PineBuds Pro Review
My previous ear buds were given to me by a friend. I don’t really like the ewaste that these headphones create because what do I do with them after the battery stops working? After using a set for a year, I found that I really enjoyed having wireless earbuds. Unfortunatley, one day my ear buds fell out of my ears and got run over by a car. I suffered through using them for a good while after that but they were not as reliable as before. Surprising eh?
When I heard that Pine64 was making the PineBuds Pro, I was very interested. I do not like giving my money to any of the big tech companies and most of my tech is passed down to me second-hand. I already own a Pinephone. It’s a fun toy but not a daily driver. I also own a Pinetime. This is something simple and it gets the job done. I got my wife to buy me PineBuds Pro for Christmas.
I have been using these ear buds for over a month on a daily basis. They are pretty neat!
Positives!
- Did not have to support a big tech company I hate like Samsung, or Sony
- Supporting a Linux First company
- Solid build quality
- Case slides open nicely
- No data sent to Big Tech
Negatives!
- The ‘button tapping’ on the ear buds is finicky. Sometimes you just have to put the ear buds back in the case, to ‘reset them’ and try again. The worst is when you are tyring to get Active Noise Cancellation mode. You need to tap it 3 times. Sometimes it thinks you tapped only once, so it increases the volume. Sometimes, it thinks you only tapped it 2 times, and that stops the music.
- Bulky! They stick out of your ear a lot. They are very ’tall’.
- Hard to get out of the case. I am a big guy with big fingers and it’s hard to pry them out of the case for me. I have to pinch them out and sometimes they slip out of my fingers.
- Big case. It’s a big rectangular prism that does not sit nicely in your pocket. I wish it was slimmer.
- Awkward name. PineBuds Pro, with the plural in the middle, feels strange to me.
Other Notes
- Sound quality is good. I have another set of bluetooth ear buds that doesn’t have ANC but these are far superior.
- Connect very quickly to my phone.
- There is a soothing English voice that tells you when your ear buds are connected.
Conclusion
I am very happy with them after using them daily. I am happy to support Pine64 rather than a big tech company. I can live with the minor quirks. I understand that a new product won’t be a sleek, or small as the big tech. Does that mean you should buy them? If you want. Remember to wait until your current ear buds are broken to cut down on e-waste.