Around the days of Lockdown, I ordered a pair of ear buds — probably so that I could rock out while in the dining room with Margaret without distracting or annoying her (I had to find different ways to annoy her). They worked all right. They were better and lasted longer than I expected, but their battery life got shorter and shorter, and a few months ago they quit altogether.
So I poked around and decided to give the JLab Go Sport+ buds a try. I was very pleased by the ear hooks — these buds might get restless, but those hooks would keep them in place come hell or high water (given my neighbourhood’s flood risk and this summer’s multiple heat waves, I have to consider both alternatives). The sound was meh, but I wanted them mostly as a stopgap between places I could comfortably wear real headphones or play through open speakers. I’d have continued wearing them with mild satisfaction except that one of the buds stopped charging. I’m not certain whether the fault involves the bud or the charging case, but either way I got tired of listening in mono. (I’d submit them for warranty replacement, but the shipping charges, to and from, will amount to more than the cost of replacing them; Cory Doctorow has a word for that).
Once again conducting online investigation, I noticed some JLab users suggesting the Anker/Soundcore p30i buds as an alternative. I ordered a pair, and they sound much better than the JLabs. They don’t have ear hooks, which circumstance makes me apprehensive, but they’re inexpensive enough that I’m willing to take the risk. I haven’t tested the noise-cancelling setting under demanding conditions, but for that price I’m content if it doesn’t make matters worse. I switched to the small earplugs, listened for a while, napped yesterday afternoon with them in, ran with them yesterday and today, and although they are less secure than ear-hooked buds, I can live with wearing them cautiously. So far, so worthwhile.