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So I have decided that the best course of action is to adopt wireless headphones now that the iPhone's headphone jack is gone(and Pixel). Unfortunately though I need like 10+ battery performance all day. It also needs a mic although the mic doesn't have to be perfect quality.

Is something like this even possible?

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  • What criteria does the product need to meet aside from battery life? Do you have a preferred form factor (over-ear, on-ear, inside-ear)? Must it be 10 continuous hours or can it do a quick-charge for some period of time within that time frame? Do you have a maximum price?
    – JaredT
    Feb 26, 2018 at 13:51
  • @JaredT price is no object. I would prefer earbuds do to size but honestly I doubt I can be to picky considering of my strict battery requirement.
    – William
    Feb 26, 2018 at 14:51
  • You'll have a wider choice if you consider phones that continue to work whilst recharging (not all of them do). Then you could always have a small powerbank to plug in if needed. Note, aim high: there are phones claiming 24 hours of bluetooth, eg JBL E65BTNC.
    – meuh
    Feb 27, 2018 at 9:50
  • @meuh I'm assuming in your comment 'phones' is slang for headphones. Hmm I am adopting wireless headphones because I am planning to use a battery case on my phone. The JBL E65BTNC looks promising.
    – William
    Feb 27, 2018 at 14:49

2 Answers 2

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Over Ear

I've got the LinkWitz Casque Bluetooth headphones, which are an over-ear pair of wireless headphones with passive noise cancelling and a microphone.

LinkWitz Casque Bluetooth over-ear headphones in black

They run on a rechargeable battery (charges via microUSB - comes with a charging cable, though you probably already have one) that I've found lasts about 12-15 hours of regular but intermittent use. I imagine continuous use would see more like 8-10 hours.

The microphone is reasonable quality - it's nestled in among the controls on the left-hand side - good enough for clear voice calls.

The audio quality feels a little distant, slightly lacking in mid-range frequencies, but bass response is excellent and a system equalizer can easily clean up the mid-ranges without much adjustment.

The only issue you may have with them is the earphone size - the inner diameter is just 30mm, so you do need relatively small ears for them to fit comfortably over the top.

Generally, though, they're good headphones. I got mine on sale for around £25, but the RRP is around £80.

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In Ear

For their price the Apple Airpods ($159) really are at the top of their market segment. You'll get the in-ear design you prefer and 3-5 hours of listening time per charge and another 3-5 hours after placing them in the charging case for just 15 minutes.

Being an iPhone user you also benefit from features that an Android user would not, such as the simple pairing (W2 chip functionality) and, for lack of a better name, the "take one of them out of your ear to pause music" functionality. Because these do not use silicone ear inserts the fit on these will be subject to the shape of your ears. If the earpods that came with your phone fit you well then these will also, the form factor is exactly the same.

The primary competition for this product are going to be the Google Pixelbuds, same price ($159) and battery specs but these are not fully wireless (buds connected to one another by wire) and getting them into and out of the charging case is a little finnicky.

Another notable mention in this price range is the Jaybird Run, at $179.99 retail.

Something different

I've done some window-shopping and although I don't think I'll ever have the cash to splurge on them, the Sennheiser MX-550-X bluetooth headphones are an interesting offering. Although these tout about 8 hours of battery life (charged via micro usb) the fairly unique feature of these are that the battery is replaceable, so theoretically you can have all the nice noise cancelling features and the incredible sound-stage we have come to expect from Sennheiser over-ear headphones, and you can simply carry extra batteries to swap when needed. There's a lot more cool tech on these so if you really are looking for a premier headphone check it out.

All of the headphones above are fully featured for a smartphone and include some form of media control on the headphones physically, as well as a microphone.

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  • The 8 hour batter looks promising.
    – William
    Feb 26, 2018 at 15:20

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