Looking to get a good pair of TWS under 10K

wakkun

Disciple
Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get a new pair of TWS, my budget is around 10K.

Currently I've been using a pair of Galaxy Buds Plus (paired with a Pixel 6 Pro) for a while now and I'm thinking of getting an upgrade.

I mostly use them to listen to podcasts and music when I'm working out, taking walks or at the office at times.

I'm mostly interested in them being comfortable and having decent sound, multi point pairing would be a plus!

Please let me know of your recommendations.
 
Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get a new pair of TWS, my budget is around 10K.

Currently I've been using a pair of Galaxy Buds Plus (paired with a Pixel 6 Pro) for a while now and I'm thinking of getting an upgrade.

I mostly use them to listen to podcasts and music when I'm working out, taking walks or at the office at times.

I'm mostly interested in them being comfortable and having decent sound, multi point pairing would be a plus!

Please let me know of your recommendations.
You will most probably get Sony XM3 and Jabra 85t as the regular recommendations at that price range. I didn't like either of them. Also, since I use both Samsung and Apple devices, TWS from either company was off the board.

Eventually, went with the Sennheiser CX Plus Special Edition which was available for 7.2k during the sale knowing that its ANC will not be great (which I am not a fan of anyway in TWS due to impact on battery life). Otherwise, it supports transparency mode which is most needed when using outdoors. Sound-wise, it is a bit weak on the treble side but the app has a basic 3-band equaliser that compensates for it.

Comfortable because it is extremely light at 6g. Fit is fine for me with the default buds but may not work for everyone. Doesn't have multipoint and switching devices is a bit of a pain as it needs to be disconnected from the other device first. Otherwise, like it for the price.

Also, not a fan of expensive disposable products but the 2-year warranty makes this worth it in the sense of durability.
 
Picked up the Buds live recently at under 5k and that is in addition to the Galaxy buds pro that I got earlier


The new colour onyx was released a couple of months back


Very comfortable but doesn't isolate so depends on the use case. The sound is decent. Has three mics so good voice quality, the inner one will help in noisy environments.

Maybe you're tired of Samsung

Multipoint is hard to get with TWS as they have to keep a connection with two devices. I think only Jabra has managed this trick.

If you don't mind wired meaning both buds are joined by a wire then you might find more options
 
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Picked up the Buds live recently at under 5k and that is in addition to the Galaxy buds pro that I got earlier


The new colour onyx was released a couple of months back


Very comfortable but doesn't isolate so depends on the use case. The sound is decent. Has three mics so good voice quality, the inner one will help in noisy environments.

Maybe you're tired of Samsung

Multipoint is hard to get with TWS as they have to keep a connection with two devices. I think only Jabra has managed this trick.

If you don't mind wired meaning both buds are joined by a wire then you might find more options
I had the Buds Plus a couple of years earlier and it was generally rubbish in terms of range and microphone. One bud discharging more than the other and sometimes losing connectivity on one side was extremely irritating.

On one occasion, I ended up with the buds getting discharged within the case after not using for a month and it wouldn't even switch on again when placed in the case. Apparently, you had to pick and drop the buds in the case a dozen times before it started charging, which was ridiculous.

Samsung may have improved a bit since then but generally adding so-so ANC with much worse battery life and then dumping their "Pro" buds for 6k a year later just indicates the actual quality of the product isn't up there to be called Pro.

Also the Samsung only device switching, Samsung scalable codec and Android only app just indicates that they are trying to do an Apple with their ecosystem, but doing so by cutting a lot of corners to lower cost, without focusing on quality.

Still think of TWS as a necessary evil for use on the move but it is criminal to purchase locked-in ones at exorbitant costs.
 
Samsung galaxy buds Pro, not so very comfortable, but great sound, water resistance, good battery life . See the reviews of Crinacle and others. I'm using one for more than a year. You can get a good deal for 5k for a sealed piece on olx, if you search patiently.
 
I had the Buds Plus a couple of years earlier and it was generally rubbish in terms of range and microphone. One bud discharging more than the other and sometimes losing connectivity on one side was extremely irritating.
All have class B BT transmitters & receivers so the range will be similar for buds of this size. I've not faced connectivity problems with either bud. Does this happen much with BT 5 these days?

Mics have improved a lot since the earlier generations. Check out Ken's mic tests for the Live and Pro. Where is the mic problem from either model?

In fact, earlier, I was against TWS for mic quality but his tests changed my mind. I did not realise these models BOTH have internal mics in addition to the two external ones.

I can't comment on longevity but quality and being original instead of copying others ranks high for me. The Buds live is a perfect example of this. How many others are copying Apple?
On one occasion, I ended up with the buds getting discharged within the case after not using for a month and it wouldn't even switch on again when placed in the case. Apparently, you had to pick and drop the buds in the case a dozen times before it started charging, which was ridiculous.
Not used the Buds pro for a month, just checked the battery stats. The case is at 90%and buds are at 100. For longer periods it might be better to store buds away from the case with a 60% charge and the case at a similar level.
Samsung may have improved a bit since then but generally adding so-so ANC with much worse battery life and then dumping their "Pro" buds for 6k a year later just indicates the actual quality of the product isn't up there to be called Pro.
Which model has so-so ANC ? the buds pro rivals the AirPods pro for ANC. But it only works if you get a good seal and for me, that meant 3rd party memory foam tips.

Understand that the markup for these BT products is at least 3x wholesale. That is the only way it is possible to buy them for half or even more of the launch price. Google asking 20k for their equivalent pros that too almost two years later is exorbitant in comparison to the Galaxy Buds pro that does the same. Sammy can do this because they have scale. These are loss leaders for them.

I paid 8.5k for the silver Pro's and that price is since May. See the price history. (see t the right of the graph and select the full period since launch) 6k might have been a one-off deal. The black variant dropped only in Sept last and that is a sign of ramped-up supply a year after launch. The economy hasn't been exactly great these last couple of years so only the players with the deepest pockets can afford to get into pricing wars.
Also the Samsung only device switching, Samsung scalable codec and Android only app just indicates that they are trying to do an Apple with their ecosystem,
Agreed but Android has many more players in it than Apple isn't it?
but doing so by cutting a lot of corners to lower cost, without focusing on quality.
The ergonomics of the Live and features of the Pro are excellent.
Still think of TWS as a necessary evil for use on the move but it is criminal to purchase locked-in ones at exorbitant costs.
Galaxy Pro are not for iPhones but will work just fine with any other android. You lose some native features like lower latency with gaming if that matters.

The only factor that decides whether to go with Live or Pro is fit.

Some have found the Pro uncomfortable. There was someone here who complained about the Live that nearly everyone I've come across has said the opposite.

Not the case here since the OP already has ears that fit earlier models ;)
 
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A really long post you got there, but I don't want to derail this thread much further. The Class does not determine the actual range since it depends a lot on the actual design and how much it attenuates the signal. I have used far too many of them to know the range varies a lot.

I have found the mic tests from the YouTube videos to be far too irrelevant based on my real life experience. The actual ambience noise in an Indian city is far higher and all the YT videos fail to capture the performance in terms of regular usage over here. From the half a dozen plus that I have used, all close to the 10k range, the microphones are simply unusable in any setting.

I am not saying that Pro provides VFM for a lot of people, it is just that Pro is a misnomer because these are just regularly performing buds that are priced as such after 6-12 months, once the crazy fans overpay for it.

All my Samsung experiences as real and you can find those issues listed on the Samsung forums itself. It is okay for 5-6k and is in the category of the cheaper Jabra buds, but nothing more than that.
 
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The Class does not determine the actual range since it depends a lot on the actual design and how much it attenuates the signal. I have used far too many of them to know the range varies a lot.
The class has everything to do with range. Class A is 30m or 100ft. Class B is 10m or 30 ft. Both Pro & live work to that distance without obstacles
I have found the mic tests from the YouTube videos to be far too irrelevant based on my real life experience. The actual ambience noise in an Indian city is far higher and all the YT videos fail to capture the performance in terms of regular usage over here.
You haven't watched Ken's tests then :)
From the half a dozen plus that I have used, all close to the 10k range, the microphones are simply unusable in any setting.
Did any of them have internal mics? the generation you tried did not and would not be usable in a noisy setting.
I am not saying that Pro provides VFM for a lot of people, it is just that Pro is a misnomer because these are just regularly performing buds that are priced as such after 6-12 months, once the crazy fans overpay for it.

All my Samsung experiences as real and you can find those issues listed on the Samsung forums itself. It is okay for 5-6k and is in the category of the cheaper Jabra buds, but nothing more than that.
The only people that post in these forums are those with issues. The ones that are happy don't bother to post. In fact you see so many complaining about the fit that I was nervous to pick them up and am glad I decided to take a chance.

In terms of features, you're really spoilt for choice with the Pro's. Slightly less for the Live but I got those at nearly half the price. They are very comfortable and work great.
 
The class has everything to do with range. Class A is 30m or 100ft. Class B is 10m or 30 ft. Both Pro & live work to that distance without obstacles

You haven't watched Ken's tests then :)

Did any of them have internal mics? the generation you tried did not and would not be usable in a noisy setting.

The only people that post in these forums are those with issues. The ones that are happy don't bother to post. In fact you see so many complaining about the fit that I was nervous to pick them up and am glad I decided to take a chance.

In terms of features, you're really spoilt for choice with the Pro's. Slightly less for the Live but I got those at nearly half the price. They are very comfortable and work great.
I know what the Class is (it is 1, 2, 3 BTW). It is the range of the transmitter but doesn't imply it is the practical range. I have used Class 1 TWS and headphones and the TWS range is practically half because of the limitations of the antenna setup.

I did not check the video you mentioned but I made few of my purchases in general based on several YouTube videos and all were misleading in real life, even when they had quad mics.

I mentioned my issues with the Samsung Buds and actually found the resolution on Samsung forums. The ones I faced already had over 5000 posts back then, so it was not uncommon.

The Pro would be a great choice for the price, if you only use Samsung devices but then the finish is not quite there and in case of my Buds Plus, things did not get much better with software updates over a year. They are simply not consistent enough which can be forgiven for the price and the fact that Samsung actually produces them for cheap which allows them to dump at 1/3rd the price a year or so later.
 
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