Pioneer Rayz Plus Smart Noise Cancellation Headphones In Ear Earbuds - iPhone Compatible - Lightning - Listen & Charge (Bronze)

So I'm going to review both the Rayz Smart Lightning Headphones ($30ish range) and the Pioneer Rayz Plus ($90ish range) since I did buy both and will let you know what the differences are between the two. Both have the best sound quality I've come across in an earbud. Both come with a smart app. I know a previous reviewer said the cheaper version were a knockoff but I don't believe that's the case for 2 reasons - 1. Sound quality was the same between the two and 2. If you look at the Pioneer website it gives Appcessori as the warranty provider. So not sure if they sold the brand off or what but in any event they're great sounding headphones. Now to the differences:Rayz Smart Lightning Headphones ($30ish range)Pros: Great sound, companion app with equalizer, programmable smart button, braided cord, silicone case, Freebit® Ear Fins, mic mute, magnetized earbuds to avoid tanglingCons: No autopause or hearthru mode, no way to charge while listening (these cannot be attached to a charging accessory or splitter)Pioneer Rayz Plus ($90ish range)Pros: Great sound, companion app with equalizer, programmable smart button, hearthru, autopause, smart mute, charge while listeningCons: Rubberized cords, no magnetized buds, no case, no Freebit® Ear FinsIn all both are great and if you don't want to spend the extra $60ish bucks or need the charging feature the lower priced version is a great option especially with the braided cord as I feel that will last longer.

These buds make a great first impression and worked as well as my $300 pair of Bose noise-cancelling earbuds that I broke after 2 years of use. The different noise-cancelling presets and various settings are a nice touch and work very well. Sound quality and also the noise-cancelling are great and comparable to the 3x more expensive Bose earbuds. So I was about to give these earbuds a 5-star rating here...However, after a few weeks of use, I started to run into some problems with the earbuds. It has two features that started giving me problems. The first issue is with the auto-mute and the second with the auto-stop. The auto-mute automatically mutes the phone when you're on a phone call and are not speaking. That's a useful feature for when there's a lot of background noise (e.g. in a restaurant). You're automatically un-muted when you start talking again, but it doesn't quite work as smoothly as it should. There's always a slight delay and words might be cut off as you transition from mute to un-mute.The second issue is with the auto-stop, which automatically stops music or a podcast when you take off your earbuds. In theory, this is a great idea. You wouldn't want to waste battery when you're not using the earbuds, right? Unfortunately, the software / earbuds started malfunctioning and randomly stop music and podcasts I'm listening to, even though I am still using both earbuds. So that's an odd one. It has happened quite a few times these last few weeks. Might be a software bug. If it continues, I might request a replacement and update this review.

I love Pioneer products. From my coveted SX-980 receiver, to the Elite SC-63 a/v receiver. Now to this. First off, the colors are all wrong. They shipped white and pinkish-gold instead of bronze and charcoal. The in ear fit is horrible. I have large ear canals so I was glad to see they included XXL plugs. Still they felt loose and worked themselves loose constantly with any movement. I found I had to fight them back into my ears all the time. Pioneer could take a lesson on fit/ergonomics from Shure or even better, from Westone. Even the entry level phones from those companies put this to shame.Now to the sonics. These buds sound BAD. There is no bass, awful distortion, horrible stereo separation and poor ambient isolation, terrible in fact. Yes, I’ve been spoiled with my Westone W60 and R4s and my Shure 535 and 846 series. But these Pioneer buds are just mediocre..... as in B.A.D. They sound tinny.... just wrap this up with the word BAD.

I bought these beard on a recommendation from an acquaintance. I wanted this to be the perfect portable headphone. Wired, noise cancelling, and smart app. And able to charge and listen at the same time. But I am am left disappointed.Firstly, I found it hard to get a good fit. Either the tips felt tight, slipped out during use, or let in a lot of background noise. Secondly, the cables created nose from friction when I moved, and the control pad was too close to the ear buds to pull the cables around the ears, something I’ve done in the past with other wired headphones. Another issue is that you only have to knock the lightning connector slightly sideways for the headphones to consider themselves diconnected.Then we come to the smart software. The auto pause doesn’t always work. The smart mute sometimes muted me in the middle of a sentence, and the voice isolation feature made people complain about it being hard to hear.As if all of this was not bad enough, today the lightning connector actually broke. Now they are completely useless. I was expecting more from a $100+ pair of headphones.The two positives are - sound quality and ability to charge and listen. But I can live without that.