Sales 2022: prices collapse on Bluetooth headphones and headsets

With helmet deals ubiquitous throughout the year, there are always plenty of discount helmets to choose from. That said, it’s not always about buying any pair at a ridiculous price… The 2022 summer sales give us the opportunity to sort out the good grain from the bad grain!

The best deals on wireless headphones and earphones during the 2022 summer sales

The best helmets on sale

• the Bose Headphones 700 to €234.99 instead of €269.99 (using the code 25D249CD)
• the AirPods Max headphones at €449 instead of €499 (use promo code 50D499CD)
• the Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones €184.99 instead of €204.99 (code promo : 15D149CD)
• the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones €246.59 instead of €379 (thanks to the code 25D249CD)

The best headphones on sale

• the Sony WF-1000XM3 Bluetooth headphones €125.84 instead of €249
• Sony WF-XB700 wireless headphones €66.43 instead of €89.96
• Jabra Elite 3 wireless headphones €79.99 instead of €83.94
• headphones Bose SoundSport at €85.99 instead of €129.99

Choosing the right earphones or wireless headphones

Wireless headphones are an ideal accessory to avoid having to worry about annoying cables. They offer much more freedom and flexibility when traveling, exercising or commuting. Additionally, a good pair of wireless headphones can dramatically improve your music experience.

The importance of connectivity

A true wireless headset should have a good Bluetooth chip to ensure solid connectivity. Cheap wireless earbuds use poor quality Bluetooth chips which create a significant delay in audio transmission. These lags are more noticeable when watching videos or playing games on your smartphones. Also, cheap models often use poor quality microphones. Making or receiving calls from such headphones can be a real hassle.

Beware of codecs

A codec determines how audio is transmitted over Bluetooth, from the source to your wireless headphones. It encodes and decodes digital audio signals for faster and more reliable wireless transmission. Most inexpensive wireless headphones only support the SBC (low-complexity sub-band) codec, which splits frequencies into multiple bands and codes them separately. This process takes time to transmit the data, which creates a delay in the audio transmission. These headphones also don’t support high bitrates and high resolution music often sounds flat on them. The lag is most noticeable in games or in videos where character voices lag behind the video.

A pair of good wireless headphones support codecs such as aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC 900. These codes are much better than SBC codecs due to their lower latency and faster bitrate support . However, these codecs are still lossy, which means they still lose some audio quality. If you’re using an Apple device, you should consider wireless headphones with Apple’s proprietary Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec. It offers excellent audio quality and supports Hi-Res Audio playback.

Active noise reduction is becoming more and more accessible

The noise cancellation feature was limited to a few wired headphones until a few years ago. Many wireless headphones today offer this feature. This means music volume can be reduced to comfortable and enjoyable levels while isolating the noise around you.

Most noise-canceling headphones also come with a “Transparency” feature that, with a simple press, lets you hear what people around you are saying, without having to take the headphones off. Noise cancellation on your wireless headphones improves the audio experience, but it can also drain the battery quickly.