Wireless earbuds are being pushed on us more after the widespread removal of the headphone jack starting in 2016 with the iPhone 7. Samsung released their Icon X wireless earbuds in July of 2016 and Apple followed with releasing their AirPods in December of 2016. Though since these two 2016 major launches wireless earbuds from both companies have been virtually stagnant. Yes, we have seen updates to both, including a new name from Samsung but really not much has changed on either side, worse yet the price hasn't changed much either. Many good wireless earbuds have been launching such as the Xiaomi Airdots or the Treblab X5s. Both of the prior mentioned buds come in at under $60. Both of which in my opinion sound the same or better than AirPods and Galaxy Buds. Both of which also are made out of similar materials as the AirPods or Galaxy Buds. These also aren't the only examples, a large list of companies have been making lots of very good comparable wireless earbuds.
So one question I often hear is "are AirPods or Galaxy Buds worth it?". To this point I say no, simply because both don't offer much over their competition to justify that almost $100 mark up. Sure you have the ability to open up the case and automatically connect to your phone, but having used many bluetooth devices I can assure everyone that connecting the standard way though bluetooth doesn't take much longer to complete. Is that really worth $100 more? Chances are no.
Even worse these are throw away products. What do I mean by that? Well they have about a 2 year shelf life before that battery goes bad. Once the battery is holding significantly less charge then before there is no "let me bring them back and get the battery swapped out" Its either replace it yourself (which is available on the Galaxy Buds, though you would have to find the replacement parts and follow this iFixit guide) or like in the AirPods case you have to throw them away and buy a new pair. FOR ANOTHER $130-$200. It's the same case with the under $100 options but at least it's a bit easier to move on to a new pair when they are done.
So my message to the big guys who think over $100 is ok for a product that has to be thrown out after 2 years (cough Huawei, Apple, Samsung, Google) you know you can do better and until there is better or a justification for that price point I can't recommend any wireless earbuds from any of these companies.