(NEW) Sennheiser CX Plus ANC Wireless Earbuds

TL:DR - Best sub-$200 earbuds with great noise canceling, superb sound and better than Samsung Galaxy Buds in every way. I recently had my Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus (purchased fall 2020) finally stop working (thank you, planned obsolescence). In researching for new buds, I began looking outside Samsung as I've always wanted to try the Sony buds, and the new Galaxy Buds Pro do not stay in my ears (I tried my sister's pair). Some YouTube reviews pitted the Sony buds against these, and I knew Senheiser to be a reputable audio brand so I decided to give them a shot. Also, the Sony's were almost 2 years old and hard to find, and the new version was over $200. First, noise canceling: I've never used a pair of noise canceling anything before, so take what I'm about to say with a few grains of salt. My test was to try it in my living room with a TV on normal listening volume, furnace running (mine is fairly noisy, enough to need to crank the TV up a few notches), and normal conversation happening in the kitchen about 15 feet away with no walls separating it. I couldn't hear the furnace at all, the conversation was like a whisper, and the TV was only slightly audible. It was like having it on level 3 or 4 above mute which would be completely inaudible with the furnace running. Now, it did not filter out any harsh or loud noises, like a dog barking or dishes clattering, but the passive isolation is good enough that it wasn't a big deal. Second, sound: Senheiser has a good reputation for a reason. I'm a basshead who routinely listens to hip hop, heavy metal and some electronic music. As a former music major in college and amateur DJ, I also love to fiddle around with equalizers to find the perfect sound for me. Straight out the box with no EQ enabled, the bass is pretty flat and that worried me. But the mids and highs were excellent and FAR better than the Samsungs I used to have. Once I fired up my EQ app (Poweramp EQ on Android), my worries were gone. I was able to tune it so that the bass was like having 2 10-inch subwoofers in my ears without drowning out the rest of the music. I listen to a lot of podcasts as well, and they are excellent for voice-only content as well. Call Quality: Every time I've had a phone call on these buds, no one has complained that I was inaudible in any way. Connection and Range: I can make it further and through more walls/obstructions than my old Galaxy Buds. They perform excellent, and only cut out after about 50 direct feet and 2 home floors comprised of wood, carpet and finally a brick wall on my back patio. The available APTx bluetooth codec makes latency nonexistent. Fit: I mentioned that the new Galaxy Buds didn't fit me, and that was due to me having a larger outer ear shape. The Buds Plus I had used a wing tip that held it in place, but the new ones do not have that. I used the standard medium-sized tips that were installed on the Senheiser buds, and due to their square shape and how deep they go into my ear canal, they fit like a glove. I can headbang to Orbit Culture until I'm dizzy and sweaty and they won't budge. Verdict: you won't find a better pair of buds sub-$200 IMO, and if you don't find the sound to your liking, give a 3rd party EQ app (like Poweramp) a try before returning them.