So yeah, now that I’m using my phone’s NFC more and more for card payments as well as taking the bus/MRT (EZ-link replacement), I no longer want to stick my 3.5mm jack earphones into the phone now to listen to music when travelling.

Some background – my phone is a Sony Xperia XZ Premium. I didn’t really like the earphones that came with it, so I continued using the ones from the previous phone – Sony Xperia Z5. They are the Sony MH750 earphones. Cheapo, I thought, cuz it came FREE with the phone.

As the years went on, I got used to how music sounded from this set. To me, it’s NORMAL for music to sound like this. When I play the same music on my hifi system, or on my PC, they sound the same.

So now that I prefer not to have a dangling wire whenever I take the phone out to pay for something, or for tapping in and out on buses and trains, I thought about getting a set of bluetooth earphones. And I decided NOT to get those “airpods” type, ie, only 2 things you stick into the ear with no wires – because if you some how dropped one, the other one’s useless. Hence, I still prefer having a wire connecting the 2 buds, but no wire connecting to the phone.

Thinking nothing much of it, I went to a nearby phone shop, asked for a Bluetooth earphone set, and got one for about $35. They were the Baseus Encok S06. The sales guy was saying these were actually pretty good for the price, and is very popular in Singapore.

So I went home, paired the thing up and started listening to music. That was when I noticed that the music didn’t sound… “right”. Oh yes, there’s bass, there’s mids, and there’s treble. Yet… the sound on them felt…. “weak”, or “hollow”. One particular song which I liked, even though the bass was thumping, it felt lacking in “substance”. I remember that there are also very soft, low rumbles in the song, which seemed to be muffled or missing when listening on the Baseus. On the free Sony buds they were clearly heard and I could “feel” the rumble of those soft bass.

Swapping out the silicone ear-tips that came with the Baseus, the sound improved, but still wasn’t quite “right”.

Remember, at this point, the music sounded “this way” in all the devices that I heard it on – my hifi set, my TV soundbar, from the Sony earphones etc. So when it sounded different in the Baseus it irritated the heck out of me.

So began my hunt – I looked at youtube reviews (too many INDIAN reviewers, reviewing in Hindi!), written reviews, reviews on forums by people who owned various models and brands,

In the end I kinda got flustered and just happened to mention to a colleague that I wished there was a shop or boutique somewhere that would ALLOW a “demo test” of the various headsets/earphones by the customer, before purchasing. I don’t want to end up with “another Baseus” at home. This time, I’m gonna find one I liked before I pay for it. My colleague pointed to a shop called STEREO at Plaza Singapura.

Long story short, I went there, tried out about 4 sets of earphones, before finally deciding on the Jaybird X4. Music sounded almost like I was still using my Sony earphones, which is a good thing. As a side note, I was surprised that JBL T110 earphones sounded a little worse than the Baseus Encok. So it’s kind of a testament that the Baseus manage to sound so good that it’s in the same category as “good” brands.

The additional thing that surprised me about Jaybird is that their earphones come with an app on the phone which, if you set your listening preferences, the setting follows the earphones everywhere, even on different devices (if those devices are able to run the app and you log in with your profile).

So yeah, here’s to hoping that the Jaybird will last a long time.