Klipsch T5M Wired In-Ear Headphones, Black

Product Information

Design-wise, they’re lightweight at just 3.7g per earbud and incredibly small with three different types of eartips, which means they should suit almost everyone and we certainly found them incredibly comfortable to wear during our testing. The best earbuds for you should sound good to your ears. Which means if you're a dedicated audiophile, look for buds that support Hi-Res Audio codecs, like LDAC and aptX HD Bluetooth for stellar connectivity.

You think aptX is the pinnacle of wireless sound quality: Sony doesn’t agree. LDAC is a good alternative and is supported by most newer Android phones (sorry, iPhone). You’re on a tight budget: It’s easy to argue that the ANC and sound performance of the QCE II are well worth every penny, but these are expensive earbuds. You want top quality sound and have a stretchier budget: If sound quality is top of your list and you can spend a little more, do that. But this is not audiophile-grade.The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are refreshingly smaller and lighter than most rivals – and an improvement over previous Galaxy buds. The result is a stylish, minimalist, secure and ergonomic look and fit that almost feels as if you're not wearing earbuds at all – or at least that was our experience during testing. If you're going to be wearing your earbuds for long periods, then comfort and weight are a top priority.

There's less protrusion than with Sony's more affordable buds ( Sony WF-C500, all eyes on you), because they're 37% lighter and 38% smaller than the top-tier WF-1000XM4 . It should come as no surprise then that we found these to be some of the most easy to wear, comfortable earbuds we've ever had the pleasure of wearing and they stay put for hours on end. They put many other earbuds in the shade in terms of audio performance, battery life, and ease-of-use. Sure you’re missing ANC, which is bound to be a dealbreaker for some people, but for everyone else these are a solid pair of buds that should suit those with mid-range budgets. You prioritize a long-lasting battery: Five hours with ANC deployed (or eight without it) won't get you through a long-haul flight without charging, will it? The Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW are a budget pair of buds that look very cool indeed. They offer exclusive 5.8mm drivers, plus an "IPX4-equivalent" splashproof design and user-friendly features. There’s dual connectivity onboard, so you can connect to your laptop and phone at the same time. Touch controls work well and you can use them to cancel low-latency mode or use the hear-through function. Battery gives you 6.5 hours of use with the headphones fully charged, plus an additional 13 hours of juice from the charging case, for a total of 19.5 hours. There’s no active noise cancellation or a companion app, but at this level (and thanks to the impressive levels of passive isolation provided by the buds), we don't miss these perks.The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus earbuds have a helpful app, easy-to-use controls and boast excellent connectivity. There’s no noise cancellation on offer here, but the sound isolation is very good, provided you find a good fit with the eartips included in the box. In any case, when we had music playing, we couldn’t hear much of our surroundings. Can the Sony WF-C700N be bettered by rivals? Absolutely, but not for this money. You'll have to set your sights much farther up the food chain if you want to beat this suite of features and sound quality. For features, design and most-importantly sound quality, these cannot be bettered for this price, which makes them excellent value in our books. We did enjoy the audio on offer from these buds, but you may want to do some tweaking when it comes to the audio profile. Out of the box, the sound is heavily scooped – at once overwhelming and sometimes boomy in the bass frequencies while being boosted and occasionally brittle in the upper treble range: all of this reduces the clarity of the mids. However, the five-band equalizer in the app means you can adjust the sound to your liking. We’ve included both wired and wireless earbuds on this list, but you don't have to compromise on audio quality by going wire-free. Our current favorite true wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM4 combine class-leading sound with high quality noise cancellation tech. You prioritize on-ear volume control: No dice here, sadly – although Sony says that following a firmware update, it willbe possible, by pressing either earbuds multiple times.

But only looks, as that’s what makes them stand out amongst rivals. These buds are cubist, cool and refreshingly different. Audio-Technica hasn’t tried to emulate any other earbuds from competing brands here, and we love the Tokyo audio outfit for it. They’re also available in no fewer than six delicious-sounding colorways (Caramel, Popsicle, Cupcake, Blueberry, Liquorice and Popcorn). Not only is this a beautiful product, it fits comfortably, too. These earbuds immediately impressed us during our testing. In our review, we wrote, “there’s vigor and enthusiasm to their presentation, but it’s tempered by unarguable control.” Listening to Kate Bush’s Lake Tahoe, the ability of the WF-1000XM4 to identify and incorporate the tiniest details or the most fleeting transients into a much broader picture was obvious. With extra comfort and seamless acoustic quality, the T5M Wired In-Ear headphones are ideal for audiophiles. The T5M headphones ensure comfort due to their balanced weight, neither too bulky nor too lightweight. Each ear tip equips a 5.0mm dynamic driver that delivers audio by combining high output and full bass extension. The dynamic driver of this earphones helps to produce low and high frequency sound signals efficiently. The size of the XM4s has been reduced since the previous model, and the charging case is a full 40% smaller, weighing in at 41g. Positioning the buds comfortably took longer than it should have during our testing (we found them fiddly), but once we got used to them, we found them secure and easy to wear. They’re not the cheapest buds, but because Sony has combined performance, ergonomics and build quality so effectively, we think they’re excellent value. Other true wireless earbuds may surpass the Sony WF-1000XM4s in particular areas – like noise cancellation – but they don’t offer excellent quality across the board. This is even the case after the release of the newer Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, which are fantastic, but we still rate the XM4s as the best all-rounders.

Austrian Audio Hi-X15

Design changes are subtle between the Pro and Pro 2 models. You’ll find a typical Apple-esque look here, with slightly protruding stems, clean lines and a bright white finish. During our testing, we were happy to find there are now extra small ear tips, great news for those with smaller ears and should fit most people well. Neutral and clear audio is your priority: While a rather subjective topic, the frequency profile in these buds isn’t flat, and its scooped mids can only be remedied so much. Noise-cancelling is more important than sound quality: The WF-1000XM4s cancel noise well. But other true wireless buds (Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2) do it better.

You really want app support: Audio-Technica's earbuds do excellently well without a companion app, but if you want a visual cue of the features, you won't get it here.Any sound comparison between these cheap in-ears and class-leading products. But these JLab buds beat everything in their price range for sound. Our testing proved that vocals are relatively well handled through the mids, the bass is sensibly handled, and the soundstage is relatively expansive. ANC is top of your list: There's no active noise cancellation here, sadly, although the hear-through feature works beautifully to stay aware of your surroundings.