TWS stands for Truly Wireless Stereo, but honestly, now it has become TBE(True Wireless Earbuds). They are currently very popular among smartphone users. Everywhere you look, someone’s wearing them. And, why not? they are the most convenient types of earphones right now.
Apple was the first company to bring out TWS, Apple Airpods. After that, the true wireless headphone trends continued and all the company started making them. Right now there are many different TWS available in the market and they all serve a different purpose.
Some of them are really good for sports, some give you great music experience, some excels at lasting the whole day long for your day to day use, and few of them are just there to make you look stylish.
We decided to make a true wireless earbud buying guide. So, you can find perfect wireless earbuds for yourself.
These are the aspects you should consider while buying a pair of wireless earbuds.
Comfort
Whether it’s wired or wireless earphones, you should always give the priority to comfort. Of course audio quality, and performance are very important, but TWS is something that you will be using continually throughout the day along with your smartphone. So, it’s very important to pick something that fits nicely in your ears.
Avoid bulky earbuds if you planning on using them all day long. Make sure earbuds are the right size for ears. If they are too big, your ears will pain and if they are too small, they might fall out of your ears. Always consider earbuds with rubber tips for better comfort. You should even look out for ear hooks if you planning on using them for sports activities.
Audio Quality
After comfort, the next thing you want to look out for is the sound quality of the earbuds. It’s completely true that the Audio quality of wireless earphones is no match for wired earphones. Most of the wireless earbuds out there either struggle with unclear bass or not enough loudness, sometimes both.
In recent times wireless earbuds audio quality has improved greatly. Now companies have started paying more attention to the sounds. They are putting larger drivers for the clear and loud bass, as well as they are fine-tuning the audio for crystal clear sound. You should definitely be paying more attention to audio because there are very few earbuds out there that manage good sound output even on the wireless connection.
Connectivity
Ever experienced that slight lag or delay while using wireless headphones? That happens when your wireless device has a high latency. So, how to find wireless earbuds with good connectivity. Well, there is a couple of things you need to look out for.
The first thing is the Bluetooth version. Bluetooth 4.1 now considered outdated. Make sure your wireless earbuds have Bluetooth version 5.0 or even better 5.1. there are many benefits of using Bluetooth 5.0. you will have a strong connection, lower latency, high range(generally up to 10meters), and most importantly less battery consumption.
Audio Codecs
Most of you might not be familiar with this, but audio codecs are very important too. Audio quality and connectivity heavily depend on it. SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC are the audio codecs that we know of.
First up, we have an SBC codec which is a very common audio codec and is available in basically every Bluetooth device. However sound quality very decent and they also tend to create audio lag when watching a youtube video or playing a video game. We suggest you avoid TWS which comes with only SBC codec.
Next up we have Qualcomm powered aptX and aptX HD. Both are excellent audio codec and solve all the problems of the SBC codec. They have a better sound quality and very low latency which avoids the lag even during gaming and streaming. They are generally available in higher-end expensive wireless earbuds, however nowadays mid-range and budget wireless TWS also have them. Of course, aptX HD is better but honestly, aptX will do just fine. If you are using an android device, then definitely consider these two audio codecs.
For the Apple device users, they have their own audio codec named, AAC. Apple has done a great job with the AAC codec. It produces amazing sound quality and at the same time, it’s very energy efficient. AAC is the only codec available for iPhone users.
The last one is Sony produced an LDAC audio codec. This one is best of them all, capable of streaming audio at 990 kbps. However, LDAC isn’t very popular for some reason. Even Sony itself doesn’t use LDAC for some of its wireless devices. If your smartphone support LDAC codec then you should definitely consider wireless earbuds with LDAC audio codec.
Battery Life
Battery life might be a concern for many users because nobody likes to charge their devices very often. Nowadays most of the TWS comes with a charging case. So you need to consider two kinds of battery life, earbuds itself as well as the battery life of the charging case.
You should aim for at least 3-4 hours of earbuds battery life. It will come in handy during gym workouts and long-running sessions. As per the charging case, it should be able to charge earbuds 4-5 times before you need to charge the case again. Both combines will easily last 2-3 days depending on your usages.
Suggestions
- Best Noise-canceling earbuds: Sony WF-1000XM3 True Wireless Earbuds / Apple Airpod Pro
- Best Sport earbuds: Jabra Elite 75t / Beats PowerBeats Pro
- Best Sounding earbuds: Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
- Best true wireless headphones under 100$: Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2
- Best all-rounder earbuds: Samsung galaxy buds plus
- Best Battery life earbuds: Creative Outlier Gold
