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The best wireless headphones, USB-C earbuds, and smart speakers you can buy (Early 2020)
The best wireless earbuds
Hey, are you listening to music right this second? Maybe a podcast? I bet you are. If you're looking to upgrade whatever it is you're listening on, you have a ton of options. Android Police tests all kinds of headphones and speakers, but those reviews are a whole lot of words to read. So here, as part of our Most Wanted series, is a digestible list of the audio gear we're really feeling in early 2020.
Moshi aims to produce premium, long-lasting accessories for mobile devices, and most of the time, the company succeeds — many of its products we've reviewed over the years have proved to be well worth their money. During CES 2020, the manufacturer has made clear that it believes in the quality of its electronics by introducing a free 10-year global warranty.
I'm a sucker for simplicity. It's one of the things I love so much about USB-C: it's one port that does everything. So I was excited to get my hands on Moshi's Symbus Q, a USB-C docking station that also promised to replace the Qi charging pad I keep on my desk. But with limited port selection and no active or even passive ventilation to keep it cool, I think the Symbus Q is a little too simple to recommend.
For those of us that prefer wired headphones, or who merely can't tolerate the bugginess of Bluetooth on many Android phones, there aren't a lot of USB Type-C choices out there — especially if you don't want noise canceling. Moshi's new Avanti C checks the right boxes, though. There's no charging, no Bluetooth, and no ANC. What you do get is good audio, nice build quality, and dongle-free wired compatibility with 3.5mm and USB Type-C sources. Moshi thinks that's worth $200, and I agree.
The 3.5mm headphone jack is now an exception rather than a standard in the flagship smartphone world. Many consumers have turned to Bluetooth options, but there are still some folks who prefer wired audio. If you're in the latter camp and you hate dealing with dongles, you'll probably want a set of USB Type-C headphones.Several USB-C earphones have appeared on the market in the past year or so. I very much enjoy using the noise-cancelling Libratone Q Adapt that we reviewed last year, though the $149 price tag might put it out of reach for many. On the other end of the spectrum is the $19 Essential Earphones Mini, which just isn't very good. Essential's more premium offering, the Earphones HD, now goes for $49 (half of its original MSRP) — a sweet spot pricing-wise, but it's still riddled with compromises.I wasn't sure what to expect from the $49.95 Moshi Mythro C, given that Moshi isn't traditionally known for its audio products, but I'm pleased to say that it's definitely worth your consideration. It sounds good, looks nice, and it's priced well. You can't really ask for much more out of a pair of earbuds.
I will never change my opinion when it comes to the headphone jack: Taking it away was a terrible, consumer-unfriendly decision. Thanks to Google, Essential, OnePlus, and other OEMs, that means I have to work a bit harder to accommodate new devices into my firmly, happily tangled life, and one of the most annoying sacrifices up until now was using my phone in the car. The standalone Android Auto app actually works great just on your phone's screen, but having to choose between charging and audio was a major bummer.Thanks to Moshi's power/3.5mm splitter dongle, that's not an issue for me anymore.
It's taken us a few years, but USB-C audio products are starting to be a little easier to come by. Good, affordable in-ear sets are still limited to a few brands though, and Moshi is joining the fray with its $50 Mythro C. The company also announced the $200 on-ear Avanti C headphones.
It's been four years since I shared with you all the gadgets and quirky things that I own and love in my previous What We Use post. In the time since, a lot has changed in my personal life. I met the most awesome, weird, and pun-loving man. We got married, moved into an apartment of our own, and started traveling a little more frequently.But a lot is still the same. I still pull double work duties: I own and manage my pharmacy, and I work here at Android Police, obviously. In between selling drugs and counseling patients, I sit back at my desk, clean up hundreds of emails a day, write a few posts, virtually shout at the entire team if they miss an Oxford comma, and come up with silly or inappropriate jokes. I love every second of it — this job is better than Xanax and has fewer side effects.Talking about side effects, I still have that same gadget addiction interest that I described four years ago. I probably own more stuff now than I did then, but as was the case before, I still only buy and use items after lots of research to make sure they serve their purpose well. It helps a lot that I get to write about most of these things too — the perfect excuse I can give to both my husband and wallet.So without further ado, here is all the stuff I currently use and love.
We live in strange times when many phones have but one port, forcing you to choose between charging and audio. The $45 Moshi Type-C charging/audio adapter promised to let you do both, but Google just pulled it from the Google Store. In fact, it never actually went on sale. It was "coming soon" for six months, and now it's dead.If we ignore the exorbitant price for a moment, the Moshi adapter seems like a useful doodad. You plug it into the Type-C port on your Pixel or other similarly limited phone, and you've just turned one port into two. You can charge the phone over Type-C while also listening to audio with this adapter, or at least you would have if it ever shipped.
As you might have already heard, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL don't have headphone jacks. It's disappointing, yes, but Google has a solution if you need to charge and listen to your tunes at the same time. The only problem: it's a $44.95 solution, and you'll have this giant dongle hanging off of your shiny new phone.This isn't the first time we've seen an adapter of this nature for a phone; similar ones exist for the iPhone 7. If you want to charge and listen to music over wired headphones at the same time, this one, made by Moshi, is pretty much your only option. At least it looks nice, with its aluminum construction and reinforced connector areas. But at $44.95, it might just be worth it to buy a new set of Bluetooth earphones for this purpose alone, unless you're just extremely averse to Bluetooth's sound quality. It's worth noting that a regular USB-C to 3.5mm adapter comes in the box of every Pixel 2, and new ones can be purchased for $20.From a quick look on Amazon, there are a few USB-C to 3.5mm/USB-C adapters that are supposed to accomplish the same thing, but they're all between $8 and $15 and have horrible reviews. You can wait for more reputable third-party manufacturers to make some, but if you're impatient and just have to have your music through wires while juicing your phone up, here you go.Source: Google Store
Every new phone deserves to be protected, especially when you have an all-glass Samsung S8/S8+. I owned the much more fragile S7 Edge with its steeper curved display. There wasn’t a day where I wouldn’t have the phone in a case unless I was briefly taking it out for a cleaning. Since Samsung opted for an elegant, unique design with the S8, the display is costly to replace. I haven’t seen the official cost to repair the phone's display yet; although I’d imagine it’s more than the $250 for the S7 Edge. No case will guarantee 100% protection for your phone, but it will provide significantly more protection than no case at all.I will include numerous types of cases in this roundup from different companies. Feedback is always welcome, along with any questions. If there is a certain case you would like to see, drop me a comment below, and I’ll do my best to add it.My S8+ has a screen protector installed with all the reviews. I opted for a simple wet install film after experiencing the many failures of glass screen protectors during my S7 Edge and now S8+ ownership. So far, I have found the case-friendly versions of these films work with most cases. If there happens to be an issue, I’ll do my best to note it where applicable.