Disclaimer: I am affiliated with the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program and I received the Surface Earbuds from Best Buy for the purpose of writing an honest, unbiased review.
I was slow to the Bluetooth world, the early clip-ons for handsfree calling just didn’t do it for me. Poor sound quality. Difficulty in pairing. Specialized charging. All this changed for me with the introduction of the Apple Airpods and I have never looked back to wired headphones since late 2016. With Microsoft coming this late to the party (2020), I was interested in finding out if the Surface Earbuds were a flop like the Microsoft Zune MP3 Player put out to compete with the iPod, or if it was a success like the Microsoft Surface computer line.
I have listed out detailed pros and cons below as well as a direct comparison to the Airpods to help you with the features, but I will start with some general comments. First of all, NOT a flop. Microsoft did NOT copy the features of other products but headed out in their own direction. That leaves you with choice which is always a good thing. None of the ‘cons’ were deal breakers for me. The Earbuds work well. Whether they are for you, is going to be a matter of personal preferences.
Three things are likely to be polarizing:
1) The fit is ‘different.’ I had to read the instructions to figure out how to put them in so that they would not fall out (pointed down, insert, then twist 90 degrees). There are three choices of ear inserts to customize for your ear. But they are easy to dislodge. I didn’t like the fit for that reason. On the plus side, they were comfortable when they weren’t falling out.
2) The appearance is ‘different.’ Check out the picture. You are either going to think they are chic or ugly. To be honest, I don’t really care how they look. I buy my tech for how it works not how it looks. No one has pointed and laughed yet. But I know some care.
3) The overall sound is ‘moderate.’ The open ear design means no noise cancellation and people can hear you. In a quiet environment they sound good, but no base.
There are some features everyone will love. Great battery life*. Easy gestures. Well integrated in MS Office (if that’s your thing). They come with a decent App (Android and IOS) that does allow for some customization, including an equalizer. I grew up with equalizers (analog) and miss them in the digital world. Love that in the App.
* One interesting caveat on battery life. The right earbud drains significantly faster than the left one. Perhaps this is because the left Earbud is slaved to the right. For maximum battery life while listening after 6 hours I had to put the right Earbud in the case.
So who are these made for? They seem to be best suited for an office environment where you want to optimize for comfort (open ear design) at the expense of a tight fit or even best sound. Clearly better for people in the Microsoft world versus the Apple world. People who want the longest charge outside of case possible (trans Atlantic flights?). People that live in Microsoft Office.
Why three stars and not five?
- Value. I thought for the feature set/performance they were a bit expensive.
- Design. I had to down grade for me due to fit (might be better for you). Also thought the case was blah. And don’t like the lack of wireless charging (at this price).
I WOULD recommend to a friend they consider them as long as they know the caveats.
Here are some specifics.
Pros:
- Battery life. Battery life. Battery life. 8 hours play time out of case (for the left ear). 24 total with charging.
- Equalizer control in Surface App. Really good.
- Bluetooth. No obvious lag. Good range.
- Good touch gestures with large surface for controlling in ear. Very easy.
- Good microphones for phone calls or voice dictation in Office. Sound seems optimized for voice.
- Integrates well with MS Office.
Cons:
- No Wireless charging. USB C only.
- Only pairs with one device at a time outside of Surface environment (no switching between phone and computer seamlessly)
-No ear sensors for pause when you take them out. They will play on for 10 minutes before turning off when you remove them
- Volume seems low.
- No noise cancellation, active or passive. Open ear design.
Your Mileage May Vary:
- Sound. Open ear design results in weak base, and to my ears they sounded a bit tinny out of the box, but I could compensate with the equalizer. Decent sound, doesn’t stand out one way or the other.
- Fit. For me very comfortable for long periods of times (better than most). But came out easily. So not going jogging with them.
- Appearance. Like wearing white quarters on your ears. Matter of taste.
- Case. Coffin shaped. Hard edges. For me, not the best feel in the pocket as compared to other cases. Slightly hard for me to get buds out of case.
- Privacy concerns. They collect a lot of information in the Surface App about your listening habits/devices. Not sure why Microsoft needs this. May not concern you.
- For the feature set at $200 I would not call these competitively priced, i.e. not the best value.
Versus Apple Airpods:
Let’s face it Microsoft is late to the party and the comparison to Airpods is inevitable. I’ve been using Airpods since 2016 so the following is 100% opinion on what I prefer. Your mileage will vary (see above). Straight out of the box, to me the Airpod Pros have a slight edge in sound. Very slight. But the App equalizer gives you more option, so I might give the nod to the Earbuds. And the Surface Earbuds are slightly more comfortable over long times. I definitely like the longer in-ear battery life in the Surface Earbuds. And the touch gestures are easier in the Surface Earbuds. But they lack voice control which I enjoy with the Airpods. I prefer the rounded and thinner Airpods case in my pocket. It’s pretty much a toss-up on phone call quality. They do work well with MS Office. The Bluetooth pairing is not as seemless as the Airpods, but is stable once paired. So in the end, the Airpods remain my go to for out and about and I am likely to just leave my Earbuds paired to my computer at work. The right tool for the right job I like to say.