Anker Soundcore P31i 3.5 / 5 Good pros and cons Pros Compact set of earbuds that fit comfortably in my ears
Surprisingly good sound quality for the price
Several color options Cons The app could be a little more intuitive
You'll want to look elsewhere for effective ANC $39.99 at Amazon
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One downside of being deep in the Apple ecosystem is that you become accustomed to thinking you have to pay at least $130 for decent earbuds. Yes, AirPods are great, but they're also expensive. I love my AirPods Pro, with their amazing sound quality and incredible features. But at $250 (plus $89 each time you lose an earbud), they're ridiculously expensive.
And yes, I've lost earbuds. In fact, I've lost three in the past year. One popped out of my ear while getting onto a busy train in Spain, another was whipped out of my ear by a gust of wind and carried down a ridge, and another fell out of my ear into a small patch of long grass no bigger than a couple of feet square. I searched that patch for at least half an hour before concluding that it had slipped into a different dimension.
Also: Why I'm not buying 'AI earbuds' until they have these 3 specific upgrades
So, I've been on the lookout for some cheap earbuds. I do like bone conduction headphones, but I miss the noise cancellation when I'm around other people. Since I hate old-school over-ear headphones, earbuds are my go-to option.
I decided to give the Anker Soundcore P31i a try. After all, they cost me less than a replacement earbud for my AirPods Pro, and according to the spec sheet, they're packed with AI (what isn't these days?).
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