Customer Ratings & Reviews

I recently purchased the Microsoft Surface True Wireless In-Ear Earbuds, and I must say that I was disappointed with their size. The earbuds themselves are surprisingly large and bulky, which makes them uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. They protrude noticeably from my ears, and the fit is not as secure as I had hoped for. Additionally, the larger size makes them less discreet and can be a hindrance during physical activities or while wearing hats or glasses. While the sound quality is decent, the bulky design is a major drawback for me.

I love them but man do they look weird on me! Great sounds and great for business calls. I use them daily

Before I begin this review I received this pair as part of the TIN review program. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. Let me say that this pair excels at almost everything I would look for in a pair of wireless earbuds, even the optional phone app is great. Battery life is excellent. I connected them for use in the evening and forgot to unpair them overnight once, and it still had plenty of power to take me to around noon. While not the quickest to charge, the case and buds do last quite long in my opinion. The only minor inconvenience is there is no external LED light to indicate charge. The flap must be opened up to see if it's blinking or not. Sound is excellent. I never had to comprise between great sounding music and bright clear audio for phone calls both come in great. The app offers a good amount of EQ presets with the ability to customize and save your own preset to really fine tune the experience. The swipe controls are responsive. In theory you swipe up and down for volume controls on the right bud and left, right on the left bud for track selection. This is rarely the case however because of the way you must twist and adjust the earbuds to properly fit your ear. Once you figure out the orientation (for me it was usually a diagonal swipe motion) I never had to fight with the controls to get what i want. Which brings me to the fit. The only downside in my experience was getting them to fit in the ear properly. This may be my own personal issue and will vary user to user, but it takes a few tries to get them to fit securely. Other buds I can just pop them in my ear no problem, but these require a more deliberate process. It recommends angling the tip downward then twisting up to "lock" them into place but it does take a few tries to get them snug enough to feel like they won't fall out. Add the fact that you sync the pair while inside the charging case before you take them out, I almost always inadvertently end up activating the virtual assistant while getting them to fit. Apps are always interrupted or music stopped when I have to take them off and on mid-use and for this I must remove one star. Once in, they are the most comfortable earbuds I have used. A good balance of not digging into my ear but secure enough to not worry about them falling out, even during running or other activities. Other than the time it takes to sit them properly (a few more seconds than normal), this is the ideal pair of earbuds. I will gladly deal with the methodical fitting process if I get the excellent sound with a less intrusive fit.

Contents: * Pair of Surface Earbuds * Charging/storage case * 3 sets of silicone earbuds (sizes S/M/L) * USB cable * Quick start/Manual, Safety and warranty documents All the contents was packed perfectly in a box. It had wordings inside such as “find your fit” and I think that touch makes it more exciting during the unboxing experience. My surface earbuds was shipped with some charge which allowed me to immediately start my setup and available update. After the setup, my earbuds are now able to connect automatically after I take them out the box and place them in my ear. I get a voice notification “connected” that lets me know it’s connected and ready for use. Comfort: Right out the box the surface earbuds was comfortable. I did not even need change to any of the included silicone ear tips but it’s good to have them just in case. They are very light and with the good grip I’m able to do a lot and not worry about them falling out of my ear because they are secured in my ear. To get the secure fit all I do is a little twist and I double check by doing a light pull on the surface earbuds. Visual Appeal: I like the look of the surface earbuds more out of my ear than in my ear because I think they are just a bit on the big side. It’s new so I think maybe I need to get used to them. Right now I keep thinking people might be wondering what are these big looking disks in my ear which can also be a cool thing. Audio Quality: They sound so good. I’m now hearing extra sounds from music I listened to. They make me want to play all my favorite songs over just to find out how much better the quality is. To get customized sounds I use the app which have different presets that I can also adjust and save my own presets. I like that I can hear great detail sounds it provides and I can also hear what’s around me. This is a safety feature to me because I like knowing what is happening around me. Touch control: -Left earbud (Swipe forward to skip the track or swipe back to go to previous track) (Double tap to pause or play) (Touch and hold for 2 seconds to activate SIRI) -Right earbud (Swipe down to lowering the volume or swipe up to turn up the volume) (Double tap to pause or play) (Double tap to answer or hang up your phone) (Touch and hold for 2 seconds to activate SIRI) All the gestures respond well to the touch and do what I intended. Battery Life: With only the initial charge I’m on day 4 and I think I have a few more hours left before a recharge. With the charging case serving as a storage and juice pack I don’t think I will have issues with them not being ready on the go. The charging case have led indicators to let you know about errors and when successfully completed an action on the charging case. Solid red= battery needs charge Flashing red= earbuds are not in the case correctly Flashing white= earbuds are placed in case correctly and charging Solid white= charged and connected to device Voice Controls: To activate voice assistant I can say “hey SIRI” or when I touch and hold any of the earbuds for about 2 seconds it activates my SIRI voice assistant. From there you can ask it questions or any other information you need. I can get the weather, make calls, play music and more. I’m really surprised on how well it works with the iPhone. Pros: -The surface earbuds have touch controls that allow me to do things without having on me but in Bluetooth range. -Sound quality is great and it allows me to hear a lot of details in what I’m listening like it was intended to by the artists. -Very good battery life. I used it lightly for 4 days and I was still on the same charge. -I’m able to leave the right earbud on to use SIRI and be on calls. Cons: -I would of love the surface earbuds more if they were smaller so they can be more discreet when I have them on. Only reason I’m not giving the Surface Earbuds a 5 star rating. Tip: *The first thing I recommend is to download the Surface Audio app because it walks you through the setup.* “Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.”

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.

At first glance I was surprised Microsoft released wireless earbuds. While the white gauge-looking earbuds are not my style, they are comfortable, the battery life is great, and have some nice features including touch sensitive controls. Even though the style of these earbuds might not be for everyone, you cannot just throw out everything else that is great about them. Microsoft included nice features; a USB C practical case for their storage that can charge them fully twice, comfortable ear tips for listening to music for hours at a time, the ability to change the volume, song you're listening to, or dictate voice commands with just a tap or swipe on the right earbud, and a nifty app for equalizer adjustment and battery information. Other than the things mentioned above, I would like to note a few other things after my time with the Surface wireless earbuds. I enjoyed the battery life they had and noticed only about a 6% drop in battery when listening to music for a little over an hour. Also, the sound produced from the earbuds was great; voices were clear, bass was not punchy though. All in all they were great sounding and to me their comfort helped when listening to my favorite songs. Now for the bad. After doing some exercise while they were on (they are waterproof having an IPX4, handling sweat well) and since they fit a little loose in my ear, I noticed I had to adjust the earbuds in my ear after a little while. Changing the eartip to a larger one did help although they were a tiny bit loose and still achieved the same results as before. Additionally, I tested how far of a distance I was able to go away from my phone using the earbuds without audio clipping. Both supporting Bluetooth 5.0, I was able to go about 40 feet from the source of music around my house before the sound started clipping. In the end, it is enough for when cleaning around the house without having your phone with you but I recommend keeping it in the same general area while you move around with the earbuds. The Surface wireless earbuds truly were nice and I can see myself using them daily. The only downsides for me are how they look and it's inability to stay in my ear with great movement. Overall I recommend them for those who like different looking headphones that bring cool features and great comfort. Note: I received the Microsoft Surface Earbuds via BestBuy because of my affiliation with their Tech Insider Network program and did not pay for them. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

NOTE: I’m reviewing the Surface Earbuds as part of the Tech Insider Network. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. This review was dictated using the Surface Earbuds – and then minimally corrected with my keyboard. ;) My favorite thing about these earbuds is their design, which is probably the most divisive thing about these. My wife does not find them attractive. Me? I love the look. They have a spartan appearance that’s modern, unique and like nothing else on the market. The fit and finish is lightweight and premium. I can’t say the same for their case: there’s a bit of wiggle on the lid of my unit, which makes me extra careful flipping it open considering how thin it is. There are a number of little things that bug me about the case – first, difficult to open; there are no divots for your fingers to easily pull out the buds and you have to stick your nails into the ridges around their edges, making it easy to drop them; and there's only one "right" way to put the buds back into the case but no clear indication how to do so. You just have to learn how to do it, and even after a week of using them exclusively I still put the Surface Earbuds improperly into their case one in every three times. But the buds themselves, despite being plastic, are beautiful. I love how well they’re machined; how good they feel in your hand, and how well they stay in my ears when lots of similarly designed out-of-canal sets fall out with minimal movement. A lot of hubbub has been made about the sound quality of these earbuds and its lack of active noise cancellation. I agree it’s a big omission, but genuinely feel the tradeoff here is legitimate. Microsoft wants these to be earbuds you wear all day for work, which is made possible by excellent battery life but most critically making them extremely comfortable to wear. No, they don’t block out sound by nestling into your ear canals, but every set of earbuds I’ve tried that does this has been painful to wear for longer than an hour or so. I LOVE wearing these. I really can walk around wearing these all day. The buds probably would dislodge with a good physical push or taking off your sweater around them, but with general movement and a good fit they don’t come out of your ears. My biggest complaint, actually, would be the lack of intelligent switching between your devices - to switch from your computer to your phone, say, you have to select the Buds from your Bluetooth menu of the device you want. Sometimes you even have to put the Earbuds back into the case and re-pair them. Hopefully this can be added in a firmware update. It's a small but ultimately huge convenience that would really elevate the seamlessness of use and that magic, futuristic feeling the Earbuds' marketing strives to convey, especially if you're going to be using them all day long in different contexts. The Earbuds have a full soundstage but overall skews toward a warmer vibe. Bass is very pleasant but doesn’t reach the lows in sealed-canal earbuds and there is distortion at the lowest end. The midtones are a bit muddled: it’s difficult to separate fine details when there are a lot of instruments playing at the same time. For hip-hop, easy listening and spoken-word content like podcasts or conference calls, these have excellent clarity. In other words, if you’re looking at this for a true immersive music experience, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking for everyday true wireless earbuds that look and feel great, with excellent battery life, I would recommend these. I'm personally going to be using these as my daily driver from here on out.

Note: I received these earbuds as part of the TIN review program. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. First, I want to say that the earbuds right out of the box were packaged well and ready to use within a few minutes. Sound: The acoustics are great with a rich sound. If you want earbuds where you can hear everything around you, but still hear what is coming through the earbuds, this is the pair for you. They have a good sound for music and great clarity for phone calls. So a good balance for people who use both features. Look: I think for most people these are either a love or hate. They have a very distinctive look that is not subtle. If you like the fashion statement of having white disks in your ears, then these are great. For me, I was not sure at first, but they are growing on me and I like them better the more I wear them. Fit: I had some challenges when getting the earbuds to fit in my ears. I am sure this is very personal and many people will not have this problem. The fit is a little strange for me, but is not uncomfortable. The earbuds are secure in my ears, but they have a little wobble to them which makes me feel like they are going to fall out. However, they are secure. I am sure I can get used to the fit over time. Features: The earbuds have controls on the earbuds to swipe for volume and to select the tract. These features are very responsive and work well. Overall, are a good set of earbuds. The style is very distinctive and if they appeal to you, you can't go wrong.

First when these earbuds came out, I was really excited to have them and to try them. As soon as seeing the first few commercials, I was down a bit with the look on people ears/heads. And that's true. If you can ignore that, you will indeed enjoy them and love them! It took the people around me about 3 days to stop noticing them. The ugly look is actually because of some nice features (for some users) included with these earbuds. You can easily manage a lot of options by just swiping on the exterior circle (which is big). Volume up, volume down, skip and rewind are very easy to manage. Answering calls, rejecting calls is also very simple and manageable. I tried the speech to text feature and it is really amazing. I believe Microsoft achieved that by some multi-microphones patterns. People I spoke with on the phone (or VoIP) using those earbuds said that the voice quality is amazing. Which is completely true by the way... Not only Microphones! Listening to music using them is a completely new experience. You really feel that the music is really loud and coming from your surrounding and not from your ears (as most earbuds do). Use them together for better listening experience. Some might complain about noise cancellation not being available! I believe Microsoft had in mind to keep you aware about your surrounding when using them. You can clearly see some channels through them to allow you to hear the exterior around you. Battery life is amazing. It took about 30 min to fully charge. Used them for almost 3 days without charging their case. It says they are for Android and Windows. They also work with iOS. You will not have the software to manage the equalizer on iOS or to get updates but they pair just fine as any Bluetooth device. All common shortcuts work as well. I'd recommend it to people looking for beyond real experience. They are comfy, clear sound, light weight, long lasting battery life and nice features. I was sent these earbuds as early release to test and review. "Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews". Honestly, if not for the not so much look (for my taste), they are just amazing.

I own a small variety of true-wireless earbuds, and I was excited to try Microsoft's newest offering into the mix. The earbuds have an unmistakable style that you'll probably either love or hate. I personally kind of like it. The material for both the case and earbuds feels premium, with that almost-transparent-white finish that's indicative of high-end electronics. They're hands down the most comfortable earbuds I've ever had in my ears. The fit is just fantastic, and they're not lighter than my other earbuds, but they ~feel~ lighter. I can barely tell that they're there. Working around the house I had no problems with them staying in, but I don't know if I'd trust them to do so while running. The earbuds can be controlled by taps and gestures on the buds themselves. This works about as well as most similar devices, with the buds frequently misreading what you're attempting to do or taking multiple tries to register. It works well enough that it doesn't ever get frustrating, and that's about all you can expect from tiny touchpads on your ears. The setup process was simple, or it should have been. The instructions quite clearly lay out the process, which was a breeze on my iPhone until I got to the end, where it advises you to download the app. That should have been Step 1. The app attempted to "find" the earbuds, and was unable to, and put itself into an infinite loop of telling me to try again. Ultimately, I had to force close the app, and then have my phone forget the earbuds, and then connect them when prompted to by the app. Worked fine after that, but again, should have been step one in the process. Maybe the Android app is more forgiving, here. But honestly, you can skip the app. It offers little that's of any use. I was looking for a way to adjust the sound, but no audio settings can be changed whatsoever. No noise cancellation, no passthrough settings, and no equalizer in sight. Battery life is average, I went about 8 hours on a full charge. The case carries enough power to charge the buds about 2 more times. The sound quality is good. I'm sure it's some sound engineer's definition of fantastic. It hits bass notes with a moderate punch and maintains clarity on a complete range of highs and lows. I don't have any particular complaints, it just doesn't impress much. And that, along with a lack of features, isn't enough to justify the price point against the other options out there, in my opinion. Microsoft does claim that these earbuds have some interesting features where Office apps are concerned, such as being able to have what you’re saying be translated into one of 60+ languages. These features require an Office 365 subscription, and so I was unable to test. If you're think you might use these for doing presentations at work, then you may find enough appeal here alone to justify the price tag. Bottom line: If you want earbuds that sound good without any input from you, and feel great in your ears, I don't think that you can really go wrong here, but If you like to tweak things to get your music sounding just right, you're going to want to look elsewhere. This review was created by a Tech Insider. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

Earbuds won’t stay connected to my surface pro! Trouble reconnecting to the PC. Customer service not helpful.

I got these to pair with my Surface Book 3 and my Android phone. SETUP The setup was a breeze. I used the Surface App on my Android phone and it walked me through pairing and updating. Once complete, I tried streaming music and movies. While my Android phone has no trouble with the earbuds, my Surface Book 3 has some audio problems. Music streaming and Netflix work as expected, but sites like Vimeo and YouTube seem to have audio stuttering issues for whatever reason. This happens when I am sitting close to the computer, not walking around the room and have a stable high speed WiFi connection. I am hoping that Microsoft is aware of these issues and there is a firmware update already in the works. FUNCTION With the Surface App installed on my Android phone, there is complete control over all of the earbuds settings. The app shows the battery level of each earbud separately on its home screen. Updating is also easy to check and perform through the app settings. The case is nicely designed. It is small and it doubles as a charger, keeping you ready for use at all times. I have found the battery life to be more than enough for my uses when considering the case charges them for you when not in use. The swipe and tap features are all excellent and do exactly what they are supposed to do when listening to music, or taking calls. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality is what you would expect from a very small set of earbuds. While you will not be getting extreme HiFi quality out of any consumer pair of earbuds (due to the tiny driver size), these serve their purpose. The Bass response is good when using the five band EQ in the app, but will introduce some distortion if cranked too high depending on the genre of music you are listening to. All in all, the EQ will tailor the sound to your preference quite effectively. The volume level is also on par with what earbuds will provide. Not too loud, but just right. COMFORT If you plan on wearing any earbud type headphones for an extended period of time, get ready for some ear fatigue. These come with three different sizes of tips to customize the fit to your ears. I settled on the smallest size and even then, I can start to feel the pressure after about 30 minutes of use. Luckily that is about as long as I ever wear them anyway. A video here, a call there, and you should be fine. Just don’t try having a movie marathon. The earbuds do stay in quite well once you choose the correct size tips, so running and working out should be no problem at all. With the flat design, there is nothing sticking out from the side of your head, so that is another bonus considering they will not get snagged on anything. On the flip side, they are a tad difficult to remove from the case because they are so flat. CONCLUSION These are small, light, and very easy to toss into your pocket, backpack, or purse. They work well for phone calls and they have a different look than most other earbuds on the market today. Different is good! If you want extreme bass response and more volume, go for the over-the-ear Surface Headphones 2. If you want something small for occasional use and phone calls, these are a welcome addition to your mobile kit. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

I am a member of Best Buy’s Technical Insider Network, TIN for short. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. I am one of the many office workers who find myself working from home during these unprecedented times. I use video conferencing software, like many of you, to stay in touch with my colleagues. Normally, I use either my Plantronics wireless headset or one of my gaming wired headsets. They are both heavy, bulky, and simulate Princess Leia hair buns on screen. I was excited when TIN asked me to review the Microsoft Surface Earbuds. I own other wireless earbuds from different manufactures, but none were made for an office setting. Hence, the microphones in these earbuds are not very good. However, the Surface Earbuds were made for the office! Let’s start with Pros and Cons. Pros: - Clear vocals from all audio sources - Quality microphones - Simple touch controls - Charging Case charges earbuds between uses. - Easy Bluetooth setup. - Multiple sized tips to fit multiple ear sizes. - Secure fit in ear. Will not fall out during use. - USB-B to USB-C charging cable. The case has the USB-C connector. - Surface Earbud app allows EQ and other useful capabilities. - Easy access to digital assistant for Cortana and Siri. Note: I do not own any Android devices. Cons: - Uncomfortable after an hour of use. - Can be difficult to auto reconnect between multiple devices. - MS Office integration mysteriously missing First, I want to focus on the positive. Sound quality on the Microsoft Surface Earbuds are great. Audio through my laptop and iPhone were crystal clear. I asked for direct feedback from those on my conference calls. Their comments were very positive. One person I spoke with spends his free time in a broadcast studio doing podcasts. He said that it was about time I put a diffuser on my microphone. He was referring to my Plantronics headset. He had no idea I had changed over to the Surface Earbuds. A friend of mine, who I called on my iPhone, stated that my voice sounds deeper than normal. Otherwise I was clear. The Surface Earbuds microphone is centered in the earpiece and positioned to rest against the inside of your ear. This has the extra benefit of cutting down on wind noise and the transmission of ambient office noise. I normally listen to music between phone calls and meetings. My go to headset is Sennheiser headphones. I have zero expectations that the Surface Earbuds can keep up with the Sennheiser’s. The benefit of using the earbuds is that I do not need to switch out headsets if someone calls my cell, office phone, or Skype. I have to say that I was surprised at how good the Surface Earbuds sounded. I played a number of selections ranging from Vivaldi’s double concertos, Lindsay Sterling’s “Artemis”, Sturgill Simpson’s “Sound & Fury”, and Meghan Trainor’s “Title”. I was expecting the music to be constrained and bottled up. Instead, it was surprising clear and concise. Granted, the bass will not rock your world like dedicated headphones will. Good enough for an office setting. However, since the earbuds do not cover your ear canal, any outside sounds will equally compete with what you are listening too. I heard road noise from cars passing by, chirping birds, and my family’s conversations while I was trying to listen to music. Then again, I know that I can walk down the street or through an office setting able to fully interact with my environment without having to remove the earbuds. You will have to decide for yourself if the trade off has any benefits to you. Let’s revisit bass. The default EQ for these earbuds is flat EQ. You can adjust the EQ to your liking through the Surface Audio app available for download for Windows 10, iOS, and Android. The EQ has multiple presents including Classical, POP, and Rock. You can also manual adjust the EQ to best suite your desired experience. For example, the first track on the album “Artemis,” starts with a high-pitched electric violin that slowly merges with a deeper rhythm track. The default “Flat” EQ is anemic for this piece. I solved the problem by adjust the EQ in the Surface App from “Flat” to “Pop”. The adjustment helped the earbuds deliver a much deeper and richer experience. The ear bud touch controls work for both Windows and iOS. (I do not own an Android device.) A lite touch swiping up or down on the right earbud increases and lowers volume. Forward and back swipes on the left earbud allows you to switch music tracks. Double tap on the right earbud invokes the digital assistant for the device you are connected too. Microsoft reports that there is touch integration with Office 365. Unfortunately, Microsoft Surface controls for my version of Office, Office 365 Family, was not available. There is one Office feature that does not require a Surface product to successfully operate, dictation. Dictation mode in MS Word can be done with any microphone. Testing with the Surface Earbuds was quick and accurate as long as I ignored punctuation. I have zero experience verbally inserting punctuation into my speech. There are multiple reasons why someone would want to take the time to train themselves to use this feature. Someone who is disabled or lack touch typing capabilities may be two such use cases. If you fall into this category, then you can find the verbal punctuation commands for MS Word and PowerPoint on Microsoft’s product support page. Just do a Bing search in your favorite browser. There is one issue with these earbuds that really impacted my experience. I found them very uncomfortable to wear. They became painful to my ear after an hour of normal listening. Less time if I engaged in any activity that caused movement within my ear such as talking, chewing, yawning, or adjusting my jaw for any reason. The earbuds come with three different size silicon tips: large, medium, and small. I chose the small tips because I have small ears. Unfortunately, due the size of my ear, the earbuds put a significant amount of pressure on the surrounding cartilage. The earbuds became less comfortable the longer I wore them. I did play around with the positioning of the earbuds in my ear. All I managed to do was find positions that allowed me to wear them for an extra 30 minutes before I had to take them out. In conclusion, the Surface Earbuds offer a premium experience. They will not fall out of your ears if used as directed. Sounds are clear and concise. The microphones do an excellent job of picking up your voice. And the touch controls worked without any issues. The Surface Audio app serves to add that little bit of extra value that really make these stand out from other earbuds on the market. I do appreciate the fact that I do not have to jam these earbuds into my ear canal like other earbuds. I do find value in being able to hear what is happening around me in an office or public situation. Finally, if you have small ears then you will have to judge for yourself if the Surface Earbuds will meet your needs. This one issue disappoints me the most because I really wanted these to work. However, my experience dictates that I can only use these for short periods of time. I would recommend these earbuds to a friend. But only friends with ears larger than mine. Thank you for reading this review. I hope you found it helpful.

I’ve wanted to upgrade for a while now as my 3 year old failing headphones weren’t working right. So I wanted to try something new and I decided to go with these Microsoft surface earbuds. I have to say that I didn’t think I would like the design looking at the stock photos online but in person and in my ear, they are actually very nice and they look cool. I’m sure they were design to make the touch controls work better. The touch controls work very well. Easy and intuitive. But sometimes I do accidentally trigger Siri while playing music.i listen to a lot of music so that’s a minor inconvenience. But I’ll adjust I’m sure part of it Is human error as well. The case is what you would expect Nowadays. sleek and functional. I Do like the size. Not too small, not too big. Sound quality out the box needs adjusting. The highs are too sharp for me, the bass needs a little kick. But the mid range/vocals are great. Very clear and rich. These earbuds do come with an app to tweak the EQ to your liking and after I made the adjustments. These sound great. Very balanced and clear.a nice added feature as my old earbuds didn’t have an EQ! Bluetooth range seems fine but I live in a 1k sq foot apt. And I keep my promise home on me every where I go. The battery life is great as I didn’t have to charge for 3 days with scattered use. Type C connector charges fast. My only real gripe while minor to me might be a bigger deal to others, is the ear tips. They do not sit perfectly in my ear canal even after switching to the large tips. I have to kind of push them in. But once I do they don’t fall out. I’m a very active person. Not the end of the world for me. But something to note! I still recommend for sure. Overall a very good set of truly wireless earbuds. Please note:Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. Thoughts and opinions are of my own. Good luck and happy shopping.

Quick disclaimer: Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. I’m a bit of a softy when it comes to presentation. I love how Microsoft has made these effortless to get working out of the box. The packaging is clean and very well put together. Three sets of rubber tips are provided with the medium sized tips pre-installed and the small and large tips sealed in resealable packaging. You can gain access to an app to help you find the right tips to use with the QR code in the instruction booklet. Fortunately for me the tips that were pre-installed worked right off the bat and it wasn’t necessary. However, that was largely in part due to being greeted by an assistant that was giving me audio direction to go with the visual direction I was getting on my Surface Book 3. A quick walk through and a reminder that there are controls to use with Office 365 and I was ready to go. You can advance or go back a song with a forward or backward swipe respectively on the left earbud with volume controls on the right with up/down swipes. I initially had difficulty with the controls. It does require a delicate touch that I’m not sure I could pull off without having one fall out of my ear if I was on the move. I would prefer being able to do so with only one or both earbuds. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option with these. I can’t say that these are going to be the perfect set for all uses. I think these are just right for having at my desk where I can take calls, listen to whatever is playing on my laptop, and potentially use with Office (I still need to explore this). I’m pleasantly surprised with the sound quality and how they feel resting in my ears. They are super light and you really sort of forget they are even there after a while. But I can’t say I’d be comfortable working out with them. Walking around the house or at the office? Perfect. Trying to get a few miles in with these? Nah. And that’s just fine. Sitting right at my desk waiting for me to come sit down and get to work with them comfortably in my ears is exactly where I would want these. I think these are an excellent fit for that niche. These earbuds are a solid first attempt by Microsoft and I suspect these will only get better with future iterations.

I received these earbuds to test and review as part of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program, and did not pay for them. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. Out of the box, the charging case is a nice shape and material, and feels sturdy. These come with a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging. The earbuds themselves look a little weird, since they look like discs with flat white surfaces. The flat surface is for the touch gestures you can do. This is a unique benefit if you want to utilize these earbuds fully. Some simple gestures are to turn the volume up and down, and another is to activate Cortana, the digital assistant. I have not experienced Cortana before, but I was really impressed with it. I plugged in and charged my earbuds up and couldn’t wait to check them out. Connecting these to my Surface Pro was easy, and Cortana prompted me to do what I needed to do. I put these in my ears and have concluded that they are a little big for my ears. I put on the smallest ear tips, but the actual earbud is a certain size, so I can’t do much about that, so I’m not subtracting a star for that. Changing the ear tips is easy. If you are not sure which one would be more comfortable, it’s easy to change between all of them. You put the earbud in your ear and twist until it is secure. I don’t get that secure feeling much, but most people will be fine with these, size-wise. The flat disc part measures 1”/ 2.5 cm in diameter. For a Microsoft Office user these are a great tool. You can look up online all of the touch gestures you can use for your documents and slideshows. The instructions that come in the box are brief, but there’s plenty of information online. The sound for these is really great also. I downloaded the Surface Audio app, which you can adjust the audio settings. There is a lot of information in this app, so I highly recommend downloading it. When using these earbuds, I noticed that I can take one out and the music doesn’t stop, which I like. Overall, I recommend these for people who don’t have tiny ears. They have so many features, and the audio is really noticeably better than other earbuds I have.

Love the look and the sound. Easy to carry and wear around all day. I would recommend. Pros - Good sound quality and volume. I was impressed with the balance and solid bass. - Good battery life - easily last 3-4 days before the case started saying it needed to be plugged in. - Easy pairing with voice prompts. - Good Bluetooth reception - I was able to leave my phone on my desk and walk about 20ft away before I started getting interference. - Long USB C charging cable - I hate the super short cables some headphones come with and USB C is a lot easier to plug in. - Compact charging case - easily fits in your pocket. - Clean design - clean white with smooth glass like covers give a premium feel. - Comfortable w/multiple ear insert sizes included. Things to Consider - You have to supply your own USB charger (typical). - Splash proof not waterproof. - Fit depends on your ear - worked great for me and multiple sizes are included, but there is some risk there. - Controls are touch sensitive and some commands didn’t work consistently. I had no issue tapping to pause/play/answer or hold for voice assistant, but swiping for volume and track selection didn’t work every time. - Pairing requires pushing a button on the bottom of the case. I received this product as part of the Tech Insider Network Program - Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews.

So I got these and was under the impression that not having noise cancellation would be the biggest downside to owning them. I quickly learned otherwise since I can hear my music (which sounds crystal clear btw), and don't have to take them off to talk to someone if I wanted to converse with them. We are currently under quarantine so since I haven't traveled as much as usual so that may seem beneficial now since I do have to interact with the people closest to me, but it's great to just be able to communicate without doing that motion of putting your hand to your ear to remove a bud each time you want to talk with someone. Also they are probably the most comfortable earbuds I ever worn and often times I forget that they are in my ear (both good and bad since I almost took a shower with them twice but definitely more good). Now to be fair the only comparisons I have are to my Galaxy Buds, and Airpods but these have quickly become my new fav's. If I had to force a negative is that I do wish they had the ability to customize the controls because if you are only wearing one of them (which I do tend to do to answer a quick call sometimes) I end up leaving the singular one in my ear but due to that I end up missing out on some of my controls but thats to minor of an inconvenience to knock down a star.

The best earbuds that are made. I had the new BEATS earbuds before and these blow them out of the water. Some basic stuff that these can do that people are looking for is: -They work independently of each other. You can use one while the other is charging (keep in mind if you do use the touch control they are set to that specific earbud and cant be changed. not a big deal for me at all). -The battery charge is really great on these. I use them for work as my headphones, zoom calls, headset for answering phones. They last me 7 hours before i charge them but i don't run them all the way down. I take them out around 20% and then switch from the graphite to the glacier version or vice vera. -If you have touch enabled you can use these to answer call on your laptop but so far it has only work for doing that for me in MS TEAMS. haven't tried any others so cant vouch otherwise. -They work especially well if you have a microsoft Surface as your work/PC laptop. But they also work very well with my phone (surface duo 2) and my wifes (iphone 11 pro). Obviously they are a bit better on surface devices as you can use the SURFACE app to better control them. -They also charge very quickly after running down. Mine go from 20% to 100% in less then 30 minutes. -I don't use the touch much other then to answer TEAMS calls and control the volume but once you get used to the controls it becomes easy. -Now to the most underrated but best part of these earbuds is the fit. Once you learn how to insert them in your ear they stay there extremally well and are so much more comfy then anything else I how found. This is because they DO NOT go into your ear canal like apple earbuds or BEATS earbuds or other version. They just sit into your ear without going into the canal so it does not end up hurting your ears like other brands. Like i said before i can out these in and wear them for 7 hours and basically forget they are there or never be bothered by them until you need to charge them again. The 3 sizes they come with work! My ears are weird i guess cause i use a large on the left and a medium on the right. To get them to sit right it is easy. Pull your earlobe down a bit with the speaker part of the earbud turned down while you put them in your ear. Then just turn the earbud while you are holding your earlobe and it will slid right into place and you can let your earbud go and they will stay very well. -So these ARE NOT noise cancelling in anyway. so if that is what you are looking for then pick a different brand. But they are very good at cutting of most external sound and they sound fantastic! You will have some ambient sound with these and the bass is a little lower then some brands but the sound is clear and wonderful sounding.

I got these earphones for free when I purchased the new Surface laptop 4. I was surprised when I received them LOL but it was a nice surprise. I’m normally an Apple person but my Apple headphones haven’t been connecting so I was excited to get these and try them out. Overall, I like them. They sound great, have decent base, Siri works and everything. My only issue is the right earphone doesn’t want to stay in my ear and falls out every now and then. I’ve tried all sizes that it comes with (small, medium, and large) and medium seems to fit best but still not very sturdy in my ear. The left one on the other hand won’t budge even if I’m head banging so at least I’ll have that one! Can’t wait to use the crap out of these things with my new laptop!