Review on 🎧 Bose SoundSport Wireless Citron: Sweat Resistant, In-Ear Headphones for Active Lifestyles by Jake Pavelko

This is my second pair of these headphones and they are my favorites. I also have an old pair of Bose Soundlinks for round ears, SoundSport Free and Apple AirPods. All have their pros and cons, as I'll explain below. The only experience I have with noise cancellers is with the Sony wh-1000xm2 which my wife got as a surprise gift (she loves them). These are my favorite headphones for running or working out or watching movies on a plane. The sound and fit are almost identical to the sound. They sound like Bose headphones - pretty good, maybe the sound could be improved, but there will be sacrifices in other areas. The free Soundsport has some odd compromises to eliminate the cable - phone calls only play through the right side, and they have trouble pairing with my laptop (a Razer running Windows 10) - they only connect in headset mode, not in music mode. I'd blame Razer or Microsoft, but I've never had this issue with other headphones. These Soundsports don't have that weirdo bullshit and the reception is a bit better since the antenna is in the cable it doesn't make much of a difference in practice. But of course there is a wire. I find this a good thing when I run (and I run almost every day) as I tuck it into my headband to keep them from moving. I also have a lot of hair so it can be tricky to put it back in a snap. You must first remove all hair from your ear, the same goes for all in-ear headphones. You can also hang a phone from a wire around your neck without worrying about it. The buttons are much easier to press. The only downside is that they charge via Micro-USB rather than USB-C which my laptop, phone and Nintendo Switch use. To be fair, the Frees, Sony and Bose Soundlinks also use Micro-USB, so you'll have to worry about an extra charging cable no matter what. I also wanted to mention how they compare to Airpods for comparison. and free. Both eliminate the cable, but with an additional charging case with an extra battery. The Apple case is fairly unremarkable, while the box case is incredibly large. If you keep your phone in an Otterbox or Panasonic hard case, you probably won't mind a Bose case. A lump is stuffed into the jeans pocket. Airpods have some quirky pairing mechanisms that make them difficult to use if you have other Apple hardware. My employer gave me an iPhone 7 and an older MacBook Pro from 2015 for work. Switching Airpods between these devices sometimes requires a device. Signing out and back in iCloud is a huge headache. After a second press of the giant iCloud reset button in the sky, they switched to just using the phone with my Xperia. This is where Airpods excel - phone calls play through both ears, you can use both or one, or even share one with a colleague for a conference call. The microphone does a great job of noise cancellation and I work in very noisy environments. Both capsules have a microphone, and when you put both on, they act like voodoo, canceling out almost all noise. They do a lot of really good stuff. My personal phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 and the AirPods connect and work with Sony with no hiccups, never a pairing error. They also connect fine to my windows laptop, but only connect to one device at a time (they forget the other device and have to re-pair, which is pretty painless compared to Bose, but still annoying). They also sound really, really bad and have no controls other than play/pause, either "double click" on one of the pods while they're in your ear or remove a pod to pause. You can find better-sounding BT headphones than Airpods for less than $20, and they'll have much better controls, but they won't have the Apple branding. The Airpods charging case requires an Apple Lightning cable, but it's included in the box so it's not a big deal. Soundsport Frees on the other hand have the superior sound quality of SoundSports, in my opinion they sound even better because they are newer. . These are my favorite headphones for listening to music at home or making quick calls. Unlike airfields, they don't work with just one. The right earbud is the "master" earbud: it's used for phone calls (there's no microphone in the left earbud), it also has +,.,- buttons on the top, which are a bit awkward because they're difficult to use Press. . The left earbud does not play voice calls, it is only used for music. It also has a BT pairing button. You can almost avoid problems just by using the right headphone as long as you don't need/need to switch devices. You can also use just the left earbud, but the right earbud needs to be within reach (e.g. in your pocket) and also out of the charging case. However, Soundport Free headphones come with a major advantage or disadvantage depending on your use. case and there is no cable connecting them. As I have long and thick/curly hair, when I'm not wearing a headband or hat (e.g. when I'm not running) my hair pushes against the wire and this causes the headphones to detach. With free ones that's a thing of the past, and free ones are the only headphones I've ever used that I can plug in and forget - Airfields are a bit better than the wired headphones that came with the iPhone (better just leave them in the box, IMHO), but it will still fall out and bounce on the floor even if you turn your head slightly to the side. I've noticed that when sweat gets on the friezes they make an uncomfortable wheezing noise and then need to be washed. When sweat gets into regular SoundSport headphones, they simply turn down (muffled) and then you can turn up the volume to compensate. Both versions of the SoundSport are fairly unobtrusive as they tend to stay in the ear area. Airpods have a white stem that hangs below the earlobe. It includes a battery and an antenna, so for now that's a must, but it's quite noticeable since they're bright white. Depending on the earrings I wear, the stem can hit the earring. I carry 4awg glass coils right now and wear them all the time, they definitely knock airfields. However, airfields are still small enough that people want to talk to you and don't realize you're wearing headphones so they can ignore you on purpose. For this purpose (e.g. in airports, waiting rooms, etc.) Soundlink on-ear headphones are still the be-all and end-all (I've had crisp white ones since 2015, even with my hair they're unmissable). If price is important to you, these SoundSport headphones are the cheapest of the 3 (although in this case it's hard to argue with a sticky pair of JVC or Koss headphones for $9 and live with the cable, that goes to your phone If the cable breaks it's only €9 I also bought my first Soundsport in 2016 and even then there were 150 of them - the Airpods had 160 and the free ones a bit more, around 200. Ideally Bose would have free at Introduced 150 and lowered the regular soundsport to 120 or so but I don't think so...none of these brands compete on price.IT guy gave me airpods I wouldn't spend my own money on them.My first pair died after Use daily for about 2 years - run in the morning then shower. While Bose advertises as waterproof they are not necessarily resistant to sweat, dirt, chlorine impermeability, shampoo protection etc. My 2nd pair. I have them after every Rinse barrel thoroughly in the shower, I've had them for about 8 months and they're still going strong. I also sometimes wear Airpods in the shower and they hold up well but fall out easily (for the same reason I don't run with them) and their sound is really only meant for phone calls and spoken words, not music. I try not to wet Soundsport for free. I'm pretty sure they're just as waterproof as regular headphones, but there's no easy way to dry them without worrying about losing them (I don't want to put them down in case they get wet, they can not be hung). a towel rail because there is no wire, looks suspiciously like a dog treat, etc.). In short, if I only had one pair of headphones, these would be it. If I didn't run and exercise so much, it would be for nothing. If I never listened to music and only used it for phone calls and podcasts, it would be AirPods. But I love running and I love listening to music. the end!