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earbuds - only last a year or two with average usage?


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I have some cheap earbuds- $20 or so.  They are decent. do Aptx-HD. Sound okay for my initial usage - jogging outside.  

I am using them more and more in addition to jogging, so I am considering getting some better ones around $150 to $300.  While reading reviews, I read something that gave me pause about getting better ones - part of a review was citing an article highlighting that batteries in ear buds are small and will not last very long, making ear buds wasteful.   That additional article did not state how long one should expect ear buds to last, but I assume it is just a year or two, or more specifically 1500 to 2000 hours of usage.  The article did not go into such details just talking about how the earbuds you bought two years ago might be only getting half of the usage they did per charge when new. 

As I understand it, lithium batteries can be fully charged only about 300 to 500 times.    Better ear buds draw more power normally so they do not last as long on charges. It seems ones in the $150 to $300 range last around 5 to 6 hours, at best, per charge and that would be when the battery new.   So total life of battery would probably be around 1500 to 2000 hours before much of its life was gone.  So around 800-1000 hours of use, a full charge would probably only give you 2 hours of usage and it would get worse from there.  If I got better ones it would be to use them more, probably 15 to 20 hours a week. So they would be near end of life after a year and half if my analysis is correct.

For people that know about batteries, does my analysis seem right?  Would earbuds probably only last 1000 hours before usage per charge was nearing half of what it was when new, and might not hold a charge at all near 2000?   Or would it be longer? 

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I found this discussion: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-lifetime-for-a-set-of-earbuds

The overall opinions are they last 6 months to 2 years at most.  No to few discussed battery life, instead discussing hardware failures,  mostly one ear bud going out before the other. Many indicated Apple ones will not last much more than 6 to 8 months. Sony seems to be ones that would get close to two years.   The top reply is the best advice, stating do not buy higher priced ones.  They will not last much longer and once you get used to their better sound, you will not be able to use the cheaper ones so will be stuck paying $200 a year for ear buds. 

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Any lithium ion battery will only survive a limited number of charges. Doesn’t matter what kind of wireless device you buy, you can’t change the laws of physics. Though the bigger the battery in it the longer it will last, and that factors in.

 

Buy earbuds based on the features and quality. If you just want cheap, replaceable earbuds then go cheap and get Chinese knockoffs. If you want decent quality without going super high end, there are plenty of brand name options (be it Apple or smaller brands like Anker). If you want ones that are super high end that have noise cancellation and longer battery life per charge and other features then pay more.

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1 hour ago, Starkiller said:

Any lithium ion battery will only survive a limited number of charges. Doesn’t matter what kind of wireless device you buy, you can’t change the laws of physics. Though the bigger the battery in it the longer it will last, and that factors in.

 

That is the exact point - size. Ear buds are basically a disposal product because of the small battery.  I might check on detachable monitors.  They have superior sound and are considered audiophile products.  I might be wrong, but I think the wire set to which they attach have high quality DACs in them.   They seem good but I am not sure if the monitors are passive,  with the battery in the wire set to which you attached the monitors, or if they are active with batteries in them which would be the same problem.   Also, I cannot find out if the attached wire set can control the phone - volume, skip, back, pause etc. If it cannot, I would not want them for the use I plan. 

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