Treblab xGO Bluetooth Ear Buds

A little over a year ago, I purchased a pair of Treblab xGO earbuds. They were having some kind of sale and I figured I could take a chance on them at the cost they were advertising. I can't remember the exact sale price but I purchased the xGo with a pair of Treblab xRun earphones for a total cost around $55.00. I figured that's not a bad cost for a fairly decent brand of bluetooth buds.

Ordering from the Treblab website was a breeze. Processing and shipping was very quick. I ordered on Saturday and received them on Tuesday. Easy peazy.

I opened the package and turned on the buds. I know usually they tell you to fully charge them but I wanted to jump right in on the testing. Pairing with my Samsung S8+ was simple as many of these products are nowadays. According to my phone read out, these buds had about 30% charge in them.

I played a few songs from my Amazon Music app and all seemed to be working well. Button functionality on each earbud is simple: one push for play/pause and two push on left for previous track and two push on right for next track. Long hold turns on or off. The buttons can also be used to answer, reject or hang up phone calls. After about 3-5 minutes of flipping through various audio-range songs, I decided to put them back in the case, plug in the case and charge both the case and the earbuds.

A few hours later, I used them for a bit longer and that's when I recognized an issue with them. For some reason, the right earbud would cut in and out. It didn't lose connection because I could still push the button to play, pause, advance and power off. For some unexplainable reason, the earbud would just stop producing sound or it would break up like a bad radio signal. All the while I would still be able to hear my music out of the left earbud. This 'breaking up' would occur whether my phone was next to me on my desk/table or in my pocket.

This is/was very, very annoying. I did find that sometimes there was less cutting out after using the earbuds for thirty minutes or more. It would still occasionally occur but not like every five seconds as in the beginning of use. It's almost like they needed to warm up or something but it didn't always work after 'warm up' either. I made due with the issue as I didn't use these all that often because of the irritating issue. I would occasionally use the xRun earphones without issues but would always return to my trusty X2 earbuds from 2018. The X2s are my go-to earbuds and I have never had an issue with them.

When the xGos did work consistently, in stereo, as they should, the xGos did not have too bad of a sound. The lows were good enough and the highs were not screechy (if that makes sense in my non-audio expertise). The silicone ear tips made a good enough seal to help keep outside noises from being heard. I guess this is part of noise-isolating or noise-canceling but don't recall if they even have that. Getting used to the simple functionality of the buttons was difficult too because of the many buttons and functionality I got and was used to with my X2s. Even if these worked perfectly, the one thing I'm not a fan of is the case. It's little longer and thicker than the Airpods case which makes it bulkier in my pocket. I also don't trust the durability of the flip lid on the case as it doesn't seem as sturdy and I feel like it could crack if for some reason there was pressure on my pocket.

The images below are of the case, the earbuds, and a couple of comparison shots of the case size versus the 1st generation Apple Airpods.

FINAL VERDICT:  Based on my experience, I would not recommend these because of the annoying issue of the sound cutting in and out in the right earbud. I'm not sure if it's a universal problem or I just got a wonky set. Sometimes I would just use one earbud (the left one) while at work so I can hear someone in the office calling out my name or whatever. So the cutting out wouldn't be too much of a problem in this case. However, if I was walking a trail or working out, using both earbuds was preferred and then I would get frustrated with the cutting out. As mentioned, this is just my experience and someone else may have had a better experience and/or gotten a better pair. In fact, I hope so as I did like them when they worked properly.

MyBuds Pro Ear Buds

I started this probably a year or so ago but just now getting it typed and posted.

I'm not a big fan of spending big bucks or even little bucks for ear buds. I'm not an audiophile of any kind. I just like to be able to listen to my music from my smartphone or my iPad or from whatever source that I'd need to plug in some earphones/buds to.

I picked up these MyBuds Pro Ear Buds pretty cheap from somewhere. It's been so long since I got them and wanted to write this review that the place of purchase has escaped my memory. I do remember that they were something like $20+ at stores found online but I believe I got a really good deal for them at around $3.99 plus tax with free shipping. So let's say $5.00 for argument's sake.

I've read some recent reviews on these or those that are very close to the same as these and they weren't very good. I'm not sure why. Maybe they paid over $20 for them and weren't satisfied. Maybe they are just earbud snobs. Maybe they just had a bad day. I don't know.

What I can tell you is that I didn't have ANY issues or complaints with them for what I used them. I walk to and from many places. I like to listen to music while doing so. These ear buds did that. Were they the best in sound? No. Were they the best noise-canceling? No. Did they play music with a decent-enough sound? For me, sure.

These came with an inline microphone. I didn't purchase them for the microphone but it's almost impossible to purchase any kind of earbuds/phones without this feature included. I did use it a few times with my mobile phone and the person on the other end did not have much trouble hearing me. However, I did hold the mic closer to my mouth because the placement of the microphone is right where the earbuds connect to the main cord at the 'Y' junction. That should make sense to everyone and if it doesn't then you're probably a dumb ass. The buds do come with a clip on the cord and I did use it to clip to my collar of my polo shirt but I was told that the sound was muffled-sounding probably like 3 out of 5 times I used it like that. Again, not a big deal to me as this functionality is not why I purchased.

What I really liked about them was the inline volume dial. It added an additional volume boost to the sound coming out of the earbuds. Sometimes, a track is softer than the previous track or a station on Spotify has a low set volume for some reason. This volume dial allowed me to turn the music up quite a few more notches so I could hear the music at an audible level either just to hear or to hear over some ambient noises that were not fully noise-canceled by the ear buds.

Only reason I no longer use these, is because one of the earbuds stopped working because of user abuse and not product defect. Occasionally, I would accidentally jerk the buds out of my ear(s) by the cord getting caught on something. Do this enough times and the cord starts to become loosened from inside the earbud. This is what happened and it's not the same listening to music while walking with a uni-bud versus stereo. I did take them to my work and plug into my computer's headphone jack to listen to music as I like to have one ear "open" at work. Eventually, I jerked the cord enough on the one working earbud to where neither one worked. That's when I finally got rid of them.

Did they have the best audio? No. Was it good or decent enough? For me, sure. Again, I'm no self-proclaimed audiophile. I just know what is acceptable to me and at what cost. So for $5, I'd say that I got my money's worth.

Skullcandy 2XL Shakedown Full Suspension Headband

Skullcandy 2XL Shakedown Full Suspension Headband. I purchased these a few weeks or so ago. I saw a link from some "links to deals" web site like Slickdeals. In fact, it could have been Slickdeals. Anyway, there was a really good deal for these over-the-ear headphones that I figured they were worth a try. I think the price was like $5.99/ea + s/h and maybe tax which made the total cost very close to $10. Again, worth it in my eyes because I could always eBay them for the exact amount I paid and possibly break even. Not to mention that I wasn't expecting or looking for them to be this fantastically sounding headphones. I was looking for decent, good sound cheaply priced. They would be put through a lot by me and my kids (I actually got three sets) so they would need to be somewhat sturdy and again costs low. But without some sense of quality sound, what's the point. Yeah?

So, here are a few things I can share about these little babies:

• They don't exactly feel like the sturdiest headphones but they seem to be durable enough so far. I didn't expect top-quality but the plastic feels frail like a plastic water gun but also durable like that of the smaller Nerf guns.
• The cord is a little shorter than most headphones cords. I would guess it's like three feet versus the typical six feet. Do you really need that extra three feet? Sometimes. I mean if you are using the MP3 player pocket in your backpack while listening with these headphones, there may be an occasional pulling or tugging on the phones. I guess it entirely depends on how far down the MP3 player pocket is or how low you let your backpack hang down your ass. Either way, I wouldn't think three feet is very accommodating. At the same time, I had some earphones that had the six foot cord and at times I felt like it was too long.
• These are definiley on-ear headphones. They may be over-the-ear for some people with smaller heads/ears, like my kids, but they are on-ear for me. No a big deal, but don't expect them to be long-term comfortable.
• Speaking of comfortability. These are mildly comfortable after wearing for some time but sometimes get uncomfortable after much longer. The ear muffs are not the softest but I expected as much. I've worn them for an entire movie with mild irritation after 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Again, the muffs do not contain the most padding and the plastic/pleather covering tends to cause slight perspiration. I think I've experienced the perspiration with high-end headphones as well...it's just what happens when you cover your ear with no air circulation so I don't blame it on these. The headband securely holds the muffs on my ears but because of the lack of softness, my ears have gotten irritated a few times after extended use.
• The sound seems to be pretty good. I'm no audio expert but for what I've used them for, they have performed well. Decent bass and treble with enough seal on the ears to block out background noises...to an extent. I haven't reached that extent but I'm sure there is an "extent."
• These aren't ear buds. They are a little more cumbersome than ear buds...okay, a lot. These are not the type to fit snuggly and take up little space in a backpack or purse or whatever. Again, I didn't plan on walking around town with them...very often if at all...but I do like to be able to use headphones over ear buds on occasion.

I guess that's about all I can say about these so far. I use them on occasion like I said. The kids have started using them a little more than their ear buds but it turns out it's because they often misplace their buds and they have the headphones as back up. I think thye still sell these on their eBay listing for about the same price. It might be a decent gift for a teenager or a non-audiophile snob.

Just a shot of one of my headphones in the package before opening.