Over the last several years, earbuds have become a whole lot smarter. As a result, the market for hearable technology projects to be worth upwards of $40 billion by the year 2020 according to analysts.

To the average consumer, Apple’s Airpods are likely the first product that comes to mind when discussing the subject of smart wireless earbuds. However, though Airpods are a well-designed product with impressive battery life, they lack many of the features and functionalities that currently define a truly intelligent hearing device. When it comes to truly wireless earbuds that offer a fully immersive, augmented hearing experience, Nuheara’s IQbudsTM and Doppler Labs’ Here One earbuds are in a class by themselves.

Earlier this week, omni-channel digital executive Milton Santiago reviewed both IQbudsTM and Here One side-by-side on his YouTube channel, EBPMAN. Mr. Santiago attended CES this year as a YouTube influencer, and spoke during a panel discussion on the IoT. A former managing director of global e-commerce for Bank of America, his YouTube channel has nearly 32,000 subscribers and has accumulated over 19 million views. In the world of tech and e-commerce, Mr. Santiago is a trusted authority.

This is the first in-depth, side-by-side evaluation of both products done by an independent, well-respected reviewer. You can find a summary of the results below.

EBPMAN’s Head-to-Head Comparison of IQbudsTM vs. Here One

Summary of the IQbudsTM vs. Here One Review

Summary Chart

Analysis of Individual IQbudsTM and Here One Features*

*Click on any feature below to get detailed information on respective product performance. All information below transcribed directly from EBPMAN comparison review video.

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[av_toggle title=’1. Premium Audio Quality:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-h2cf5b’]
“From an audio perspective, both of them have great audio. These are premium audio products, and you should expect that for the price of $299, so they have great bass, mids, and highs, everything is clear, especially with the passive and active noise cancellation technology. The experience is very immersive. You can’t go wrong with either one of these when it comes to audio.”
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[av_toggle title=’2. Comfort:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-fgpg2n’]
“Both of these are very, very comfortable to wear, and you don’t really run into any kind of ear fatigue when wearing these both.”
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[av_toggle title=’3. Tap-Touch Technology:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-dm9oof’]
“You touch it, and you’ll be able to answer phone calls. You’ll also be able to interact with your phone and either Siri or Google Now. Both of them are very similar in that fashion.”
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[av_toggle title=’4. Ambient Noise Blocking:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-cimn7z’]
“What I found with these is that this one [Here One] tends to pick up more ambient noise, so if I am out walking and it’s a windy area, you’ll hear a scratchy noise happening because of the wind in the mic, and you have to adjust using the software the actual amount of feedback, or tone it down a bit, so that you don’t pick up all of that wind. This one [IQbuds], I haven’t received any problems with that wind or scratchy noise.”
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[av_toggle title=’5. Battery Life:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-bckl1r’]
“Now, focusing on battery life, and battery life is going to be very different on these. Let’s talk about, first of all, the IQBuds. The IQBuds are going to give you eight hours of audio time, and we’re going to measure audio time in two fashions. First, we’re going to look at audio time with streaming music, and then also audio time where you’re using it for enhanced hearing. The streaming of music as well as noise canceling what’s going on around you, you’re going to get up to four hours of battery life from these, up to four hours. Now, I did say eight hours, because that falls into the second category, so four hours of streaming, four hours of also enhancing the environment around you if you’re doing both at the same time.

You do get eight hours, and the eight hours is really focused on the audio enhancement. This is where you’re not streaming any music, but you’re wearing these. You’re wearing these in a restaurant, you’re wearing these in a convention center, you’re wearing these on a walk, and what you’re doing is isolating the noise around you, but then also highlighting the things that you want to hear using the software. You’re on a plane, you’re in a restaurant, you’re on a walk, and what you’re doing is just using these to give you some peace and tranquility from that noisy environment. Once again, four hours of actual use time, eight hours if you’re just using it for audio enhancement without any streaming.

Now, the Here Ones, there’s a big difference. Here One, you’re only going to be able to get these for two hours, two hours of streaming, and also then audio enhancement. If you’re on a plane and you choose plane mode, and you’re drowning out all the noise of the plane, and you’re also streaming, either watching a movie, listening to the audio, listening to an audio book, or just listening to music, you’re going to get around two hours. If you are using this as an audio enhancement device, you have it in your ear, you’re in a conference center, you’re in the restaurant, and you want to hear the person that’s in front of you, behind you, or just enhance your hearing experience, then what you’re going to do is you’re going to get up to three hours of battery life.

Clearly what you see, there’s a big difference between battery life between these two, and that’s going to be something that’s going to, I think, in many cases drive your decision as to which one you’re going to buy, especially because of the battery life.”
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[av_toggle title=’6. Secure In-Ear Fit:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-8xc5hr’]
“I do find personally, based on my ears, that the IQBuds tend to stay in my ears much better. I have tried running with these. The Here Ones tend to fall out of my ears, especially as I get sweat, much easier than the IQBuds, and that’s concerning to me because, again, these are $300 earbuds, and you don’t want these to take a tumble, crash, and get all scratched up, and all banged up. Especially if you’re on a run and you don’t have your case, what I found is, they have fallen out of my ear once, and when I put them back in my ear, they’re not working, and I couldn’t get my audio back until I got home and put them in the case. That’s an issue, and something that you should be aware of, but overall, the fit is going to be based on the size of your ear as well as what the appearance of the earbud is going to be based on also the gels.”
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[av_toggle title=’7. iPhone & Android Compatibility:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-7fwpnz’]
“Now, one of the things I’ve noticed with this is that they are apps both for Android and for iPhone, but I’ve noticed that Here One, for example, isn’t really keeping up to date when it comes to the feature and functionality that they have on both iOS and Android. There’s a room for improvement here, so literally that means that an iPhone person could have more capabilities than an Android person. Now, it could be weeks to a month before the features make it to Android, but I have noticed that, especially since I use both, and I can see some differences.”
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[av_toggle title=’8. Individual Ear Adjustment:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-698sgf’]
“Now, one of the differences that I’ve seen particularly is that the IQBuds have the ability to adjust the audio for each ear, so we may have differences in how much you can hear in every ear, so you’re left ear may one way, you’re right ear may hear another way, and you may want to adjust it to have the best audio experience. Well, you can do this both in Android and iOS, and literally tone it up or tone it down to get your best experience. Now, Here One does have a configuration tool that’s part of your setup that allows you to – almost like a hearing test – adjust your hearing in each one of the ears, but that’s only available in iOS. If you’re an Android user, you’re out of luck until it gets to you. The just gives you easier access, in my opinion, to adjusting the hearing from left to right ear than Here One does at this time.”
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[av_toggle title=’9. App – Ease of Use:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-3j5u9b’]
“It (Here One) is much simpler to use. It is something that you don’t really have to think about. It’s just very simple to use.”
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[av_toggle title=’10. App – Configuration Options:’ tags=” av_uid=’av-32sujz’]
“IQBuds has an app that is much more configurable, has more configuration options.”
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Click here to read more IQbudsTM reviews from tech influencers, tech media, and everyday consumers.

June 12th, 2017