I had a chance to listen to the Noble Audio FoKus Rex5 at CanJam and they are very good, although CanJam auditions are done under very noisy conditions. I have several pairs of TWS earbuds, which I will be posting shortly, and the FoKus didn’t really stand out from the Sennheiser Momentum TWS or the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8, both of which cost less and are often discounted.
I find TWS earbuds to be more about utility rather than audiophile sound quality so one should pick one more by features rather than sound quality. By features I mean things like fit, seal and comfort, battery life, noise cancelation and transparency, sound quality, as well as Bluetooth connectivity: reliability and support for advanced codecs.
I like my B&O’s IEM.
They fit well, have a nice App to change things (noice cancelling, sound type, etc…), a small case to carry (and charge) them. But overall the sound quality is nice.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 - These are the best sounding earbuds I own. I picked these up because I really loved how the Pi7 S2 earbuds (see below) sound, but I was not happy with the Pi7 S2’s connection issues. These earbuds support several of the higher resolution Bluetooth codecs. Fairly decent active noise cancellation.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 - great sounding earbuds but with some frustrating Bluetooth connection issues. These earbuds support several of the higher resolution Bluetooth codecs. Fairly decent active noise cancellation.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 - great sounding earbuds with rock solid Bluetooth connection. Like the Bowers & Wilkins these earbuds support several of the higher resolution Bluetooth codecs. The Momentums have one feature that I really like which is the ability to disable the touch controls on the earbuds. Very helpful when listening to music while lying in bed and not having to worry about the music pausing because of an errant touch to the earbuds. Fairly decent active noise cancellation.
Amazon Echo Buds -I picked these up at a great price. While these earbuds don’t support many of the more advanced and newer Bluetooth codecs they don’t sound all that bad. I use them mostly for phone calls and since I have an iPhone that also doesn’t support many of the more advanced and newer Bluetooth codecs they are a perfect match. Fairly decent active noise cancellation.
MEE Pebbles - and now for something completely different - with their very unique form factor these little buds are perfect for just popping in one’s ears for a quick phone or video call and YouTube video. It is worth picking up these earbuds if you don’t like the normal tips found on other earbuds and still want to enjoy hands free phone calls. Just don’t expect too much in the way of sound quality. No active noise cancellation.