I love a good pair of earbuds! In fact, I really can’t function without my personal earbuds. Once my earbuds are in, the rest of the world is out! I deep dive into the world of my favorite tunes, away from real-world problems, happy in my own little audio bubble! Hence, owning a pair of innovative and perfect earbuds is an absolute necessity for me, and I’m sure that’s the case for most music lovers out there as well! Quite a few of us are Team AirPods all the way. And Apple just launched the AirPods Pro 2 this week! And although they are a good bet, it’s better to explore all your options, before you purchase them. Let’s remember that great earbuds go beyond Apple as well. And this nifty list includes all of them! This collection of exciting designs has a pair of earbuds for everyone. From Bose’s new Quiet Comfort Earbuds II to TWS earbuds that have solar panels on their charging case – these earbuds provide unique design solutions and are a must-have for audiophiles.

1. The BD-1

Meet the BD-1, a conceptual pair of TWS earbuds modeled on the company’s OP-1 synthesizer. The OP-1 synth became a pop culture design icon when it was used in Swedish House Mafia’s first music video, One. It sported a form factor that was sleek yet fun, retro yet new, and predominantly clean-looking without being boring. The BD-1 follows similar design cues by being relatively boxy, and white, and using colorful ear-tips that match the colors used on the OP-1 synth. The best part? The earbuds case comes with a tiny AMOLED display that mimics the one found on the OP-1, displaying visualizations that react to the music you’re listening to!

2. The QuietComfort Earbuds II

Bose wants to take Apple head-on with its new Quite Comfort Earbuds II. If choosing the same day for the launch of the latest true wireless earbuds wasn’t a bold move enough, the claim of them being the “world’s best noise cancellation” is notice-worthy. According to Bose, the earbuds are now one-third the size of their predecessors and have better ergonomic comfort and fit. They like to call it Fit Kit. The QuietComfort Earbuds II come with the CustomTune sound calibration that we saw in the SoundControl hearing aids. While wearing the buds, acoustic properties of the ear canal are analyzed – thereafter the CustomTune delivers audio and active noise cancelation based on the data. This takes less than a second, right from the time earbuds are fitted inside the ear.

3. The Tour Pro 2

The Tour PRO 2 is JBL’s latest flagship pair of TWS earbuds priced at $249.44 USD. They come with 10mm audio drivers and are Bluetooth 5.3 compatible, have active noise-canceling, and last 10 hours alone, and 40 hours with the charging case. However, their most impressive little upgrade lies in plain view in the form of a 1.45-inch touchscreen LED display on the front that lets you toggle features like ANC, make adjustments to your music-listening experience, or answer/reject calls without taking your phone out. JBL’s idea with this seems to hark back to the original days of the iPod – to provide a clean, uncluttered music experience.

4. The D-TWS earbuds

The geometrically designed chunky earbuds case of the D-TWS earbuds has an on-screen visualization to display information such as audio playback time, switch audio, artist information, and album art for a more inclusive listening experience. A scenario that immediately comes to mind is while being engulfed in work tasks on a PC, and listening to music. Sure, you don’t want to keep the music application open on your PC or phone all the time. That’s where this pair of TWS earbuds come in. The earbuds case (designer denotes as BOX) shows the remaining battery levels, current audio playback, and more options on the touch display.

5. The Urbanista Phoenix

Don’t you hate it when you pop your AirPods into your ears only to get a notification that you forgot to charge them? Well, the Urbanista Phoenix seems to have an unusually sensible fix. Equipped with a Powerfoyle solar panel on the charging case, the Phoenix just keeps charging your TWS Earbuds whenever it has access to sunlight or any bright light. This isn’t the first time that Urbanista’s incorporated solar panels into its audio solution, though. Just last year, the company announced the Los Angeles, a pair of wireless headphones with a solar panel built into the headband. The Phoenix builds on that rather clever idea by introducing solar panels onto the charging case instead (because the TWS earbuds themselves are too small to put solar panels on).

6. Free BYRD

While on the higher side, price-wise, Free BYRD is designed for audiophiles who want their tech to be a great blend between compact yet capable. The Free BYRD’s earpieces sport 10mm audio drivers that deliver crisp, balanced sound to your ear, and also dual mics with Qualcomm cVc for crystal clear audio. For the price, you also get ANC along with Transparency mode, so you can either cancel environmental noise for clear listening or have audio from the real world play right back in your ear so you’re aware of your surroundings.

7. The Beats Tour Pro

Designed as a pair of high-end TWS earbuds to rival the AirPods Pro, the Beats Tour Pro comes with a slicker design, snug-fitting silicone tips, active noise canceling, a transparency mode, and rapid connectivity with Apple’s desktop and mobile operating systems. Like most Beats products, the Tour Pro boasts a design that stands out as something eye-catching different. Unlike Apple products that have somewhat become homogenous in the way they look, the Beats Tour Pro plays well with proportions. Sure, they stick to the basics with the massive Beats logo on the outer surface of the earbuds, but there’s also a hollow stem right below, making it easier to grip the earphones without accidentally hitting the capacitive touch surface.

8. Tempo

Tempo, the sports metronome is designed to be worn in the ears like a pair of snugly fitting earbuds and comes with the driver as its remote control. Before we get into the design and facets, let’s brush up on the idea behind the Tempo. Without having the user compromise the impact of music on their performance, The gadget can be specifically set up to guide or be motivated by the user’s pace. This works on the similar principle of the metronome used by musicians to produce a steady pulse to play rhythms accurately – here the pulse is measured in beats-per-minute (BPM) and this concept is picked up by the pair of earbuds in the discussion.

9. The Montblanc TWS Earbuds

What’s the fanciest pair of TWS earphones you can think of? By fancy I mean, wearing a Rolex or signing documents with a Montblanc fancy. Yeah, I couldn’t think of anything too. Sure, there was a time when wearing Beats headphones was a status symbol, but now everyone wears AirPods, and there’s nothing really premium about them as far as social perception goes. In come the Montblanc TWS Earbuds, a conceptual pair of ear-candy from the mind of Jinwoo Hong. They look classy, and even sport the insignia on the outside, allowing people to notice the brand from a few feet away. They are, in that regard, the perfect flair and perhaps the perfect TWS earbuds to pair with formalwear like a tuxedo.

10. Earbugs

This audio accessory envisions a unique audio experience for the listener combining the goodness of in-ear sound isolation of the wireless earbuds and the capability of the bone conducting technology to bring a comfortable and realistic transparency experience to the fore. Not only this, the bone conduction combined with the earbuds’ dynamic drivers could create a 3D soundscape for a never-before audio delivery. The ear-hugging ergonomically shaped earbuds will be well-suited for fitness ad outdoorsy enthusiasts if they get a decent water-resistant rating, if and when they actually meet fruition.

The post Top 10 earbuds that are a better alternative than the AirPods Pro 2 first appeared on Yanko Design.