TWS Earbuds Recommendation

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dexterz

dexterz

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Currently using Redmi Airdots, but they have poor call/mic quality. So looking to change to different TWS earbuds with good call and music listening experience. No idea about ANC or how it would affect the listening experience.

Looked at Galaxy buds and Airpods on the premium side. Also saw a recent release from Noise which was much cheaper and had ANC option. The budget is roughly around 5~10k

So please suggest some options.
 
If you need ANC and your budget it 10k, then Sony WF1000XM3 are great option. Available for 8990 on Amazon RN. IMO Best buds for the price.

Screenshot_20211201-144043__01.jpg



If you're looking for something cheaper and more VFM and you can wait, then Soundcore Liberty 2 frequently goes for 3000-3500 on Flipkart. These have really good call (microphone) quality and pretty nice audio quality too. Extremely VFM if bought at 3000.
 
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@dexterz

Please do not waste money buying random brands based on reviews alone. Most are geared towards pleasing people to have bass and all. But all will have terrible Mics so on call, it would suck. Better to go for a more reputed brand and I am sure Anker Soundcore may be good balance between price and quality.

I personally don't emphasize much on call quality since I rarely am on call and even less such on TWS. I feel Jabra may be good too and I do have the 65t and 75t but whatever calls I have taken on it, never faced issues.
 
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For people thinking about Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 don't, it's a 2020 old stock, I bought it for 2990 from Flipkart, it has charging issue and also touch is not working properly, sent it for RMA, got a new unit with the same problem, now have sent it to Anker for checking/RMA
 
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john1911 said:
If you need ANC and your budget it 10k, then Sony WF1000XM3 are great option. Available for 8990 on Amazon RN. IMO Best buds for the price.
Click to expand...
+ 1 to this suggestion. I have been using these for the past couple of months & they are very good for the price. Sound quality is excellent & the ANC is also decent though keep your expectations in check as these are no WH1000XM3/4 & the ANC isn't as good as those on full over ear headphones due to obvious reasons.
 
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dexterz said:
does ANC make big difference in the usage experience?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I feel TWS ANCs are more gimmicky. I mean they do work but not on the level of full fledged headphones. I have a Jabra 75t which today costs 10K on some websites and 7K on some and I got for 5.6K few days back due to coupons and bank offers. It is good but for me, the ANC in non existent. Infact I also have a cheaper brand pTron Basspods 992 which I got for 1600 Rupees and it clearly has nicer ANC or may be Jabra's ear fits are so much that ANC is not having any impact.
 
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dexterz said:
does ANC make big difference in the usage experience?
Click to expand...
Honestly it depends upon your use case. If you are in a fairly noisy environment, it does end up reducing the noise overall but does not completely eliminate it. I use it in my home to drown our the AC & fan noise & it does help significantly. This way I also don't have to listen to music at high volumes.

Do note however that for TWS, better fit(noise isolation) + ANC > better fit(noise isolation) + no ANC > poor fit(no isolation) + ANC. Ideally, you should look for a good sound quality with good isolation & only worry about ANC if you still have budget left while fulfilling both previous requirements.
 
tommy_vercetti said:
For people thinking about Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 don't, it's a 2020 old stock, I bought it for 2990 from Flipkart, it has charging issue and also touch is not working properly, sent it for RMA, got a new unit with the same problem, now have sent it to Anker for checking/RMA
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This is some other model you're talking about. They have confusing names. The model I'm talking about does not have touch controls.

I'm talking about Soundcore Liberty 2. I got it for 2999 some 7 months ago. Working excellent and I'm so amazed by its microphone quality and microphone ambient noise cancellation that I totally stopped using Jabra 65t (too sensitive microphone and picks up a lot of noise instead of cancelling it despite having many microphone). Jabra 65t is excellent if you are in a quite environment but useless outdoors. Soundcore Liberty 2 works amazingly good for calls in noisy environment, the other person doesn't even hear the ambient noise. I haven't even picked up 65t once after getting Soundcore Liberty 2.

There is some sale coming up from 4th to 6th on Flipkart. These might go for cheap like 3000-3500.

PS: I'm talking about the background noise cancellation done on calls by dual microphones. Not about Active Noise Cancellation.
 
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john1911 said:
This is some other model you're talking about. They have confusing names. The model I'm talking about does not have touch controls.

I'm talking about Soundcore Liberty 2. I got it for 2999 some 7 months ago. Working excellent and I'm so amazed by its microphone quality and microphone ambient noise cancellation that I totally stopped using Jabra 65t (too sensitive microphone and picks up a lot of noise instead of cancelling it despite having many microphone). Jabra 65t is excellent if you are in a quite environment but useless outdoors. Soundcore Liberty 2 works amazingly good for calls in noisy environment, the other person doesn't even hear the ambient noise. I haven't even picked up 65t once after getting Soundcore Liberty 2.

There is some sale coming up from 4th to 6th on Flipkart. These might go for cheap like 3000-3500.

PS: I'm talking about the background noise cancellation done on calls by dual microphones. Not about Active Noise Cancellation.
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i'll check it out. can you fix the link for earbuds? not working
 
tommy_vercetti said:
For people thinking about Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 don't, it's a 2020 old stock, I bought it for 2990 from Flipkart, it has charging issue and also touch is not working properly, sent it for RMA, got a new unit with the same problem, now have sent it to Anker for checking/RMA
Click to expand...
Yeah, the upgraded Pro version was released this year, but it too is not much better than the old version and probably not worth it.
www.soundguys.com

Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro review

The Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro is a very good set of earbuds at a reasonable price, but it's just not quite ready to go pro.
www.soundguys.com
www.pcmag.com

Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Upgraded Version Review

Anker's true wireless Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Upgraded Version earphones are capable of delivering impressive audio, but they require some EQ adjustments on your end in order to sound their best.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com

@OP: People might have different opinions on the mic quality but in general it is poor across the board, so don't consider it to be a priority. Definitely don't go for brands like Boat, Boult, Noise unless you are really short on budget and just need to have TWS for the sake of it.
 
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t3chg33k said:
@OP: People might have different opinions on the mic quality but in general it is poor across the board, so don't consider it to be a priority. Definitely don't go for brands like Boat, Boult, Noise unless you are really short on budget and just need to have TWS for the sake of it.
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yea if that was the case i would've stuck to my airdots. i have to carry my wired earphones which also needs a usb c to 3.5 dongle. getting tired of untangling it every and would prefer the convenience of having a good quality tws. i'll look at the sony one suggested above. is any of the galaxy buds series good?
 
t3chg33k said:
@OP: People might have different opinions on the mic quality but in general it is poor across the board.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. Many TWS have really good call (microphone) quality.

Out of the TWS I have personally used, I can classify them in the following categories -

Terrible microphones - Person (on the other end) struggles to understand what I'm speaking in noisy environment. Ok-ok borderline understandable in silent environment. Xiaomi Airdots (old 2018 model, got from AliExpress)

Okay microphones - Excellent indoors, clear calls indoors. Person understands fully indoors in silent environment. Useless outdoors. Motor vehicle horns gets pickup and muddles your voice. Jabra 65t.

Good microphones - Good indoors, good outdoors. Person on the other end has no problem at all in hearing and understanding in noisy environment. Suppresses ambient noise.

Excellent microphones - Airpods Pro? Haven't used any yet.
 
john1911 said:
This is some other model you're talking about. They have confusing names. The model I'm talking about does not have touch controls.

I'm talking about Soundcore Liberty 2. I got it for 2999 some 7 months ago. Working excellent and I'm so amazed by its microphone quality and microphone ambient noise cancellation that I totally stopped using Jabra 65t (too sensitive microphone and picks up a lot of noise instead of cancelling it despite having many microphone). Jabra 65t is excellent if you are in a quite environment but useless outdoors. Soundcore Liberty 2 works amazingly good for calls in noisy environment, the other person doesn't even hear the ambient noise. I haven't even picked up 65t once after getting Soundcore Liberty 2.

There is some sale coming up from 4th to 6th on Flipkart. These might go for cheap like 3000-3500.

PS: I'm talking about the background noise cancellation done on calls by dual microphones. Not about Active Noise Cancellation.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm referring to Liberty Air 2, just received an email from Anker to send bank account details, they are refunding it, Liberty 2 here I come. I too want a good TWS, for reference have Soundcore Note Q10 and Oppo Enco M31, but still looking for TWS convivence
 
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The sony seems to be a bit on the larger side. Anyway to check the fit? Do offline stores offer demos? How is the galaxy buds pro? Saw some videos comparing it with sony and the buds seemed to be more compact
 
john1911 said:
I beg to differ. Many TWS have really good call (microphone) quality.

Out of the TWS I have personally used, I can classify them in the following categories -

Terrible microphones - Person (on the other end) struggles to understand what I'm speaking in noisy environment. Ok-ok borderline understandable in silent environment. Xiaomi Airdots (old 2018 model, got from AliExpress)

Okay microphones - Excellent indoors, clear calls indoors. Person understands fully indoors in silent environment. Useless outdoors. Motor vehicle horns gets pickup and muddles your voice. Jabra 65t.

Good microphones - Good indoors, good outdoors. Person on the other end has no problem at all in hearing and understanding in noisy environment. Suppresses ambient noise.

Excellent microphones - Airpods Pro? Haven't used any yet.
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I have used Sony WF-H800, Samsung Buds+, Jabra Elite 75t and all of them have been disappointing to various extent in terms of the microphone. Samsung was by far the worst but others were only a little better. Also, some people on the other side didn't complain which made me think they were okay but others did and in general none have been remotely close to the recording quality of cheap EarPods. All these are rated much better than the Liberty 2 in every review, so I maintain the general opinion for most ear buds.

Unfortunately, the AirPods Pro are a bridge too far in terms of its price for being a disposable product, though nearly every person in TV interviews wears one, which makes it probably the only one that seems to have great mic quality.
 
t3chg33k said:
Unfortunately, the AirPods Pro are a bridge too far in terms of its price for being a disposable product, though nearly every person in TV interviews wears one, which makes it probably the only one that seems to have great mic quality.
Click to expand...

I may be completely biased here (due to using apple products primarily) and speaking without even using Airpods Pro ever but I think airpods pro would definitely have excellent mic quality. I know wireless and wired is different but the previously bundled wired earpods with iPhones always worked really well and had nice audio as well as were good for talking on calls.
 
the airpods 2nd gen is listed at 13k. is the quality better compared to the above candidates? if so i can look at extending the budget a bit
 
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