Like AirPods but without the stems

Like AirPods but without the stems

David Carnoy /CNET

 

Water-resistant: Yes (IPX52 rating -- can withstand a sustained spray and they're dust-resistant)

Way back in 2015, Swedish company Earin was the first to release a set of true wireless earbuds. Now it's released its third-gen A-3 earbuds, and they look a lot like what the standard AirPods would look like if you removed their trademark extruding stems.

They fit my ears securely and they sound decent -- arguably better than the AirPods -- for this type of earbud, though they're slightly bass-restrained. I also found they work well for making calls even though they don't have stems (their noise-reduction is decent though not fantastic), and I liked their charging case. 

The A-3 buds have an IPX52 water-resistance rating (they can withstand a sustained spray of water but aren't fully waterproof) and deliver five hours of battery life with five extra charges from their charging case. They have 14mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.0 and Qualcomm's higher-end QCC5121 chipset. AAC and aptX audio codecs are supported. (Certain Android devices like Samsung Galaxy smartphones support aptX streaming, but iPhones do not.)

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