At $33, these are too good to pass up.
BlitzWolf
I’m a little obsessed with wire-free earbuds right now. Here’s what I’ve learned after testing a variety of inexpensive, off-brand products:
- Smaller is not better. The tinier the ‘buds get, the worse battery life is likely to be. They’re also harder to get in and out of your ears (and, often, the case as well).
- Avoid the ones with touch controls. It’s way too easy to graze those buttons by accident, especially when putting them in and taking them out. Then you find yourself with unwanted results — like back in pairing mode!
- Insist on auto-connectivity, meaning the earbuds pair with each other and your phone the moment you take them out of their case.
It should come as no surprise that today’s deal — which I’ve shared several times before, but is the cheapest it’s ever been — ticks all those boxes.
For a limited time, and while supplies last, the BlitzWolf BW-FYE1 wire-free earbuds are $32.99 shipped when you apply promo code 34WF9A8I. That’s $17 off the regular price and a whole dollar below last time! 😂
See it at Amazon
I use these primarily for listening to podcasts while walking the dog and to music while working at my desk or around the house. For me they’re a perfect fit: easy into the ears, easy out. (Don’t expect a fully noise-isolating seal like you get from some in-ear headphones. Consequently, don’t expect super-deep bass, either.)
I bought a second pair for Mrs. Cheapskate over the holidays. She likes them, too, in large part because they’re so easy to use. I can’t overstate the wonderfulness of “open the box, take out the earbuds, start listening.” And, similarly, “put the earbuds back in the box, close box, done.”
On my recommendation, my buddy Doug also bought a pair and likes them a lot, though he notes that when he runs without a hat on (yeah, he runs in the winter — crazy!), they tend to fall out of his ears.
My buddy Craig bought a pair and doesn’t like them, though his primary goal was to use them during conference calls — and listeners said he sounded tinny. However, we just got on a call together — me with my earbuds in and him with his — and we both sounded “very good” to each other. It might have been that he was in a noisy place during his business call, and the BlitzWolf’s microphone does a bad job of noise-canceling.
Bottom line: I love these. I can wear them comfortably for long stretches, and I find the audio quality to be very good overall. They’re a snap to use, and they’re $33. I think before you spend $100-200 on something from Apple, Bose or Jabra, you owe it to yourself to try these first.
Agree? Disagree? You know the drill.
Read more: The best truly wireless headphones
Bonus deal: If you’re more of a sports-minded listener and don’t mind a cord dangling behind your neck, Aukey has a deal I’d have to describe as “stupid-good.”
Aukey
For a limited time, and while supplies last, the Aukey Latitude Lite wireless sport earphones are just $16.89 with promo code AUKEY4EP. They normally sell for $26.
See it at Amazon
These are noise-isolating, IPX4-certified (so sweat-resistant) earbuds with wingtips to help keep them in your ears. You get three earbud and wingtip sizes to help achieve the best possible fit, and a drawstring case to carry everything around. Battery life is rated at eight hours.
These are magnetic, too, so when you pop them out, they’ll snap together instead of dangling wildly. Over 70 users rated them 4.3 stars on average, and Fakespot finds most of those ratings to be legit (though ReviewMeta is less convinced).
Giveaways! In case you missed it, you still have a chance to win the Sony Aibo robot dog I mentioned the other day. Me, I like my dogs real and my robots servile. (Just moments ago, I ordered my robot to sweep the kitchen floor. Which it did. So far, no signs of sentience or revolt. Whew!)
Even better, you now have a chance to win a 65-inch LG OLED TV! The prize bundle also includes an air fryer and $125 in CBS All Access gift cards. (Star Trek Discovery Season 2, anyone?) That’s around $3,200 in total prize booty, folks. Enter before Feb. 3!
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