I just had an odd experience my phone (Pixel 3XL) just answered a call on its own and not in the automated Google bot way where it'll give you a transcript of whatever is being said so you can screen your calls, in the turned on my mic like I had accepted the call way. And it happened twice, same number calling me each time.
Has anyone else had that happen?
I just checked my call log and it looks like maybe the Google Assistant did answer as there's a short transcript of what apparently Google said to the caller and then the call was marked as spam. Very odd.
I'm a little worried about the phone auto screening calls, but I'm more concerned about my phone automatically connecting calls without my knowledge.
I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I have an S10 and it randomly kinda stops working in weird ways. Like the keyboard won't show up when I'm on a txt input field, or I won't be able to answer calls when the phone rings (the icons just don't appear). A few other things like that.
I was thinking of either a new galaxy or a pixel. Any recommendations? I don't game very much, so I mostly want a good camera and something reasonably reliable with a decent battery. I also used to be able to tether and can't anymore, which sucks. I hear that's a verizon thing though, so maybe not something a new phone would fix?
The charger port was getting finnicky, and the battery life was getting worse. I didn't want to deal with either of those problems this summer, so I ended up upgrading to an s22 for free (actually $110 with upgrade fee & sales tax). I'm a bit worried about not having a headphone jack, since I use jacked headphones to listen to things in bed quite a bit... I'll try ordering some corded bluetooth headphones and see if that works.
I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I have an S10 and it randomly kinda stops working in weird ways. Like the keyboard won't show up when I'm on a txt input field, or I won't be able to answer calls when the phone rings (the icons just don't appear). A few other things like that.
I was thinking of either a new galaxy or a pixel. Any recommendations? I don't game very much, so I mostly want a good camera and something reasonably reliable with a decent battery. I also used to be able to tether and can't anymore, which sucks. I hear that's a verizon thing though, so maybe not something a new phone would fix?
The charger port was getting finnicky, and the battery life was getting worse. I didn't want to deal with either of those problems this summer, so I ended up upgrading to an s22 for free (actually $110 with upgrade fee & sales tax). I'm a bit worried about not having a headphone jack, since I use jacked headphones to listen to things in bed quite a bit... I'll try ordering some corded bluetooth headphones and see if that works.
usb-c to headphone jack dongles exist, and on the higher end there's bluetooth dac/amps that will pair with your phone and let you plug in your existing corded headphones to it (I wasn't sure if that's what you were referring to by corded bluetooth)
I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I have an S10 and it randomly kinda stops working in weird ways. Like the keyboard won't show up when I'm on a txt input field, or I won't be able to answer calls when the phone rings (the icons just don't appear). A few other things like that.
I was thinking of either a new galaxy or a pixel. Any recommendations? I don't game very much, so I mostly want a good camera and something reasonably reliable with a decent battery. I also used to be able to tether and can't anymore, which sucks. I hear that's a verizon thing though, so maybe not something a new phone would fix?
The charger port was getting finnicky, and the battery life was getting worse. I didn't want to deal with either of those problems this summer, so I ended up upgrading to an s22 for free (actually $110 with upgrade fee & sales tax). I'm a bit worried about not having a headphone jack, since I use jacked headphones to listen to things in bed quite a bit... I'll try ordering some corded bluetooth headphones and see if that works.
usb-c to headphone jack dongles exist, and on the higher end there's bluetooth dac/amps that will pair with your phone and let you plug in your existing corded headphones to it (I wasn't sure if that's what you were referring to by corded bluetooth)
Yeah, I saw the usb-c to headphone jacks. Are there any that let you charge (via usb-c) while using headphones?
I'm thinking of getting a new phone. I have an S10 and it randomly kinda stops working in weird ways. Like the keyboard won't show up when I'm on a txt input field, or I won't be able to answer calls when the phone rings (the icons just don't appear). A few other things like that.
I was thinking of either a new galaxy or a pixel. Any recommendations? I don't game very much, so I mostly want a good camera and something reasonably reliable with a decent battery. I also used to be able to tether and can't anymore, which sucks. I hear that's a verizon thing though, so maybe not something a new phone would fix?
The charger port was getting finnicky, and the battery life was getting worse. I didn't want to deal with either of those problems this summer, so I ended up upgrading to an s22 for free (actually $110 with upgrade fee & sales tax). I'm a bit worried about not having a headphone jack, since I use jacked headphones to listen to things in bed quite a bit... I'll try ordering some corded bluetooth headphones and see if that works.
usb-c to headphone jack dongles exist, and on the higher end there's bluetooth dac/amps that will pair with your phone and let you plug in your existing corded headphones to it (I wasn't sure if that's what you were referring to by corded bluetooth)
Yeah, I saw the usb-c to headphone jacks. Are there any that let you charge (via usb-c) while using headphones?
So my pixel 4 has been having issues with the messages app. I have to restart the phone about every other week or so. It's also recently been having issues with making through even part of a day without needing a recharge. How is the 6 looking?
re: Bluetooth headphones, I was initially dismayed by the lack of a headphone jack on new phones, but I bought a cheapo set of Sony WI-XB400 for like $30 when I got my previous phone and over time I have come to see the light. Wireless headphones are pretty great. The battery life is much better than I expected, and having no cable linking by phone to my ears makes listening to music during workouts much easier.
I will admit that the very idea of having to worry about battery life for headphones is kind of goofy, but in this brave new world there are people who have to worry about the battery life of their books as well as the battery life of their cigarettes, so I guess everything is relative.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I can't really recall a time where battery life has ever felt like a limiting factor on headphones, either.
We got a peloton bike and i think it would be cool to be able to monitor my heart rate when I'm using it. I've also been taking the dog for runs that I have been tracking using the Samsung Health app on my phone.
I was trying to figure out a heart rate monitor I could connect to both our bike and my smartphone and I was seeing the Polar H10 recommended in general but I looked at the 2 Polar apps (Beat and Flow) and it doesn't feel like either app is great for giving me notifications. The Samsung app gives me status updates every 0.5 km which is great.
The other option I was looking at is the Samsung Watch4 though it sounds like it requires a workaround to connect it to a peloton bike but it for sure works with the Samsung Health app.
Anyone have any opinions/experience with either of these scenarios?
I own an embarrassing amount of headphones. We won't go into too many details. But my thoughts on wireless headphones:
I almost exclusively use wireless headphones now. Full stop. Yes, will a set of $400 wired cans sound better than my bluetooth over ear headphones? Probably. But 75% of my listening is to podcasts now anyway so it really doesn't make a difference. the convenience is real.
Wireless earbuds are my favorite, but with a couple caveats. I think fit and comfort is even more important here than it is on any wired earbuds. The shape of my ears means that certain kinds of wired earbuds are not comfortable for me. (part of the reason I have a number of pairs, trying to find the best style/fit). I absolutely love the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro but I can't wear them for more than an hour without my ears hurting, and I have never been able to get a good fit in my left ear, so the earbud will fall out if I tilt my left side down.
I would absolutely drop the money on the high end sony noise cancelling earbuds (WF1000XM4) but I'm 80% sure they won't fit me properly, because most of the weight is abofe the ear tip, and I think that's where my issue is. with that style of earbud if it doesn't fit in my ear perfectly, it just doesn't work super well, which is where I have problems. As much as I don't like the look of them nearly as much, I have found that the pencil style earbuds (think Airpods style) are a more universal fit, and work better for more ear types.
My current go to wireless earbuds are actually the Nothing Ear(1)'s. Pencil style, comfortable for me, good enough battery life in the earbuds.
But fit is super important. Even the, with wireless earbuds, I do find that regardless as to how comfortable they are, after 4-5 hours my ears need a break form them, as there's just ear fatigue. So for me, battery life of 5 or so hours in earbuds is fine, since I'll never wear them longer than that anyway.
Personally, if I'm going to be wearing headphones for more than 3-4 hours I'm wearing over ear headphones. I can wear those basically forever, and those will all have battery life of at least 15 hours, and a lot of them will be 25+. I use the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and when I need maximum comfort, or a long period of time, or the best noise cancelling, that's the choice.
I've moved to fully wireless headsets for all my devices, and man I DO NOT miss accidentally standing up with the headset still on or catching the headset wire on a door handle or kitchen drawer.
Also my noise cancelling over the ear sony headset has saved me real life agony in the past being able to block out all kinds of noise.
I have the Bose sport earbuds and I definitely love not having any wires. I used to have these Marley bluetooth ones that had a wire between the 2 buds and while it was nice to workout without a wire to my phone (which I had previously caught on just about everything), the way the Marley ones were designed, they needed to be constantly readjusted because the weighted ends would eventually get lopsided. The Bose ones, on the other hand, are comfortable and seem to stay in my ears quite well, even while running. Honestly the only downside is that if I have to take them out to talk to someone at the park when I'm walking the dog, I have to hold them a certain way so that I don't trigger the touch controls or else put them away in the case which is kind of annoying. Still, small price to pay for not accidentally yanking on my ears or ruining wires.
MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
edited June 2022
I've been rocking 'Soundcore by Anker Life Q30' over-ear BT headphones and they've been surprisingly comfortable. Wearing for hours at a time has been fine, though since I bought another pair on sale I can tell the older ones are losing the firmness in the ear cups. Of course they have a newer more expensive model.
I've tried multiple earbuds from Anker, Jabber, and no-names all with no luck - they all fall out of my ears. I'm tempered to buy iBuds, but don't really want to spend the money.
I apparently have oddly shaped ear openings and have have issues with wearing in-ear buds for years. The wired pixel buds that came with my Pixel 5a are...okay but they slip out of my ear too easily, especially when the cord gets tugged. I also have a pair of wired earbuds that came with my work phone and some knockoff brand wireless ones. Both of those have the little black silicone bulbs that are supposed to squish into your ear, but the medium on each is just small enough that they constantly slide out, and the large puts too much pressure on my ear and I can't wear them for more than 20-30 min at a time.
I got my wife the wireless Pixel Buds for her birthday this year but I haven't tried to steal hers and see how I like them.
I like both Anker and Jabra in ear Bluetooth headphones. I have the Liberty Soundcores for a while and the call quality and battery life were really good, but over time they became uncomfortable to wear, esp over multiple hours. The Jabra I have are the 65T's and they fit best of all the in ears I've tried, they way they kinda nestle into the corner of the swoop of my ear just feels right.
I highly recommend just buying them from best buy and returning them within the two weeks to try out a few pairs until you're satisfied.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I have the Jabra 75t that I like a lot. Primarily use them when I'm mowing or cooking. Only for podcasts though, I still hate the Bluetooth audio delay so I can't deal with video or games with them.
I have the Jabra 75t that I like a lot. Primarily use them when I'm mowing or cooking. Only for podcasts though, I still hate the Bluetooth audio delay so I can't deal with video or games with them.
Bluetooth delay is mostly a thing of the past on newer/modern earbuds. I haven't encountered it in years. You really shouldn't see it anymore on headphones released in the last few years, especially with a newer phone. If both are at least on Bluetooth 5.0, there should not be an issue. (the 75t's are pretty old at this point).
And on the rare case where there is an issue, most high end buds have a low latency mode that should solve it, at the expense of range and battery life.
Something like 6-7 years ago, I first made the switch to earbuds that are not connected by a wire to your music player (they were still connected to each other, though). It was like a revolution in quality-of-life; I lost track of now many times during my commute my wired earbuds would catch on my bag, or my jacket, or whatever, and
get yanked out of my ears. There were still annoyances (the wire between the earbuds would still end up getting caught on something occasionally and be an inconvenience), but it was way better.
In the tail end of 2019, I finally felt brave enough to try true wireless earbuds, which I did by getting a relatively-cheap-but-relatively-well-reviewed $50 Anker set; I figured it seemed good enough that I'd get a decent sound experience, and cheap enough that I wouldn't be overly upset if they turned out to be terrible. It was, right off the bat, another revolution in quality-of-life. I was surprised at how much better it was not to have that wire between the earbuds. They were still not perfect - they didn't hold in my ear super-well, and pressing the physical button on them pushed them painfully into my ear - but it was obvious to me this was my future path.
I bought the Jabra 75t as soon as they came out, and I've loved them. They sit in my ears perfectly, sounds great, very comfortable to use, etc. I can't say anything meaningful about the audio lag, I've mostly used them for podcasts and music. I did use them a whole bunch with the Switch (connected via Genki Audio), and found it to be largely fine. There was one specific boss in Hollow Knight that was giving me a very hard time, and that I was able to manage after turning the audio off; at the time, I thought I was just getting distracted by the audio, but now I wonder if there was a slight delay in the audio that was subconsciously throwing me off.
The 75t broke recently, and I've been considering what to get as a replacement. I don't commute anymore, so I don't even get to use them that often, but they'd still be nice to have for the occasional walk/shopping trip. It seems like the Jabra 85t aren't miles and miles better, so I wonder if it would be more cost-effective to just get another set of 75ts.
Anyway, the point is, true wireless earbuds 4 life.
Something like 6-7 years ago, I first made the switch to earbuds that are not connected by a wire to your music player (they were still connected to each other, though). It was like a revolution in quality-of-life; I lost track of now many times during my commute my wired earbuds would catch on my bag, or my jacket, or whatever, and
get yanked out of my ears. There were still annoyances (the wire between the earbuds would still end up getting caught on something occasionally and be an inconvenience), but it was way better.
In the tail end of 2019, I finally felt brave enough to try true wireless earbuds, which I did by getting a relatively-cheap-but-relatively-well-reviewed $50 Anker set; I figured it seemed good enough that I'd get a decent sound experience, and cheap enough that I wouldn't be overly upset if they turned out to be terrible. It was, right off the bat, another revolution in quality-of-life. I was surprised at how much better it was not to have that wire between the earbuds. They were still not perfect - they didn't hold in my ear super-well, and pressing the physical button on them pushed them painfully into my ear - but it was obvious to me this was my future path.
I bought the Jabra 75t as soon as they came out, and I've loved them. They sit in my ears perfectly, sounds great, very comfortable to use, etc. I can't say anything meaningful about the audio lag, I've mostly used them for podcasts and music. I did use them a whole bunch with the Switch (connected via Genki Audio), and found it to be largely fine. There was one specific boss in Hollow Knight that was giving me a very hard time, and that I was able to manage after turning the audio off; at the time, I thought I was just getting distracted by the audio, but now I wonder if there was a slight delay in the audio that was subconsciously throwing me off.
The 75t broke recently, and I've been considering what to get as a replacement. I don't commute anymore, so I don't even get to use them that often, but they'd still be nice to have for the occasional walk/shopping trip. It seems like the Jabra 85t aren't miles and miles better, so I wonder if it would be more cost-effective to just get another set of 75ts.
Anyway, the point is, true wireless earbuds 4 life.
If you want to stay in the jabra ecosystem but dont want to spend a ton of money the Jabra Elite 3's might be a good bet. The earbuds are a bit of a different shape, so there is risk of a differetn fit, but might be a good option.
My only downside to earbuds is wearing them at work or riding a bike, I can move erratic enough to jostle them loose especially when sweaty (getting the sweatproof ones pays off though). I still risk it when riding home sometimes but I've definitely had to quickly tap them back into place which can accidentally trigger a button press/pause.
My only downside to earbuds is wearing them at work or riding a bike, I can move erratic enough to jostle them loose especially when sweaty (getting the sweatproof ones pays off though). I still risk it when riding home sometimes but I've definitely had to quickly tap them back into place which can accidentally trigger a button press/pause.
There are models with ear hooks and fins designed to mitigate that. The powerbeats pro are perhaps the most well known version of that but those are apple centric. My partner has them and she loves them. Actually on her second pair after the first pair stopped holding a charge. There are similar style models from other vendors, I thin JBL sells a bunch.
I have the Jabra 75t that I like a lot. Primarily use them when I'm mowing or cooking. Only for podcasts though, I still hate the Bluetooth audio delay so I can't deal with video or games with them.
Bluetooth delay is mostly a thing of the past on newer/modern earbuds. I haven't encountered it in years. You really shouldn't see it anymore on headphones released in the last few years, especially with a newer phone. If both are at least on Bluetooth 5.0, there should not be an issue. (the 75t's are pretty old at this point).
And on the rare case where there is an issue, most high end buds have a low latency mode that should solve it, at the expense of range and battery life.
Are they really? I bought them last year (elite active 75t) and they sound great. But if I could actually get rid of the delay for real that's tempting.
what protocols the buds support, what protocols the device supports, and if the two will even decide to use the lower latency ones correctly or not (sometimes you can manually choose which one to use, sometimes you can't)
I have the Jabra 75t that I like a lot. Primarily use them when I'm mowing or cooking. Only for podcasts though, I still hate the Bluetooth audio delay so I can't deal with video or games with them.
Bluetooth delay is mostly a thing of the past on newer/modern earbuds. I haven't encountered it in years. You really shouldn't see it anymore on headphones released in the last few years, especially with a newer phone. If both are at least on Bluetooth 5.0, there should not be an issue. (the 75t's are pretty old at this point).
And on the rare case where there is an issue, most high end buds have a low latency mode that should solve it, at the expense of range and battery life.
Are they really? I bought them last year (elite active 75t) and they sound great. But if I could actually get rid of the delay for real that's tempting.
yeah they were originally released in February 2020.
I have Samsung Galaxy+ earbuds that I like a lot. I agree they're very comfortable, and battery is generally not an issue (they recharge from the case very quickly too). But I don't like to fall asleep with them on for a couple reasons. First, because finding them in the morning can be a pain. But more importantly, I had a pair of 1st gen galaxy buds that would dysnc if they ran out of battery and the left earbud wouldn't ever resync. I went through multiple calls with samsung support and even got them replaced. To Samsung's credit they eventually just refunded me for full retail value (that also took a couple calls).
Edit: Also want to say I like the S22 so far, but haven't noticed much of a difference between by S10. I haven't taken any pictures yet or really done any processing intensive tasks. I forgot how much of a pain it is to get a new phone. The data transfer took about 2 hrs and a seemingly random assortment of apps weren't transferred. It's also annoying to have to relogin to every app and setup my preferences again. I'd thought they'd figured all this out by now, so maybe I did something wrong.
Cauld on
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
One of the things I wish was more common in earbuds was not needing the right bud specifically. I like to use one earbud when I sleep, as I'm a side sleeper and pressing an earbud into your ear from the pillow isn't super comfy. But, because I sleep on my right, that means using the left earbud, not the right. The only solution I've found involves laying the right earbud somewhere on the shelf, or leaving the case open. It feels a bit silly needing to do that, but it does work, at least. That's with the Bose sport buds. The only earbuds I've ever found that don't have this requirement is original Airpods.
One of the things I wish was more common in earbuds was not needing the right bud specifically. I like to use one earbud when I sleep, as I'm a side sleeper and pressing an earbud into your ear from the pillow isn't super comfy. But, because I sleep on my right, that means using the left earbud, not the right. The only solution I've found involves laying the right earbud somewhere on the shelf, or leaving the case open. It feels a bit silly needing to do that, but it does work, at least. That's with the Bose sport buds. The only earbuds I've ever found that don't have this requirement is original Airpods.
its because otherwise each bud needs its own bluetooth receiver and connect independently to the device, and while some bluetooth buds do this (like airpods, but apple uses specifically designed hardware/software to help with those issues for their devices), it can lead to other issues (av synchronization, one bud connecting while both saying they are connected, etc).
Almost every earbud model lets you use either left or right independently now. There are still a few outliers but the specific single earbud thing is almost 100% a thing of the past.
Almost every earbud model lets you use either left or right independently now. There are still a few outliers but the specific single earbud thing is almost 100% a thing of the past.
I don't think that's true. Flagship level buds? Sure, but lower end stuff absolutely still does daisy chain.
Almost every earbud model lets you use either left or right independently now. There are still a few outliers but the specific single earbud thing is almost 100% a thing of the past.
I don't think that's true. Flagship level buds? Sure, but lower end stuff absolutely still does daisy chain.
I have 4 pairs of earbuds within arms reach that I paid < $40 each for and all of them work with either earbud independently. One pair does it kind of junky in that each earbud is paired to the device independely, but that pair is about 3 years old at this point. every other pair works with either bud with no issue.
Honestly it's been some of the high end stuff that has inexplicably had the issue. Sennheiser and Bose have been the worst at it. Sennheiser was right earbud only until the CX last year, and the new Momentum 3 are the first high end earbuds from them that allow either to be used independently. Bose also is right earbud only, but their true wireless earbuds are honestly some of the worst on the market right now and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They also haven't updated their wireless earbuds in over 2 years, so they desperately need an update that will hopefully resolve that.
So yes, most earbuds you buy today *should* support using either earbud independently.
So it's been a few weeks since I upgraded from an S10 to an S22 and I honestly can't really tell the difference in any way. The S22 says it is 5G, but if anything it's a bit slower imo.
The biggest change was the removal of the aforementioned headphone jack and the biggest inconvenience is that something didn't work with my data transfer in that like half my apps didn't make it over, so I keep realizing I'm missing something and have to redownload it.
5G, especially in the US right now, is mostly refarmed LTE spectrum, so in some cases it actually can be slower. when the carriers start rolling out mid-band 5G spectrum, in the 3500mhz range, that's where the "real" 5G advantages will begin.
Same thing happened with the LTE rollout. early LTE wasn't any faster than 3G in most cases, but now we have LTE with 150mbit+ down speeds.
Another thing to remember is that in all reality, most people won't notice the speed increases in day to day use. the difference between LTE where you might get 50mbit down and 5G speeds where you get 300 down don't really matter when you're looking at Instagram.
My Pixel 4a has been acting weird lately. Taking forever to charge... Random UI issues... Extra slowness.
Every time I've seen that particular combination of issues on previous phones it has been because of the battery. I'm kinda surprised that my 4 XL hasn't given me issues yet (it'll hit three years of use in December) but I'm probably going to pick up an iFixit kit and try the replacement myself when the time comes, especially since they have OEM batteries.
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
Google also partners with ubreakfix in the US for certified official battery replacements. So you can take your phone there and they'll fix it (for a fee, obviously) but with official parts and they're certified to work on Google products.
Yeah that might be a good idea... I'm at this point where I don't do anything on my phone other than surfing the web and whatnot. Hate to spend $400 for something that doesn't seem to have much a difference... Maybe the 5G? But I'm almost never outside of my house.
My Pixel 4a has been acting weird lately. Taking forever to charge... Random UI issues... Extra slowness.
I was kind of hoping it would last another year at least. Pixel 6a looks like a fine phone but the lack of headphone jack on it is killing me.
my Pixel 4a is also falling the fuck apart including the USB-c jack no longer working except at very specific angles and pressures, even after cleaning it
I am probably moving over to Samsung again after this phone gives up the ghost, the Pixels are supposedly up-market relative to the old Nexuses but I have had more issues with them in practice
Everyone in my family and several friends are on Pixels and I think only one of us has had any issues outside of the typical slowdowns after 3 years or so. It's kinda weird hearing about all of these issues with the line and yet we've been chugging along since the Nexus that I did have serious battery issues with.
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Has anyone else had that happen?
I just checked my call log and it looks like maybe the Google Assistant did answer as there's a short transcript of what apparently Google said to the caller and then the call was marked as spam. Very odd.
I'm a little worried about the phone auto screening calls, but I'm more concerned about my phone automatically connecting calls without my knowledge.
The charger port was getting finnicky, and the battery life was getting worse. I didn't want to deal with either of those problems this summer, so I ended up upgrading to an s22 for free (actually $110 with upgrade fee & sales tax). I'm a bit worried about not having a headphone jack, since I use jacked headphones to listen to things in bed quite a bit... I'll try ordering some corded bluetooth headphones and see if that works.
usb-c to headphone jack dongles exist, and on the higher end there's bluetooth dac/amps that will pair with your phone and let you plug in your existing corded headphones to it (I wasn't sure if that's what you were referring to by corded bluetooth)
Yeah, I saw the usb-c to headphone jacks. Are there any that let you charge (via usb-c) while using headphones?
https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Rockstar-Adapter-Compatible-OnePlus-dp-B09F8M9PDG/dp/B09F8M9PDG/ref=dp_ob_title_wld
I've not tried them but they exist
I will admit that the very idea of having to worry about battery life for headphones is kind of goofy, but in this brave new world there are people who have to worry about the battery life of their books as well as the battery life of their cigarettes, so I guess everything is relative.
I could imagine it for long trips on a train or plane, but then you could always take wired USB-C headphones for that.
We got a peloton bike and i think it would be cool to be able to monitor my heart rate when I'm using it. I've also been taking the dog for runs that I have been tracking using the Samsung Health app on my phone.
I was trying to figure out a heart rate monitor I could connect to both our bike and my smartphone and I was seeing the Polar H10 recommended in general but I looked at the 2 Polar apps (Beat and Flow) and it doesn't feel like either app is great for giving me notifications. The Samsung app gives me status updates every 0.5 km which is great.
The other option I was looking at is the Samsung Watch4 though it sounds like it requires a workaround to connect it to a peloton bike but it for sure works with the Samsung Health app.
Anyone have any opinions/experience with either of these scenarios?
SteamID: edgruberman GOG Galaxy: EdGruberman
I almost exclusively use wireless headphones now. Full stop. Yes, will a set of $400 wired cans sound better than my bluetooth over ear headphones? Probably. But 75% of my listening is to podcasts now anyway so it really doesn't make a difference. the convenience is real.
Wireless earbuds are my favorite, but with a couple caveats. I think fit and comfort is even more important here than it is on any wired earbuds. The shape of my ears means that certain kinds of wired earbuds are not comfortable for me. (part of the reason I have a number of pairs, trying to find the best style/fit). I absolutely love the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro but I can't wear them for more than an hour without my ears hurting, and I have never been able to get a good fit in my left ear, so the earbud will fall out if I tilt my left side down.
I would absolutely drop the money on the high end sony noise cancelling earbuds (WF1000XM4) but I'm 80% sure they won't fit me properly, because most of the weight is abofe the ear tip, and I think that's where my issue is. with that style of earbud if it doesn't fit in my ear perfectly, it just doesn't work super well, which is where I have problems. As much as I don't like the look of them nearly as much, I have found that the pencil style earbuds (think Airpods style) are a more universal fit, and work better for more ear types.
My current go to wireless earbuds are actually the Nothing Ear(1)'s. Pencil style, comfortable for me, good enough battery life in the earbuds.
But fit is super important. Even the, with wireless earbuds, I do find that regardless as to how comfortable they are, after 4-5 hours my ears need a break form them, as there's just ear fatigue. So for me, battery life of 5 or so hours in earbuds is fine, since I'll never wear them longer than that anyway.
Personally, if I'm going to be wearing headphones for more than 3-4 hours I'm wearing over ear headphones. I can wear those basically forever, and those will all have battery life of at least 15 hours, and a lot of them will be 25+. I use the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and when I need maximum comfort, or a long period of time, or the best noise cancelling, that's the choice.
Also my noise cancelling over the ear sony headset has saved me real life agony in the past being able to block out all kinds of noise.
SteamID: edgruberman GOG Galaxy: EdGruberman
I've tried multiple earbuds from Anker, Jabber, and no-names all with no luck - they all fall out of my ears. I'm tempered to buy iBuds, but don't really want to spend the money.
I got my wife the wireless Pixel Buds for her birthday this year but I haven't tried to steal hers and see how I like them.
I highly recommend just buying them from best buy and returning them within the two weeks to try out a few pairs until you're satisfied.
Bluetooth delay is mostly a thing of the past on newer/modern earbuds. I haven't encountered it in years. You really shouldn't see it anymore on headphones released in the last few years, especially with a newer phone. If both are at least on Bluetooth 5.0, there should not be an issue. (the 75t's are pretty old at this point).
And on the rare case where there is an issue, most high end buds have a low latency mode that should solve it, at the expense of range and battery life.
get yanked out of my ears. There were still annoyances (the wire between the earbuds would still end up getting caught on something occasionally and be an inconvenience), but it was way better.
In the tail end of 2019, I finally felt brave enough to try true wireless earbuds, which I did by getting a relatively-cheap-but-relatively-well-reviewed $50 Anker set; I figured it seemed good enough that I'd get a decent sound experience, and cheap enough that I wouldn't be overly upset if they turned out to be terrible. It was, right off the bat, another revolution in quality-of-life. I was surprised at how much better it was not to have that wire between the earbuds. They were still not perfect - they didn't hold in my ear super-well, and pressing the physical button on them pushed them painfully into my ear - but it was obvious to me this was my future path.
I bought the Jabra 75t as soon as they came out, and I've loved them. They sit in my ears perfectly, sounds great, very comfortable to use, etc. I can't say anything meaningful about the audio lag, I've mostly used them for podcasts and music. I did use them a whole bunch with the Switch (connected via Genki Audio), and found it to be largely fine. There was one specific boss in Hollow Knight that was giving me a very hard time, and that I was able to manage after turning the audio off; at the time, I thought I was just getting distracted by the audio, but now I wonder if there was a slight delay in the audio that was subconsciously throwing me off.
The 75t broke recently, and I've been considering what to get as a replacement. I don't commute anymore, so I don't even get to use them that often, but they'd still be nice to have for the occasional walk/shopping trip. It seems like the Jabra 85t aren't miles and miles better, so I wonder if it would be more cost-effective to just get another set of 75ts.
Anyway, the point is, true wireless earbuds 4 life.
If you want to stay in the jabra ecosystem but dont want to spend a ton of money the Jabra Elite 3's might be a good bet. The earbuds are a bit of a different shape, so there is risk of a differetn fit, but might be a good option.
There are models with ear hooks and fins designed to mitigate that. The powerbeats pro are perhaps the most well known version of that but those are apple centric. My partner has them and she loves them. Actually on her second pair after the first pair stopped holding a charge. There are similar style models from other vendors, I thin JBL sells a bunch.
Are they really? I bought them last year (elite active 75t) and they sound great. But if I could actually get rid of the delay for real that's tempting.
what protocols the buds support, what protocols the device supports, and if the two will even decide to use the lower latency ones correctly or not (sometimes you can manually choose which one to use, sometimes you can't)
yeah they were originally released in February 2020.
Edit: Also want to say I like the S22 so far, but haven't noticed much of a difference between by S10. I haven't taken any pictures yet or really done any processing intensive tasks. I forgot how much of a pain it is to get a new phone. The data transfer took about 2 hrs and a seemingly random assortment of apps weren't transferred. It's also annoying to have to relogin to every app and setup my preferences again. I'd thought they'd figured all this out by now, so maybe I did something wrong.
its because otherwise each bud needs its own bluetooth receiver and connect independently to the device, and while some bluetooth buds do this (like airpods, but apple uses specifically designed hardware/software to help with those issues for their devices), it can lead to other issues (av synchronization, one bud connecting while both saying they are connected, etc).
I don't think that's true. Flagship level buds? Sure, but lower end stuff absolutely still does daisy chain.
I have 4 pairs of earbuds within arms reach that I paid < $40 each for and all of them work with either earbud independently. One pair does it kind of junky in that each earbud is paired to the device independely, but that pair is about 3 years old at this point. every other pair works with either bud with no issue.
Honestly it's been some of the high end stuff that has inexplicably had the issue. Sennheiser and Bose have been the worst at it. Sennheiser was right earbud only until the CX last year, and the new Momentum 3 are the first high end earbuds from them that allow either to be used independently. Bose also is right earbud only, but their true wireless earbuds are honestly some of the worst on the market right now and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They also haven't updated their wireless earbuds in over 2 years, so they desperately need an update that will hopefully resolve that.
So yes, most earbuds you buy today *should* support using either earbud independently.
The biggest change was the removal of the aforementioned headphone jack and the biggest inconvenience is that something didn't work with my data transfer in that like half my apps didn't make it over, so I keep realizing I'm missing something and have to redownload it.
Same thing happened with the LTE rollout. early LTE wasn't any faster than 3G in most cases, but now we have LTE with 150mbit+ down speeds.
Another thing to remember is that in all reality, most people won't notice the speed increases in day to day use. the difference between LTE where you might get 50mbit down and 5G speeds where you get 300 down don't really matter when you're looking at Instagram.
I was kind of hoping it would last another year at least. Pixel 6a looks like a fine phone but the lack of headphone jack on it is killing me.
my Pixel 4a is also falling the fuck apart including the USB-c jack no longer working except at very specific angles and pressures, even after cleaning it
I am probably moving over to Samsung again after this phone gives up the ghost, the Pixels are supposedly up-market relative to the old Nexuses but I have had more issues with them in practice