Latest updates

The Scarbir.com changelog

January 10, 2021: Readjusted scores for a lot of models
As there are now so many wireless earbuds that deliver great sound quality and usability at low cost, it's harder and harder to see which models truly stand out. I think that my Leaderboard should always be a insightful starting point which are the very best wireless earphones for their money. That's why I readjusted the scores of some older models.

• From 5 to 4.5 stars: Haylou T19, Soundcore Spirit Dot, Bomaker Sifi, Haylou GT1 Plus, Omthing AirFree/ 1more PistonBuds, SoundPEATS TrueDot, Oppo Enco W51 and Fiil T1X. There are 11 TWS models with a 5 star rating left.

• From 4.5 to 4 stars: 20Decebel/ TaoTronics SoundLiberty 94/ Tozo NC9/ Dyplay Shield ANC Pro, Tribit FlyBuds NC, 1more E1029BT, Xiaomi Mi Air 2 SE and Tiso i7. There are now 26 models with 4.5 stars left, and now 100 models with 4 stars.

September 3: Reconsidering ANC wireless earbuds ratings
On Scarbir.com, I want to have the most trustworthy, honest reviews on wireless earbuds. You should know what you're buying on the base of a review. I test the buds on all aspects and then give them an overall rating, with functionality, price and sound quality in mind.

With the first couple of wireless earbuds with ANC active noise cancellation, I somehow took a different path. I treated them as a category on its own - ANC wireless earbuds. By doing so, I judged and rated these buds higher than usual. Even though the sound quality of an ANC earbud wasn't the best overall, it at least was better than other earbuds with ANC, so it still got a high score on sound quality.

The same goes for noise cancelling. So far, most ANC earbuds only reduce the volume output of noises around you. They don't filter and quieten your surroundings like full-sized headphones from Bose and Sony do. Yet - because I only compared the ANC earbuds to other ANC earbuds, they still ended up gaining high scores on noise cancelling quality.

This is the end of that! With many, many wireless ANC earbuds entering the market, it's time to rate them by their true performance. The ANC subscore will now mainly be based on the level of silence around you (instead of performances of older models), and the sound quality subscore will be in line with other earphone reviews.

This will be the case for future reviews, but also for already published reviews. This means subscores and overall ratings for some ANC wireless earbuds tested, will be decreased.

Also a few non-ANC earbuds have gotten decreased overall scores in Scarbir's September Slaughter (insert evil laugh), due to increased and improved competition. All in all, the scores of these models have been adjusted:

• ANC: 20Dcebel/ Tozo N9/ TaoTronics Soundliberty 94, Aukey EP-N5, Mpow X3, Boltune BH023.

• Non-ANC: Fiil CC, Aiwa Prodigy Air, Boya BY-AP1, Edifier TWS6, Bomaker Sifi II, Edifier TWS200, Mpow M5, SoundPEATS TrueBuds, SSK BT03, Haylou GT2.

The only reason I'm doing is, is to keep making clear what the best wireless earphones for your money are - noise cancelling or not. :-)

March 8: Enter the new 4.5 score!
’I don't know where to start’ was a comment I've been getting more and more lately. And with so many good new wireless earbuds, it became hard for me as well: what is a 5 score still, and what is a 4 star score? I've noticed newcomers like the excellent Ugreen CM338 couldn't be placed in either of them. It's better than most of the competition - mostly gaining four stars, but it's not as exceptional as the SoundPEATS TrueDot. I've had this struggle a few times before.

Therefore, now, I've introduced a 4.5 stars sound quality and overall score.

Which scores changed?

• Shanling MTW100 Balanced Armature, Aiwa Prodigy Air, Haylou GT2, KZ S1 hybrid, Alien Secret QCC010 and SSK BT03 got a downgrade to 4.5 stars

• Whizzer B6 (also known as Mezone B6), Edifier TWS200 and Edifier TWS6 got a score upgrade to 4.5 stars!

Thanks for all the readers and Twitter-readers providing feedback, and especially Spion and Peter-Jaap, for showing me how to implement a half star-score in my code. I've also added short descriptions on the leaderboard, to show directly what a score stands for. Hope it makes it even easier to find your best wireless earbuds even faster!

February 29: Updated two guides
Now that there are a couple of great allround earphones under $100 and even $50, I've updated two guides today. The guide of best cheap wireless earbuds for sports has been updated with the Fiil T1X as the new winner, and the Quick Guide - choose your best wireless earbuds in 5 minutes, now has the Edifier TWS200 as top recommendation for phone calls.

By the way - I also recently published a much-requested on Best cheap wireless earbuds for phone calls. The Edifier TWS200 and Fiil T1X are, once again, in it.

February 20: It's review 100!
Since the launch of Scarbir.com on July 10th last year, I've now published 100 reviews! Whoah. Thanks for all your kind words, comments, mails, buying via my links and donations!

Review 100 is a celebration the Scarbir-way. It's a review of the SoundPEATS TrueDot, a brilliant sounding, pocket-sized pair of wireless earbuds, which I now consider the best TWS under 25 dollars. So yeah, I've updated that guide as well; with a now second spot for the QCY T5 and a big fall of the Tronsmart Spunky Beat. That one gave me so much touch controls headache, that I've decided to bring down the overall score from 5 to 4 stars.

Those are just sidenotes. It's review 100! Cheers!

February 12: There goes the Edifier TWS6
Listening and learning - it's an ongoing process. I've decided to lower the score of the Edifier TWS6, which I just rewarded 5 stars last month. The new overall rating is 4 stars, due to the cold tonality of the earphones - which really is an acquired taste. But even more so thanks to a connectivity problem. In my time with them, both earpieces or a single one, didn't play music for three times, when taking them out of the case. As the 6 is already very basic in appearance and features, this deflects on the total score.

Furthermore: thanks for the kind donations, Brian and George!

January 11, 2020: It's here!
It's here - the second year for Scarbir.com. Best wishes to all! What's also finally here, is the list I've been thinking about for months. It's the guide on The best TWS true wireless earphones under $100. Basically, it's this list wherein you will always find the best affordable wireless earphones, since I don't really intend to review more expensive models. The $100 market is a true sweet spot in the market, with incredible sound quality, good build quality and more and more features.

In 2020, I'm sure we can expect to see the first wireless earphones in this price range that also offer impressive ANC - Active Noise Cancellation, without attacking the sound quality. That make take some time, however, seeing the first attempts aren't very convincing. Forget about it - we'll take care of it later. As of now, these are the best five wireless earphones under 100 dollars!

By the way, next to the Fiil T1X I also love the KZ S1 Hybrid. Great stuff for even the smallest budgets. :-)

December 9 2019: The most wanted review
After lots and lots of listening and testing and much contemplation, I finally published my review on the Lypertek Tevi. Many people asked me for it via mail and in the comments - thanks all. The Tevi is perhaps the most hyped underdog when it comes to true wireless earphones in 2019 - but careful: The Lypertek Tevi may not be for everyone.

Also: thanks Leo and Nicolò for your donations with kind words! <3

November 29 2019 - Decreased the score of four models
Now, this was a tough choice. I've decided to decrease the overall score on four highly popular models from 5 to 4 stars. The Sabbat E12 Ultra, Wavefun X-Pods 3, Tranya T3 and Anomoibuds Capsule now have the ‘very good’ instead of ‘excellent’ ranking.

This was a tough choice. I know a lot of you bought these models thanks to my reviews. <3 So keep in mind - these models are still very good. It's just that price-quality wise, you can get even better now. Newer models often have better battery life, audio-video synchronization and call quality. The QCY T5, Tronsmart Spunky Beat, Haylou GT2 and Bomaker Sifi: they offer amazing quality for very little money - and they sound better than the models that have now been decreased in score.

I change these scores because the quality on the market keeps increasing. I want to inform everyone - new and old readers - of the current best truly wireless earphones under $100. You should, at any point, be able to take one look at the leaderboard and be pointed towards the current best wireless earbuds.

November 14 2019 - Added a Reviews page
I can see the number of returning visitors on this site grow. That's why I added a Reviews page, so you can easily keep track of new articles. On the page, you will always see the 15 latest reviews. If you want the big picture of all TWS ratings, the Leaderboard is still the place to go. :-)

November 13 2019 - Singles Day was here
Well, the biggest sale of the year in China is behind us. 11-11 or Singles Day meant a lot of visitors on Scarbir.com and Medium.com/@Scarbir. Which 11-11 links were clicked the most in my dedicated 11-11 deals article?

1. QCY T5 - There's a big hype on QCY's latest

2. Mpow T5/ M5 - My top recommended deal

3. Tronsmart Spunky Beat - Review coming soon!

4. Haylou GT2 - Hope to receive it soon for a review

5. 1more Stylish TWS - A lot of love for this popular TWS - of course, this was a good deal at $30 off

I hope my reviews have helped in making purchase decisions, and love to read your experiences with your purchases in the comments under the reviews. By the way - thanks for the donation Gavin!

November 8 2019 - What a week!
The title says it all. I got interviewed by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad about the success and quality of the Apple AirPods. Then I decided to make a big comparison test myself - the Apple AirPods Pro vs 16 cheaper wireless earphones, right after I awarded the new QCY T5 and SSK BT03 five stars. Visitors kept on coming to Scarbir.com and Medium.com/@Scarbir had a record week too. I even received a first PayPal donation. Thanks Hans! and thank you readers for the kind words in your mails. It means a lot.

Also, I published three new reviews, on the TRN T200, JadeAudio EW1 (by FiiO!) and SoundPEATS TrueEngine SE. The last one got a lot of hype by some YouTubers and reviewers. I don't think it's that great. I can't always compete with the speed with which YouTubers release new reviews, but at least I take my time to publish thorough, honest reviews.

October 11 2019 - Four months, 50 reviews!
Scarbir.com is live for four months now and I just published my 50th review - on the Aukey T10. The leaderboard is getting a bit crowded with so many rated true wireless earphones, isn't it? That's why I applied price filters, so you can now directly compare TWS that cost the same. Hope it helps you to easier compare wireless earphones you're eyeing!

October 4 2019 - Day of extremes
Wow. More and more manufacturers of true wireless earphones know how to find me, and send out their earphones to me, to test and review. Lovely. It means the amount of TWS I currently have, piles up a bit.

Today, I published reviews of two extremers. The Umdigi Upods are by far the worst TWS I've heard so far, and I gift them my One Star - TRASH verdict. On the other side, the Shanling MTW100 shifts the expectations from what is possible from truly wireless earbuds under $100 - it's amazing and gets my five stars.

I've also reorganized the homepage a bit. If you have strong opinions on that, don't be afraid to contact me about it.

September 12 2019 - Focussing on what I really like
I've decided to change my focus of Scarbir.com a bit. Instead of trying to be the most honest reviewer on all wireless earphones, I'm reverting to what really gets my heart beating faster: discovering amazing audio for amazing prices. That's why I'm changing the mission of this site to finding the gems, the best wireless earphones under $100.

For that matter, I've ordered the Sabbat E12 Ultra (requested multiple times), Pamu Slide, Whizzer B6, Whizzer E3, Umidigi's brand new Upods, the Edifier TWS5 and Edifier TWS1 and the Baseus W01. I expect to receive the brand new Tranya B530 soon. Until then, check out my review of the very curious Aipower Wearbuds.

By the way - I now awarded the Wavefun X-Pods 3/ Ytom T1 a 5 star rating, as it is one of the most complete TWS choices you can make for under $50.

September 2 2019 - Back
Back from holiday, I'm starting up everything again. Creative reached out to me to test their Creative Outlier Air, which I happily will. I just ordered another battery beast under 100 dollars too: the Pamu Slide, which was requested by quite a few of you. With the Outlier Air, Slide, Mifo O5 and 1more Stylish TWS, definitely expect to see a comparison on TWS with big battery life in the future.

Still, this is a hobby project. Let's remind myself of that too. ;-)

August 17 2019 - Brand new updates
What a week this has been. I've written a handful of new reviews and published three guides I'd wanted to write for quite some time: the best cheap wireless sports earbuds, the best Apple AirPods look-a-likes and of course, the best sounding wireless earphones under $50.

Also, I've added an option to sign up for my newsletter in the future. You can find it underneath every page. Last but not least, there's now find a Support me via Paypal button in the footer. <3

And now… it's time for a vacation. :-)

August 12 2019 - Speeding up, slowing down
Changing a former hobby (listening to music and relaxing) into something like this site, almost feels like a second job now. It turns out it's a bit too much to take in. In order to regain control over my work and hobby, I'm speeding up and slowing down. I'm spending this week to review my backlog on sub 50 dollar earphones, and write lists I wanted to write about them. I'll consider them the mid 2019 guide to best budget wireless earphones.

Then, I'm taking a vacation and try to get my act together again. See on how I continue to do this.

This kickstart of this week? My guide on the best cheap Apple AirPods-like truly wireless earbuds is online, along with the Tiso iX and SoundPEATS TrueCapsule reviews. Enjoy. :-)

August 10 2019 - Scarbir.com is live for a month!
And has seen 5608 visits and 15.338 pageviews so far. Thank for all the kind words in your mails and comments! If you know anyone looking for wireless earphones, don't hesitate to share scarbir.com/truewireless with them. :-)

August 9 2019 - A review with a heavy heart
I published my KZ T1 review, and it hurts to me to only hand out a three stars score. It definitely ranks higher on sound quality. But as much as I love the sound and the brand, the KZ just isn't a very good all round wireless earphone. :-(

August 8 2019 - Many new arrivals
Whoah. Not only did I receive my ordered KZ T1 (review coming soon) and SoundPEATS TrueCapsule, Tiso also sent out their brand new Tiso i5 and Tiso iX to me. On my request, Samsung Netherlands sent me the Galaxy Buds for review purposes, and thanks to audio online shop GetLoud.nl from my hometown in the Netherlands, I’m able to test, review and compare the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless, Master & Dynamics MW07, RHA TrueConnect and B&O Play E8 the upcoming weeks. Many thanks, GetLoud - that’s awesome.

August 5 2019 - Changes in review scores
I've decreased the score of the Wavefun X-Pods 3 from 5 to 4 stars due to its muddy bass. The musical score on the Jabra Elite 65t, is now 4 stars instead of 2 however. I decided to reward the musical score for what it is (balanced), rather than what's it not (dynamic). The overall score is now 4 stars instead of 3. Listening and comparing earbuds is a learning process, isn't it?

July 29 2019 - Anbes 359
I decided to give the Anbes 359/ Kissral R18 a lower score. With the lower mids not as refined as the budget king QCY QS2 and with the sound quality of many same prices newcomers rapidly improving, I've decreased their score from 5 to 4 stars.

Oh, I also added a link to this changelog on the Home page. :-)

July 27 2019 - Three new earphones ordered
Got a request for a review of the Anomoibuds IP010 Plus. I wasn't aware of that model, but it seems interesting enough, so I've ordered it. Thanks, Ahnick! I've also ordered the SoundPEATS TrueCapsule and the Havit G1 to test and review.

July 27 2019 - Started the changelog
I decided to start this changelog for Ultimate Transparency Purposes. :-P To keep track of the latest articles in progress, orders, additions and interactions via contact forms. :-)