Hopes and dreams for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5

Where the Galaxy Watch 4 faltered, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 can soar.

It's 2022, and many of us are either looking for fresh starts or improvements to various areas of our lives, including the tech we use. Of course, Samsung is one of the largest technology companies in the world so, and there are high hopes for it. We've already lined out 5 things Samsung needs to do better in 2022, but I'm going to go at the company in a bit more detail with improvements that I want to see in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.

With the Galaxy Watch 4 ushering in a new era for Samsung in its wearable lineage by dropping the homegrown Tizen OS in favor of Wear OS 3, of course, there's going to be some bumps in the road. However, there are many reasons why the Galaxy Watch 4 series are some of the best Android smartwatches available. Thanks to excellent build quality, some of the most advanced health monitoring sensors, and many more reasons. However, these are perfect devices. I could only make it two weeks before returning mine, and I have some areas of improvement I'd like to see from the next version.

Give us Google Assistant

Perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects of the Galaxy Watch 4 is that it launched without Google Assistant and still doesn't have it after nearly four months. When Samsung was still putting Tizen on its wearables, we expected that we would have to do without the digital assistant — but the Galaxy Watch 4 and future models will run Google's Wear OS. So there is no excuse for Google Assistant to be missing now or in the future.

Samsung needs to fully embrace Wear OS by bringing Google Assistant to its smartwatches.

Though Google Assistant hasn't always been the most responsive feature on Wear OS devices in the past, with watches like the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra running modern hardware, the voice assistant became a viable option on a smartwatch. Sure, you can use Samsung Bixby on your Galaxy Watch 4, but it's a Wear OS device and should have the option of Google Assitant too.

Putting Google's voice assistant on the Galaxy Watch 5 would bring not only the watch into parity with wearables years older but the convenience of all the helpful features Google Assistant offers to our wrist. We've seen how powerful the Galaxy Watch 4 is, and Samsung isn't one to sit idly by and not improve on previous models. So, to continue its stranglehold on the Android smartwatch world — it needs to bring Google Assistant current and future wearables.

Better battery life and faster charging

Longer-lasting batteries aren't a wishlist item for Samsung alone. It is something we want across the board in terms of smartwatches. But, we're talking about one of the most advanced technology companies globally, and we expect more from it. It shouldn't be too much to ask that our smartwatch gets at least two-days of use between charges while using the device to its full potential — yet here we are.

Along with extending battery life, Samsung needs to up its charging game.

If you use a Wear OS watch, you know that you'll need to charge it every night. Because unless you use one of Mobvoi's TicWatch Pro devices, you won't be able to utilize your watch for sleep tracking — assuming it supports it — without charging it. To be fair, the TicWatch Pro watches achieve a long battery life by employing dual-layer screen technology.

Getting long battery life from a small computer on the wrist is s tough task, but along with solving that puzzle — please give us faster charging. While wireless charging is a great feature, Samsung's implementation is slow. To go from 0 to 100, you'll need about two hours to reach that point. Though it's a different technology, the Fossil Gen 6 can get a full day's use with less than 30 minutes on the charger — there's no reason Samsung can't at least match this on the Galaxy Watch 5.

Open up health monitoring features outside of Samsung phones

For years, Samsung wearables have required a plethora of separate apps to function on phones not made by Samsung. So while you could use your Tizen-based watch on any Android smartphone, it would work better, and in some cases, have more features on Samsung branded devices. Unfortunately, that didn't get resolved entirely with the Galaxy Watch 4 running Wear OS — and that needs to change.

Samsung watches have long offered advanced health monitoring features, and the move to Wear OS should bring that to everyone.

To take advantage of the ECG or blood pressure monitoring if available in your country, you need to be using a Samsung phone. There's no reason that a feature with the potential to save someone's life should only work with a particular brand of phone. When the FDA approved ECG monitoring for Samsung watches in September 2020, it required a separate app for this feature, and there are no reasons why this app and feature can't work on any Android phone.

In addition to opening up these features to be accessed by all Android phone users, it would be great to see the Galaxy Watch 5 be the device that finally brings blood pressure monitoring to the US. This, of course, isn't entirely up to Samsung as it requires FDA approvals, but it's a feature that can have a significant impact on people's well-being. By combining it with heart rate, blood oxygen, and the BIA sensor from the Galaxy Watch 4, the next iteration of Samsung's smartwatch could be incredible.

Cohesive app design language

Yes, I know that this is an issue with Wear OS and not the future Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. But, Samsung is co-developing the operating system with Google, and if it wants to have its smartwatches in the same conversation as what Apple offers — this needs to happen.

Wear OS has offered a relatively robust app catalog, but the quality and style of those apps are all over the place.

Samsung smartwatches reside in the premium tier, and users should expect a premium experience. One that users of the Apple Watch have enjoyed for years. Samsung nailed hardware long ago, and even its Tizen OS had some premium aspects. Unfortunately, one of those wasn't the apps.

By creating a cohesive app design language, Samsung and Google can offer users and developers the chance to use applications that perform and look great. For example, apps on the Apple Watch complement the hardware and provide consistency across the catalog. Wear OS watches come in various shapes and sizes, but by creating a common language and setting app standards, watches like the Galaxy Watch 5 can further improve their premium stance.

Offer an LTE version that actually works

One of the main reasons I returned my Galaxy Watch 4 LTE was because it, like many prior Samsung cellular watches, was a disaster when the LTE radio was active. These types of watches are supposed to offer the ability to leave our phone behind and still be able to receive notifications, calls, track workouts, and more. But Samsung has had a history of its LTE smartwatches struggling in several ways.

When paying a premium price to have the luxury of a cellular connection on a smartwatch, it's a feature that should be accessible.

When I tried to use my Galaxy Watch 4 on a run, it couldn't stay powered on long enough to track my workout. Powering off multiple times due to overheating, eventually, I left the watch off. That is unacceptable. Unfortunately, even when trying to leave my phone behind, not during a workout, and utilize a feature I bout the watch for, it would overheat. The Galaxy Watch 5 needs to resolve this issue.

Samsung develops the impressive hardware that we see and the internal parts that run the devices. There are many factors that come into play when dealing with cellular radios. Still, Samsung can achieve a smartwatch that can offer proper LTE connectivity should it be a priority. If Samsung doesn't, and it chooses to continue down the current path, just leave LTE out of the Galaxy Watch 5 entirely.

The first try was good, but the second will be better

Forgetting why the Galaxy Watch 4 didn't work out for me, Samsung makes fantastic smartwatches. It gives other brands something to shoot for just as they continue to push Samsung. Wear OS gained a lot of mindshare when Samsung switched to it, and both are better for it. But the Galaxy Watch 5 has plenty of room for improvement.

Samsung's first swing at a Wear OS watch went very well in many ways. It didn't just slap on a different OS with the Galaxy Watch 4; it also brought in improved health monitoring features along with some new ones. The second attempt for its Wear OS 3 smartwatch needs to push the envelope in some areas and enhance the basics like battery life. Whether we get a glimpse of the future wearable with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22 announcement or not, the Galaxy Watch 5 will be one to keep an eye out for.

The S22 Ultra could launch with less RAM than the S21, but it's okay

Maybe Samsung is catering to an audience who doesn't care about power but wants a premium phone

If Samsung decides to launch the Galaxy S22 Ultra phones with less RAM (random access memory), it won't be a "deal-breaker" for consumers, despite it being a "straight downgrade" to the S21 Ultra devices, experts say. They add that it would be disappointing, but Samsung has a clear reason for targeting a specific demographic who want a premium phone without having too much power.

Samsung is expected to launch the S22 series on February 9, and while the standard and Plus models aren't expected to change too much, the S22 Ultra may see the most drastic change of the series.

Rumors and leaks have pointed to Samsung lowering the base RAM of the S22 Ultra to 8GB, down from 12 GB on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. RAM would top out at 12 GB instead of 16GB. Yet rumors indicate that the phone will arrive with the same launch price as its predecessor.

One reason why Samsung might have chosen to go this route could be because it is still dealing with the effects of the global chip shortage, which has impacted the availability of many of the best Android phones. Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's worldwide device tracker, says this is likely what has impacted Samsung's specs decision.

But he adds that for the average consumer, the replacement cycle for a phone tends to be above three years, "so realistically those who purchase the S22 Ultra would be upgrading from an S9 or S10 era phone and back then it was still common to have 6GB RAM."

If the S22 launches with less RAM, it's not a deal-breaker

He adds for most average consumers, RAM as a spec is "far less important than other features such as camera, processor, screen, and battery life."

"Assuming that the S22 Ultra launches with less RAM than the S21 Ultra, it won't have a huge impact on [Samsung's] sales," he says.

Mishaal Rahman, senior technical editor at Esper and former editor-in-chief of XDA Developers, agrees, adding that it's not a "deal-breaker" if the S22 Ultra had less RAM than its predecessor.

But in saying that, he notes that a consumer willing to spend upwards of $1,200 on one of Samsung's premium flagship devices will "expect nothing but the best."

He notes that while it might be too soon for the company's next-generation LPDDR5X module to be included in the S22 series, he expects the series to feature Samsung's slower LPDDR5 modules.

"That means that assuming the rumors are true, the base model S22 Ultra is a straight downgrade compared to the base model S21 Ultra when it comes to RAM capacity," he says.

Do we actually need more RAM in a phone or is less RAM okay?

Rahman explains that for most phones there should be a bare minimum of 6GB of RAM, and anything beyond offers minimal benefits.

"The last time I used an Android phone with 4GB of RAM, I had a miserable experience when trying to replicate my workflow on a phone with 12Gb of RAM. Apps would frequently be unloaded from memory after putting them in the background. This was especially noticeable when playing music in the background, leaving multiple Chrome tabs open, or opening the camera app to take a photo," he says.

The amount of physical memory, or the RAM, that is available plays a huge difference in performance, Rahman explains, adding that the more memory available the more processes that can run in the background.

But most average users rarely notice a difference, he adds.

"The RAM capacity is not a figure that most consumers care about, and it's not a specification that will appear on most of the marketing material for the S22 series. Samsung will undoubtedly target as many different audience segments as possible, however, and mobile gamers are more likely to pay attention to the amount of RAM in a device. To those consumers, Samsung may choose to market its higher RAM [stock keeping units] and its 'RAM Plus' feature, which reserves space on the devices' internal flash storage for additional swap space," — Mishaal Rahman, senior technical editor at Esper

Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, says the users that really care about more RAM are the "premium power users" who look to invest and get the latest and greatest. He adds that they understand that 4K video recording and size of images for 108MP camera warrants a higher RAM + ROM configuration."

But perhaps, with a premium phone with less RAM, Samsung is catering to "less power users who don't look at memory configurations but look at just sporting the latest premium device from a design and brand's aesthetic perspective."

"We will have to see if this happens, what is Samsung's explanation with respect to 8GB+128GB entry-tier version if it is certain market-specific or demographic-specific," he says.

While having 8GB might be enough for most use case scenarios, Anshel Sag, a senior analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, believes that "12GB should be the standard for flagship devices and 8GB should be table stakes."

"I think that if the S22 Ultra has less RAM than the S21 Ultra it won't necessarily appear as premium without some added features," he says.

Will consumers care that the S22 Ultra's RAM is potentially smaller?

Rahman reiterates that for most average users, less RAM won't impact them.

"Apple, for example, never advertises the amount of RAM in its iPhones. When targeting those consumers, Samsung has no need to advertise the RAM capacity of its phones, because it's not a figure that those consumers care about," he says.

Android Central recently conducted a poll asking readers if they cared that Samsung may lower the RAM.

Out of more than 1,100 votes, 54% said they would prefer that Samsung keep the same RAM configurations as last year or increase it. Of the total votes, 36% say that the rumored 8GB base RAM is fine, but Samsung should offset the downgrade by lowering the cost of the phone or at least increasing storage memory.

Only 8% say they are okay with the rumored base RAM.

One reader, Steelatx, isn't too happy given the compromises Samsung has made with recent flagships:

"I didn't get the s21 because of the downgrade in screen resolution, lack of SD card, reduction in RAM, and the change in mobile payments. It seems that this iteration of the S22 (base) is going to be similar or more compromised.

However, I got to thinking, what if Android 12 is a better more efficient OS with better memory management? Could this be a reason to cut RAM? Because the OS is no longer hogging it? Law of diminishing returns, right? If 8 gigs performs optimally, why do we need 12 or 16? Increased cost is all we'd be facing. I am in desperate need of a new phone, my s20s battery is shot, but not quite sure what to think. I need a small phone and even the s20 is too big :(."

And perhaps for users like Steelatx, the rumored smaller size of the regular S22 might be more attractive than choosing a model with more RAM.

There is also the potential that the 8GB Ultra model could convince buyers who have other priorities, including the fact that there is likely an S Pen support, a great battery life, and the promise of a high-quality camera.

Would it make more sense to have more storage if there is less RAM?

Ubrani says that storage is more important for many users rather than RAM and "storage tends to get more important over time as many phones don't offer expandable storage anymore leaving users with limited storage over the lifetime of the phone."

He adds that it might be worth it for Samsung to explore focusing on larger storage options as a way to ease long-term concerns that users run into.

Sag is less convinced of this argument, adding that RAM is a commodity item and has a pretty stable price structure for manufacturers, especially for one like Samsung, which manufactures its own RAM and could use its own RAM at cost.

"It would be disappointing to see Samsung move away from providing more RAM considering it is one of the world's leading producers of RAM. It's a differentiator and to back away from that seems like a mistake," he says

In the same vein, Rahman agrees. He notes that past a certain threshold of RAM, increasing the RAM won't yield many benefits, while with storage, over time consumers require more.

"A few years ago, 64GB of storage space would have been adequate, but it's far too low today. Having adequate RAM and storage is necessary for a good user experience, but you can't supplement a deficiency in one by increasing the capacity of the other, because they serve very different purposes," he says.

Despite early successes, I'm not convinced Google is good for AR or VR

It will take a lot of rebuilding to fix these burned bridges.

Google's storied history in both the AR and VR markets is a long and devastating one. As is the case with many different kinds of mobile technology, Google was way ahead of the curve on these technologies. The company's rumored upcoming AR/VR headset, Project Iris, has all the trappings of becoming one of the best XR — that's the bridged definition of a device that can do AR and VR together — headsets ever created.

The problem is, I don't trust Google to stand behind whatever it builds, and I'm willing to bet plenty of other folks don't, either.

Google Glass was the first pair of AR glasses most people had ever heard of or even seen — outside of sci-fi movies, of course — but the public resentment against wearable cameras caused Google to kill it early.

Similarly, the Lenovo Mirage Solo — which was built upon Google's Daydream VR platform — was the first standalone VR headset to market, beating the original Oculus Quest by a few weeks. That headset, too, died prematurely due to Google's problem with long-term commitment for most of its experiments.

Cue Project Iris, a new rumored XR headset that looks like to blend both AR and VR worlds into one cohesive product. Project Iris promises to take the lessons Google learned from its past mistakes with AR and VR products and combine them with the experience gained from its purchase of North last year into a hero product that fulfills both goals.

The Stadia effect

Project Iris has a lot more in common with Google Stadia than it does with Google Glass, Daydream, or even Focals by North. That's because of what I'd like to coin as The Stadia Effect.

When Google Stadia was first announced, it heralded in the next generation of "consoles" a full year before Sony or Microsoft could launch the PS5 or Xbox Series X|S. So the platform wasn't revolutionary, necessarily, but it aimed to do things better than any of the best game streaming apps before it.

Stadia is extremely good, and its back-to-the-drawing-board design could have worked very well if Google hadn't built it.

In reality, that's the case. Stadia is extremely good, and its back-to-the-drawing-board design could have worked very well if Google hadn't built it.

From the moment Stadia was announced, the talk of the town was whether Google would abandon the project in two years or less. Turns out, that was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Almost exactly two years after it was initially announced at GDC 2019, Google closed its first-party Stadia Studios, taking a slew of incredible talent that now has to find a job elsewhere.

It would be hilarious if it weren't so darn tragic, and this is far from the first time Google has done something like this. There's a website that tracks things killed by Google that now totals nearly 250 apps, services, and pieces of hardware over the years.

Google is great as a research and development company, and they're regularly ahead of the curve with new concepts and implementations. But they're rarely good at supporting and growing those concepts beyond the initial stages. Projects like Android and Chrome OS and services like Gmail and Workspaces are the exception, not the norm.

Google's name, like Meta (and Facebook before it), are names that have become poisoned over the years. The circumstances are quite different, but the outcome is the same; unless it's particularly ground-breaking, people tend to shy away from hardware products from the two companies.

From the moment Stadia was announced, the talk of the town was whether Google would abandon the project in two years or less.

That's certainly not because either company makes bad products. Google's Pixel series of phones is regularly chosen as the best Android phone in any given year, and Facebook-made products like the Oculus Quest 2 and Facebook Portal are phenomenal products that beat the competition in most ways.

I think Anshel Sag, a senior analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, hits the nail on the head when he told Android Central, "the biggest problem I believe Google has in this space is that the company has simply burned too many bridges with developers, OEMs, and users."

Rebuilding the bridges

So, where does Google go from here? By all accounts, Project Iris is still at least two years away from commercial release. That's certainly enough time to try to convince at least a few key developers that Google is really, truly serious about its view of the future of XR devices.

Closing Stadia Studios was easily the single worst thing Google could have done to its reputation in recent memory. When the announcement hit, the company cited "the time needed and expensive nature of new games" as the reason for the closure. To say this is absurd doesn't quite skim the surface of how much damage this has done to Google's reputation in the long term.

Closing Stadia Studios was easily the single worst thing Google could have done to its reputation in recent memory.

As Sag says, "Google's attitude towards XR in the past has not instilled much confidence that it will stick with it and not burn everything to the ground again."

Daydream had a ton of potential, mainly since it worked with millions of existing phones that could have easily become a quality VR device with the simple purchase of a pair of controllers and a headset. After all, the original Oculus Quest was — in a very simplified sense — little more than off-the-shelf smartphone parts, including the same Snapdragon 835 chipset that powered the best Android phones in 2017.

Similarly, Sag notes, "Glass was one of the first AR headsets, and now it's an enterprise-only play, and I'm not even sure it's doing much in that space today."

Google relaunched Glass as Google Glass 2 a few years ago and aimed it squarely at the enterprise market, hoping that its more industrial look and feel would better fit that type of customer. We have heard very little of its success or failure since then. It is still available for sale, though, which defies expectations at this point in the game.

Enter Clay Bavor, the person at the helm of Project Iris and current VP of Labs at Google. Previously, Bavor was VP of Google's AR/VR division from 2015 until November 2021, when he was promoted to the Labs division. Per his LinkedIn profile, Bavor specialized in "forward-looking efforts like AR/VR, Project Starline, Area 120," showing that Google's rekindled interest in XR is a bit wider spread out than it previously was.

Clay Bavor could be the key to helping Google rebuild its reputation among consumers and developers.

Now, I have faith in Bavor. His past projects have proven that he can manage a team capable of making amazing products. With his and his team's expertise — especially since that team is likely comprised of folks that have worked on past Google XR projects, as well as the Focals by North team — Project Iris will, doubtless, be an amazing and maybe even ground-breaking product to challenge both Meta and Apple in the future.

Clay Bavor could be the key to helping Google rebuild its reputation among consumers and developers.

But, as Sag points out, "If Google wants to be successful with Project Iris, it needs to behave differently and show that the company is invested in XR for the long haul and not just appeasing investors by re-entering XR to say that it has a Metaverse play."

The privacy conversation

There's little doubt that many people don't trust Facebook — or Meta — to some degree. No matter where you sit on the American political spectrum, no matter how tech-savvy you are (or aren't), everyone has an opinion on the company and its issue with user privacy.

Given that Meta is the leading authority in the VR space with over 10 million Quest 2s sold — that's roughly 2 million more units than all combined Xbox units sold in 2021 — Google and Apple will have a lot of catching up to do not just in raw tech, but also content libraries.

"Remember Glassholes? Yeah, we didn't like them either." There's a bone for you, Google. Go ahead and take it.

But both companies can use the topic of privacy to promote their products over Meta's.

Apple has the better track record of the three for protecting user privacy, but Google has a special place in this conversation in which it can use its expertise (and past mistakes) to drive the conversation.

Back when Google Glass first debuted, the inclusion of cameras on a pair of glasses worried more than a few people. Some particularly annoying users were even deemed "Glassholes." Urban Dictionary accurately defines the term as: "A person who wears Google Glass and refuses to remove it when directly interacting with other people, private gatherings, or public events."

But society has evolved since then — for better or worse — and having cameras on glasses or smartwatches isn't taboo in the way it once was.

Still, Google could make plenty of humorous anecdotes about how it learned from the situation, even when it had less to do with its products and more with its users. "Remember Glassholes? Yeah, we didn't like them either." There's a bone for you, Google. Go ahead and take it.

At the end of the day, Google Glass was an incredible product that did everything it promised. Not only that, but it did these things incredibly well and did them years before other companies could even get around to designing a proper competing product.

Whether or not Google's Project Iris is a pair of smart glasses, a VR headset, or an ingenious mix of the two is anyone's best guess. But I know one thing: No matter how good it is, Google has a lot of work to do to convince everyone it actually cares about XR and will support this product long term.

Here's how much the OnePlus Nord 2T might cost in India

The Nord 2T may not debut alongside the rumored Nord 2 CE 5G.

What you need to know

• A new rumor claims the OnePlus Nord 2T may not debut before April.
• It is tipped to be priced in the ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 (about $402 to $536) range in the Indian market.
• The phone is expected to be a follow-up to last year's Nord 2.

Last week, a report from Digit shed light on the specs sheet of OnePlus' upcoming Nord 2T. While it was rumored that the phone could launch in India in February, tipster Yogesh Brar claims the Nord 2T will only be released in the second quarter of the year.

According to Brar, the OnePlus Nord 2T will debut in India in April or May. Additionally, the tipster claims the phone is going to be priced in the ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 (about $402 to $536) price bracket. The Nord 2T will succeed the Nord 2 — which is still among the best budget Android phones on the market.

The mid-ranger is tipped to feature MediaTek's Dimensity 1300 chipset and support 80W wired charging speeds. Aside from these upgrades, however, the phone may not be all that different from the Nord 2.

The Nord 2T isn't the only mid-range phone that OnePlus is currently working on. It is also expected to soon unveil the Nord 2 CE, which will be a follow-up to the Nord CE 5G. As per Brar, the Nord 2 CE is likely to be priced in the same ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 (about $335 to $402) price bracket as its predecessor. Rumors suggest the phone will launch in India on February 11.

OnePlus Nord 2

₹29,999 at Amazon India £399 at OnePlus UK

The Nord 2 is an impressive mid-range phone with a smooth 90Hz AMOLED display, a great 50MP primary camera, and support for 65W fast charging. You also get a great software experience with the promise of three years of security updates.

The best Verizon cell phone plans to sign up for, or switch to, in 2021

Welcome to our guide to the best Verizon cell phone plans available to buy right now. We've spent time comparing the various offers available from Verizon today and can tell you what you'll get across a range of budgets. If you're looking to pick up multiple lines you'll get discounts on each line, whereas prices are highest for those of you looking for a single line.

If you're looking to check out alternative options, then be sure to check out our wider best cell phone plan guide. Verizon is massively popular though, especially with its nationwide 5G network that's now available in over 2,700 cities. Verizon cell phone plans offers four unique unlimited plans to choose from, as well as several prepaid options. Play More Unlimited, will give you an exceptional experience. With this plan, you'll have access to Verizon's 5G network, 50GB of premium data, 15GB hotspot data, as well as some serious entertainment perks. Here are some of the best Verizon plans to consider right now.

Best overall: Play More Unlimited

Verizon's Play More Unlimited plan is like the more expensive Get More Unlimited plan but at a slightly lower cost, making it the perfect Verizon plan. It's a great option if you're looking for a new 5G cell phone plan or even a family plan because the plan comes with a ton of entertainment perks along with HD streaming. For instance, you'll get the Disney bundle, six months of Apple Music, and a free year of discovery+, Apple Arcade, and Google Play Pass.

With this plan, you'll have all the high-speed data in the world, including 50GB of premium data, as well as access to Verizon's 5G Ultra-Wideband and 5G Nationwide networks. Mobile hotspot access includes 15GB on Verizon's 5G Nationwide or 4G LTE network, which is a solid amount of hotspot data to last you through the month.

Play More Unlimited also has international benefits, including unlimited Mexico and Canada talk, text, data, and international texting. For one line on this plan, you can expect to pay $80 per month (assuming you've signed up for paper-free billing and AutoPay). For three lines, you'll pay $55 per line ($165 total), and for four lines, you'll pay $45 per line ($180).

Despite multi-line discounts, you'll still pay quite the sum if everyone in your family gets this plan. Thankfully with Verizon, you can mix and match plans, so everyone gets what they need, and there's also a Just Kids plan that'll cost you a maximum of $50 per month as long as you have one line on an Unlimited plan. The good news is that the more lines you add, the cheaper the plan gets. Parents will be grateful to manage screen time, filter content, track location, and get unlimited data (capped at 5Mbps) for their kids.

Pros:

• 5G total access
• Unlimited talk, text, and data
• 50GB premium data
• 15GB mobile hotspot (5G Nationwide/4G LTE)
• Includes entertainment perks
• HD streaming

Cons:

• Pricey for an entire family
• International features are limited
• Taxes and fees aren't included

Best overall

Play More Unlimited

• $80/mo. for one line at Verizon

Streaming for everyone

If you like streaming and watching TV with your family, Verizon's Play More Unlimited is the best plan you can get. It comes with a bunch of entertainment perks to keep families happy, as well as 50GB of premium data, 5G total access, and 15GB mobile hotspot data.

Best data: Get More Unlimited

If you're looking for the most premium plan Verizon has to offer, look no further than Get More Unlimited. The number of impressive features this plan includes can almost feel overwhelming, but you won't be left wishing for more when you experience Verizon's ultimate performance. With this plan, you'll get total access to Verizon's 5G network, including 5G Ultra-Wideband (available in select cities) and its broader 5G Nationwide network. Along with unlimited talk, text, and data, you'll have 50GB of premium data, meaning that you likely won't see your data speeds slow down anytime soon.

This plan includes a generous 30GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data on Verizon's 5G Nationwide and 4G LTE network (the most of any plan), allowing you to use your smartphone as a hotspot and work or be entertained even when WiFi isn't an option. But once you've reached 30GB, data speeds will slow to 600Kbps for the remainder of the month.

When it comes to international features, Verizon includes unlimited texting from the U.S. to 200+ countries. You're also able to talk, text, and use unlimited data when traveling in Mexico and Canada, but if you plan on going anywhere else, you'll need to buy a TravelPass to be able to use your phone. Where this plan's perks really shine, though, is when it comes to entertainment. Verizon's Get More Unlimited plan comes with HD streaming, and to go along with that, a subscription to the Disney bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) that everyone on your account can use. You'll also get Apple Music included along with a free year of discovery+, Apple Arcade, and Google Play Pass. Top that off with 600GB of Verizon Cloud storage and discounts on other connected device plans.

The main drawback of this plan is its price, which is higher than what you would get from T-Mobile or AT&T's top plans. For one line with Get More Unlimited, your monthly bill will be $90, and that includes a $10 per month AutoPay and paper-free billing discount. For three lines, you'll pay $65 per line ($195 total), and for four lines, you'll pay $55 per line ($220 total). Though there's a multi-line discount, it's not a plan that everyone needs. But if you're someone who consumes data like water, watches a lot of high-quality videos, frequently uses their smartphone as a hotspot, and wants the very best coverage, then you just can't find a better plan with Verizon.

Pros:

• 5G total access
• 50GB premium data
• 30GB mobile hotspot (5G Nationwide)
• Entertainment perks
• HD streaming

Cons:

• Expensive
• International features are limited
• Taxes and fees aren't included

Best data

Get More Unlimited

• $90/mo. for one line at Verizon

Not your average cell phone plan

Verizon's Get More Unlimited plan comes with more perks than you can count on one hand. Not only will you get access to Verizon's entire 5G network, but you'll have 50GB of premium data, at least 30GB of hotspot data, HD streaming, and subscriptions to the Disney bundle, Apple Music, and more.

Best MVNO: Visible

Not interested in signing a contract and eager to avoid hidden fees? Verizon-owned Visible is one of the best MVNO carriers you can get. For only $40 a month, you'll get Verizon's 5G and 4G LTE coverage, as well as unlimited data, calling, and texting. It's a fantastic offer at an almost unbeatable price. Visible's plan even throws in unlimited mobile hotspot data, which is extremely convenient if you like to use your smartphone as a hotspot when WiFi is shaky, or you're not at home. Though hotspot speeds are capped at 5Mbps, you should be able to stream SD videos, listen to music, and do your regular browsing.

Where Visible falls short is international use. You're able to call Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but sadly your phone just won't work abroad. There's also no domestic roaming with Visible, so be sure that you get great coverage before joining. It's a plan that's perfect for someone who consumers a lot of high-speed data and doesn't plan on traveling much. It's also great for anyone who doesn't care that Visible's customer service is online only.

If Visible sounds as great to you as it really is, then "Party Pay" is something to consider if you want to reduce your monthly bill. By starting a "party" with four people, your monthly cost will come down to only $25 per month. Fortunately, everyone pays their bill separately, so this is an amazing option for friends, roommates, and families. And if you're not satisfied, Visible promises that you can cancel anytime. It's that simple.

Pros:

• Verizon's 4G LTE and 5G coverage
• Affordable
• Unlimited data, calling, texting, and hotspot
• Party pay savings
• No contracts or hidden fees

Cons:

• Mobile hotspot speed capped at 5Mbps
• SD streaming
• Limited international features
• Customer service only online
• Data slowed in times of congestion

Best MVNO

Visible

• $40/mo. at Visible

Simplicity is bliss

Visible is a breath of fresh air that makes phone plans feel easy. With no contracts or hidden fees, you'll get unlimited data, calling, texting, and mobile hotspot (capped at 5Mbps) for $40 per month. Though you won't get much international use with a Visible plan, you'll get great access to Verizon's massive 4G LTE and 5G network.

Best budget: Single Basic Phone

Verizon's Single Basic Phone plan is as basic as can be. If you're someone who relies on WiFi most of the time and rarely uses data, then this plan is worth considering. For only $30 per month, it's extremely affordable, and you'll get 500MB of data along with unlimited talk and text as well as unlimited international messaging from the U.S. However, taxes and fees aren't included, so sadly, your monthly bill will be more than $30.

If you happen to use more than 500MB of data in a month, you'll be charged an extra $5 for every additional 500MB you use. It's a great plan for someone who only uses their data to shoot a few WhatsApp messages or Google something. But if you like to stream YouTube videos during your morning commute, this is absolutely not the plan for you. You're better off going with Verizon's MVNO Visible, which offers unlimited data for just $10 more.

Pros:

• Very affordable
• 500MB of data
• Unlimited talk and text
• Unlimited international messaging

Cons:

• Price doesn't include taxes and fees
• Not enough data for most people
• Limited perks

Best budget

Single Basic Phone

• $30/mo. for one line at Verizon

Back to basics

Verizon's Single Basic Phone plan is ideal for someone who only needs one line and doesn't need much data. For only $30 per month, it's a highly affordable plan that will give you the essentials: 500MB of data, unlimited talk and text, unlimited international messaging, and light browsing.

Best prepaid: Prepaid Unlimited Plus

If you prefer to go prepaid, then Verizon's Prepaid Unlimited plan is the best one to get. You'll get 5G total access (5G Ultra-Wideband and 5G Nationwide), unlimited calling and texting, as well as discounts to help bring the price down—including a loyalty discount of $5 per month that kicks in after three months of service (and increases after nine) and an AutoPay discount of $5 per month. It's an especially great plan if you're in a 5G Ultra Wideband coverage area since you'll be able to stream in 4K UHD, and you'll get unlimited 5G Ultra Wideband mobile hotspot data—yes, that's right, unlimited.

When you're not in a 5G Ultra Wideband coverage area, you'll still get 10GB of mobile hotspot data on Verizon's 5G Nationwide and 4G LTE networks. After you've used up that amount, speeds will slow to 600Kbps for the rest of the month. You'll also get SD streaming, and when it comes to international use, you'll have unlimited calls, texts, and data when traveling in Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as unlimited text to 200 international destinations.

Prepaid plans let you save some money, but luckily you'll have the same Verizon coverage as everyone else who's paying more. For one line on this plan, you can expect to pay $70 per month (including the AutoPay discount), and the price will continue dropping until it reaches $60 per month (after 10-plus months) and includes all discounts.

Pros:

• 5G total access
• Loyalty and AutoPay discounts
• Unlimited mobile hotspot (5G Ultra Wideband)
• 10GB mobile hotspot data (5G Nationwide and 4G LTE)
• International perks

Cons:

• No multi-line discounts
• No entertainment perks
• Doesn't include premium data

Best prepaid

Prepaid Unlimited Plus

• $75/mo. for one line at Verizon

When prepaid plans pay off

Verizon's Prepaid Unlimited plan comes with its own set of perks, even if you won't get a subscription to the Disney bundle or premium data. You'll get access to its entire 5G network, unlimited mobile hotspot with 5G Ultra-Wideband, and a bunch of discounts that will bring your monthly bill down.

Best value: Start Unlimited

Not sure where to start when it comes to cell phone plans? Start Unlimited. This is one of Verizon's most straightforward unlimited plans. It may not come with premium data but will give you everything that you need. This means 5G Nationwide and 4G LTE unlimited data, text, and talk. If you want access to 5G Ultra-Wideband (Verizon's fastest 5G network), you can pay $10 extra per month, but most people will be happy with what the plan already offers. You'll get a lot of the same features with this plan as you would with other core Verizon plans, making it a perfect choice for someone who really just wants unlimited data at a better price.

With Start Unlimited, you'll still get international benefits, including talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada and international texting. You'll even get many entertainment perks that Verizon's more expensive plans offer, such as six months for free with Disney+, Apple Music, discovery+, Apple Arcade, and Google Play Pass. Unfortunately, this plan will only allow you to stream in SD, so you'll have to upgrade if HD streaming is a dealbreaker. What you also won't get with this plan is mobile hotspot access, but if you're someone who never relies on their hotspot in the first place, then this won't be an issue. However, if this bums you out a little, you should consider upgrading to one of the higher-tier plans.

At the end of the day, Verizon's Start Unlimited plan comes at a more affordable price than other Verizon plans. For a single line, you'll pay $70 per month (after the paper-free billing and AutoPay discount) plus taxes and fees. The price gets better when you add more lines; for three lines, you'll pay $45 per line ($135 total), and for four lines, you'll pay $35 per line ($140 total). The monthly cost drops down to as low as $30 per month, which is a pretty great deal when you think about it. It's a fantastic plan to consider if you can get over not having access to Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network or premium data as well as unlimited mobile hotspot and HD streaming.

Pros:

• Affordable price
• 5G Nationwide and 4G LTE unlimited data, talk, and text
• International benefits
• Entertainment perks
• Multi-line discounts

Cons:

• No mobile hotspot
• 5G Ultra Wideband is $10 extra
• SD video streaming
• No premium data

Best value

Start Unlimited

• $70/mo. for one line at Verizon

Unlimited data

If you're looking for high-speed data, talk, and text with no limits, look no more. Though you won't get premium data with this plan, access to mobile hotspot, or Verizon's fastest 5G network, you'll still get great coverage with Verizon 5G Nationwide and save some money at the end of the month. If you sign up for multiple lines, your monthly bill goes as low as $30 per line per month.

Bottom line

Though Verizon offers excellent coverage to a lot of Americans, don't forget to check out its coverage map before signing up. If you decide Verizon is the carrier for you, the Play More Unlimited plan is the best choice for most people. It's not the most expensive plan (nor is it the cheapest), but it offers everything that you need out of a cell phone plan and more. With Play More Unlimited, you'll have 5G total access (aka the best speeds you can get), as well as 50GB of premium data, so you're guaranteed not to be slowed down. Along with unlimited data, text, and talk, and international features, you'll get the Disney+ bundle and several other perks to try out.

If you're looking for a plan with a better price, then Visible stands out amongst the crowd. This MVNO is owned by Verizon, so you'll have the same great coverage (that includes 5G), along with unlimited data, text, and talk for only $40 per month. The best part is that there are no contracts or hidden costs or fees as you'll find with other plans, and you can even lower your monthly bill to $25 per month by joining a "party" of four lines. But with Visible, your phone won't work abroad, and there's no domestic roaming, in which case you could consider one of Verizon's prepaid plans or a cheaper core option. Whichever plan you get, you'll be with one of the nation's best wireless carriers and can count on reliable performance.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Olivia Lipski is a freelance writer for Android Central and loves testing out the latest smart home tech and discovering the best cell phone plans. When she's not busy running around NYC trying to find great food or coffee, she's in her kitchen trying to make it herself.

Should you buy the Eero Pro 6 or Eero 6? We can help you decide!

Starter Wi-Fi 6

Eero 6

$90 at Amazon

Pros

• Wi-Fi 6 increases mesh performance
• AX1800 delivers enough speed for more people
• Compatible with all existing Eeros

Cons

• Dual-band Wi-Fi is worse for mesh performance
• Only one open Ethernet port on the base router

Eero 6 is a solid upgrade to the base Eero line. It brings with it Wi-Fi 6, which takes the 5GHz performance up to 1200Mbps with compatible devices. Even if you haven't upgraded your wireless devices to take advantage of Wi-Fi 6, it ensures a faster connection between the different routers in your mesh.

Gigabit speed mesh

Eero Pro 6

$229 at Amazon

Pros

• Wi-Fi 6 tri-band delivers gigabit speed
• Compatible with all existing Eeros
• Dedicated backhaul keeps mesh speed high

Cons

• More expensive
• Only one open Ethernet port on the base router

Eero 6 Pro has all of the best features Eero 6 has with a little more of everything. A tri-band connection allows the mesh to hit gigabit speeds with an extra 5GHz band. Dual gigabit Ethernet ports on each router allow you to connect wired devices to a node without giving up speed, even with a fast connection.

The main difference between these two routers is the top speed, with the Eero Pro 6 delivering speeds above 1Gbps with ease even while connected to a remote node. While a single Eero 6 router supports a gigabit connection on its own, you'll be sharing your 5GHz band, splitting your 1200Mbps speed if you add in more nodes. This allows for speeds up to 500Mbps with a little headroom, which is more than enough for most people.

Eero Pro 6 vs. Eero 6: Do you need another band?

If you deploy either of these routers alone, the speed you get will be basically identical, with most Wi-Fi 6 devices maxing out at 1200Mbps. If you only need one in an open space of less than 1,500 square feet, there's very little reason to upgrade to the Eero Pro 6. While an Eero can be a great standalone router in a small space, they're designed to work together.

If you deploy two or more Eeros in your home, Eero Pro 6's extra 5GHz band will keep transmission speeds over 1Gbps with ease. All of the nodes in your mesh will need to communicate with each other to work.

With only a single 5GHz band, Eero 6 must share that connection with wireless devices and communication to the Eero connected to your modem. This essentially cuts the 1200Mbps best-case scenario speed in half leading to Eero's recommendation for 500Mbps. This is similar to our testing of the Wi-Fi 5 Eero that had speeds around 400Mbps or right around half of its 867Mbps 5GHz band speed.

Luckily, Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro have been updated with support for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) which opens up more 5GHz bands so the nodes can avoid interference a bit better than using the standard 5GHz modes. This does not need to be configured by the user and will be selected automatically by the Eero software if necessary.

	Eero 6	Eero 6 Pro
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6 dual-band	Wi-Fi 6 tri-band
Wireless speed	AX1800 600Mbps at 2.4GHz, 1200Mbps at 5GHz	AX4200 600Mbps at 2.4GHz, 1200Mbps at 5GHz, 2400Mbps at 5GHz
Spatial streams	4	8
Channel width	20, 40, 80 MHz	20, 40, 80 MHz
Ethernet	2	2
Coverage (single)	1,500 sq. ft.	2,000 sq. ft.
Dimensions	3.91 x 3.82 x 2.42 inches	5.3 x 5.3 x 2.1 inches

Eero Pro 6 vs. Eero 6: Software

Eero Pro 6 and Eero 6 are both set up and managed with the Eero app. This app will guide you through the setup process and allow you to configure your wireless settings. You will also be able to inspect the quality of your mesh link and see which devices are connected. Included with the Eero app are Eero Secure and Eero Secure+. These subscriptions can add security to your connection with real-time antivirus protection as well as helpful software like a password manager and a VPN. The base Eero Secure plan is $2.99 per month or $29 per year, while Eero Secure+ is $9.99 per month or $99 per year.

Recently, Eero has added a new feature to its Eero Secure+ tier called DDNS. This feature, accessible through the Eero app on mobile, allows you to create a secure connection to your home network even when you're on the go. This can allow easy access to devices on your home network and can be great for saving room in your travel bag if you don't want to travel with portable hard drives.

For your smart home, Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6 both include a Zigbee smart home hub. If you have compatible smart home devices, this can simplify your network. Eero also includes support for Alexa, which is unsurprising considering Amazon owns Eero.

Finally, Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6 also both fully support HomeKit. This means that smart homes using Apple's HomeKit and an Eero 6 or Pro 6 get greater security for their HomeKit accessories. You can choose whether to allow the devices only to see local Apple devices, or you can give them automatic access to predetermined sites and devices. Finally, you can disable these controls outright if you choose. You will still need a separate Apple HomeKit hub, however.

Eero Pro 6 vs. Eero 6: Get the right coverage

Eero Pro 6 is extremely compact for the specs it packs, especially considering it still manages to cover up to 2,000 sq. ft. That's not bad, and two or three should be able to cover an entire house with ease. Keep in mind that you want to overbuy coverage with wireless routers a bit to account for things that will negatively affect signal strength, such as walls. If you have a home with concrete or plaster walls, your signal will decrease quickly from room to room.

Your mesh will perform at its best when each node has a strong connection to another. Make sure to plan in some overlap to ensure your speeds stay high. Your fastest speed will only ever be as fast as the slowest connection between your device and the modem.

Eero 6 covers a more modest 1,500 square feet, so you will need more nodes to cover a house. Still, for many two or three-bedroom homes, two or three Eero 6 nodes should be sufficient. There's no need to worry too much about getting this right immediately since nodes can be added easily if needed.

If you're looking for something to cover a studio apartment or similarly small and open space, either router should do a great job. If you only need one router, the Eero 6 will be able to deliver gigabit speeds since it won't need to share its 5GHz band with the mesh.

Eero Pro 6 vs. Eero 6: Expand your mesh

Eero excels at compatibility. If you have an older Eero mesh in your home, there's no need to get rid of it. You can build a faster mesh with newer Eeros in the places you need while keeping your older Eeros in service where speed isn't really a big issue, such as a detached garage. Just be sure to connect your fastest Eero straight to the modem.

If you're looking to get the most out of your Eero 6 or Eero Pro 6 mesh, you should stick with a Wi-Fi 6 capable Eero for expansion. Your three best options to expand your Eero Pro 6 mesh are more Eero Pro 6 routers for the best possible speed, followed by either an Eero 6 or an Eero 6 Extender. The wireless capabilities for the Eero 6 Extender are identical to the standard Eero 6, but it lacks Ethernet ports. Still, for $40 less, it's a great option.

Eero Pro 6 vs. Eero 6: Which one should you get?

There's no doubt that Eero Pro 6 is faster than Eero 6 and both routers are competitive with the best wireless routers you can get. It's also worth remembering that Eero isn't the only whole-home Wi-Fi solution around. The main question is whether or not you need that sort of speed. More people than ever ask a lot of their home networks due to working from home or even attending school from home. Gigabit connections are great, and if you have one, Eero Pro 6 is right for you.

For most people, 500Mbps is likely faster than the connection you're paying for, making the Eero 6 the best fit. You can also spend the money you saved on your base Eero to add another Eero 6 or Eero 6 Extender so you can make sure coverage is consistent all over your home. For most people, Eero 6 will be more than enough for quite some time.

Starter Wi-Fi 6

Amazon eero 6 dual-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 router

Fast enough for most people with easy expansion

$90 at Amazon

$91 at Dell

$90 at Best Buy

Recommended for speeds up to 500Mbps, Eero 6 brings Wi-Fi 6 support and keeps the great Eero app setup and expansion options.

Gigabit speed mesh

Amazon eero Pro 6 tri-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 router

Gigabit speeds and seamless coverage in your house

$229 at Amazon

$230 at Dell

$229 at Best Buy

Eero Pro 6 adds another Wi-Fi band to easily deliver gigabit wireless speeds with expandable coverage all over your home.

Review: The Jabra Elite 7 Active are a great fit for the workout crowd

Jabra makes sure these earbuds fit right in with the active crowd.

It used to be that Jabra would never release two Elite pairs of earbuds at the same time. So if you wanted to go with the "Active" pair, you would need to wait until they came after the regular pair had their time to shine. Jabra reversed that this time by releasing the Elite 7 Active at the same time as the Elite 7 Pro.

They sport a lot of similarities between them, which means the Elite 7 Active are worthy of attention given how good their siblings already are. However, a simple focus here should appeal to a subset of people. So, if you're an active person and don't necessarily care about phone call clarity, read on to find out why these may be for you.

Jabra Elite 7 Active review:

• Price and availability
• What's good
• What's not good
• The competition
• Should you buy?

At a glance

Jabra Elite 7 Active

Bottom line: Jabra gives its latest activity-focused earbuds the goods to stand out in a crowd and feel super comfortable doing it. The fit is on point in so many ways, as are the design and customization, making the Jabra Elite 7 Active an intriguing choice for your ears.

The Good

• Excellent audio quality, including ANC
• Better fit and comfort
• Very good durability
• Reliable button controls
• Nice color options

The Bad

• Custom ANC is a pain to use
• Don't submerge them in water

$180 at Best Buy

Jabra Elite 7 Active: Price and availability

Jabra launched the Elite 7 Active in October 2021 and made them available for $179.99. They came out at the same time as the Elite 7 Pro, which are pretty much identical in almost every way, save for a couple of unique differentiators. Given they came out together, Jabra is likely going to keep these available for a while. At some point, you can also expect good sales to knock down the asking price, too.

They come in black, navy, and mint.

Jabra Elite 7 Active: What's good

In some ways, I feel like I'm writing a review for two pairs of earbuds that initially come off as twins. Jabra used to make its Elite Active earbuds more rugged than their standard siblings, maybe tweaking an extra thing or two to add some separation. However, in this case, the Elite 7 Active aren't blazing any trail; they're instead following the lead. Jabra made it clear the Elite 7 Pro are the top dogs in this duo, but for the most part, the gap between them isn't all that big.

Case in point, the form factor is the same except for one key change. The Elite 7 Active have a rubberized veneer in contrast to the harder plastic you see in the Elite 7 Pro. That's significant for a couple of reasons. First, the extra friction afforded by the rubberized build means these earbuds probably won't move or wiggle as much if they get sweaty. It's a design principle Jabra carried over from the excellent Elite Active 75t, and it can be super convenient when you're moving a lot and building up perspiration.

The second point is that Jabra didn't have to make the Elite 7 Active uncomfortable to get there. The ear tips are the same between earbuds, so if you find the Elite 7 Pro to fit snugly, you will likely feel the same here. In fact, even if you have ear tips lying around from the Elite Active 75t, they will fit perfectly fine. And even though the Elite 7 Active share the same IP57 dust and water resistance with the Elite 7 Pro, I give the edge to these earbuds simply because of the material Jabra used to make them. I'm also a little more partial to the color options here, which I find more pleasing than those available with the Elite 7 Pro.

The similarities with the Elite 7 Pro also extend to setup and execution. You will need the Sound+ app to set up active noise cancelation (ANC), which is mandatory. You can't just start using ANC out of the box, you have to customize it to your ears in the app first (more on this later). All other custom options are the same, too. Whatever you can select using the Elite 7 Pro, you can also apply to the Elite 7 Active.

Jabra engineered these earbuds to sound the same, at least when it comes to audio content. The 6mm drivers aren't the heavy-hitters you see in competing earbuds, but they make up for that in clarity and consistency. I liked how balanced the sound signature was, offering a nice balanced mix of lows, mids, and highs. You can tinker with that using the EQ in the Sound+ app, including choosing among the available presets. If you're looking to go hard at the gym or a rigorous run, you should be able to pump up the bass with these. Codec support is limited to AAC and SBC, which is a shame, as it would've been nice to see Jabra support aptX and LDAC, too.

Whatever you can select using the Elite 7 Pro, you can also apply to the Elite 7 Active.

Thing is, when you are doing something active, you would expect ANC to help drown out some of that background or have the HearThrough transparency mode let some of it in for safety's sake. Instead, ANC is gradual, so you can use the slider to apply more or less of it, which is great, but even at its best, it won't match the superb performance of the Sony WF-1000XM4 or the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro. The catch is that, of those two, Sony's pair aren't that rugged, and Samsung's, while certainly durable, will be more prone to sliding out of your ear when sweating.

Meanwhile, the HearThrough mode feels like it stagnates compared to the Elite Active 75t because of the very design that makes them so comfortable. Jabra took away some of the orifices that allowed ambient noise to naturally seep in, putting more of an emphasis on the microphones to do the job. They do it well, but not with any identifiable improvement.

It's great to have auto-pause to cease playback when removing either earbud or using only one in mono, and while Jabra erred big time in not including multipoint at launch, it rectified that through a January 2022 firmware update that enabled the feature, so you stay connected to two devices at once.

If you were concerned Jabra would use capacitive touch controls on the Elite 7 Active, fear not because they are indeed physical buttons, and they work fabulously well. They're responsive and reliable, so it's hard to make mistakes when pressing them, and I like how easy they are to customize in the app. If you want to use Alexa as your preferred voice assistant, it works nicely with Spotify, letting you tell it what you want to hear, which is great when you're doing something and don't want to touch your phone.

The Elite 7 Active hold no real advantage over their Pro siblings on battery life. You will get the same results, which is a good thing. With ANC on, you get up to eight hours per charge, depending on how loud you're listening. The case gives you another three charges for a total of 30 hours. If you're in a tight spot and need some tunes fast, plug in via USB-C for five minutes, and you can get up to one hour of playback. From the Qi symbol at the bottom of the case, you will see that they are also compatible with wireless chargers for added convenience.

Jabra Elite 7 Active: What's not good

The other major thing that sets the Elite 7 Active apart from its Pro sibling is Jabra's MultiSensor Voice Technology. These earbuds don't have it, meaning that phone calls won't be as clear as on the Elite 7 Pro. I tested them both to gauge the difference, which is noticeable enough on both ends. Friends I spoke to noticed a decreased clarity in comparison. That's not to say calls will be bad, but they won't be as crystal as they would be with Jabra's other earbuds.

That's not to say calls will be bad, just that they won't be quite as crystal as they would be with Jabra's other earbuds.

I'm also not sure why Jabra insists on forcing users to customize the ANC experience. It's an odd choice for a company that makes so much else elective, and the process of setting it up isn't as good as it should be. You need to do it with background noise to gauge the difference, which at times I felt was negligible from one setting to the other. It's possible Jabra will improve this with a firmware update, but we'll have to see if that comes to pass.

And if you are going to be adventurous with the Elite 7 Active, it's best not to dunk them in water. The IP57 rating does allow for submersion, but I would be wary of doing so. Whatever you do, make sure to never put them in salt water. That's just asking for a malfunction.

Jabra Elite 7 Active: Competition

The Jabra Elite 7 Active could easily be among the best wireless earbuds, not to mention the best workout earbuds, but those lists also come with tough competition. The Jabra Elite Active 75t are still viable options, even if they aren't going to fit quite as well as the Elite 7 Active can. If you care about call quality and don't mind the less rubberized build — as well as a willingness to pay a little more — you will get that with the Elite 7 Pro.

For equal parts rugged and custom sound, look out for the Jaybird Vista 2, which have one of the deepest EQs of any pair of earbuds in existence. For stability, comfort, and lack of interest in phone call quality, the JLab Epic Air Sport ANC are considerably cheaper. You just have to be OK with ear hooks.

Jabra Elite 7 Active: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if ...

• You need something comfortable
• You need something durable
• You want active noise cancelation
• You want reliable onboard controls

You shouldn't buy this if ...

• You're on a budget
• You want better phone call quality
• You want more codec support
• You want even better sound quality

4.5 out of 5

It's easy to like the Elite 7 Active as more of the underdog stepping away from the spotlight. They come with a 'best of both worlds' element to them in that they are so much like the excellent Elite 7 Pro, yet have an identity all their own that fits with active lifestyles. Plus, you no longer have to pay a premium to get that, and that feels like a sweeter deal once you put these on and start breaking a sweat.

They sound great, and check off the right boxes on comfort, battery life, and app support. It's not always easy to find rugged earbuds that do this much so well, but you can count on the Elite 7 Active to take care of those things every time you wear them.

Jabra Elite 7 Active

Active participants

The Jabra Elite 7 Active stick with the rugged designs of the past and make the features stand out with excellent audio quality, battery life, and support to go with the excellent fit and comfort you get with them. It's a winning combination that sets your ears free with almost any activity.

$180 at Best Buy