i have been a skullcandy stan since like 2010, they have always been a solid budget choice and last a long time. my very favorite pair of theirs has been the Push Active. the fit, quality and price hit for me and i have used them for several years. however, the last couple pairs i had have stopped pairing, only showing up as "Tile" in the BT menu.
i replaced them with some Smokin Buds due to my tightened budget, and they worked alright for a month or so, but now there is no media audio. they still produce audio because when i put one in i get the "connected" message.
i just want a comfortable pair of earbuds for work that are sweat resistant, noise blocking, preferably with the over-ear hooks. i dont need outstanding audio quality, i primarily listen to audiobooks and podcasts while working. my budget is 50 bucks give or take.
i havent had the need to look outside of skullcandy til now, and looking at options online is very overwhelming for me. any reliable brands would even be a great starting point for me.
I have a pair of Fairbuds, I've had them about a little over a year. I've been meaning to write a review but I have not come around to It yet. But the short and sweet is, They are neat. I love the repair ability of the hardware but they feel like a "beta" product due to the software/firmware. Within 2 months of getting them I had sent them for warranty service. That after doing all the troubleshooting available without a second pair available.
The reason for the warranty service was that the left earbud just stopped responding, this after; randomly disconnecting, complaining about low battery(even with a brand new battery), randomly lowering volume until completely silent(only the left earbud, device volume did not change).
Came back after they replaced left earbud, now it worked but still have the same issues before, except now it responds. I want to say that they work most of the time. But things bugg out way to often to say that with confidence. I'm pretty sure all the issues are software or firmware relates but since no new firmware has been released since I got them I can't say for sure. I would not recommend them, based on my experience to someone who isn't in it for the support of the fairphone project.