I've been listening to quite a few podcasts and music in recent months as ... well I have quite a lot of time on my hands. It's great to have some noise when out walking, gardening or general stuff around the house. One annoyance however has been cables! I have some overhead cans but being a baldy I find these very uncomfortable when wearing with a hat. So, it was time to get shopping!
I've got an iPhone 8 so my first stop was the Apple Store. I should have known better really! £159 (starting price!) for AirPods and £249 for AirPods Pro. I've always been a bit of a gear head but THAT is not happening. However, I do like the design, the touch controls and the fact you can use them for taking calls.
I ended up grabbing some ENACFIRE G20 Bluetooth Headphones (with touch control).
I went £10 over by budget of £40 (£49.99), but have been jolly impressed with them so far.
The build quality seems to be excellent, the sound quality is very good indeed, there's very little leakage to annoy those around you. The little case thing is also the charging station. You charge the case and this recharges the pods when they are seated within it; pretty much identical to the Apple products but a 3rd of the price. There were cheaper items available but the reviews seemed to be far more mixed hence why I decided to spend a little more.
I've not tested on a telephone call yet so can't comment on the microphone performance, but if you're in the market for some wireless buds I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these at the £50 price point.