Earbuds with tips that don’t fall off easily?

February 14, 2019 11:51 AM

Looking for suggestions of wired earbuds (<$150) that have the option to use different size rubber or foam tips, but where those tips will actually stay on the earbuds and not fall off easily.

My last pair of earbuds (AKG something) had decent sound but the tips that fit me only loosely fit onto the buds and whenever I tried to remove them from my ears the tips would stay in my ears, leading to embarrassing rooting around in my ears trying to get them out. I tried to keep the earphone part and the tips clean, but a bit of earwax and they’d come right off again. I finally lost one of the tips on a plane yesterday so it’s time for something new.

I’m looking to spend less than $150 Canadian, and prefer:
- wired over wireless, though would consider wireless if some are particularly recommended
- comes with different size rubber and/or foam tips that will actually stay on
- no plastic tabs for holding onto the ear
- best sound quality for the price, as I listen to a lot of music when travelling
- mic and controls for iPhone are nice-to-have but not essential
- no noise cancelling as I find good earbuds isolate well enough

Does such a thing exist or is it just a problem with removable tips that they don’t stay on? Are there earbuds with non-removable tips that you would recommend instead?

posted by valleys to Technology (19 answers total)

Are you willing to super glue the tips? Having had a similar experience I ordered a replacement set of earbuds and glued the tips that fit me on and didn't have the problem again.
posted by Karaage at 11:54 AM on February 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've used these cheapies for years. I remember maybe three times that one of the tips has come off. At $10 certainly worth a try to see if they'll work for you before investing in something expensive.
posted by something something at 12:04 PM on February 14, 2019

Yep just like Karaage, I also solved this for myself with a little bit of super glue.
posted by so fucking future at 12:16 PM on February 14, 2019

Ordered a pair each of these for my wife and I. We've been using them for 6 months or so. Tips seem to stay on fine.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:19 PM on February 14, 2019

Best answer: I've used a couple of different models of Comply foam tips (depending on which earphones they were being put on) and they stay on extremely well. Which is good, since sometimes they've cost more than the earphones I was attaching them to.

My current earphones are ETY-Kids, and they've held up ridiculously well. They do come in an iPhone-compatible version with controls and mic, but I haven't tried it.
posted by asperity at 12:25 PM on February 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Klipsch are very spendy but super comfortable, and the sound quality and noise isolation (when you use the correct size/shape tip) is amazing. IME the rubber tips never fell off, but of course it might depend on usage and your ear canal shape.
posted by tinydancer at 12:34 PM on February 14, 2019

I’ve gone through a lot of earbuds and the cheapie Anker Soundbuds are the only ones that haven’t lost tips. They do have a silicone retainer horn, but it’s removable, and they sound as good as much more expensive sets I’ve tried.
posted by rodlymight at 1:00 PM on February 14, 2019

Best answer: If you are willing to spend a little more - I highly recommend custom tips. Comfortable for hours, will never come apart from the earpiece, lots of passive attenuation, superior music quality. You can get them from an audiologist to fit almost any earphone. We charge about ~$100 for the tips, plus whatever you want to spend on the earphones.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:03 PM on February 14, 2019 [3 favorites]

These Panasonic earbuds are really cheap--consistently under ten bucks--but have pretty good sound quality, and I've never had a rubber thing fall off. They're remarkably durable for cheapies. I have a teenager, and we both use them. The earbuds get near-constant use in our house, get jammed into purses, get worn to bed, etc, and they just keep going. We each have two or three pairs that we use in different places, and about once a year we replace one of the pairs--which for ten bucks seems reasonable to me.
posted by mishafletch at 1:03 PM on February 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I definitely suggest Comply tips, as recommended above. I'll say that in my tip experience I often have to jam them onto the earbud farther than expected. There's (usually?) a lip that you have to get past, and sometimes it feels wrong when you're pushing them on, but you gotta get past that and keep jamming.

These thinksound ms02 In-ear Monitors are probably the best price/sound earbuds I've ever found. Big sound, big recommend.
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:11 PM on February 14, 2019

Bose Soundsport headphones come with S/M/L tips that click firmly into place. I've never had one loosen at all even in a pair I thoroughly wore out. Wired cost $50 right now, wireless $150.
posted by a moisturizing whip at 1:13 PM on February 14, 2019

Shure, Etymotic and Westone brands have very small long nozzles, which makes for very secure tips - especially Shure and Etymotics I find. Their cheapest earphones (which are perfectly fine), start from about $70 bucks.
posted by smoke at 1:43 PM on February 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have a pair of Klipsch earbuds that I use pretty much daily.

I'm not sure the ones that I use are still available; they may have been supplanted by newer models.

They're far from perfect but on balance I am satisfied with them.

pros:

• two years later I haven't lost any of the rubber earpieces and can only remember one falling off once, after which it was easily replaced. I remove them occasionally to clean the earbuds and they go back on and stay on without trouble
• they've held up to daily insertion and removal in my ears, winding the cord and stuffing into the provided tiny stuff sack, and carrying in my pocket for at least two years
• they've survived at least two years of Southeast Alaska weather, including hundreds of walks in heavy rain and dozens in even fiercer winter gales

cons:

• sound quality is sufficient for my purposes but not brilliant
• the in-line microphone and controls are somewhat clunky
• the little clip which is supposed to hold the cord in place so that it isn't bouncing around all the time when you are walking is mostly useless
• very occasionally (maybe 1 time in 50?) my phone or my laptop do not seem to recognize the microphone, resulting in conversations where the other party cannot hear me until I take the headphones off and disconnect them from the device

posted by Nerd of the North at 3:59 PM on February 14, 2019

I have liked my VSonic GR02 earbuds. They have pretty decent sound, I find them comfortable, and they are inexpensive (~30-40 USD). Best of all, they came with a huge assortment of different tips, and I've never had a problem with them coming off too easily (if anything, I initially had trouble removing them to test fit different tips).

Upon googling, though, it looks like the GR02 may not be available anymore. But you might look at the similarly priced VSD2S/VSD3S from VSonic, or the GR07 if you want to approach the top of your $150 budget.
posted by egregious theorem at 4:07 PM on February 14, 2019

Best answer: On the higher end of your range, I have 1MORE Triple Driver in-Ear Earphones Hi-Res Headphones (Amazon), which are currently listed on sale at $76.99 (USD; also available for $79.99 USD from New Egg, or $107.10 CAD via Amazon.ca). There's the newer, more expensive quad driver model, but these have been pretty good for me. They work on Android AND iOS for volume control and mic, which ... shouldn't work, but it does (perhaps they're not fully standard compliant? Dunno).

They sound pretty good, and they come with a nice kit, including a little case and eight different tips. Trying to find the right size, I had a bit of trouble trying to swap tips because they were definitely not inclined to slip off easily. And with a good fit, they block out the world pretty darned well. I typically wear them about 2 hours per day on the weekdays, one hour at a time, to make my commute more musical, and I'm happy with them on those days. I've had a few longer trips where I've worn them around 4 hours at a time, and by that point, my ears need a break.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:50 PM on February 14, 2019

I'm a big fan of Sennheiser earbuds - I've had a few in the CX range. They get heavy use by me as earplugs-with-music: sound quality is good, they come with different sizes of rubber tips so they are comfortable, and they block extraneous noise very well.
posted by tectressa at 9:53 PM on February 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Seconding Sennheiser earbuds, I have the mid-range version (CX 5.00i) and they don’t fall off, and the sound quality is good enough to hear podcasts on noisy public transport.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:10 PM on February 14, 2019

Second the Panasonic. The pair where the tips attach are oval rather than circular, which makes it harder for the tips to come off.
posted by wym at 11:55 PM on February 14, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks all for the answers. Before posting I had been looking at the thinksound and 1MORE sets on Amazon, and in the end went with the thinksound ts03 which has a mic. And I got Comply tips, which I hadn’t heard of before. Tried them out this morning and I’m really happy - the sound is great and the medium Comply tips are super comfy and definitely stay put.
posted by valleys at 8:43 AM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]