Best Buds

For me, earbuds are the absolute worst thing to shop for.

Worse than shopping for shoes pre-Zappos, when all you could do was blindly hope the store at the mall had the pair you liked in the size you wore?

Yes, I say, shopping for earbuds is worse than even that. Because here’s the thing: shoes wear down, whereas earbuds just die, often without warning. And in 2022, having good earbuds is just as necessary as having a good pair of kicks. Think about it! Are you going to ride the bus or train to work without earbuds? Are you going to work out or go for a jog without music to listen to? Are you going to do the dishes or vacuum without a podcast to keep you entertained?

Okay, fine, it’s not as bad as trying to walk around without shoes, but you see what I’m saying, right?

And again, they often just… short out. So you have to rush to do a bunch of research to find the most cost-effective new pair with good enough comfort, sound quality, and battery life. And yes, you do need to find new ones, because somehow the pair of last-generation buds you had and loved is only available from third-party sellers on Amazon for ten times what you paid for them new.

Anyway, once you finally narrow down your choice to two or three potential options, you need to decide if you’re going to a) try and buy them at Best Buy or some other big box store (ew); b) get them with Prime, which means being bud-less for two whole days (double-ew); or c) pay for expedited shipping, thus adding money to the already exorbitant price tag (triple-ew).

Which is all to say: I have a totally functional pair of the Anker Zolo Liberty earbuds we sold a while ago that I use regularly, and I have a pair of the Anker Soundcore Liberty 2’s we sold more recently that I have not taken out of the box, and I am still going to buy a pair of these. That way, I can be sure that I can save some money (these are usually about 70 bucks) and also not have to do any earbud-shopping for the next several years (which, to me, is worth roughly one billion dollars).

Now, these are very similar to that Zolo Liberty model, so I will give my honest impression of using them:

• First off, the sound is pretty good. Initially, I was a bit disappointed in the volume, but this turned out to be a tip issue. The ones the Zolos came with were a little flat for me, so I used some bigger ones from a different pair entirely, got a much better seal, and they sound much louder.

• The crazy battery life promises are no joke. They have literally never died on me, and I feel like I only plug in the charging case once every two months.

• They fit in my ear a lot better than most earbuds. Not too light, not too heavy, not too small, don’t shift too much, etc.

• I jog with a GPS watch that can store music so I don’t have to use my phone. Sometimes, I run into connectivity issues if I wear my watch on my left wrist, but switching it to the right clears things up. (Side note: if you want to feel what it’s like to have the motor skills of a toddler, try putting a watch on your other wrist. Anyone else had this experience? Or am I just that uncoordinated?)

Whew. This got a bit long. So here’s a quick rundown to close it out: shopping for earbuds: bad; Anker earbuds: good; this price: very good; you: should buy them.