While Airpods remain by far the most popular headphones on the market, they are not necessarily the best. The alternatives are numerous and the quality / price ratio even tends to tip the balance strongly in favor of the competition …
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
The audio specialist Sennheiser launched very late in the segment of Bluetooth headphones. Its Momentum True Wireless has however established itself as a very qualitative alternative to Apple Airpods. Momentum True Wireless makes the recipe even better.
At 299 €, we can’t really talk about a very affordable model here. Momentum True Wireless 2 is clearly intended for enthusiasts and demanding users. The main novelty brandished by the German brand is active noise reduction, a trendy function in the field, which Sennheiser obviously does not yet master very well … And this is probably the only criticism we will make to these Momentum 2, which are characterized by an absolutely exceptional quality of finish.
On the design side, Sennheiser is swimming against the tide and does not hesitate to come up with a very daring proposal. We are entitled here to noble materials with metal and very high quality fabric. It is solid, modern and very elegant at the same time. The Momentum 2 are also IPX4 certified and can therefore withstand rain and sweat. You can easily use them while jogging, unlike the excellent WF-1000XM3 from Sony, which remains the benchmark in the field.
Sennheiser’s headphones are some of the most comfortable to wear on a daily basis – much more than their predecessors, who tended to be a bit bulkier … Battery life doubles to around 6 hours on a single charge, but without active noise reduction . The charging box will charge the headphones up to 3 more times.
On the sound side, we are close to perfection here. The sound rendering is simply exceptional. The user can also personalize the experience via the application, with the sound equalizer. The bass is good, the vocals are crystal clear. If you love music deeply, you will get a lot of bang for your buck.
However, it is difficult not to be disappointed by some unreasonable choices on the part of the brand: the size of the charging box, more than twice as big as most charging boxes, or the very dubious choice of the master system. slave for the two earphones which has the effect of making it very difficult to listen with only one earphone. Since the left atrium is a slave to the right, you will never be able to remove the right atrium from your ear without the sound cutting out. This is not in itself tragic, but at the price at which the accessory is sold, we would have liked a little more attention to detail …
The +:
- Unparalleled sound quality
- A bold and very successful design
- Very comfortable to wear
- Good overall autonomy (5 to 5:30 without RBA)
- Can be used even when jogging
The – :
- A case a little too big
- Disappointing active noise reduction
- The master-slave system and its handicaps
OnePlus Buds
Charged around € 90, OnePlus wireless headphones are positioned as an economical alternative to Airpods. Do not expect true wireless, we are here at the entry level. At this price, no miracle therefore, but an excellent quality / price ratio. OnePlus headphones sound great. They are comfortable to wear, discreet and very ergonomic. If you also have a OnePlus phone, pairing is done in just one step… Convenient. User experience level, we are close here to Airpods. However, you should not expect very advanced features: no active noise reduction or very advanced touch controls. The lack of insulation is also very much felt in noisy environments.
The OnePlus Buds are nonetheless excellent companions for all daily uses. The sound rendering is balanced. We don’t have the feeling here that the bass is amplified. For voice or video calls on the other hand, the sound reproduction is not always excellent and the microphone tends to pick up the surrounding noise a little too much. If you make a lot of calls in the hands-free kit, it is better to pass your route here …
The real asset of OnePlus Buds, however, remains their excellent autonomy. A single charge will allow you to last from 6 to 7 hours. The box is also recharged extremely quickly thanks to OnePlus’ WRAP technology. 10 minutes of charging is enough to power two hours of listening! The case is also very compact and light, unlike most of its competitors.
The +:
- Excellent autonomy (6 to 7 hours)
- Fast charging
- A compact and light case
- A good price-performance ratio
The – :
- The microphone, of modest quality
- Little or no sound insulation
Epic GTW 270
The audio specialist has taken on a new challenge with its GTW 270 headphones – which are clumsily presented to us as earphones for gamers. Let’s face it, earphones from Epos probably won’t replace your headphones on PlayStation or PC. On the one hand, because if they can easily connect to any machine thanks to its small USB-C dongle, it does not support voice chat when it uses this type of connection. On the other hand, because the isolation is far too minimalist anyway and the latency too high to use them in battle royale type games.
Epos should have specified it, its headphones target more nomadic players, and in particular the owners of the Switch, who will find there a very pleasant playmate. That being said, reducing this accessory to simple playful use would be a mistake. Earphones from Epos are actually a great alternative to Airpods and all other wireless earphone models. They are characterized, in addition to the small dongle that accompanies them and allows them to be coupled to a game console or a PC, by a very elegant design with a small metal charging box with a very modern design, real comfort of use. and amazing sound quality. We are not quite at the same level as the Momentum 2 of Sennheiser, but we are still very close! Nothing surprising since the two brands are historically very close.
At 199 €, these headphones are positioned as an economical alternative to other true-wireless models while standing up to them without difficulty in terms of performance. What impresses the most here is the versatility of the accessory, compatible with a wide range of devices but also delivered full-options with a dongle, USB-A to USB-C adapter and three pairs of different tips. .
The GTW 270 headphones are comfortable to wear – even when jogging -, the autonomy is average (5 hours) and the accessory ticks all the prerequisites to be at the top of the list of essential gifts. The main criticism that we could ultimately address to him is the manufacturer’s communication, almost entirely focused on the gaming side, which certainly allows this model to stand out a little from its competitors, but let’s not hide the fact face: on PC as on consoles, gamers will much prefer a good old headset, more insulating and ultimately much less expensive.
The +:
- Exceptional quality sound
- A very classy design
- Compatible smartphones / PC / Switch / Playstation
- Comes with the full set of accessories
- A very competitive price for the segment (199 €)
- A good choice for players on Switch / mobile
The – :
- Not the best choice for PC / PS4 gamers
Huawei Freebuds Pro
Huawei was not necessarily expected in this segment. However, the Chinese brand delivers one of the most convincing true wireless earphone models on the market with its Freebuds Pro.
At 200 €, the Freebuds Pro are positioned as an economical alternative to the Apple Airpods Pro. At first glance, we don’t really have anything to be impressed with by the design of the headphones, not very premium despite the metallic finish. The case seems fragile, the headphones seem ultra-light and the shiny coating of the headphones tends to attract fingerprints … Once stuck in the ears, however, we quickly come back to its verdict: Huawei headphones are not only very comfortable to wear but also offer a sound rendering of truly astonishing quality. Silicone eartips effectively obstruct the hearing tube, increasing sound insulation. Audio level, the sound is very balanced, maybe not as much as with a Sennheiser, but Huawei delivers a very good copy. We blame it at most for the treble that is sometimes a little too discreet. When it comes to active noise reduction, Huawei succeeds where many have failed. Noise reduction works wonderfully and will allow the user to completely cut off from the world.
Another advantage of this model: the case, ultra light and very thin, which fits easily in the pocket. The autonomy is also very good since we reach the 4h30 of use with the noise reduction activated and the 6h30 without. The box is also recharged both by wire and by induction.
If the accessory is compatible with all brands of smartphones, however, you will have to cheat a little to install Huawei’s AI Life app on your device and thus be able to take advantage of all the functions. This is generally well designed.
The most demanding users will appreciate the presence of many shortcuts that will allow you to control the playlist, the mode or the sound volume with the tip of your finger. Convenient for the most enthusiastic, but not necessarily not for users who sometimes have trouble remembering these shortcuts … Too many touch controls clearly kills touch controls.
For 199 €, the Freebuds Pro remain however a very interesting alternative to the many other models and even prove to be one of the more advanced models in terms of sound insulation.
The +:
- A very good sound reproduction
- Very comfortable
- The case, light and very thin
- Ultra-comprehensive touch controls
- Effective noise reduction
The – :
- Too many touch controls?
- A not very premium design
–
