Feeling Blue

A stable Bluetooth connection is crucial – how do these earphones measure up?

Unexplained dropouts and failed connections are one of the big drawbacks of wireless in-ear ‘phones, and two of our trio prove there’s still work to do to ensure they perform seamlessly. With our test samples, the worst offender was the Earin M-1s. Their left bud pairs with the phone then passes the signal to the right bud. However, the latter refused to wake up for ages, and dropped out several times after finally joining in. Similar problems plagued the Bragi Headphones’ left ear bud, but to a lesser extent.

The Apple AirPods were the only truly reliable performer, with both buds maintaining a stable connection throughout the duration of the test.