I misplaced my AirPods, and I merely refuse to pay to purchase new ones. The newest third-generation AirPods — that are incredible! I reviewed them! — begin at $169. The older second-gen model is $120 (sure, there are typically offers on-line). These costs aren’t ridiculous; in spite of everything, they’re luxurious merchandise, and the value level is according to different high-quality wi-fi headphones.
Nevertheless, I merely don’t need to pay $169 for headphones. I’d a lot choose to pay manner, manner much less. Say… $20, possibly $25? I don’t assume I would like to elucidate myself right here. I want to hold extra money in my pocket. This appears pretty affordable.
And sure, I’m completely prepared to choose high quality. Apple AirPods have spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, and nice performance pairing and a protracted battery life. I’m not anticipating a $20 set to attain all that, however I would like one thing that’s completely first rate.
Fortunately, Amazon has a dizzying array of low cost AirPod-looking wi-fi earbuds accessible. They’ve bizarre model names you’ve by no means heard of, and the costs appear arbitrary (and sometimes there’s a coupon on Amazon, making them much more confusingly priced). I got down to take a look at them to find which one matches my wants: low cost, however nonetheless usable.
I examined 5 totally different nameless model white earbuds, or, as I prefer to name them, ShitPods.
My standards for choosing which 5 of the various choices have been:
• It needed to appear like an AirPod. I ignored coloured or otherwise formed earbuds that may have been positive.
• Value level beneath $25.
• A lot of evaluations, and a great or excessive ranking. (Sure, this may be gamed, however at the very least it’s a begin.)
• Free transport and returns via Amazon Prime.
However first, two massive disclaimers:
1) I largely use headphones for listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Music high quality shouldn’t be my major concern. If you’re an audiophile or music is your ardour, you need to most likely simply pony up extra cash for higher headphones. I additionally use them for cellphone calls, so microphone high quality — the individual on the opposite finish has to have the ability to hear me properly — issues to me.
2) All of those have been accessible on Amazon, however by the point I had examined them out for a month, two of the 5’s unique listings had already disappeared. It’s because Amazon’s market for affordable electronics is a funhouse of hypercapitalist accelerationism, as New York journal’s John Herrman illustrated in his latest piece “The Junkification of Amazon.” There are bizarre pretend model names like “CXK” or “Raviad.” Critiques are sometimes deceiving or pretend, the sellers are sometimes not the producer, and costs are continually in flux. It’s attainable that in case you learn this just a few months after it’s printed, the product hyperlinks may have shifted but once more.
