Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video

Yamaha’s $100 TW-E3B true wireless earbuds are its smallest yet

By

Yamaha has a new set of true wireless earbuds that it claims are the smallest ones it has ever made. The $100 TW-E3B pick up where the TW-E3A left off, with tons of color options (black, green, gray, blue, pink, and purple) and a size and shape that the company says is 25% smaller than the previous model. You’ll be able to buy the TW-E3B in late October.

Other than the new color options and smaller size, there doesn’t appear to be much difference between the old and new models, which explains why Yamaha simply called the new edition “E3B,” instead of giving it a whole new model number. In fact, if the colors and size don’t matter to you, you can now buy the E3A at a significant discount — Yamaha has dropped the price on the older version from $130 to just $50, a savings that presumably will only stick around until all remaining E3A inventory is gone.

Yamaha's TW-E3B true wireless earbuds.
Yamaha

The TW-E3B offer SBC, AAC, and Qualcomm’s aptX Bluetooth codecs, which means that you’ll get slightly better sound quality if your phone is equipped with aptX (none of Apple’s smartphones offer Qualcomm codecs). You also get Yamaha’s Listening Care feature, which is designed to let you listen at lower volumes without losing any detail.

Recommended Videos

Battery life is a claimed six hours per charge, with a total of 24 hours of listening time when you include the charging case. To help protect against damage, the earbuds come with an IPX5 water resistance rating, which should give gym rats and those who like to run in the rain plenty of confidence. A nonslip coating on the earbuds should add to the workout-friendliness.

Yamaha says the E3B have exceptionally clear, dynamic, and realistic sound, and I seriously hope this isn’t just marketing speak. Considering their $100 price and their lack of features like active noise cancellation, wireless charging, or transparency mode, these earbuds are going to have to sound amazing in order to compete against Jabra’s new $80 Elite 3, and the tons of great earbuds that have recently arrived T well under $100.

Related

We should know soon enough — Yamaha has kindly offered to send us a sample of the TW-E3B. Stay tuned!

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like…
Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro earbuds go after Sony’s wireless hi-res crown
Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro.

Anker's Soundcore brand of personal audio devices just released the latest in its Liberty line of true wireless earbuds, and the company seems to be throwing everything it has at them. The $170 Liberty 3 Pro feature a 30% smaller shape than their predecessor, the Liberty 2 Pro, plus they come equipped with active noise cancellation (ANC) and hi-res Bluetooth codecs, things the original version of the older model lacked. The Liberty 3 Pro come in four colors -- black, white, gray, and purple. If you buy them between today and October 14, you can save $20 at Amazon and at other retailers.

We were blown away by how great the Liberty 2 Pro performed. We only noted a few drawbacks -- a bulky design, and some fiddly buttons. Soundcore was apparently taking careful note -- the Liberty 3 Pro are notably smaller (though they'll likely still stick out from your ears a bit), and the tiny physical buttons have been ditched in favor of touch controls. They also look decidedly more high-end, with a mirrorlike finish and chrome accents. Soundcore says they'll feel more comfortable thanks to the shape of the redesigned silicon earwings.

Read more
Sony delivers the $100 WF-C500, its most affordable set of true wireless earbuds
Sony WF-C500 true wireless earbuds and case sitting on a table..

Sony, a company that has historically made very capable but very expensive true wireless earbuds, is now heading into more affordable territory with the $100 WF-C500, a set of earbuds that compete with Jabra's $80 Elite 3. Sony's previous lowest-priced earbuds were the $130 WF-XB700. It also announced its latest full-size noise-canceling wireless headphones, the $250 WH-XB910N. Both models are available for pre-order today at Sony.com, Amazon, and Best Buy.

Compared to Sony's other true wireless offerings like the WF-1000XM3, WF-1000XM4, and WF-SP800N, all of which possess advanced features like active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, in-ear detection, built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and in the case of the XM4, wireless charging, the C500 are relatively bare-bones. They're still compatible with Sony's Headphones app, and they benefit from Sony's Digitial Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE), which helps to restore lost high-frequencies in compressed digital music. But otherwise, there are few bells or whistles.

Read more
It’s official: You don’t need to spend more than $100 on true wireless earbuds
Sennheiser CX 400BT

Two years ago, if you wanted a set of true wireless earbuds with features like active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, wireless charging, great battery life, and great sound quality, you were looking at spending at least $180, but probably closer to $250-$300. But time has a funny way of leveling the playing field and nowhere has that been more true than in the true wireless earbuds market.

Today, you’ll still pay upward of $250 for the very best models from top-tier brands like Sony, Bose, Apple, and Jabra, but you no longer have to do that just to get access to leading-edge features. In fact, the latest cohort of true wireless earbuds priced around $100 is so good, most people won’t benefit by spending more. You may not recognize the brands, but don’t let that stop you. I've had hands-on (and ears-on) time with each of these earbuds, and they won't disappoint. Let’s take a quick look at some of the features that are most in-demand, and how much you need to spend to get them.
Active noise cancellation (ANC)

Read more