Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds review: Listen up and charge your iPhone

When it comes to the best Bluetooth headphones and earbuds, I have no shortage of them around the house. Even though my favorites always end up being Apple's audio products, like AirPods Max and AirPods Pro, I still enjoy trying the other options out there.

Now, while I usually favor pricier headphones and earbuds for quality, I had the opportunity to check out the Tribit Flybuds 3. Seeing the pink color, I simply couldn't resist. Even though the Flybuds 3 are one of the more affordable pairs of earbuds I've tried out, they're actually quite excellent considering the price point. They sound good, have amazing battery life, and have a built-in 2600mAh battery in the charging case that you can use to charge other devices, like your favorite iPhone, in a pinch.

Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds: Price and availability

You can find the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds online from retailers like Amazon and Walmart. Even though there is a Tribit website, it merely redirects you to purchase from its Amazon storefront. The Flybuds 3 comes in two colors: black and pink, though the pink option is unavailable due to popularity and is sold out. One pair of Flybuds 3 will cost around $40 retail, though you can find it on Amazon starting at $34.

Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds: A truly unique pair of affordable earbuds that sounds good

The Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds come in a somewhat bulky charging case, but for a good reason, which I'll get to in a bit. The charging case itself can lay flat and easily flips open, revealing the earbuds within. The outside has a multifunction button that lets you know how much battery life is left in the case, and it can be used to unpair or re-connect to devices. There are also four LED lights to indicate charge level and a cover that reveals a USB-A (output) and USB-C (input-only) port.

With the Flybuds 3, the design is more akin to earbuds like the Pixel Buds, rather than AirPods or AirPods Pro. It follows the in-ear style with silicone tips, and it also has fins to help it stay in place even further. If the default sizing doesn't fit, Tribit also includes six sizes of ear tips and three sizes for fins, so you are sure to find a size that works best for your ears. I honestly found the default size to work fine for me, and these earbuds are very comfortable, even over extended amounts of time. And with the silicone tips and fins, it stays in place quite well. It also has IPX8 waterproof rating, making these earbuds a terrific option for workouts and rainy weather.

The sound quality on the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds are also impressive for the price point. While these earbuds don't have Active Noise Cancellation, they do a fairly decent job of passively blocking out a lot of environmental noise due to the silicone tips and secure fit. You get immersive audio with the Hi-Fi stereo sound, and the Flybuds 3 excels at deep bass. So if you enjoy more bass-heavy tunes, then these are a fantastic pair of buds. Still, even if you don't care for bass-heavy audio, I found the audio quality to sound great considering the super affordable cost. In fact, I actually like the sound quality of these over some other more expensive earbuds, like the Belkin Soundform Freedom True Wireless.

Since these are wireless earbuds, they use touch controls for playback. Just double-tap to play/pause music or answer/end calls, triple tap to skip to the next track, and activate voice assistant or reject an incoming call by holding down on the earbud for two seconds. Unfortunately, the touch controls don't cover everything you need for audio playback, which I'll get to in the next section.

One of the most splendid aspects of the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds is the battery life. While you only get about five hours of playtime on the earbuds, the charging case can hold up to another 20 full charges, giving you about 100 hours total of listening time. You don't see that very often with wireless earbuds, so it's certainly a feat. I've only charged up the case for the Flybuds 3 once since receiving it a few weeks ago. I haven't charged it up since the initial charge, and I still have four LEDs on the case — I'd imagine it's been over a month since I started using these earbuds. So if you want some affordable true wireless earbuds that are certainly battery champs, then the Tribit Flybuds 3 are the only way to go.

On top of outstanding battery life, the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds have one more trick up its sleeve: a 2600mAh power bank inside the charging case. Of course, this isn't a lot of extra juice, but it works in a pinch if you have nothing else on hand. It's also incredibly rare to see such a feature integrated into the charging case for true wireless headphones, so it's a very unique, standout feature that sets it apart from the rest. I know you're wondering, and only the USB-A port will charge up other devices at 5V — the USB-C is strictly to charge up the charging case itself.

Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds: Limited controls

I mentioned earlier that the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds use touch controls. However, they don't cover all aspects that you may need, which is a bummer. For example, there are no touch controls to adjust the volume or go back to a previous track — you'll have to do these things on your iPhone or computer. It's a little annoying, but personally not a huge dealbreaker for me.

Another thing I noticed is that the audio does not pause if you take one earbud out of your ear. But if you take both out, then the audio will pause. Again, a minor inconvenience, so you'll just need to make sure that you manually pause the audio before taking one bud out.

Finally, some minor nitpicks from me, but sometimes I did find it a bit hard to get the earbuds out of the charging case. I also wish that these had ANC, as that's a necessity for me most of the time, but they do a good job of passively blocking out external noise.

Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds: Competition

If you're looking at the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds, then you're likely in the market for some affordable true wireless earbud options. Another good one to consider are the EarFun Free Pros, which are just a little more than the Flybuds 3, but come with ANC and wireless charging.

Of course, there are always AirPods Pro. You get seamless device switching between all Apple devices, amazing sound quality, ANC with Transparency mode, Spatial Audio, wireless and MagSafe charging, and so much more. However, the price is much more expensive than the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds, but if you can afford them, then they're hard to beat for diehard Apple fans.

Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds: Should you buy it?

• You want true wireless earbuds for less that sound good
• You want wireless earbuds that have exceptional battery life
• You want an emergency battery pack with your earbuds

• You need ANC
• You want touch controls for every aspect of playback
• You like earbuds that auto pause/play

The Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds are some of the best budget earbuds you'll find on the market. They sound great and have deep bass, super long battery life with the charging case, and are waterproof so they can handle any situation. Plus, it packs in a 2600mAh battery with a USB-A output for charging other devices in a pinch.

While the Tribit Flybuds 3 Wireless Earbuds are great for a budget pair of earbuds, don't expect them to have ANC, though they passively block out outside noise with the silicone tips and fit. The touch controls are also missing some basic functionality, and you'll need to manually pause/play music since there is no auto play/pause function when you take an earbud out of your ear.

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