Metro Manila is currently in community quarantine. The government encouraged the private sector to come up with solid plans to avoid getting infected by COVID19. If you’re one of those employees in the private sector who are (fortunately) enough to work at home, then most often than not, you’re still stuck working in front of your laptop. This is actually a very good litmus test to everyone and see if working at home may actually be the solution to traffic problems and unnecessary 3-hour face to face meetings.
Today, we’re talking about True Wireless Stereo earphones that might be perfect for the work-at-home Pinoy. We don’t want any distractions. Most of us listen to music or watch video on the side while working. We’re going to share our recommended TWS earphones, and what makes the right one for you.
We’re going to give our quick impressions of the following:
- Sound Quality
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation
- Microphone quality
- Microphone noise-cancellation
- Price
Note that all these devices will work on both smartphone and PC/Mac with Bluetooth connectivity. All of these devices have a physical switch that allows you to connect to PC/Mac.
Samsung Galaxy Buds+
Galaxy Buds+ offers a ton of improvements – one is improved battery life, which is now at up to 11 hours of playtime and up to 7 hours of talk time. Its quick charging feature now gives you 60 minutes of playtime with just 3 minutes of charging.
The device also boasts a 2-way speaker, which uses a woofer and tweeter combination for better sound. There are also three microphones, compared to two on the first Galaxy Buds.
While the default volume settings of mic can be a little higher, it’s among the best in the market nowadays.
Our Rating
- Sound Quality: 9/10
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation: 8/10
- Microphone quality: 7/10
- Microphone noise-cancellation: 8/10
- Price – PhP6,990: 7/10
OPPO Enco Free
OPPO Enco Free subtly took design queues from Apple Airpods 2. It is smaller by a few centimetres, and sports a matte finish. Logo is positioned at the center, and just above it lies an LED that shows if it’s ready for pairing or charge status.
Sound signature is a little warm by my standards. Bass quality is topnotch, and highs are balanced. This is the type of signature that I prefer, especially for long period of listening time, and it might also resonate to some consumers.
In terms of navigation, I can say that OPPO intelligently designed Enco Free to make it easier for consumers to control their audio content. Without reading its manual, I tried to discover how I can control my music with its touch-sensitive back housing.
- Left Earphone
- Single Tap: Pause/Play
- Slide Down: Volume Down
- Slide Up: Volume Up
- Right Earphone
- Single Tap: Pause/Play
- Slide Down: Next Music
- Slide Up: Restart
- Double Slide UP: Previous Music
Our Rating
- Sound Quality: 8/10
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation: 7/10
- Microphone quality: 8/10
- Microphone noise-cancellation: 6/10
- Price – PhP5,499: 9/10
Huawei Freebuds 3
For a true wireless earphone, FreeBuds 3 has a balanced sound signature at boot. Most earphones are designed and tuned to have this signature, and Huawei wanted to make sure that it resonates with most users.
Having tried various frequency settings using this application, I am impressed with the sound quality of FreeBuds 3. Its 14mm driver is capable enough to handle all types of music – even the ones that require a powerful pair of drivers. Music with an emphasis on bass exudes tight and punchy sound while balancing preserving other elements. Quality is at par, if not better, than my Apple Airpods Generation 1 and even my Sennheiser Momentum IEM.
Microphone quality, on the other hand, needs some improvement though. It’s mumbled and sometimes unclear, which is a little disappointing. We are hoping this to be patched and updated pretty soon. At the time of this writing, software version 1.9.0.202 for FreeBuds 3 did not fix the microphone issue.
Our Rating:
- Sound Quality: 8/10
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation: 8/10
- Microphone quality: 7 /10
- Microphone noise-cancellation: 7/10
- Price – PhP8,990: 7/10
Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless
The device supports Bluetooth 5.0, AAC and Qualcomm aptX, for lag-free listening, and Transparent Hearing lets you listen to your surroundings without having to remove the headphones, increasing your situational awareness and contributing to your safety. It also integrates seamlessly with Siri and Google Assistant, so you can easily perform certain tasks without having to activate your device.
It simply offers the best in class when it comes to sound quality, and you can never go wrong with this if you’re after using to listen to HiFi music and even videos.
Lastly, the MOMENTUM True Wireless can last up to 4 hours in a single charge. The carrying case also doubles as a charger and has enough capacity to re-charge the headphones twice, giving you up to 8 hours of additional uptime.
It currently retails for PhP12,446, down from PhP19,990 when it was first sold in the Philippines.
Our Rating:
- Sound Quality: 10/10
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation: 8/10
- Microphone quality: 6/10
- Microphone noise-cancellation: 6/10
- Price – PhP12,446: 8/10
Apple Airpods 2
Airpods 2 is still the go cheaper alternative to the Airpods Pro. The fit is near perfect despite not having any silicon tips. Quality is also surprising good, but it wouldn’t go near the quality of the Sennheiser TWS Momentum or the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. Sound isolation is slightly better than Huawei Freebuds 3.
Our Rating:
- Sound Quality: 7/10
- Sound Isolation/Noise-cancellation: 8/10
- Microphone quality: 8/10
- Microphone noise-cancellation: 6/10
- Price – PhP9,490: 8/10
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
