Affordable wireless earbuds have seen a major quality boost over the last year, even when they only cost a little as $20 to $100. They sound great, have amazing battery life, control well, and you can use them for phone calls easily. There is some optimization left to do, however.
At the start of this year, let's look ahead. Here are five features and improvements TWS wireless earbuds in 2021 should have.
5. Keep the pause option
Even the most affordable wireless earbuds gain more and more sensors, and many models now register whether you take an earbud out. When you do so, music then automatically pauses.
Now, this isn't all bad by itself. It can be very practical if you want to listen to someone talking to you. Just take one earbud out, and you're good to go. However, some manufacturers decided to drop the manual pause/ play control on the earbuds entirely because of this function. And that's where it becomes critical.
You can't pause music on the Oppo W51 by tapping the earbuds - it's a miss
As much as I love the noise cancelling on the Oppo Enco W51 and listening to classical pieces on the wonderfully clear Haylou T19, I can never be true friends with those earbuds because they lack a pause control option. You can only pause these models by taking an earphone out - and this is just very inconvenient.
I've been standing in the line of the supermarket multiple times with my hands full of groceries, questioning where I could leave my earphone to speak to the cashier. You must take it out - otherwise the music won't pause - and you can't put it in again, because music will automatically resume. So where do you leave it? What's wrong with just tapping the earbud to pause the music? It's questionable why such a convenient way to pause music has been removed from some earphones.
The play/ pause control option worked well on the very first wireless earbuds already, so manufacturers, it's not that hard: just keep the option.
4. Rethink noise cancelling on wireless earbuds
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) has been the most anticipated feature on cheap wireless earbuds since the expensive Apple AirPods Pro brought it to the masses, but it's safe to say most wireless earphones with ANC don't deliver.
As brilliant as the Fiil T1 Pro is - the ANC functionality doesn't add anything
If you're buying a headphone or earphone for its active noise cancellation, you expect the sounds from your environment to disappear when you activate the function. You want voices around you silenced, traffic sounds heavily reduced, and constant electronic humming - the fridge, ventilator, that construction site engine in the background - to fade away.
Except for the Tronsmart Apollo Bold and Oppo Enco W51, most affordable TWS with ANC only succeed in the last bit. On almost all ANC earphones, soft background noise will sound even softer, but any sound louder will just come through just as clear as without ANC. In fact: there are wireless earphones without noise cancellation that seal your ears off so good; they block more voices and higher-pitched sounds than some highly anticipated models with ANC.
In 2021, it would be great to have more functional ANC - not the half-baked kind that takes up some controls and often comes at the expense of changing the volume or tracks on the earbuds. Leave the function out, or rock it.
3. A boost in sound quality on Android
This may be hard to hear for many phone users, but it's time to put it out there. The vast majority of earphones I test sound better on my iPhone than on Android devices. Not just on my affordable Xiaomi Mi A1, but also on costly high-end models of Samsung and Huawei I tested in the past year and a half. If this comes as a surprise, it's possibly because no smartphone reviewer ever tests and compares the (wireless) sound output of a smartphone - but let's not point any finger here. There are differences in quality though.
So why does the iPhone make music sound even better? Mostly because Apple uses the AAC codec, which manufacturers can opt-in for free. With this codec, it's possible to put through more information and detail via a wireless connection than the standard SBC audio codec, which is still the standard for wireless earbuds on most Android devices. The AAC codec is open to use for all, and some Android phones handle it well, but Apple... just handles it better. It takes a trained ear, but many earphones cheap to expensive, sound even better on iPhone - offer more separation between layers, remain tighter sub-bass, and provide more detail in the mids.
The $25 Omthing AirFree (also sold as 1more PistonBuds) sound great on iPhone and Android
Happily, there are quite a few wireless earphones also chipping-in on the AptX (HD) codec, which optimizes the Bluetooth information put-through on Android, opening the door for better sound quality on Android as well.
Rest assured: the sound tuning is the most important factor that decides the sound quality. But the codec can help a lot. So it's still a bit strange that most of the best sounding wireless earphones under $100 opt for AAC, not AptX, and sound (even) better on an iPhone.
I'm not saying that you, readers, should switch your smartphone preferences or pay 2-5 times your current price for a smartphone. Why would you? No, it's a 2021 challenge for earphone manufacturers. Don't only jump the AAC bandwagon; finetune the sound quality on Android as well. Our ears deserve it.
2. Wireless earbuds need optimization for Zoom calls
Wow, 2020 has been great for taking a phone call with wireless earphones. The call quality of earbuds has increased incredibly over the last year, with new models as cheap as $20 (like the Edifier X3) that handle phone calls fine in both quiet indoor areas and outside scenarios. In some of my call tests, I couldn't hear myself over the wind noise, loud construction site sounds nearby AND traffic passing by, while the other end of the line heard me crystal clear above all those sounds. The call quality is still prone to different situations - like the 3G/ 4G/ 5G reception on your phone, but the call clarity has seen a gigantic boost last year.
It's easy to take a phone call with the $20 Edifier X3, but it doesn't handle video calls well
Sadly, this hasn't been the case for working from home on your desktop or laptop. Wireless earbuds don't handle Zoom calls well - or Google Meet-calls, Skype-calls, or Microsoft Team-calls for that matter. It could be because those programs trigger different software in the earbuds itself, revoking access to all those fancy built-in microphones that deplete surrounding noises in regular phone calls. It's more likely because of the Bluetooth chipsets on desktops and laptops. They are often worthless, incapable of handling Bluetooth 5.0 connections as good as smartphones can.
It would be great if computer manufacturers handled Bluetooth chips with more care, and apps for video calling would use the same microphone setup as regular phone calls. But there's also a challenge for TWS builders here: you've covered the call quality, now it's time to boost Zoom-calls.
1. Multipoint connectivity on wireless earbuds: make it happen!
Wireless earbuds are wonderfully easy to use. But there is one aspect that could make them even easier: multipoint connectivity. A feature that enables wireless earbuds to connect with multiple devices at the same time.
For instance: you're watching a movie on your laptop with your wireless earbuds, and you get an incoming call on your phone. How sweet would it be if your wireless earbuds automatically switch from your laptop to your phone to pick up the call for you? End the call and - here you go - you switch back to the sound from the movie you're watching on your laptop.
The Jabra Elite 75t is a rarity with its multipoint connectivity
So far, only two sets of wireless earphones cover this. The Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro's make it work if you have both an iPhone or MacBook, and the Jabra Elite 75t handles it with multiple devices from different manufacturers. But that's it.
Things are looking good for 2021 though! Chipmaker Qualcomm that provides many chipsets for wireless earbuds is apparently developing this feature in its newer chips. We may be seeing multipoint connectivity on $50 earphones this year!
It's up to the earphone manufacturers to make it work. There's a challenge here though, because just like the ANC noise cancelling, it's a go-big-or-go-home situation. If it only works half of the time, it's pretty much a useless feature. You should be able to rely on it.
Proper multipoint connectivity is the number 1 item on my wishlist and that of many Scarbir.com-readers. Let's see it happen in 2021!
How about my own New Year resolutions?
With Scarbir.com, I want to be the best imaginable source for reviews on affordable wireless earbuds. With over 190 reviews on wireless earphones, I get that it's harder and harder to find your ideal earphone. That's why I will be looking into filtering and comparing possibilities on my site, so you can find and compare that single earbud for your needs.
Thank you!
Last year, more than 1,2 million unique visitors dropped by on Scarbir.com, something I could never have imagined. Thank you so much - it's mind-blowing. Admittedly, Scarbir is still a hobby project next to my regular work, but it doesn't always feel that way. I put a lot of time and effort into this site and that's why I'm looking for sponsorship banners. If you love my work and want to be a sponsor on my site, please contact me. Of course, PayPal donations are always welcome. :-)
Last but not least: expect to see more reviews and comparisons in 2021!
Here's to a healthier and happier 2021 - cheers!
- Bart, alias Scarbir
