i have been a skullcandy stan since like 2010, they have always been a solid budget choice and last a long time. my very favorite pair of theirs has been the Push Active. the fit, quality and price hit for me and i have used them for several years. however, the last couple pairs i had have stopped pairing, only showing up as “Tile” in the BT menu.
i replaced them with some Smokin Buds due to my tightened budget, and they worked alright for a month or so, but now there is no media audio. they still produce audio because when i put one in i get the “connected” message.
i just want a comfortable pair of earbuds for work that are sweat resistant, noise blocking, preferably with the over-ear hooks. i dont need outstanding audio quality, i primarily listen to audiobooks and podcasts while working. my budget is 50 bucks give or take.
i havent had the need to look outside of skullcandy til now, and looking at options online is very overwhelming for me. any reliable brands would even be a great starting point for me.
cheers!
For ANC I recommend Bose but new ones are out of your budget. Maybe some second hand QC2 and new tips? I don’t know how bad battery time degrades though. My QC2 I’ve got since launch are still great but I don’t use them full days daily.
Next week is my last week working at Bose, funny to read this. Also, I’m one of the few remaining battery guys. Ear bud battery degradation can happen from charge cycles or time spent at full SoC. For cycles, theyre designed to easily handle hundreds of charge cycles before their capacity degrades below 80% which is the industry standard for ‘end of life’. But 80% is hardly end of life. Lithium cells don’t like being left at 100% SoC, the high voltage stress damages the chemistry. All that being said, after years of power use you can easily expect at least 80% playtime you had on day one.
I liked my sennheiser momentum 3s, the AirPods are also pretty good, but Apple stuff doesn’t fit my ears well for whatever reason.