Final Thoughts
When it comes to earbuds a few things are typically true. One they generally are not going to sound as good as over the ear headphones and two active noise cancelling will never be good. I have to say the Philips T8505’s are really breaking those two assumptions. First lets talk about sound quality. These are definitely the best sounded earbuds that I’ve ever used. I think a lot of that has to do with their larger size, but I was really shocked at how well these sound. I was a little disappointed that aptX was not supported though. On top of sounding great right out of the box Philips also does include their app which has an equalizer to really fine tune your listening experience.
As I said active noise cancelling on earbuds have never really worked all that well. This is the first set of earbuds that I’ve tested where it actually worked, and it worked extremely well. With active noise cancelling turned on you can have the TV turned on and it is like it is muted. This is great when you really want to drown out the outside world or if you are on a plane or in a crowded place. The awareness mode is also pretty cool as it allows for higher frequencies to come through so you can hear someone talking to you or an announcement, but everything else is cancelled out.
One of my favorite features of these earbuds is a simple one, your music will pause if you remove either of the earbuds. So many times I’ll be listening to a podcast and someone will ask me a question and when I remove my headphones or earbuds to talk to them I’ll miss something in the podcast. This feature eliminates that.
The charging case does what it is supposed to do but I do like that you can charge it wirelessly instead of with the included cable. It also makes pairing the earbuds extremely easy. These earbuds also support Google Fast Pair.
These are not the perfect headphones though. Their large size makes them easier to fall out of your ears. Normal activities are fine, but if you are going for an outdoor run or any activity where you’ll be moving around a lot I really wouldn’t suggest these. As I noted before these are not marketed as “sport” or “workout” earbuds. Also the touch controls on the earbuds work, but they are not the best. To be honest I don’t think anyone has done earbud controls all that great. Many times I found myself activating the touch controls where I was adjusting the earbuds.
Right now you can pick these earbuds up at our favorite online retailer for $149.99, which we feel is a fair price for what you are getting. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Philips T8505 True Wireless Earbuds a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Excellent sound
– Active noise cancelling that actually works
– Easy to pair and charge
– Philips headphones app is useful
– Music will pause when you remove the earbuds
Cons:
– No aptX
– Controls are not the best
– Large size makes them easier to fall out of your ears
