Listening to music can bring back memories. It makes you happy, calm or pumped. However, a pair of tangled earphones can ruin experience even before it begins. Most of us might prefer wired earphones, however one cannot deny they need extra care while packing. Many smartphones don’t come with a headphone jack, making expensive adapters an essential accessory.
Most of us might have already heard of truly wireless earphones. They are slowly turning affordable, lightweight and easy to use, which makes them a great accessory for smartphones. While there are a lot of good wireless earphones out there, some can be really bad. Choosing the right pair of truly wireless earphones can be confusing. Here are our tips and factors that you should weigh on to choose the right pair.
Understanding why pricing matters
There are a lot of cheap wireless earphones in the market and most of them only pretend to be truly wireless. Some models either come with wires connecting the earpieces or with some controls on the wire. However, such earphones are not truly wireless and even if you find a basic model with no wires, audio quality can be terrible.
A truly wireless earphone needs a good Bluetooth chip for strong connectivity. Cheaper wireless earphones use low quality Bluetooth chips that create a big delay in audio transmission. Such delays are more noticeable while watching videos and playing games on your smartphones. Moreover, cheaper models often use poor microphones. Making or receiving calls from such earphones can be a mess.
Sound quality depends on codecs used
A codec determines how audio is transmitted over Bluetooth, from the source to your wireless earphones. It encodes and decodes digital audio signals for faster and reliable wireless transmission. Most cheap wireless earphone only supports SBC (low-complexity sub-band) codec, which divides frequencies into multiple bands and encodes them separately. This process takes time to transmit data, creating a delay in audio transmission. Such earphones also don’t support higher bitrate audio and high-res music often sound flat on them. The delay is most noticeable while playing games or in videos where the voice of characters lags behind the video.
A pair of good wireless earphones support codecs such as aptX, aptX HD and LDAC 900. These codes are far better than SBC codecs due to their lower latency and support for faster bitrate. However, these codecs are still lossy, which means they still lose some audio quality. If you are an Apple device user, you should consider wireless earphones with Apple’s proprietary AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) codec. It delivers great audio quality and supports high-resolution audio playback.
Look for battery life and a good charging case
A truly wireless earphone is a small device with tiny batteries, however, manufactures try to claim unrealistic playback times. If a device claims a battery life of 10-12 hours, expect the real-world performance to be lower by an hour or two. Also, batteries on some basic wireless earphones may wear-out quickly which can drastically reduce the device’s lifespan.
Though truly wireless earphones offer flexibility from wires, the chance of losing them also increases. Having a good case helps store and charge your wireless earbuds. Some premium cases come with in-built batteries which let you charge your wireless earbuds on the go. Many models also support wireless charging, reducing the hassle of plugging wires to the charging case.
Choosing earphones with right ear-tips and controls
Ear-tips are an important part of every truly wireless earphones. They come in different shapes and sizes however, some truly wireless earbuds, like Apple AirPods don’t come with silicon ear-tips. Apple AirPods offer snug fit most of the time, however the lack of silicon ear-tips may let in outside sound. You can try some third-party ear-tips, but they make the AirPods bulky and difficult to fit in the original charging case. You should check out the new AirPods Pro if you prefer wireless earbuds with silicon ear-tips and they have a new noise cancellation feature.
Having controls on your wireless earbuds also brings lot of comfort, just like the right pair of ear-tips. It lets you control your music, give voice commands and even receive voice calls. Some models can even pause the music automatically when you pull earpieces out from your ears.
Noise cancellation on wireless earphones
The noise cancellation feature was limited to only few wired earphones till a few years back. There are a lot of truly wireless earbuds now sporting noise cancellation. This means, music volumes can be turned down to comfortable and enjoyable levels while isolating the noise around you.
Most noise cancellation earphone also come with a “Hear through” feature which by a single touch, lets you hear what people around you are saying, without removing the earbuds. Having noise cancellation on your wireless earbuds improves the audio experience, however it can drain the battery quickly too.
Wireless earphones are a great accessory without having to worry about annoying cables. They offer a lot more freedom and flexibility when you travel, exercise or when moving around. Moreover, a good pair of wireless earbuds can significantly improve your music experience. If you’re already sure what you’re looking for, we have a variety of models available at your nearest Reliance Digital store and on RelianceDigital.in from where you have them home delivered.
