The end of the road for this little guy

The only reason I bought these earphones was because I lost the last ones, and I thought they wouldn't have the same problems. I was wrong. You'd struggle to hear me if I used them on a call. It was one thing I could manage with anyway, so I stuck with it. It's only been 15 months now and I have to replace them.

Just a year and three months. Honestly, I could go three years and more with the same earphones, as long as they deliver just fine. It's why I like to get the best value for my money and prefer top quality. But here am I now, having dealt with its recent frustrating malfunction.

I was more right than I thought months ago when I said that Oraimo's standard for quality is seemingly on a decline these days. Somehow they're already a household name and seem to be the most popular brand choice for budget-friendly gadgets that deliver. Indeed, they deliver, but I think that they've gotten a bit too comfortable. And I'll tell you why.

The number of earphones they've released in the last year alone is probably more than 10. That's probably an exaggeration, but that's not the issue. There's always a new flagship model released soon enough, yet the differences between the new and the old are usually the new buzzwords and better ads. For real, what does "AI Noise Cancellation" really mean?

Compare this with the previous model -- the one I just bought a few minutes before writing this post -- you'll see that it's just one extra feature that probably makes a tiny bit of a difference at most. And it's double the price. Or is it because it's in a transparent cover that they call "Space Case"? I'm certain I won't be on the next rocket to Mars...

Oh well, back to the matter. I still haven't told you why I'm retiring these SpacePods earphones that served for only 15 months. I'd like for you to imagine with me.

Say you're certain all your devices were fully charged before you left for work this morning. You're in the zone to get productive and you're about to ride with your favorite playlist. Earphones connected, and the next thing you hear is, "Battery Low." That'd be weird, right? Well, you put them back in the case for another five minutes for a quick charge, only to return 50 minutes later because you forgot and then hear, "Battery low. Powering down."

This weird thing keeps on for a while. It'll somehow recharge on its own, but then it goes low again and the weirdo acts up again. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if I didn't work with at least 20 others in the same workspace and couldn't just blast my audio out from my speakers. But as you have learned, it is a problem. Then I'd have to leave the office for the cafeteria or watch my video with my volume turned down.

Couldn't I just wipe the terminals or something? Yup, and I did! I found some impurities around -- no idea how -- but I guess it's just a thing with batteries. Cleaning them up didn't help anyway. It seemed like the end of the road for the little guy.

I should mention that I now have little control over when the earphones are on and connected to my device. They'd be in the case and still be connected to my laptop or phone. I could very well turn off my Bluetooth on my devices, but it just means that the earphones still stay on regardless and continually lose battery power being idle and on.

It was time to move on. And so I did. I now have this SpaceBuds that's been popular for a while now. It's a bit different with a much cooler sound as I listen to Iris by Martin Miller at the moment, but you know I have zero expectations now. I just want to listen to my stuff hands-free with no stress.