My 1st Gen AirPods finally died, the Podswap is no more, and AFAICT every Bluetooth alternative is equally designed to be disposable. Even neckbands have non-replaceable batteries.
The Sony WF-1000XM3 was repairable, but it's been discontinued and I prefer half-in-ear style earphones for situation awareness.
If anyone knows a better choice than AirPods, I'm all ears. 🙏
EXACTLY. I literally cannot wear in-ear #earbuds, for comfort reasons and also to avoid fatigue and dizziness. It drives me insane how there aren't many of them, and not many of them are good. #Apple's regular #EarPods are comfortable (to my ears), but they don't last long despite how expensive they are. There are other cheap ones that are similar and work fine, but none that comes to mind that I'd recommend. Apple's #AirPods might be the only/best non in-ear buds there is rn, but if you use it too often, I cannot stomach having to dispose of the AirPods after a couple of years (after 1 year even) when its battery gets scuffed. This is probably true for any wireless earphones (maybe even headphones).
I have to say though, as someone who's anti in-ear earphones my whole life, #AirPodsPro has my approval. I don't know what magic they pulled (it's apparently partly has to do with the vents) but wearing them in your ears, + enable the bud's Transparency mode (which until today is still the ONLY good transparency/awareness mode to exist even compared to other expensive, much bigger #headphones like #Sony's XM line and #Bose's QC line), you will literally feel like you're not wearing anything - comfort-wise AND most importantly, hearing-wise. You will hear ur surroundings not 1db quieter, or louder, it's really that natural sounding.
Despite feeling like you're not wearing anything in your ears though, and it is THAT comfortable, it will still hurt the insides of ur ears if u wear it all day/night. But that could just be me, since I have earphones on even while sleeping. My only complaint I have of the AirPods Pro though other than the pain I sometimes get after extremely long use, is that I find it... pretty quiet. I'm not sure if it's true, but it certainly feels quieter even when compared to my regular AirPods Gen 1. The mic is pretty meh too if that matters, the mic on the regular wired EarPods is significantly better.
#Earphones aside though, when it comes to #headphones, if you're like me and value comfort perhaps even more than you value the audio quality (not to say the audio's bad, they're honestly super good to my ears but ymmv) - for your regular pair of headphones for use with your desktop or laptop (you can use with mobile too with an adapter if needed), I highly, HIGHLY recommend the #HyperX#CloudII.
I was recently gifted a pair of #Bose#QC45 (hehe) which I have also been wanting purely for its comfort, but prior to that I have been using the Cloud II for I'd say ~5-6 years. I've tried many pairs of headphones around the same price range and even those that costs 2-3x more, but none compared to the Cloud II in terms of comfort. I actually once bought the #Sony#XM4 wireless headphones on sale, and I sold it back immediately after less than a week of using it bcos despite the 3x price increase (over Cloud II), that thing was awfully uncomfortable for long use and felt like a massive downgrade.
Now that I have the QC45, I'd say that it's definitely a massive upgrade in terms of comfort over the XM4, but the Cloud II is definitely just as comfortable if not more comfortable over the QC45. Sound-wise, as someone that has no idea how to describe aurally, I'd say that the Cloud II will definitely offer a good experience listening to music, watching a movie, or for gaming.
If you're looking to get one, I'd definitely recommend getting them in "Black" or "Gun Metal" for a more stealthy, work-friendly look compared to the "Red" ones lol. They even come with a nice USB "audio card" that's super nice and makes it easy for you to extend and hide the audio cable under your desk. It also has an okay microphone that I don't really use, but you could. When I got it years ago, they even gave a nice travel bag for the headset, though I'm not sure if they still include that.
can someone recommend me bluetooth #earphones with good anc for under 150 €? please reply only if you have personal experience with the product you recommend :renote_requested:
the #anc is most important to me but i also want a decent sound quality. microphones that are okay for indoor use would be nice as well. #askfedi