True-wireless earpods

FINALLY BE REACHING MATURITY, BUT THEIR QUALITY STILL VARIES WILDLY. THIS MONTH, WE’VE TESTED A FIVE NEW SETS TO FIND OUT WHICH ONES ACTUALLY DELIVER.

TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS are one of the fastest-growing categories of headphones at the moment, with almost every vendor taking a crack at pinning down the perfect formula. There’s been plenty of breakthroughs already, from charge cases that fully juice up your headphones when they’re not in use – usually multiple times over – to automatic smartphone pairing for an easy connection experience. Audio quality is even pretty good, with occlusion and higher bandwidth Bluetooth connections meaning you can get great audio resolution despite each pair requiring two wireless connections. (With true wireless earphones, typically, your phone or other playback device only connects to one bud, which then sends the second audio signal to its partner.)

The one thing that’s still elusive, however, is a perfectly stable Bluetooth connection. While most of the sets we tested this month were generally problem free, even the best true wireless earbuds are a step back from neckband-style or standard wireless earphones in terms of connection stability. The need for the earbuds to connect to each other and then to your phone (all over the same Bluetooth bandwidth) does add complexity. Throw a simultaneously-connected fitness tracker or wireless mouse into that equation and you’re almost guaranteed to have connection issues.

Your mileage will vary, but even the best sets we tested experienced the occasional dropout due to 2.4GHz interference in our (admittedly very crowded) office. If you can live with that, then true wireless could be for you - but if you can’t… well, there’s plenty of standard Bluetooth earphones on the market to choose from. THE ELITE 65T do cost a little more than average, but they were also the most balancedsounding set of the five we tested this month, with a clean neutral sound that’s highly detailed and not particularly coloured in any direction. That’s not to suggest they’re weak - they can still pump out the bass if you need, but you do have to crank the volume up a bit for real impact. That neutrality gives them a nice wide soundstage and makes them broadly pleasing with most types of music, although we felt they could perhaps have been a bit more energetic in the midrange - somewhere that the TicPods do better.

The carry/charge case included with these is comparatively discrete, but getting the buds in can be slightly fiddly in terms of alignment - it’s only when you close the case lid that the buds fully lock in place. That case holds an extra three charges (or 15 hours) while the buds can do 5 hours to a charge.

We do have two gripes with the 65ts, however. First, the on-bud volume/playback controls require you to press in quite hard, which causes some ear discomfort, and second, the buds don’t come with any kind of in-ear stabilisers - there are no hooks or add-ons - so if the three sets of silicone ear tips don’t give you a nice firm fit, you might find these falling out during exercise. JABRA ELITE 65T CRITICAL SPECS