[UPGRADE] True Wireless Earbuds, MEBUYZ Bluetooth 5.0 Headphones with Qualcomm APTX Stereo Audio, CVC8.0 Noise Cancelling Built-in Mic In-Ear Earphones 32H Playtime with Charging Case Waterproof Sport

EDIT: After writing this honest 2 star review, I was relentlessly harassed by this Amazon seller to edit/remove my review. They have sent me at least one message every day for the last few weeks. After writing this review they insisted on sending me a replacement set. I agreed, they sent me a replacement and my thoughts on these earbuds remain unchanged, please see my original review below. This was their most recent message that I just had to share with you:"so sorry to bother you so many time,really hope you can help me,I am a mother,I really need this job,and my job is to let you 100% satisfied with our product,is it possible help us to remove it?please,hope you can reply me,Looking forward to your reply, "Original Review:I wanted to love these, on paper they looked like they checked all the boxes, especially with BT 5.0 and Qualcomm APTX codec support, I used these with my OnePlus 7 Pro phone, which supports the APTX standard. At this price, I had my fingers crossed. The packaging was great, the lid on the case seemed a bit thin and flimbsy and the magnets that kept the lid closed were a bit weak, but at this price, that could all easily be over looked. The case had a nice soft touch finish to it and I really liked the lcd battery readout integrated into the case. The buds themselves were nice too, small and compact, I switched to the smallest ear pieces, good fit, secure and comfortable. The pairing process was fast and easy. I put the buds in the case and they unpair, take one out and put it in, by the time I get the other one in they are paired and connected. All good so far. I called my girlfriend to see how the call quality was on both ends. After talking to her for about 10 minutes I asked how I sounded, she didn't even know I was using headphones, she said I sounded crystal clear. Great! I pulled up my Spotify and played a song and all hell broke loose... they totally $# !& the bed, truly awful sound quality. I am in no way a audio head, I would say that just your standard pair of wired headphones that you pickup for $12 sound fine, apple airpods sound fine, I really do not have high standards but these sounded like listening to music through a string and a soup can. They were all highs, no mids or lows or bass at all. I desperately wanted to be doing something wrong so I tried repairing them and I even tried to install a EQ app to maybe tune these to be a bit closer to acceptable, but no luck. They are just trash when playing music. I use "Renegades by X Ambassadors" as kind of a benchmark song for all devices I'm trying out, phones, headphones, ear buds, computer speakers, TV speakers etc etc. I have listened to this song on probably close to 100 different devices, and it sounded like a song I had never heard before on these... With that said, I watched a few late night talk show clips on YouTube on my phone and there was zero lip sync issues, that is thanks to the Qualcomm APTX codec, so that was good. If you need these for phone calls only, you're good. If you just want to watch YouTube videos during your commute, or an audio book or something like that you're good with these, but if you want to use these to listen to music to while you work around the house, workout, exercises etc, these are not for you. Which I am genuinely sad about, they were so close and I wanted them to be awesome, but they just aren't.

Mebuyz:Pros:Small, light and comfortable for small to medium earsBest call qualityGood balanced sound, not bass heavy, but not lacking either8 hrs+ continuous play timeSmall caseCase and earbud battery displayMagnetic lid turns on displayBluetooth range and connectionBasic controls work wellGood noise isolationComes with nice ear tipsCons:No volume controlMechanical buttons for controls (pushes into ear)No touch controlsNo USB C charging connectionA little to sharp on the high notesFickle voice assistance functionHaving yet to try true wireless earbuds, and not knowing if I would like the form factor, or the functionality, I purchased the following true wireless earbuds to test and compare:Mebuyz E19AIkela TWSRageMoudal TWS-X11GRDE T9Testing was done using my Android LG V40SummaryFor those who don’t want to read too much, here is a quick breakdown. All of these true wireless headphones are worth the price and offer good sound quality for the money. I purchased each of these headphones on coupon or lightning deal and they were all around $40 each. My top choice of this group for sound quality only is the GRDE T9. However, If you also need good call quality (as I do), they may not be your best choice. Instead, consider the Mebuyz or RageModal’s iif you need good all around earbuds. Keep reading further for more detailed information about each. Again I think most people would be happy with any of these, and you may choose differently based on your requirements and needs.Sound QualityWinner: GRDE T9Sound quality for each of these TWS earbuds was surprisingly good! I was not expecting much in terms of sound quality at this price point. While none of them were sonically perfect, and don't make me want to replace my Sony noise cancelling over the ear headphones, they all punched higher than their price point would indicate.If you are a bass lover the GRDE T9’s are the best of the bunch! That does not mean the others don’t deliver (they were all good). But the GRDE’s just had a bit more bass than the others. Another plus is that the T9’s didn’t sacrifice the mids and highs either,although I would not call them bright at the top end either. Overall they are well balanced in mid to high range with emphasis on bass. As far as the others, the RageMoudal’s would be second and challenged the GRDE’s for bass as well, the Mebuyz third (which is impressive since they are the smallest of the group) and then the Aleka’s (see comments on fit and comfort below) are last.The Mebuyz and RageModal’s sounded good, but both suffered from sharp highs when played at higher volumes, specifically on vocals and the “S” and “Sh” sounds. The Aleka’s were also on par but needed much more fiddling with the in ear positioning and foam ear tips (not included) to make them sound on par with the others which puts them at the bottom of this group.Voice/call QualityWinner: MebuyzBecause so many other factors were really close between all of these headphones, my choice for best overall came down to the call quality. I need my headsets to take calls as well as listen to music. If I cannot take calls they are not as useful to me. If you don’t use yours for phone calls, you can skip this section. If you do, this could be the differentiator between all of these earbuds for you as well! I tested each set of earbuds using one earbud, then again with both. Testing was done indoors at home and at the office and outdoors walking with some traffic in the background. The clear winner here is the Mebuyz earbuds. Callers reported clear calls with the Mebuyz, weather I wore one ear bud or both. In testing, callers noted distinct differences with each earbud. Second place went to the RageModal’s which sounded clear with one ear bud (though not as good as the Mebuyz) and clear with both earbuds, but callers also reported a slight echo at times. The GRDE’s were clear with one earbud, but callers reported that I occasionally sounded muffled. I think this may be due to the positioning in the ear as it seemed to clear up a little when I twisted the earbud in my ear, but made them uncomfortable to wear. When using both GRDE earbuds callers reported that I sounded muffled no matter how I positioned them. With the AIkela’s the callers reported a static sound with one or two earbuds, and said it was hard to hear me.Bluetooth range and connectivityWinner: AlekaRange testing was done in my home and in my office. I did not test straight line distance without obstructions, instead I tested more realistic scenarios going through walls and floors. In the office I placed my phone on my desk and walked to a nearby bathroom which has a couple walls between me and my phone. At home I placed my phone on my bed on the third floor and walked down to the garage two floors below. All of them made it to the second floor without a hitch. The Aleka’s made it to the bottom floor (my garage) and still didn’t break up.Body blocking: This test was performed outdoors, walking with my phone in my left pocket. Despite the above testing, the body blocking was a real (and frustrating) issue for all but the Mebuyz regardless of their bluetooth performance in the above test (through walls). The RageModal’s in particular cut out more than the others when I had my phone in my pocket and at one point disconnected from my phone. The GRDE’s and Aleka earbuds encountered this issue too, but not enough to be a distraction so I would rate them as acceptable. Just know you may encounter this issue to some degree with all of these earbuds.Battery (case and single charge run time)Winner(s): Tie - GRDE T9’s, Mebuyz, RageModalWhen purchasing these for the first time I tended to focus on battery life of the earbuds continuous play time without charging. However, after using these it was less of a concern for me. While it is preferred to have a long continuous play time, keep in mind how these will be used. If you listen to music for long periods of time (more than 5-6 hours) then definitely choose a set that will support that. For me, after about 2-3 hours (maybe 4 tops) I tend to take a break and these go right back in the case to charge up for an hour or so, therefore it is less of an issue.I did test all but the Aleka’s for continuous play time though. The Mebuys again impressed me. I was able to get through a full 8 hour workday, plus an hour workout and still have some battery left! The RageModal’s were also able to make it through the day, but oddly, the left but was down to 1 bar, and the right ear bud still had 3 bars left according to the battery box. The GRDE’s, despite being the largest earbuds only managed just under 6 hours continuous, However, I put the GRDE’s as a tie for the top spot because of the massive battery in the case (6000mHa). As for the AIkela’s, I did not test the continuous battery because I honestly did not enjoy wearing them.Speaking of the cases, they were all a little different...but similar. All the cases except the Mebuyz were able to double as phone chargers if needed, which could come in handy. The GRDE’s had the largest battery as mentioned above (6000mHA) followed by the RageModal’s (4000mHA), Aleka’s (3500mHA) and the Mebuyz (only 500mHA) which was actually plenty.Each case also has a % left display for the internal battery which I came to prefer over the simple led dots of some other earbuds. The Mebuyz and RageModal’s go a step further and add battery levels for each earbud which I preferred over the GRDE and Aleka case battery only display. The RageModal also looks the best when lit up, unfortunately there is not magnetic cover or touch to turn the display on like the others. Instead you have to remove an reinsert and earbuds to make the display come on. A button or magnetic lid would be better.Fit & ComfortWinner: MebuyzThis area is subject to personal tastes so your mileage will vary. For me, I consider my ears and ear canals to be on the smallish to medium size. The smallest earbuds in this group are the Mebuyz, and consequently they were the most comfortable for me. The GRDE, RageModule and the Alekas are all similarly sized and shaped and were about equal in comfort. In general, my listening sessions don’t last for more than 4 hours continuously. I could wear each of these head earbuds for that amount of time without much discomfort. But I could probably wear the Mebuyz a bit longer if needed.Each set of earbuds came with 3-4 different sized tips. The Mebuyz also seemed to be a more comfortable, softer and better quality silicone than the others. The GRDE’s felt good in my ears, but being the largest of this group, they tended to hurt slightly when wearing them for more than 2 hours at a time.The Aleka’s were similar in comfort, but for whatever reason the sound was very directional in my ears. I struggled to get good sound out of these with all the included ear tips, so I swapped them for some foam ear tips and they sounded much better, however they still needed to be positioned just right to sound good. This affected a lot of my testing since I did not enjoy wearing them. It’s unfortunate because they have a lot of good features.ControlsWinner: Tie - GRDE T9 and RageModalThe Mebuyz has buttons and all the others have touch panels. Though the buttons on the Mebuyz doesnlt require much force to press, there was still a noticeable difference in the force it takes compared to the touch controls of the others. Because of that I easily preferred the touch interface over the physical buttons of the Mebuyz.All except the Mebuyz had, what I would call full controls...play/pause, answer/end call, track up/ track down, volume up/he voice assistant was a different story (see below). The Mebuyz lacked volume control, which didn’t bother me at first, but I soon came to dislike it’s absence after using the others.Voice assistant: I struggled on all of these to get the Google assistant function to work consistently. Most of them required a triple tap on either earbud, sometimes it worked, other times it skipped a track. It was not a deal breaker for me, but would be nice if it was more consistent. The Mebuyz advertises this capability by holding either button for 3 seconds but it only worked about 2 out of 10 times.

This is an update to my prior comments.As I mentioned there is a lot to love about these earbuds:1. The unusually long play/battery time (you have to try really hard to get these to run out of power)2. the gauges which show the battery levels in both earbuds and the charging box3. the good sound quality; the fact that either one of the earbuds can be used independently while the other one is in the box charging4.the fact that there is no master/slave dynamic and either earbud can be used for calls;5. They are light , unobtrusive, comfortable and stay in my ears6.they have a 1 year warranty7.customer service is very responsive.8. Very reasonable price My initial pair had some problems and the seller was very helpful and immediately replaced them. My concern was that over the course of a few weeks, both the prior pair and the new pair lost maximum volume. The seller did contacted me and is arranging to replace them. They also reassured me that these earbuds are covered under a warranty for a year and they will strive to make it right. So I have upgraded my review to 4 stars. I want to see if the replacement pair holds it's volume and if it does, I will upgrade once more to a 5. If it weren't for this volume problem, I absolutely would love these earbuds. They have a lot to commend them and they have a very reasonable price for all the features they offer.Update:Though they did not work for me, I give 5 stars for the excellent customer service. The seller really tried hard to make it right and ended up giving me a refund. I think I just got a bad pair, especially given the rave reviews, and given the great features.