Tune in to other brands

The Apple AirPods Pro and Jabra Elite 85t represent the high end of the earbuds spectrum, but are not the only options for high quality.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live (R3 000) were our Hearable of the Year for 2020, offering 7½ hours of battery life, 28 hours including the case and six hours with active noise cancellation (ANC), but mostly because they were the most comfortable wireless ear buds we have yet tried.

The Buds+ (R4 000) go a few steps further, with Spotify integration, 12 hours’ playtime, dedicated woofer and tweeter – made for music.

The Galaxy Wearables app is a features match for Jabra’s Sound+, with the benefit of integrating with smartwatches.

Now, the new Buds Pro at the same or slightly higher price, bring enhancements, including IPX7 water resistance to one meter for up to 30 minutes. It automatically reduces music or other sounds volume when

one starts talking.

Vivo TWS Earphone Neo

At R1 200 to R1 900, it is optimised for Vivo phones, with features like DeepX stereo sound effects for video specific to devices. It packs an enormous level of hightech into a low-cost. Decent touch controls, in-call noise filtering, a charging case and 4½ hours battery life make it a good budget alternative to AirPods. Despite the stalks and cheap materials, it is one of the better-looking earbuds.

Generic TWS earbuds

Takealot has a package deal on generic TWS Bluetooth wireless earbuds for only R699. With four hours of battery life and 12 hours with the charging box, it comes with small, medium and large earplugs to provide a more comfortable fit.

Across

1. Commonplace (5) 4. Right (7)

8. Displacement (7) 9. Best part (5)

10. Evanesce (4)

11. Persuade (8)

13. Booty (4)

14. Spoken (4)

16. Dispirited (8)

17. Fever (4)

20. Dodge (5)

21. Feat (7)

22. Misery (7)

23. Of birth (5)

Down

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 12. 13. 15. 18. 19.

Impudence (13) Wanderer (5) Reside (4) Inexperienced (6) Reclamation (8) Everlasting (7) Unreliable (13) Solid (8)

Of the plains (7) Estimate (6) Spectre (5)

Begin (4)