Looking to get new earbuds on Black Friday. APP2 battery is awful.
Looking for the absolute best earbuds. Price doesn't matter.
Thanks!
Looking for the absolute best earbuds. Price doesn't matter.
Thanks!
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What are the absolute best earbuds? Are they APP3?
- Thread starter TSE
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That depends on what you're looking for in your next pair of earbuds. As an all-rounder for general use that does everything well enough to excellent, the APP3 are a contender for the best in market, especially for those using Apple devices. APP3 is considered among the best at ANC (with Bose QC2 and Sony WF-1000XM5 slightly better, but not by much). They're great for calls and conferencing, with excellent voice quality on both ends. Then, they have extra features that few if any other brands have, like live translation, heartbeat monitor and hearing aid. So as a Swiss-army knife of earbuds, APP3 is among the best 2 or 3 options.
When it comes to sound quality for music listening, APP3 is nowhere near the best, especially if price doesn't matter. In this department, APP3 is just pretty good. In the current market, there's a trade-off in earbuds between ANC and sound quality. There's not a single product that is best at both. Options like the Noble Prestige Encore and Geekfly Vitas, among others, will deliver vastly superior sound quality to the APP3. However, the Noble's ANC is just average, and the Vitas have no ANC at all (but decent passive noise cancelling). So for the audiophile with unlimited budget, I would recommend getting at least 2 pairs of earbuds: an APP3 (or Bose or Sony) for practical stuff like trains and planes, calls etc. and then a separate pair for music listening when in a quiet environment. Given the size of these products, it's easy to carry around 2 or more of them.
When it comes to sound quality for music listening, APP3 is nowhere near the best, especially if price doesn't matter. In this department, APP3 is just pretty good. In the current market, there's a trade-off in earbuds between ANC and sound quality. There's not a single product that is best at both. Options like the Noble Prestige Encore and Geekfly Vitas, among others, will deliver vastly superior sound quality to the APP3. However, the Noble's ANC is just average, and the Vitas have no ANC at all (but decent passive noise cancelling). So for the audiophile with unlimited budget, I would recommend getting at least 2 pairs of earbuds: an APP3 (or Bose or Sony) for practical stuff like trains and planes, calls etc. and then a separate pair for music listening when in a quiet environment. Given the size of these products, it's easy to carry around 2 or more of them.
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Ear buds are a compromised product by their very nature.
How do you use ear buds? Which specific apps do you use them with? Do you use them for non Apple devices if so what devices? Can you make a priority list from (fidelity, battery, ANC, etc etc). Also how old are your APP2 (small batteries don't maintain battery health too well)?
Personally I prefer APP for everyday use and dedicated headphones for music. When it comes to audio the more you try to make a product do everything the worse it gets at everything. I have used the Sony WF1000MX5 (maybe MX4 can't remember) and they were good but not comfortable for me. Plus my main use for the APP was a glorified bluetooth headset for phone calls (1 ear bud at a time) and it worked really well.
How do you use ear buds? Which specific apps do you use them with? Do you use them for non Apple devices if so what devices? Can you make a priority list from (fidelity, battery, ANC, etc etc). Also how old are your APP2 (small batteries don't maintain battery health too well)?
Personally I prefer APP for everyday use and dedicated headphones for music. When it comes to audio the more you try to make a product do everything the worse it gets at everything. I have used the Sony WF1000MX5 (maybe MX4 can't remember) and they were good but not comfortable for me. Plus my main use for the APP was a glorified bluetooth headset for phone calls (1 ear bud at a time) and it worked really well.
I bought a pair of APP3 on the Amazon Black Friday simply because I had a couple of AZ giftcards that was given to me. The battery on my APP2 was not as efficiant as they were when they were new, so I thought that at least for the new battery, it would be a good upgrade. So my expectations were not high as to the sound and fit of them in my ear.
The APP3 sits different at least in my ear than the APP2. The APP2 goes in more straight while the APP3's body is pushed more towards the back of your ear. In my ear, the APP3 fites better, and when I turn on noise redution, it works better then on APP2. If that is due to the different fit, or the new foam tips, I don't know. But simply due to the different fit, I already think that this is a worthwhile upgrade. When using noise reduction, the sound is crisper, and more clear.
If might be different for you, but for me, it was worth the money. I am using the standard medium tips but I tried the smaller ones until I found out that the fit or placement in the ear for the APP3 are different.
If you get them at AZ, you have until mid-January to return them if you don't like them, so I would give them a try if I were you.
The APP3 sits different at least in my ear than the APP2. The APP2 goes in more straight while the APP3's body is pushed more towards the back of your ear. In my ear, the APP3 fites better, and when I turn on noise redution, it works better then on APP2. If that is due to the different fit, or the new foam tips, I don't know. But simply due to the different fit, I already think that this is a worthwhile upgrade. When using noise reduction, the sound is crisper, and more clear.
If might be different for you, but for me, it was worth the money. I am using the standard medium tips but I tried the smaller ones until I found out that the fit or placement in the ear for the APP3 are different.
If you get them at AZ, you have until mid-January to return them if you don't like them, so I would give them a try if I were you.
If sitting in a quiet environment I like my Noble Fokus Rex5's. On an airplane nothing beats APP 2 or 3, depending on your ears.
For an all purpose earphone I go with the APP3 with some settings adjustments with a little time to burn in.
As nucl 30us_m mentioned above, there are some exceptional mid priced earphones now available. But, honestly, the smooth sounding APP's with their class leading noise reduction are not far behind.
For an all purpose earphone I go with the APP3 with some settings adjustments with a little time to burn in.
As nucl 30us_m mentioned above, there are some exceptional mid priced earphones now available. But, honestly, the smooth sounding APP's with their class leading noise reduction are not far behind.
You should also look at the Beats line; I have the Beats Fit Pro (ver 1) and I like the fit and sound. What's especially nice is that they have physical buttons that are fully customizable, a very nice feature over the APP line. Beats just released an upgrade (ver 2). Also if you leave the iPhone realm Beats has an application for Android that brings all the features for Android users.
I have the APP3's and Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds; the Sony's no longer see any use as I find the 3's to be superior.
After owning a pair of under $200 EarPods in 2022,
I switched to these, Klipsch that sounded and reacted much better on my iPhone 12 mini,
blue
late this summer I gifted these to a friend who loved them since she can nod 3 times to receive a call.
and she claims "enigma" music sound great!
they are not the best, but pack excellent sound, has 6 ear size fittings or 5 and cost $60 US bucks!
I switched to these, Klipsch that sounded and reacted much better on my iPhone 12 mini,
blue
late this summer I gifted these to a friend who loved them since she can nod 3 times to receive a call.
and she claims "enigma" music sound great!
they are not the best, but pack excellent sound, has 6 ear size fittings or 5 and cost $60 US bucks!