Review: Zipbuds 26 Wireless Waterproof Earbuds

Zipbuds has launched a new pair of earbuds, the 26. These earbuds are wireless and designed for sports enthusiasts; those who will be out jogging, working out, and more. The Zipbuds 26 boast a bunch of features, including a waterproof design that can handle being exposed to water, rain, sweat or other liquid nuisances. Among other things, this model promises to give wearers 15 hours of run time per charge, meaning you can charge once and then get through a full day with power to spare.

Zipbuds 26 features a Hybrid Driver System that is said to isolate the audio’s mid- and high-frequencies, rounding them out with the subwoofer for robust lows. When not in use, fully charged 26 offers 400 hours of standby time, meaning users can toss them in their bag and not worry about the battery running down before their workout. Zipbuds explains that its new model also features QuickCharge technology so that 5 minutes of charging gives an hour of playback.

The Zipbuds 26 come with all sorts of different ear tips and ear fins that give you up to 144 different possibilities when it comes to getting a comfortable fit. With that many choices and possibilities it’s highly unlikely that you won’t be able to find something that works for you and makes the Zipbuds feel as comfortable as possible.

If that charge isn’t enough, the 26 model also supports a clip-on magnetic battery to deliver extra power. This is probably one of the neatest features to be seen on any pair of earbuds. Usually once the battery has died then it’s time to charge the earbuds or grab another set. When you’re at the gym or out jogging or whatever, this isn’t always the option so just snapping on a new battery can allow you to finish what you’re doing and still have your favorite tunes playing until you’re done. Other features include military-grade Kevlar for extra durability, the ability to be submerged in up to 3 ft of water thanks to proprietary hydrophobic construction, a built-in microphone with a three-button control, and noise-isolation.

Sound Quality

I tested the Zipbuds on various types of music that I listen to most everyday such as country, a bit of pop, alternative and some 80’s hair bands music. Everything had decent quality sounds and to my surprise the Zipbuds 26 had a good amount of bass, but was also crystal clear at the same time. There was little to no distortion until I turned the Zipbuds all the way up to maximum volume and that’s when things got only a slight bit distorted but it was enough to have to turn the volume back down a notch or two.

The subwoofer really makes a difference in the Zipbuds and surprisingly it seems to be well built into the earbud and actually doesn’t add much bulk or weight. While I know technology has come quite a long way over the last year or so, subwoofers in earbuds aren’t something you’ll find in a lot of earbuds still today so getting the technology right for them is definitely important especially when paying this kind of a price for wireless earbuds.

Battery Life

Battery life on the Zipbuds 26 is pretty good right out of the box. They claim the earbuds will get 15 hours of listening time which is pretty impressive and almost double of what most wireless earbuds will give you. Through testing I found that getting 13 1/2 – 14 hours of listening time was about average of what I could get on a full charge. But if that isn’t quite enough for you to get through the day the Zipbuds have a magnetic battery that you can clip into place and extend the life of the battery even longer.

Final Thoughts

For the price $149.99 most people will find the Zipbuds 26 a bit expensive. In a sense I can agree but what really gets me is the battery life and how it can be easily extended without having to take the earbuds off and putting them onto a charging cable or something similar. That alone is a really huge feature/option when it comes to earbuds and I think that’s definitely a huge selling point that Zipbuds tries to pull in potential buyers.

The Zipbuds are definitely comfortable and like I stated, you have 144 possible combinations to find that right fit so this shouldn’t be an issue as I know for me this is often an issue when it comes to other earbuds due to the fact that I have relatively small ear canals.

In the end, the Zipbuds are something worth taking a very close look at as you’re going to get a top notch product with relatively great sound and amazing battery life and those three things are often hard to find all in one pair of earbuds.

Zipbuds 26 Wireless Earbuds

$149.99

9.3

Design And Form Factor

9.5/10

Audio Output Quality

9.0/10

Battery Life

10.0/10

Affordability

8.7/10

Pros

• Sweatproof
• Multiple Eartips
• Charging Clip
• Wireless
• Waterproof

Cons

• Slightly Expensive

Zipbuds 26 Wireless Earbuds