With nearly all phone brands dropping the headphone jack, now’s the time to invest in some true wireless earbuds. Aside from the convenience of being totally free of cords, true wireless earbuds nowadays offer outstanding sound quality that rivals the best over-ear headphones and boasts much longer battery life compared to before. Some even feature noise-canceling or are sweatproof so you can wear them in the gym. We’ve rounded up three excellent deals we’ve found on Amazon. Save as much as $91 when you get the Jabra Elite 65t, Sennheiser Momentum, or Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 2.0 today.
These are wonderful last-minute gift ideas to get a friend, colleague, or family member this coming Christmas. Not to mention, some are great AirPods alternatives.
JABRA ELITE 65T
— $90, was $170
We were so impressed with the Jabra Elite 65t true wireless earbuds that we think you’re better off buying them instead of the AirPods. Their connection is reliable, they offer excellent passive noise isolation, their battery life is impressive, and most importantly, they sound great. These earbuds have a shape that has a cool futuristic appeal. They are bulkier than most true wireless earbuds though, but they fit the ears quite well and have three interchangeable silicone ear tips that significantly reduce ambient noise.
The Elite 65t come with a compact and an easy-to-pocket charging case that can top up the buds for about five hours at a time, and 10 hours more before you need to go hunting for a USB port or wall charger. When they’re inside the case, LEDs on their exterior flash red or green, depending on how much juice they’ve got.
The Elite 65t has an IP55 dust and water rating, which means they can easily handle sweaty workouts and even the occasional splashes of water. Compared to the more fragile AirPods, you can practically take these with you even when it’s raining, and they’ll remain unharmed. The Elite 65t also boasts a solid wireless connection, a problem that plagues most true wireless earbuds (including the Jaybird Run). Finally, these buds sound phenomenal, with deep and punchy bass and splendid mids and highs. Furthermore, you can completely customize the sound via Jabra’s Sound+ app.
The Jabra Elite 65t true wireless earbuds normally retail for about $170, but take advantage of this deal and get them for $90 — that’s a whopping $80 less.
SENNHEISER MOMENTUM
– $209, was $300
The Sennheiser Momentum true wireless earbuds are surprisingly light. Yes, they are truly wireless earbuds so lack of weight is to be expected but honestly, you might forget you have them on unless music is playing. Their lightness also makes them quite comfy. They’re bound to stay put in your ears without having to apply too much force. The earbuds shimmer with Sennheiser’s signature silver logo and when you pull them out from their magnetic charging stands, they’ll flash red and blue, signaling that they’re ready to pair. Simply select them in your phone’s Bluetooth pairing list and — that’s it.
The Momentum headphones not only pair to Bluetooth quickly and seamlessly, they automatically pause music when you pull them out of your ears and are capable of quick charging. One cool (albeit common) feature is transparency mode, which when activated allows you to pipe in ambient sound to keep you aware of your surroundings.
These earbuds are operated through touch control. Using your fingertips, you can pause/play music, skip tracks, change the volume, make calls, or talk to your phone’s voice assistant. Just make sure you use the entire pad of your finger; otherwise, they’ll be unresponsive. Further control could be done using Sennheiser’s Smart Control app, where you can also fine-tune your listening experience through the digital EQ.
When it comes to sound, these earbuds are unmatched. Music sounds lush regardless of the genre that you listen to. The basses are smooth and brawny, the mids are rich and ruddy, and the highs are clean and crisp.
Now for the bad part: Battery life. At four hours of playback per charge, that’s a full hour short of what the AirPods offer, and they cost less. Furthermore, the case only offers two extra charges (Apple’s offers four), so you have to keep plugging these in fairly often. For their price, that’s kind of unacceptable.
Still, what you’re really paying for if you get the Sennheiser Momentum true wireless earbuds is the incredible sound experience. Get your own pair on Amazon for $91 less. Instead of their usual retail price of $300, get them for $209.
BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 2.0
– $276, was $350
Bang & Olufsen has always been known for putting out incredibly good-looking products, and the Beoplay E8 2.0s are no exception. These earbuds look exactly like the first generation of the E8. They are still incredibly tiny and are made entirely of plastic, with the B&O logo printed on the exterior. The buds offer a secure in-ear fit that provides excellent passive noise isolation, making them perfect for commuters. Then we have the gorgeous charging case. It is pill-shaped and is no bigger than a matchbox, covered in genuine leather. The case now has a USB Type-C charging port, ensuring faster charging, and can provide about four hours of playback for each full charge.
The biggest change on the Beoplay E8 2.0 is their improved signal strength and connectivity. The original ones were pretty buggy. Although they sounded great, it took multiple attempts for them to pair via Bluetooth, repeatedly rejecting pairing requests. Another issue with version 1.0 is they would occasionally stop working for no apparent reason and you’ll be forced to perform a hard reset. Thankfully, these problems are no longer present on the E8 2.0s. These buds now pair seamlessly with any device at first attempt, and there are almost no signal dropouts. We did, however, experience some dropouts in places where there are lots of people, which is perfectly understandable as pretty much any wireless set is prone to signal interference.
In terms of sound quality, the Beoplay E8 2.0s are impressive for truly wireless earbuds. Songs sound rich and textured regardless of what genre you listen to, with an incredible amount of detail and subtleness left intact. Drum-heavy songs sound rightfully punchy, while more delicate music is a delight to listen to.
The second generation of Bang and Olufsen’s Beoplay E8 are amazingly stylish, offer improved Bluetooth connectivity, and most importantly, sound superb. The touch controls are a little awkward to operate, but other than that these are excellent truly wireless earbuds that are worth their premium price tag. You can get them today on Amazon for a cool $74 off. Normally worth $350, you can purchase them for $276.
For more awesome discounts on true wireless earbuds, wireless headphones, and noise-canceling headphones, visit our curated deals page.