AUKEY Latitude Wireless Earbuds
What are they?
They're earbuds. They play music.
Tell me more
Sure. They're made by AUKEY and they're a relatively cheap pair of corded, Bluetooth earbuds. They sound good and a decent battery life.
The good
For the price, they sound pretty nice. I use them for podcasts, rap, metal, and other such sounds. I've never had anything to complain about in this department. They're obviously not going to blow your socks off, but they're only $30 so you shouldn't be too snobby about it, pal. Voices on podcasts are crystal clear and they've got enough bass for me when listening to rap. Again, they're nothing compared to full-sized closed back headphones, but they're great for your commute on the train.
There are controls on the cable that allow you to control play/pause, fast forward/rewind, skip forward/back, and volume. This is great for skipping through podcast ads or that awful new song you hate on your Spotify radio playlist.
These earbuds have a pretty good battery life, up to 8 hours of listening time. I haven't timed it, but I would guess I sit around 7 hours given the volume I sometimes listen to them. On the same subject, they don't take long to charge (about 1.5 hours).
There are magnets in each of the earbuds, meaning you can feel pretty safe about letting them hang around your neck when you're not listening. I do this while riding my bike to work and they've never once come apart on me.
There are three sizes of ear-tips and in-ear hooks so you can find a good fit no matter the size of your big ol' elephant ears. I bought them for myself and my wife and we are both very satisfied with the fit, each of us using different size tips/hooks. She says they're "her best buds." She likes puns.
There's a microphone for making phone calls and the buttons allow you to control answering/hanging up/volume without touching your phone.
They shut off after five minutes if they're not connected to a device. I like this a lot in the event I forget to turn them off as it saves battery life down the road. Maximum listening distance is 33 feet, which is plenty for me since I feel naked without my phone in my pocket at all times.
The bad
Your mileage may vary here, but my phone will report the remaining battery life to be higher than it actually is. It seems that it stays at 80-100% longer than it should. Once it drops to 60%, it drains pretty quickly. I believe this is a fault of the earbuds and not the phone, but maybe I'm wrong there. This could be a known phenomena with Bluetooth devices; I'm not sure. I'm no Bluetooth scientist.
From what I've heard from people on the other end of phone calls, the microphone definitely picks up ambient noise like wind. This isn't the greatest when you're walking through windy Chicago streets, so I'll often just switch to my phone when making calls.
The indifferent
The fact that these earbuds have a cord could be considered a downside to some. I, on the other hand, quite like it. If I ever need to take them out for an extended period of time, I can just take them out of my ears and let them hang around my neck. To me, this is a convenience, but with the rampant AirPod fever out there, this may not be in vogue for everyone.
What do I think?
I bought these earbuds about seven months ago after getting a phone without a microphone jack (WTF) and they've been great for the most part. I sometimes get a false sense of security about the battery life reporting higher than it should, but I'm mostly used to that flaw now. The sound is great for what they are, and they're cheap enough to not feel horrible if you lose them. If all that sounds good to you, buy 'em. If not, that's cool, too. I'm not your dad.