We took five pairs of wireless earbuds priced under 300 yuan and gave them to five people who commute for more than an hour a day, for two weeks each.
The conclusion was slightly unexpected: at this price, the gap in sound quality is far narrower than the marketing suggests. What actually separated them was two other things.
First: do they stay in
Three of the five testers raised the same problem: the earbuds worked loose when walking quickly or running. In-ear designs generally beat half-in-ear here, though they press more noticeably over a long session.
Second: do they stay connected
The second difference was connection. In busy underground stations, some pairs dropped out and lagged noticeably, taking anywhere from two seconds to more than ten to recover.
- Price: all under 300 yuan
- Test: 5 testers, two weeks of commuting each
- Difference one: fit and stability
- Difference two: connection reliability in crowded places
On noise cancellation the spread on the underground was wide. The most expensive pair handled low-frequency noise best, but dealt with wind noise less well than one of the cheaper pairs.
You do not see many pieces that show the process like this any more.
Clearly written, and the section on the data is more solid than most coverage of this.
Clearly written, and the section on the data is more solid than most coverage of this.
I had not thought about it from this angle. It did shift my view a little.