Once you get over the dorkiness of having large globules sticking out of your ears and stop worrying about looking like a Big Important Person who needs two Bluetooth headsets instead of one, wireless earbuds are amazing. They never tangle, and you never worry about cables fraying or rubbing noisily against your shirt. You don't even notice the headphones, really. It seems more like sound emanates from the back of your head and spills through your brain.
At least, that's the idea behind gadgets like Motorola's VerveOnes headphones. They aren't made by Motorola, by the way. A company called Binatone licensed the name and borrowed some technology. I guess "Bowers and Wilkins VerveOnes" didn't have quite the right ring. Anyway, these wireless earbuds start at $200, but $50 more gets you the sweat- and waterproof VerveOnes+. Either way, they're part headphone, part Bluetooth headset, all completely wireless.
Truly wireless headphones are incredibly freeing. The left earbud connects to your phone and the right connects to the left, which means you can use the leftie by itself as a Bluetooth headset. They turn on when you pop them in your ears, and off when you take them out. Clever voice and tone prompts tell you when everything's connected, or not. It even chirps the remaining battery life every time you turn them on, so you'll know before you're stuck in silence on the train. With six different tips, something's bound to fit your ears snugly. The charger-slash-case is small, easy to use, and twists like a lipstick tube in the most satisfyingly clicky way. Press and hold the button on either earbud and you wake up Siri or Google Now. The mic's not amazing, but it works. Ditto the sound quality: you won't get monitor-level sound, but they offer greater dynamics and bass response than I expected. They certainly sound better than whatever came with your phone, or whatever Beats model you paid entirely too much for.
Like too many other wireless earbuds, the VerveOnes can't hold a connection. I almost never lost audio entirely (which makes them better than, say, Bragi), but it seemed like every 30 seconds the sound cut out in one ear, then the other. I can hold my phone in my hands, not three feet from my ears, and still have drops. It kinda kills the effect of my Epic Movie Soundtracks score. If keeping a connection is more important than losing the cables, stick with the Jaybird Freedoms. Oh, and you're SOL if you don't have Bluetooth. Beyond that, these things are huge. Unless anyone's ever lovingly called you Dumbo, these big buds will tug on your concha until your ears are sore. Given their size, they're hard to get securely in your ears, which means sound quality suffers and they'll inevitably fall out at inopportune moment. Of course, given the battery life, that may not be a problem. The box promises 12 hours of playtime, but it's more like two and a half or three, so plan for two naps during your next cross-country flight while waiting for the buds to charge.
5/10 The dream of great-sounding, all-but-invisible wireless earbuds is very much alive, but remains a dream.
