What is the best wireless earbud? And which one has the best price-quality ratio? NU.nl and the Consumers’ Association provide an answer.
Wireless earbuds are popular, especially the so-called ‘true wireless’ models (also called earbuds). Logical, because without a wire is very easy on the go or during sports. Also in combination with mouth masks, because every headphone with wire is in the way as soon as you want to put on or take off a mouth mask. You won’t be bothered by that with ‘true wireless’ headphones. They are also getting better in quality. And with some models you can listen for hours on a full charge.
The Consumers’ Association tests headphones for sound quality, wearing comfort and battery life, among other things. A total of 171 headphones were tested that are widely available, 76 of which are wireless earbuds.
The well-known AirPods Pro from Apple come out as the Best in the Test. A model from Skullcandy is the Best Buy.
Best in the Test: Apple AirPods Pro
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These Apple earbuds are completely wireless. In addition, they are ‘in ear’, which means that you press them in your ear.
Sound quality is excellent. The experienced listening panel rates these ears higher than the models of other established brands. And there are also a number of even more expensive models.
They have a good working noise reduction (active noise canceling). And that is certainly not self-evident with ‘in ear’. This means you have less trouble with unwanted sounds from the environment. You can also turn this off.
The wearing comfort is good, although not everyone likes ‘in ear’. They sit a lot more securely in your ear than earplugs that ‘hang’ in your ear, such as the non-pro version of the AirPods.
The battery life is limited, as is often the case with these types of small earplugs. They only last for six hours on a full charge.
The AirPods Pro work best with an iPhone, but you can also use them with an Android phone. You will miss some functions, such as being able to adjust certain settings via an app. Alternatives that are fully operable with Android do not sound that good. These are a bit cheaper.
Best Buy: Skullcandy Sesh
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This model from Skullcandy proves that you also get reasonable sound quality for a lower price. They are considerably cheaper and can therefore not match the sound of the AirPods Pro. But the sound quality is very good for this price range and the voices sound good. There is also enough bass, but this sometimes sounds a bit ‘boomy’.
The earbuds are completely wireless and as usual for these types of headphones ‘in ear’. The wearing comfort is good. They are light but still feel robust.
The battery life is unfortunately moderate. The earplugs only last about three hours on a full charge. That’s long enough for most concerts or podcasts, but you still have to charge them more often and battery life will only decrease over time.
Accountability
In this column we write weekly about household and technological appliances that have been tested by the Consumers’ Association. This is a collaboration between the independent editors of NU.nl and the Consumers’ Association.
The Consumers’ Association tests thousands of products every year, together with qualified technicians in specialized laboratories at home and abroad. The products under test are bought in the store so that they are not pre-manipulated by manufacturers.
New models are tested as soon as possible after introduction. How fast that is differs per product.
The Best in Test is the product with the best test rating. This can also be a somewhat older model, because a newer model is not always better. The Best Buy is the product with the best price-quality ratio.
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