Bluetooth ear buds... help me pick a set.

Nobody uses any of these?

Well I got some cheap TWS i7 (I think) and they are pretty good sounding and last a fair while. Some of the reviews said they were not far behind actual ipod ones sound wise! (I don’t do apple so I don’t know)
Check out youtube , when I was researching they said the newer ones (i9 I think) weren’t so good sounding, but connected better.
Mine have the odd connection issue, but not overly.

Sound quality in calls especially suffer due to the low capacity of Bluetooth unfortunately. I have not had an acceptable experience with budget Bluetooth earbuds. Usually they cut out, sounds are unclear or the person on the end of the call cannot tell what I’m saying.

I bought the Blitzwolf BW-FYE2 some months ago.
They are really great ! Good sound, deep basses, good range also.
You pick one from the charging box and it pairs with your emitter (phone or whatever) and if you pick the other one within a few minutes it also pairs and you have stereo.
Battery life is about 3 hours, and the charging box offers at least 3 full charges.
At this price it’s a bargain

Forgot what brand they are, it’s been so long, but got one of those U-shaped doodads with earplugs-on-wires coming out the ends. Internal cell, usb rechargeable, last a good coupla hours on a charge, no complaints as far as pairing or anything. Got ’em at Staples waaaaaaay back. Still working.

Easy to go louder/lower, next/previous track, mute/call/answer/etc., and so on, without having to even look at the phone.

Never quite understood those things that look like someone stuck half a cigarette in each ear. Can’t do nuttin’ with ’em.

If your phone/audio player supports aptX or aptX HD audio codec, and if you get earphones that support it as well, this should give you enough bandwidth to provide good quality sound, not only for calls but also for listening to music. What causes cut outs is typically weak bluetooth receivers/transmitters in devices and wireless interference because Bluetooth operates in the 2.4 GHz range, and so do many wi-fi networks, cordless phones, etc.

Not sure if they all are available on chinese retail sites, but for almost half your money enveloppe you can have very adequate products like the "Aukey EP-B40", "Anker SoundBuds Slim+" and "1MORE Piston Fit" which seems all to be pretty decent and have some praises in reviews.

Can really vouch for the two firsts, that I've heard myself. I personally use Beyerdynamic closed headphones, Grado's open headphones, and I also enjoy to do ABX tests (there are many darker hobbies than lights ) , so I really hope my ears/brain duo to have decent acoustic education, and all things being relatives the Aukey and Anker do are really great for their prices. No clear drawback, and in addition am sure the EP-B40 supports aptX.

Do those little earhooks come off? I like the design but without the horns.

Try these if you don’t like the horns:
Bomaker SiFi: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V5JF8G3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_1SEZDbSQSD537

I saw these recommended on head-fi. Considering trying them myself.

Two main improvements of BT 5.0 are better sampling and noticeably better sound quality.

Cool, thanks!

Banggood sent me Blitzwolf® BW-FYE4 to me a few months ago to test out. Plasticky built but sound decent out from the box for $20+. Connection is a breezy but might require a one time proper pairing setup. I have less headache with its Bluetooth signal.

I am currently using Xiaomi Airdots. It a much smaller package than BW-FYE4. Doesn't sound good out from the box, but if you app has equalizer function, you might be able to boost the low end freq without much distortions.

I ended up upping my budget and getting the Liberty 2. They are currently $90 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SHGN942

They come with 7 sets of tips and 3 sets of wings, so there is a good chance you will be able to find a comfortable fit with good sealing. These are my first wireless earphones, so I don’t have any point of reference, but I’d say they sound about 90% as good as some of my better wired earphones.

The phone app gives you 22 different EQ settings to choose from, so you should be able to make them sound the way you like.

A lot of Reviews told me, that the QCY QC2 ($30 on AE) are the best low busget TWL Earbuds and I bought them to test, if I can work with the limitations (battery) of those in comparsion to wired InEars.
I can. And those things aren’t bad at all.
Surely a tiny little bit worste than the Sony WF-1000XM3’s that I have now, but really good for the money.

I find these to be a hassle for movies and music. 3 hours in and they’re dead.

If she will use the corded style I recommend some of the Anker products (I liked them more than the Aukey EP B40 mentioned earlier).

The ~$25-40 hooked style (Anker) Soundcore Spirit X 2019, and Soundbuds Curve 2019 both advertise 18 hour battery life. I have the Curve & stopped measuring after 15 hours continuous playback… I would not be surprised to find they last 18 hours.

They also make earbud styles, both corded and …bud/pod? style. I have old Soundbud slim that have been good for a few years, but only do ~6-8 hours playback. I’m not familiar with the newer models. I think the Soundcore Spirit Pro may be the best currently, but I am hoping they release updated models soon before I upgrade.

I think that the last time I looked for pod style recommendations, one of the Samsung Icon models was suggested as the best value… but I don’t know if that’s still current info or which model it was. Maybe 4-7 hours if I remember right… but many items are advertised misleadingly… ‘playback time’ may be per bud, or with the charging case capacity factored in.

I can’t comment about music quality. Many reviews say that many of the $20-50 bluetooth headphones are nearly as good as the $100-200. Mostly I care about battery life & reliability.

Any other suggestions for long battery life in the 20$

Back to OP’s original $40 budget, these Mpow M5 are back in stock on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Mpow-Bluetooth-Featured-Cancelling/dp/B07SR1FTD4/

They’re getting pretty good reviews on head-fi.org.

For longer all-day battery life you’ll have to move up to sport headphones with a neckband, something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07WR83S41

What really drives me nuts about these Bluetooth wireless IEM’s on Banggood, is that they all seem to be “about the same.” Each listing looks very similar to the next, with some variation in pricing, but specifications will be inconsistent with amount of info provided, while info that is indicated looks similar. It makes me wonder if there’s just ONE technology at hand being repacked multiple times in slightly different casings. Flood the market with all these to keep the consumer confused so they just go ahead and impulsively buy what they THINK is the best choice, when in reality, it’s all the same stuff.