Due to the recent Apple Watch thread, I have stepped up and purchased an Ultra. I am now considering a set of ear buds to make hearing phone calls easier and possibly listening to music while mowing. I will not be living in them but will use them if something I choose not to miss is imminent. Anyway I previously had a set of Air Pods (not the later noise cancelling ones) which actually worked pretty well (not for mowing though). However, I abhor the dorky look of the dick shaped microphone/charging extension of the AirPods.

On further consideration, the noise cancelling for mowing will not be needed. I have earphones that work great and provide good protection.

Is there another earbud that is compatible with iPhone/Watch that is less goofy looking and works as well?

I bought SkullCandy Dimes for my iPhone to listen to music. They work really well and fit my ears a lot better than anything Apple has made. And IIRC they were 30$ for the set.

This may not fit your fidelity requirements. But if you're going to be walking around, perhaps you don't really want something in your ear all the time. May get uncomfortable or may inhibit ambient hearing too much.

I have over the ear headphones when I want higher fidelity. But for general walking around (hiking, around town, in the car, etc), Shokz has been working well enough for me. Not perfect (for example, you can't lean back against the car headrest). But it's been good enough to listen to things while also keeping some ambient hearing awareness.

If high fidelity is important, then these probably will not meet your needs.

YMMV.

I wanted something other than AirPods because 1) price and 2) styling.

Did a lot of research. Almost got a case of analysis paralysis.

Ended up buying AirPod Pros. Love them.

-Rob

All of the Beats earbuds have the same Apple integration that the Airpods have and I think the regular Fit Pros are on sale at Amazon/Best Buy for $150 and well worth it at that price.

https://www.amazon.com/Beats-F...-Built/dp/B09JL41N9C

I have SoundCore brand earbuds. I have found the microphones can be very weak, so I get complaints if I use mine for phone calls. The same for wired earbuds using the lightening connector. FYI.

Also, my wife and I have different brands but we both have big frustrations if we try to use ours on multiple devises. e.g. the AppleTV last evening, then my phone this morning. They always try to connect to the last source, and it takes a bunch of tries to get connected to the correct source. I may buy a second set and dedicate each to a particular source.

I like the noise isolation and fidelity, but they do have the tail. Black is less obvious though.

Part of my business is mowing. I do it for a living and my ears are important to me and the best I’ve found so far has been a set of good earplugs and Shokz bone-conducting headphones.

https://shokz.com/products/openrunpro

Sony makes many. The good Sony noise cancelling ones are highly rated, but expensive.

I am not sure why you have rejected noise cancelling for mowing.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I bought SkullCandy Dimes for my iPhone to listen to music. They work really well and fit my ears a lot better than anything Apple has made. And IIRC they were 30$ for the set.

I just picked up a pair of these at walmart for $24 & I'm impressed. I forgot mine on a trip & needed a new pair anyway.
Decent sound, haven't used mic enough to say for sure but seems better than my soundcore liberty neo for speaker phone & they worked right out of the box.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
...the best I’ve found so far has been a set of good earplugs and Shokz bone-conducting headphones.

https://shokz.com/products/openrunpro

This is what I've gone to...although I have the Aeropex bone conducting unit. I haven't tried pairing them with my watch though. Not sure if it'll work.

I use these:

(NEW) JBL Live Free NC+ ANC Earbuds w/Wireless Charging - $39.95 - Free shipping for Prime members https://electronics.woot.com/o...share&utm_source=app

They’re fine. They sound better than the very cheap Tozo brand I have as well. They have fallen out before when I’m rolling around on the ground climbing under a car for an oil change, but never had an issue with them with more typical movement.

They have ANC but they also have the reverse which is beneficial when you want to listen to earbuds but don’t want to be oblivious to things going on around you, like walking in the park or at the gym.

Subscribing. I am on my second set of Air Pods and the first set was replaced under warranty twice. I figure I can always return the current ones to Costco, since their warranty is pretty indefinite. But I'd really like something that sounds as good and whose battery doesn't degrade so much after about one year. I never hold a phone to my ear. I only ever use earbuds, my MacBook Pro or car bluetooth. And I use the earbuds a ton. Really need great quality and long battery life.

My current BT earbuds are Mpow MDots
Passive 'noise canceling' with the bud shape, decent sound quality & supposed to be water/sweat resistant.

The pros look a lot less dorky then the non pros. Shorter "dick" as you call it. At the gym I go to there are more people that wear these then those with others or none. I'm also very impressed with the noise cancellation. I can't believe all of the noise pollution that is eliminated when take them out and hear it again.

But, if you don't like them, the aforementioned Sony's receive good reviews as do the Bose QuietComfort. About the same cost as Airpods

quote:

I am not sure why you have rejected noise cancelling for mowing.

I had a brain fart and forgot I have a very nice set of Sony over the ear noise cancelling headphones that I use for mowing. Not doing much mowing in Iowa this time of year! LOL

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Part of my business is mowing. I do it for a living and my ears are important to me and the best I’ve found so far has been a set of good earplugs and Shokz bone-conducting headphones.

https://shokz.com/products/openrunpro

This. This is the right way to do it.

If your goal is hearing protection, they you have to wear hearing protection. Noise canceling ear buds are NOT hearing protection.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I have SoundCore brand earbuds. I have found the microphones can be very weak, so I get complaints if I use mine for phone calls. The same for wired earbuds using the lightening connector. FYI.

Also, my wife and I have different brands but we both have big frustrations if we try to use ours on multiple devises. e.g. the AppleTV last evening, then my phone this morning. They always try to connect to the last source, and it takes a bunch of tries to get connected to the correct source. I may buy a second set and dedicate each to a particular source.

I like the noise isolation and fidelity, but they do have the tail. Black is less obvious though.

I also use the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro. Fly-Sig for your next set you decide on, make sure to look for Bluetooth multipoint, or multipoint connect in the features section. This is the feature that allows connecting to more than one device simultaneously. It wasn’t available on my model either back when I bought them and I thought I wouldn’t care, but I defiantly do.

quote:

Originally posted by swampdog:

I also use the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro. Fly-Sig for your next set you decide on, make sure to look for Bluetooth multipoint, or multipoint connect in the features section. This is the feature that allows connecting to more than one device simultaneously. It wasn’t available on my model either back when I bought them and I thought I wouldn’t care, but I defiantly do.

I will look into that, thanks.

The problem I have is not trying to connect to multiple sources at the same time, but connecting to a different source after finishing with the first source. I'll watch a show on the AppleTV with the earbuds, then I "disconnect" them and put them in the case. An hour later I try to connect them to my iPhone but they decide to connect to the AppleTV. After a bunch of messing around, like going so far away from the AppleTV that they cannot communicate, I'll get them connected to my phone. Then when finished with the phone I "disconnect" from the iPhone and put them away, only to go through the same nonsense if I later want to connect to my iPad or AppleTV - they connect to the phone!

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I will look into that, thanks.

The problem I have is not trying to connect to multiple sources at the same time, but connecting to a different source after finishing with the first source. I'll watch a show on the AppleTV with the earbuds, then I "disconnect" them and put them in the case. An hour later I try to connect them to my iPhone but they decide to connect to the AppleTV. After a bunch of messing around, like going so far away from the AppleTV that they cannot communicate, I'll get them connected to my phone. Then when finished with the phone I "disconnect" from the iPhone and put them away, only to go through the same nonsense if I later want to connect to my iPad or AppleTV - they connect to the phone!

Yea that’s definitely wonky and frustrating. I don’t know how old they are, but it’s worth reaching out to support with the issue. Soundcore is Anker’s sound brand and Anker “can” be pretty good about replacing stuff sometimes as they built their brand on good public reviews and satisfying customers. Worst they can say is no.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I will look into that, thanks.

The problem I have is not trying to connect to multiple sources at the same time, but connecting to a different source after finishing with the first source. I'll watch a show on the AppleTV with the earbuds, then I "disconnect" them and put them in the case. An hour later I try to connect them to my iPhone but they decide to connect to the AppleTV. After a bunch of messing around, like going so far away from the AppleTV that they cannot communicate, I'll get them connected to my phone. Then when finished with the phone I "disconnect" from the iPhone and put them away, only to go through the same nonsense if I later want to connect to my iPad or AppleTV - they connect to the phone!

Get a set of either Apple or Beats earbuds that have either the H1 or H2 chip in them and they will seamlessly go from AppleTV to iPhone to any Apple device under your iCloud account without you having to do anything.