What you choose to put in your ears is a very personal thing.
Some of the things to consider include what you’ll be doing most of the time while using them (walking, running, working out, walking the dogs, just chilling out). Once you know this you will have taken the first step towareds the best ‘buds’ to suit you.
For me, my first port of call is always sound quality. This immediately rules out low cost options. They simply don’t invest enough in ensuring your music (or whatever you’re listening to) sounds true to the original sound. At the higher end you also get noise cancellation, but again, depending on use, you may not need that.
FIT is also important. I mean if your earbuds keep falling out, even if you’re just walking, then it’s going to kill the enjoyment. There’s been a lot of improvement in this area over the years, so hopefully one of the (normally) 3 sets of inserts will keep your headphones in place. I’d also suggest that if you’re doing heavy exercise with earbud type headphones you’ll need to consider those that have additional features to help them stay in place…plus you need to be mindful of bacteria build up, remembering to clean the buds regularly (good ear hygiene also).
Here’s where I’ve landed over the past few years.
Sony WF-1000XM3 – My first premium earbud headphones – class leading sound quality and they stayed in nicely (just not for anything more than walking)
Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro – A lighter, well fitting, premium earbud – They delivered great sound but mostly worked better with Samsung devices. The Galaxy Buds4 Pro also look great but I haven’t tried them yet.
Powerbeats Fit – Earbud headphone that stayed in throughout more rigorous movement, sounded good and had premium perks like noise cancellation.
This brings me to my latest reveiw, Senneheiser’s Accentum Clip open-ear true wireless earbuds.
Actually the review opportunity came at just the right time as I had been wearing the Powerbeats Pro while doing work in the garden and found that my ears were getting irritated with these well fitted buds. I don’t think that’s nessesarily a common thing but it seems that a bit of sweat mixed with these earbuds just wasn’t working for me. In this situation, my ears needed some air.
The Clip design of the new Sennheiser earbuds solves this problem, without compromising on sound quality. Yes, for a moment I did feel like I was wearing a set of hoop earings, however after a few sessions they Accentium Clip earbuds felt quite normal, plus they’re very light so you bearly know you’re wearing them.
For my testing conditions the Sennheiser earbuds were ideal. Walking the Dogs, listening to music while also being about to hear everything happening in my immediate surroundings, not being concerned that my earbuds would fall out, check. In the garden, listening to a podcast, pulling out weeds without my earbuds starting to irritate my ears, check.
This is pretty much what the Accentum Clip earbuds are built for. Delivering great sound quality while keeping you aware of other sounds around you in a format that’s comfortable to wear for long periods of time. If you’re looking for noise cancellation these are simply not for you but don’t think for a second that just becuase the tiny speakers aren’t shoved right into your ears that you won’t be getting great sound. With some precision-engineered acoustic tuning and 12 mm drivers, you
Their IP54 rating means they are protected from dust and sweat and you can expect up to 36 hours of use in combination with the charging case.
I’ll keep wearing these…at least until I get something new to try.
The Accentum Clip True Wireless Earbuds retail for $349.
