireless earbuds in the States,
the Jabra Elite 65t, beloved by my friends
Russell Holly and Daniel Bader,
and I'm also tossing in a bonus entry, the Wearbuds,
because any hearables you can wear (chuckles) like this,
they deserve a look!
Now this comparison isn't so much about audio quality,
because I feel like the earbud customer
is buying mostly for convenience and mobility.
The only huge difference to my ears
is with the ones we're gonna start with, Apple's AirPods,
and that has less to do with the nature of the audio
than the way it's delivered. (plane roaring)
See, instead of the gels the rest of the buds use,
the rigid AirPods just kind of rest outside your ear canal.
It wasn't an issue for me as far as falling out,
but I was annoyed at just how much outside sound
leaked in on a bus or a plane.
These are not great for travel.
That said, I finally get the AirPods hype.
Not because of the pods themselves
so much as the ease of pairing and sharing.
It's such a simple thing, you open the case,
you hold it up to your iPhone, and boom, you're connected!
But that's not even (chuckles) the best part.
This is an account level thing,
so when I went to play a video on my iPad,
it already knew my AirPods were there,
and it connected to them without me ever
having to introduce them.
The same deal with my MacBook.
Where Bluetooth is usually a hassle,
this is magical (chuckles) in the unironic,
intoxicating way that Apple used to be.
The AirPods carrying case is the smallest
of the four I tested, yet it still has enough power
to give a dead set of pods three hours of listening time
after a 15 minute charge.
It's also one of the only two cases in this video
that can charge wirelessly.
By the by, if you're not into the greasy,
white plastic finish, which I am not,
my sponsor dbrand can help out
with this concrete vinyl skin,
which kind of makes it look like a skippin' stone.
Hit up dbrand at the link in the description
for almost any finish you could ask for.
And thanks to dbrand for sponsoring this video.
Some dangling details on the AirPods before we move on,
you can tap them for shortcuts,
which are customizable in the Bluetooth menu,
but there's no control for volume.
For that, you need to ask Siri.
Siri will also be able to help by dictating your messages
and letting you dictate replies.
- [Siri] Amy said, "Can you meet for coffee at nine a.m.?"
- Tell her I'll be there.
- It's sent. (notification bloops)
- So the only really bad thing about them,
(chuckles) aside from how goofy they look,
is that lack of passive sound isolation
and the lack of water resistance.
Bottom line, if you're an iPhone user,
you should probably buy the AirPods
unless you're often in noisy surroundings.
And the more Apple gear you own,
the more useful they'll be!
(funky music)
Samsung's Galaxy Buds are to the Galaxy S10
what the AirPods are to the iPhone,
right down to the quick and easy pairing process.
These are also a good pick for S10 owners
because of that phone's reverse wireless charging.
Just drop the case on the back of your phone to top 'em up,
or put them on a compatible Qi charger.
If you want faster power, the port on the case
is USB-C, another bonus.
As I mentioned before, the Galaxy Buds,
and the rest of the buds in this video,
block outside sound way better than the AirPods,
because of their ear gels.
They've also got the expected touch panel
on each ear bud for track control,
and you can customize what those taps do,
including volume control.
Also nice, if you get an alert
while your phone is in your pocket,
the Buds can tell you what kind of message it is.
They'll literally say "text message" or "email"
so you know whether it's worth taking your phone out.
If there is an Achilles heel to the Buds,
it's the case's battery life.
This oversized Tylenol only has enough power
to fully charge the Buds once,
and 15 minutes in the case only gets you
1.7 hours versus Apple's three.
The Buds are comfortable though, and if you want,
you can use Samsung's app to let a little bit
(announcer speaking) of surrounding sound through,
just so you're not totally isolated from the outside.
For workouts and rainy days,
the Galaxy Buds bear a splash resistance rating of IPX2,
which is, well, tell 'em, Comrade Dyatlov.
- Not great, not terrible.
- Price-wise, the Galaxy Buds are tough to beat
no matter which phone you carry,
but just like AirPods being the best fit for iPhone users,
the Galaxy Buds really shine brightest
when they're used with a Galaxy S10.
The Jabra 65t earbuds feel kind of like
the chunkier cousin of the Galaxy Buds.
The case is bigger and has a clumsier cover,
with a mechanical squeeze latch instead of the smooth
magnetic closures on all the other cases.
It also charges via micro USB instead of the newer USB-C,
but I forgive that particular issue for the same reason
I give a pass to the Earin M-2s for the same thing.
These were released well over a year ago!
That's been enough time for my buddies at Android Central
to give the 65ts a glowing long-term review.
I have to say, I don't fully get the love.
It's not just the case that's clunky
but the buds themselves are also on the big side,
and I needed to twist them into my ear
to lock them in place.
I never got used to the fit.
Whenever I wear these I find I need
to take regular comfort breaks,
and the fact that they use physical buttons
instead of tap pads means every time you adjust the volume,
you're pushing the buds further into your ear canal.
That said, if you're an audiophile,
you'll really appreciate how robust Jabra's app is.
It gives you a bunch of equalizer presets
and also lets you set different modes
so that the buds will kick out different sound
when you're commuting, say,
compared to when you're just sitting at home.
Also, if you just want a few flavors of white noise,
there are focus settings for that too.
There's audio passthrough, once again.
The case carries a 10-hour backup charge
to the Buds' five hours,
and these carry real dust and water resistance ratings
from IP55 all the way up to IP67 for the active.
And if you're wondering what (chuckles) those numbers mean,
check out my waterproof phones video
with JerryRigEverything where we explain all of 'em.
So the Jabras are quite good,
but given how close they presumably are
to being replaced by a sequel,
and how clunky they are compared to the others,
they wouldn't be my first choice.
That honor belongs to a truly tiny set of buds
built with fit and finish in mind.
Yeah, ever since I reviewed them back in January,
the Earin M-2s have been part of my everyday carry,
despite their compromises.
Namely, micro USB charging,
the highest price tag in the video,
and a symptom of their tiny footprint,
the fact that you almost always
accidentally hit the touchpad on the earbuds
when you take them out or put them in. (chuckles)
But the M-2s are just such catnip for nomads like me.
They're so small they almost vanish into your ears.
And the Comply material that makes up the foam tips
is the most comfortable too.
Audio passthrough, touch controls,
the same splash resistance as the Galaxy Buds,
the expected features are here
and the battery life is better than you'd expect
from something this small, about 3.5 hours per charge
with a soundstage much more spacious
than I expected as well.
The case carries an extra 10 hours of battery
and oh, (sighs) that case, it's metal,
fits in pockets better than the plumper ones,
and it slides open and shut
with a satisfying metallic clunk.
(case clunks satisfyingly)
It all adds up to a delightful earbud experience.
And finally, your promised portion of peculiar.
The Wearbuds by themselves are pretty good!
They're small, they're lightweight,
IPX6 water resistance, and the sound quality's,
frankly, a lot better than I expected.
What really sets them apart though
is this charging case that gives the Wearbuds their name.
It straps onto your wrist like a SmartWatch,
and the buds click into the sides.
The touchscreen gives you control over Bluetooth,
message notifications from your phone, and health tracking,
and the heart rate sensor on the back
helps out with the latter.
According to the spec sheet, the rated battery life
is 5.5 hours or 12 hours with the case,
but you won't ever hear me say that this case
is something I would willingly put on my wrist.
It's plasticky, it's very large,
and you see the low battery warning here?
That's because I kept misplacing
the proprietary magnetic charging cable.
I can forgive the lack of a standard charging cable
on a small SmartWatch, but this honker is so big,
they could've fit a USB-A port on it!
Also, while this is backed by a company
with some good history in the space,
it's also a Kickstarter project,
so you need to exercise the typical cautions there.
And to cover all our bases,
this particular model is a prototype,
so I can't speak to whether the production version
will deliver on all of its claims, or feel any less chintzy.
But the fact remains that for 99 bucks,
you're gettin' some earbuds that seem pretty good
and a SmartWatch that, well,
is better than no SmartWatch, I guess!
The point is, if you're shoppin' the whole landscape,
you don't want to ignore it,
especially if you like the idea of earbuds you can wear,
even when you're not wearing them.
Folks, let me know what buds you're putting in your pockets
and your ears down in the comments,
and if you wanna buy any of the buds in this video,
affiliate links are down in the description.
Those are mostly Amazon affiliate links.
Buying through them helps support the channel.
This video made possible by mix
of review samples from the manufacturers
and retail devices purchased by Mobile Nations.
See the description for specific disclosures,
but know that as always, none of these OEMs
were given copy approval over the finished product.
Please subscribe to the MrMobile on YouTube
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Until next time, thanks for watching,
and stay mobile, my friends!
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