By Greg Barbosa for 9 to 5 Mac.

Here at 9to5Mac readers have a few different ways to stay up to date on our latest news. We strive to push out breaking news as fast as possible to make sure our readers are informed on the latest changes in the Apple environment, but there are some additional steps you can take to get that extra edge in the moments that matter. You may have missed your chance to get the Apple AirPods earlier, but read on to see how you can make sure you won’t miss out on any other future events…

 

You may have missed out on getting the AirPods before Christmas, but some good alternatives do exist. Our own Jordan had previously roundup a few other wireless earbuds, but we’ll re-iterate some here along with some updates. One of the questions commenters had brought up was how alternatives would compare to the AirPods, and honestly we can’t tell 100% until we have them in hand (be sure to follow our Twitter for that!). Knowing alternatives can help sway you in one direction or another though.

Earin M-1 (~$250)

One of the first pair of true wireless earbuds I tested, the design has still stuck with me to this day. The Earin M-1’s canister style charging capsule is attractive as it is sleek. The charging tray slides out beautiful to showcase each earbud lying inside charging away. Although the sound wasn’t the most amazing out there, I loved the Earin M-1’s overall package. With a three-hour playback on each charge, it doesn’t compete with Apple’s five hours, but it can be more than adequate for most uses. Read more in our full review here.

Erato Apollo 7 ($299)

Definitely the priciest in the bunch, the Apollo 7 has been my favorite pair of earbuds for the past few months. The integrated physical button control, something the Apple AirPods lack, have made it my daily driver. Lightweight, comfortable, with a sleek charger made it an easily pocketable everyday pair of wireless earbuds. Be sure to read through our in-depth writeup on the Apollo 7.

Bragi ‘The Headphone’ ($149)

With the best price point on this list, Bragi’s The Headphone will be a big contender for those looking for AirPods alternatives. Bragi has experience in making headphones as evidenced by their original Bragi Dash, but in Jordan’s experience The Headphones takes the experience up a level. Improving on the overall comfort and fit, while kicking up the sound quality, Jordan thinks Bragi scores high. Read his hands-on with The Headphone here.

Sol Republic Amps Air (~$125)

Another really well priced pair of wireless earbuds, the Amps Air surpassed Jordan’s sound quality expectations. When he wrote the review, the Amps Air was currently listed at $179, and even then he believed the sound quality alone justified the $20 premium against the Apple AirPods. For those that don’t like the fit of Apple’s EarPods, Sol Republic’s Amps Air could just be the alternative they need.

Beats Solo3 ($219 – $249.99)

If you’re not at all a fan of the true wireless earbud style, the Beats’ Solo3 with W1 chip are still available. The benefit with a set of headphones like the Solo3 is that ridiculous 40 hours of battery life, with 3 hours of battery gained from a 5 minute charge. Jeff notes that the onboard controls and ability to use these wired or wireless makes it a solid win too. Watch his video above, and read the contextual review here.

DON’T MISS OUT NEXT TIME

Keeping up to date on our posts means not missing out on things like getting the AirPods before Christmas, a 25% discount on the brand new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, or even LG’s UltraFine 5K display. You may already be subscribed to our RSS feed, but for the most immediate notifications follow us on Twitter too! Following us Twitter, and enabling our mobile notifications ensures that you’ll get updates whenever we post new and breaking news.

If you’re not a fan of Twitter, you can also follow our posts as they hit Facebook too, although I’d definitely recommend the former. Twitter’s notifications seem to come in faster and quicker the other social media sources. If neither of those works for you, and you’re okay with early evening email roundups, our newsletter is a great option for you too. The newsletter is a collection of all of our posts from the day; because of the roundup nature of the newsletter you more than likely would miss out on minute-to-minute sales like the AirPods from earlier this morning.