Quality earbuds that won’t break the bank

Wireless earbuds are my constant companion; I always carry them with me, and I’m likely to have at least one lodged in my ear at any given time. Whether listening to Green Day’s new album “Saviors,” digging into a sci-fi audiobook, or catching up on the latest tech news via YouTube, I find that true wireless earbuds stave off boredom, no matter how humdrum the task I undertake. The Speck Gemtones Pro offer an affordable and attractive option to get true wireless earbuds of your own, but are they as good in your ears as they are on paper?

Price and availability

Affordable, but availability is limited

The Speck Gemtones Pro are available for $80 and are currently only available directly from Speck. They are available exclusively in a black-and-white color scheme.

Design, hardware, what’s in the box

Deceptively cheap feel hides decent quality

Upon initially picking up the Gemtones Pro, there’s certainly an immediate impression of flimsy plastic. The construction of the case and the earbuds doesn’t seem outwardly high quality, yet after using them for a few weeks, it became apparent that you really can’t judge a book by its cover. The cheap feeling is largely due to the light weight and texture of materials used, but the truth is that earbuds need to be as light as possible, and the texture feels good in your ears. Once you get over the initial aesthetic impression, the Gemtones Pro are great.

These earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.3, and the connection is acceptable, though the range and strength through walls are somewhat lacking. Don’t expect to be able to leave your phone charging in one room and be able to walk very far away through the house while maintaining a consistent connection.

Included in the box are the earbuds, charging case, a range of replacement ear tips (four sizes), and a USB-C charging cable. They’re IPX5 water-resistant, which means they are able to function without issue in the damp and rainy weather of a Western Washington winter. Keep in mind that the charging case for the earbuds is not water-resistant.

Regarding battery life, the Gemtones Pro claims up to 30 hours of playback time, with 7.5 hours worth of playback time in the earbuds themselves. That should equate to roughly 4 days’ worth of heavy listening, and I found that with normal use of the earbuds, this is not exaggerated. In addition to charging the case via USB-C cable, it’s also possible to charge it on a wireless pad, and both methods fill the case up quite quickly.

Audio

Punchy, overall reasonably good sound quality

I listened to many hours of audiobooks while testing the Gemtones Pro and had absolutely no complaints with the sound quality in how they delivered spoken word audio throughout one of Peter F. Hamilton’s exhaustingly lengthy sci-fi Novels. Similarly, YouTube videos and Netflix were perfectly enjoyable to listen to through these earbuds, but their rendition of music is a little more complex to examine.

2Cellos’ cover of Thunderstruck is a great test of any audio-playing device, and the Gemtones Pro didn’t disappoint, though the high end seemed a tad bit weak. Green Day’s “Fancy Sauce” was nicely balanced on the Gemtones Pro, with plenty of depth. The earbuds did a nice job of reproducing Billy Joe Armstrong’s vocals.

The Gemtones Pro don’t include active noise cancellation.

Pearl Jam’s new single from their upcoming album, “Dark Matter,” delivered a good example of how the Gemtones Pro really pump up the bass, yet still provide decent definition in the highs and mids. Eddie Vedder’s vocals were crisp and clear, cutting through the throbbing pulse of the drums.

The more raucous distortion-heavy instrumentals of “Castaway” by Bayside were similarly well defined, without any of the muddiness one might expect from budget-grade earbuds. The bass was somewhat overwhelming here, however, and it’s clear that a particular penchant for an accentuated low range is necessary to really fall in love with the Gemtones Pro. This conclusion was further borne out by another Bayside song, “How to Ruin Everything (Patience)” featuring Ice Nine Kills. While the bass was overly heavy in the first two-thirds of the song, the guitar solo was actually elevated by the deep booming on the low end.

It’s also interesting to note that in “Look The Other Way” by Beartooth, the mixing of the song accentuated the voice of the lead vocalist Caleb Shomo.

Regrettably, the Gemtones Pro don’t include active noise cancellation, which may be their one major Achilles heel. However, the passive noise cancellation is decent enough that this isn’t really a dealbreaker.

When it comes to call quality, the microphones in the Gemtones Pro are functional, but certainly give away the lower price point of these earbuds with a somewhat mediocre performance in this regard.

App and features

Respectable functionality with the notable lack of active noise canceling

The Gemtones app was a little finicky to get connected initially, despite the earbuds being powered on and connected to the phone. It was necessary to put them back in the case and take them out again, after which Bluetooth reconnected and the app immediately found them.

Perhaps the most useful feature of the app is the equalizer, which certainly helps tone down the bass emphasis where that may not be wanted. Bayside’s music in particular sounded much better through the Gemtones Pro with the equalizer toggled to “Vocal range”. However, the “balanced” setting just sounded awful, and “dynamic bass” was also not terribly pleasant. It would be nice to see a greater range of equalizer customization.

There’s also a volume limiter in the app, which is a nice thing to have, given how I’ve probably suffered at least some small amount of permanent hearing loss over the years due to a few occasions where I accidentally bumped the volume button on my phone. It sets the maximum volume to 85db. Regarding loud noises, there’s also a “find your earbuds” feature in the app which emits a loud beeping to help when you’ve misplaced the earbuds.

The touch controls work surprisingly well on the Gemtones Pro, and they’re highly customizable on a per-earbud basis. It actually is more reliably touch-sensitive than the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.21

Comfort and fit

Suitable for long-term use

The aforementioned touch controls and swappable range of ear tips are the extent of customization options for these earbuds. Fortunately, that’s really all that’s necessary here, as the included ear tips should fit most ears. I found the default ear tips, which came installed, to be very comfortable indeed, and I was able to wear the Gemtones Pro for hours on end without discomfort.

Competition

A crowded field of compelling options

I had the opportunity to test two other earbuds from Speck: the Gemtones Sport and the Gemtones Play. The Sport has hooks that go over your ears to help keep the earbuds in place when doing high-intensity activities, while the Play is particularly attractive, thanks to its very low $40 price tag. All offer IPX5 water resistance and similar audio quality, with the Sport offering 40 hours of battery life and the Play maxing out at 28 hours.

I found the Pro to be significantly more comfortable than the other Gemtones earbuds. However, given that the Gemtones Play are quite decent despite their low price, they are almost more attractive from a value perspective.

The elephant in the room for the Gemtones Pro are the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, which are available for $100, just $20 more than the Gemtones Pro. They offer active noise canceling, better sound quality, a stronger bluetooth connection, and a better quality charging case. As good as the Gemtones Pro are, this comparison does impact their value for money.

Should you buy them?

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Speck Gemtones Pro if it weren’t for how competitive the true wireless earbuds market is. There is a good reason to pay a little bit more for higher quality earbuds. Simultaneously, Speck’s own Gemtones Play earbuds are half the price, making them more compelling for those with tight budgets.

That said, the Gemtones Pro are good for their price, and aren’t a purchase you’re likely to regret. They’re well-rounded and deliver a comparable listening experience to similarly priced earbuds, though the lack of active noise canceling puts them at a disadvantage against more ambitious budget buds.