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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Erin Bashford

I'm about to ditch my AirPods Pro 2 for these budget audiophile earbuds — there's just one thing holding me back

Denon Tom Guide Nikita Apple
The denon perL Pro wireless earbuds in white, with circular earbud shapes, and a white charging case, photographed against a blue background.

I've been an AirPods Pro 2 user for over two years now. I love my AirPods and there's not much that will tear me away from them. They do everything I want: great sound quality, comfortable fit, and awesome Apple ecosystem functionality. At the same time, I test enough of the best wireless earbuds to know what I'm missing by sticking with Apple.

I've tested surprisingly fantastic earbuds like the U.K.-only AKG N5 Hybrid (£249) and the utterly fantastic audiophile-quality Denon PerL Pro ($199). The Denons were so good that I almost made the switch. The PerL Pro have audiophile-quality sound (well, as close as you can get on Bluetooth) and an actually real "personalized sound profile". But there's one reason why I won't be buying them, and it's nothing to do with price or sound.

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