Panasonic RZ-S500WE-K True Wireless Earbuds with Dual Hybrid Noise Cancelling, Alexa Built, In and IPX4 Water Resistance, Black

So far I’ve been through: Last two generations of Sony’s top end buds. Apple AirPods Pro gens 1 and 2. LG UF9 wireless earphones, Cambridge Audio’s latest effort, Beats Fit Pro and Beats X, Sony linkbuds S (the in-ear noise cancelling model and not the “O” ring driver that just seems dumb and counterintuitive).So that’s a good spread of the generally perceived pack leaders.As an Apple centric user, the AirPods Pro gen 2 are the ultimate in overall sound, ANC, and Spatial Audio (Atmos). They’re also comfortable for my ears.The Sony’s have great battery life and should be the winners. I find them bulky, irritatingly hit and miss touch sense response, and a real struggle to constantly fit in a way that allows their best sound and ANC to manifest. They are clever and oh so close to genius. But they fundamentally don’t perform to their advertised standard and are ludicrously expensive. It’s actually the cheapest of the trio, the LINK S pair that have the best fit, comfort, and controls. ANC is better than average but not exactly stunning. They are my go to pair when listening in bed. They don’t have false reads from the touch sensors and they stay comfortable enough to fall asleep in, even if you might wake up to find one bud in your nostril and another up your … you do the math!The LG’s were bought in a deep sale and are worth every penny. I tend not inuse them so much though because they are basically a close cousin to the AirPods, so why bother eh? They are good though and highly recommended if you see them in a hefty discounted offer.Beats… The Ones with the little silicon tales… Excellent sound and battery. Controls are switch based so can’t really be used at night if you sleep on your side. Fit is very comfortable and ANC is good. But fiddly to put in and take out without fumbling, and case is a bit of a disaster, but that’s not really the point.Beats X are a bit blah. Dead cheap though and excellent battery life. Not “true wireless” with a connecting band, but it’s very flexible and doesn’t really cause any harm. It’s just that once your sold on true wireless buds, the Beats X are a touch backwards. They work which is about the best compliment you can give them.Cambridge Audio. Again bought at deep discount. Again, “OK”. Actually sound quite nice but very vanilla and have no “features” at all. Fit is a dark art and my pair have a switch based button that loses its “click” when it warms up. Doesn’t impact the functions, but it does keep you guessing if you’ve pressed hard enough. They’re again, “OK”.Now… now the Panasonic! And by crikey what’s this? Not only deep, deep, deep discount, but the soundstage out of the box is truly remarkable! I don’t know if it’s the slightly larger driver (8mm as opposed to the 5/6 of the others) or there’s some kind of stage expansion going on, but this is the closest I’ve come to open backed large driver headphones. The companion app is very straight forward and intuitive. Yes, the LED lights on the buds can be disabled. The base enhancemnt is actually useful and not a setting that is usually a no brainer to leave on by default likemany other brands. It’s a subtle enhancement that doesn’t just increase the mix to a base heavy thump. It seems to clarify the entire range of frequencies in a way that holds all of the high excitement tones whilst allowing more room for the body to spread out. It something you need to hear rather than have explained.The equaliser is again subtle. The basic tone of the buds seems very natural and unprocessed, which is a clever thing to achieve in such a small spaceship. Again, I have to assume it’s the little bit more real estate that the driver has over its competition that accounts for this. The effortless default soundstage allows for a more subtle variation in eq settings to have more of an effect than something that’s already pushing the envelope of what it can physically reproduce.The touch sensors are fantastic. Best I’ve come across, hands down. The Sonys in particular leave you constantly fighting with the various taps and combos because the touch sensor simply doesn’t register half of your inputs. It’s more than annoying and no amount of patience or concentration seems to help. Ther is just no consistency. The Panasonics are so far bang on every time. And because you’re not constantly slapping your lug holes, they don’t cause any discomfort at all.ANC is again surprisingly extremely good. I’d say for me it even rivals the top end Sony ANC and the sealed in ear fit makes it more isolating than the AirPods. The pass though and “ambient” settings are also excellent. Not overdone in the slightest and the surrendering between the three settings is really noticeable. It’s actually useful and not just for show.The fit again, is counterintuitively brilliant. They look like they should be annoying and unstable. I wore them today for the front time in the wild and they stayed put for three hours without once feeling unstable or loose. They didn't hurt at all and there was no after effect of abrasion etc.The case and bud fit is a little fiddly, but once you get used to the angles, it’s second nature and the slight magnesium allows for a satisfying and reassuring fit in to the case enclosure.That’s all so far.In summary, I’d have been happy to get these at full price as an Apple user. They support the AAC codec and basic Bluetooth default, but that’s all. They are a cracking little pair and perform way above expectations. I have nothing bad to say about them. I’ve had no signal dropouts, even in a very busy entertainment section of a major department store. The instrument separations, vocal nuances, percussion and volume across allmusic I’ve played so far are absolutely delightful.In summary, if you see these around the £60 mark, get two sets. If it’s closer to £100 you won’t be disappointed. If it’s any more, be patient unless you really do have a desire for them.They are everything the Sony flagship models should be, and if it wasn’t for the AirPods almost incestuous relationship with Apple devices, these would probably be my top pick, without question.The AirPods win for Apple integration and Spatial Audio support. The Panasonics are filler and more spacious without signal processing. They are more comfortable and the ANC is incredible, to the point where I can’t understand why more fuss isn’t made about it. The Panasonics are a hidden gem in the ever expansive range or wireless earbuds, and when discounted as much as they were when I purchased them, they are golden! Absolutely golden!(Apologies for typos. Small screen and tiny preview window make proofing nigh on impossible. Hopefully the idea gets across regardless.)

...if your canals are narrow.Score max 2/5 for comfort.However, once you've thrown the supplied silicone tips away and applied the correct-sized memory foam tips, these are by far the best-sounding buds I've used, and like most people, I've had at least a dozen pairs over the years.They beat Bose easily, are obviously superior to Apple's high-priced buds, and are arguably superior in clarity to the £200 Sony's I lost in some hotel.These were on offer for at least half the mrrp, but I would be happy if I had paid full whack for these without a doubt..Sound out of the box was really disappointing though - no low frequencies to be heard at all - but foam tips and some pretty heavy equalisation later and I'm even finding myself keeping these in after I get home...Up there with my high-ish-end closed back phones, or not far off.To those non-tweakers who like things to just turn on and work, avoid; buy some Beats or something - you'll be sending these back the same day otherwise.Cons: Painful fit, odd looks, only average battery life, not great with callsPros:They stay securely put once you've screwed them in..Customisable NC settings which actually workSound amazing once tuned, if all you want is to hear your sounds as they should be.As far as the myth or otherwise of burn-in goes, for me these sound even better after a couple of hundred hours.As ever, could of course just be my ears becoming accustomed..Score 5/5 for sound.Recommend these with reservations..

First of all i am going to admit when i first got these they were going to go straight back as i really did not like them, but i put a little work into fitting and working out sound profiles and a few days later they are my go to headphones.i have a few pairs of headphones as reference, Cambridge audios melomania 1, +1 and touch, Earfun air, Sony 500, and an Anker pair or two, i like my music varied and audio books using headphones for 2-3hrs a day, everyday.Fitthis was the biggest flaw in Panasonics design, the earbud stem is a few millimetres longer than other headphones and when combined with the largish body which protrudes from the ear they feel top heavy, the supplied silicone tips are a typical thin and cheap affair which when fitted give you a slight bounce when walking.....not too bad if you walking for a bus but on longer walks it becomes annoying.i fitted some spintips which are thicker and things improved but it was when i fitted the Sonicfoam tips that these really changed, it was like night and day the fit was better, the sound was brilliant and the ANC worked perfectly.fit is critical with these !!ANCMy office has air con and is next to a haulage yard so i have the low rumble of lorries moving all day.i can pop these in without music and switch all of it out....its like shutting a thick door.Where these fail is again walking/running or anything with wind as the ANC will struggle and the wind noise is amplified, simply switch it off and your back to normal.if the tips fit perfectly you can hardly hear wind or background noise anyway.Batteryif your using ANC and bass boost or passive noise then this all uses battery power, just headphones on their own its not too bad 6-8hrs dependant on volume....not the best but are you really going to listen for 6= hours without taking them out ?Not as good as my sonys or Cambridge audiosSoundnow this is why i bought these, if your buying headphones sub £100 your going to lose something, if a company came up with a pair of headphones that had everything and worked perfectly then we would all be buying them.these have good ANC but amazing sound, with the right Eartips they are simply brilliant, bar far the best sound i have with any of the headphones i own.i tested with a range of music and i am hearing things in the music i have not heard before and the soundstage is quite good....a soundstage is how the music is presented to represent space, a good example is Michael Jacksons thriller track, the wolf howl on my Sonys makes the Wolf sound a few feet from me, the Panasonics make it sound further away so you get a sense of space.notes are clear and well toned, in fact its a pleasure to use for music or audiobooks.All in i would say these are amazing for the price, you must get the tips and fit correct more than any another earbud but once this is done they will sing in your ears.Work out what your going to use your earbuds for, if its sports and workouts then don't buy these, if you want great sound with solid ANC then go for it.