AirPods Pro x 2 as in 2 pairs of AirPods Pro and these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KRNF2D3 $7.00 Ear Hooks to comfortably keep my AirPods in my ears no matter what I'm doing. Oh, and I can't forget the one little change that I should have made years ago. Switching the AirPods Pro medium-sized ear tips to the large-sized ones. My AirPods were collecting dust, now I plan to use them more than any other headphones I have. Buying a second pair means I never have to worry about battery life because while one is charging I can use the other and repeat that cycle all day long if desired. In other words, do you want all-day AirPods Pro or for about the same price as AirPods Max? Now I just need to find a slim pouch that can hold the 2 AirPods cases and the ear hooks.
The backstory: I've tried nearly 2 dozen headphones and earphones since around 2019. From Beats to Bose, Sony, Apple, and lots of other brands popular on Amazon. Whether it's a car, phone, laptop, or headphones, I like things that look good. If it's ugly, I'm not buying it. As far as headphones go, personally, I think the Bose 700 are still the best-looking designed headphones. They look like what I would have imagined Apple would have designed. They are futuristically simplistic and sophisticated. They are lightweight and feel great (unless you have hulk-size ears). Unfortunately, they have not been updated and are no longer at the top of the ANC club.
I bought and returned the APM. I really wanted to like them even though the headband doesn't look good to me at all. Having no power button turned out to be great. Just put the headphones on and start using your Apple device of choice and they just start playing. Unfortunately, just as I suspected, after about an hour of use, the APM start to hurt/feel very uncomfortable on my ears and I want to take them off. I tried them over and over daily for about 2 weeks. The feeling never went away so I sent the APM away.
The Sony XM4 were great even though they just look basic in design, not as attractive as the Bose 700 or the APM. The same goes for the XM5. They are not ugly but they still just look kinda basic/generic. I could imagine any random Chinese sold-on-Amazon logo slapped on them. But the XM5 feel much better in long periods than the APM. The XM5 offer nearly identical performance, only lacking the really nice no power button and auto-switching between Apple devices. Some reviews have given the edge to the APM when it comes to things like call quality. I do not agree with those reviews. In my 2 weeks of testing, the XM5 performed better in phone calls on both ends of the calls.
I returned the APM, have kept my old Bose 700 and will keep my XM5 as they offer superior sound and features to the APP but the APP are now going to be my daily driver after purchasing a second pair.
I just picked up a pair of Creative Sound Blaster JAM V2 for $40.00 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QRQMLVY The reason I bought them is that I wanted small, very lightweight on-ear headphones for listening to audiobooks, YouTube educational videos, etc. Sure, I can do that with the APP or XM5 but I wanted a cheap/simple option that doesn't cover/smother my ears like the on-ear XM5 and something that can be put on and taken off in a heartbeat, something the APP can't do very quickly. Much to my surprise, these $40 on-ear headphones are everything I was looking for and more. More as in the sound is actually really good.
Cheap plastic design but these things are very light and I have already put them on for 2 hours and almost forgot I had them on. They have a 22-hour battery and can connect to 2 devices at once. Pretty deep bass that can be turned on/off via a button. No ANC and if you turn them up load, the sound will bleed out a lot. But for what I was looking for, they are perfect. Started in 2019 and am happy to finally be done even thinking about looking at more headphones/earphones options.
The backstory: I've tried nearly 2 dozen headphones and earphones since around 2019. From Beats to Bose, Sony, Apple, and lots of other brands popular on Amazon. Whether it's a car, phone, laptop, or headphones, I like things that look good. If it's ugly, I'm not buying it. As far as headphones go, personally, I think the Bose 700 are still the best-looking designed headphones. They look like what I would have imagined Apple would have designed. They are futuristically simplistic and sophisticated. They are lightweight and feel great (unless you have hulk-size ears). Unfortunately, they have not been updated and are no longer at the top of the ANC club.
I bought and returned the APM. I really wanted to like them even though the headband doesn't look good to me at all. Having no power button turned out to be great. Just put the headphones on and start using your Apple device of choice and they just start playing. Unfortunately, just as I suspected, after about an hour of use, the APM start to hurt/feel very uncomfortable on my ears and I want to take them off. I tried them over and over daily for about 2 weeks. The feeling never went away so I sent the APM away.
The Sony XM4 were great even though they just look basic in design, not as attractive as the Bose 700 or the APM. The same goes for the XM5. They are not ugly but they still just look kinda basic/generic. I could imagine any random Chinese sold-on-Amazon logo slapped on them. But the XM5 feel much better in long periods than the APM. The XM5 offer nearly identical performance, only lacking the really nice no power button and auto-switching between Apple devices. Some reviews have given the edge to the APM when it comes to things like call quality. I do not agree with those reviews. In my 2 weeks of testing, the XM5 performed better in phone calls on both ends of the calls.
I returned the APM, have kept my old Bose 700 and will keep my XM5 as they offer superior sound and features to the APP but the APP are now going to be my daily driver after purchasing a second pair.
I just picked up a pair of Creative Sound Blaster JAM V2 for $40.00 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QRQMLVY The reason I bought them is that I wanted small, very lightweight on-ear headphones for listening to audiobooks, YouTube educational videos, etc. Sure, I can do that with the APP or XM5 but I wanted a cheap/simple option that doesn't cover/smother my ears like the on-ear XM5 and something that can be put on and taken off in a heartbeat, something the APP can't do very quickly. Much to my surprise, these $40 on-ear headphones are everything I was looking for and more. More as in the sound is actually really good.
Cheap plastic design but these things are very light and I have already put them on for 2 hours and almost forgot I had them on. They have a 22-hour battery and can connect to 2 devices at once. Pretty deep bass that can be turned on/off via a button. No ANC and if you turn them up load, the sound will bleed out a lot. But for what I was looking for, they are perfect. Started in 2019 and am happy to finally be done even thinking about looking at more headphones/earphones options.
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