Buying the Pixel Buds Pro was decided from the start, and its release was completely expected. Because the first-gen and second-gen Pixel Buds had no noise cancelling and mediocre battery life, they looked like half-finished products in every way. So I bought the Pixel Buds Pro not long after it came out. Worth mentioning: I bought it through Wellbot, and it was actually $50 off at launch — a pretty big discount. My expectations for the Pixel Buds Pro were simple: the noise cancelling just had to work, and it must not do what the previous Pixel Buds did, where one ear’s battery suddenly died. When it arrived, the box was smaller too — no idea if that’s to go along with the so-called “environmental friendliness.”

This isn’t the Pixel Buds 2 that I broke by messing around with it, so I figured I’d find a replacement. The requirements were pretty simple: Supports wireless charging. I can’t stand plugging in a cable every time — it’s just not elegant. Long battery life, and sound quality that’s acceptable. Native Fast Pair support. The more native the better. So I set my sights on the very lifestyle-y Nothing Ear 1. It had just launched in black, so I found a Macau proxy buyer on eBay and got a brand new one. Not expensive, and it had everything I wanted.

Bought these at the end of last year, when Amazon Global had them on sale for a little over 1200 — the lowest price they’d ever hit, and way cheaper than buying domestically. I already had a long-serving ER4P, but I still went for these. The biggest reason: the detachable cable. I’m always worried the cable on my ER4P will give out, and as the upgraded model, the ER4SR’s replaceable-cable design is obviously a lot safer. Surprisingly, the overseas order didn’t get hit with customs, and it arrived safe and sound. The only downside was the long wait for shipping from the US.

The reason I picked these up is pretty simple: I wanted a pair of TWS earbuds I could use at work. I’d been using over-ear headphones before, but they felt way too conspicuous. I didn’t like being noticed all the time, so I figured I’d get something a bit more low-key. Requirements: Type-C charging port Long battery life Sound that’s good enough Latency as low as possible The higher the quality of the supported codec, the better The cheaper the better I happened to see QCY was taking pre-orders for a new model, the T10, with a bunch of random new features. It basically fit the bill, so I got on board. Price was 120 yuan with free shipping, so I hopped on.

Why did I even buy this thing… probably because I had such a good time with my last-gen Pixel Buds. I was actually pretty happy with the Pixel Buds, except the fit was beyond words. That dangling cord was just stupid. I mostly wore them running, and that damn cord kept swinging around, teaching me what “occlusion effect” really means. Now the Google Pixel Buds 2 finally exist, and the stupid cord is gone. But this thing Google built to pair with Pixel phones and fight Apple’s AirPods is still as unreliable as ever: No AptX support Only white at launch Various problems and complaints shortly after release But Google products are American-made after all, and plenty of American tech media started hyping it from day one, the same way they hype the Pixel line. If it’s Google, it can’t be too bad. And after the hype, they go home and keep using their iPhones…

After buying FiiO’s Bluetooth over-ear headphones last time and liking them, I’ve finally started buying FiiO earphones too. The reason I bought this was purely my hands acting on their own. By the time I came to my senses, the order was already placed. Of course, the main factor in that impulse was the discount being too big to resist. The first-batch preorder was 30 yuan cheaper, with six interest-free installments, plus a free cable if you posted a review. Basically 100 yuan off. The earphones arrived pretty fast, and unboxing them was full of that typical FiiO “pile on the extras” vibe. It came with a bunch of accessories — a case, a pouch, everything you’d expect. But what we care about is the earphones themselves. As a certified fat otaku, purple was the obvious choice.

I originally planned to write a 2019 eroge roundup, but my beloved Duan-ye nagged me on social media to post a shopping writeup, so that one gets pushed back. Honestly I like writing shopping posts too. They’re fast, simple, low-effort, and they still count as a post. Who wouldn’t? Esoteric audio stuff especially — you can bullshit freely with zero accountability, and apparently there are idiots who enjoy reading it. Perfect time for one, no? This time it’s about: the FiiO EH3 NC over-ear Bluetooth wireless headphones.

Ever since I bought the “Noise Cancelling Beans”, I’ve been using them almost every day. Honestly, I’m happy with them. Happy to what degree? Let’s put it this way: I’m even thinking about selling off all my audiophile-mysticism gear, because these are just too convenient. The Beans sound good enough, the battery lasts long enough, and there aren’t many connection dropouts. Apart from a little video latency, they’re more than enough for just listening to music. But a few days ago the Beans pushed out a 2.0 firmware update, said to further improve stability, so I figured I’d just upgrade.

A while back Slickdeals pushed a deal — Sony’s noise canceling earbuds on eBay for just $69.9… Couldn’t resist. Bought one, and picked up two more for a coworker and Jipiss. In the end it arrived with no customs fee, but it was overweight, so shipping cost 10 extra yuan — which I magnanimously passed on to Jipiss and made him pay.

I know the manufacturer Songri (Matsunichi) — back in school I was really into Pocket PCs, and there was a company with that name at the time, they made Pocket PCs. The specs were nothing special but the price was cheap, so it stuck with me. I never actually bought anything from them in the end. Years later, the next time I hear the name, it’s these pack-in earbuds.