Essonio ES-f10s-WH

The Essonio ES-f10s-WH nails build quality with a 92nd percentile score, but comfort is a real problem, landing in the bottom third of our database. The 8-hour battery life is great, but the $450 price tag is impossible to swallow when the ANC is weak and the overall experience is so uneven. You're paying a premium for a rugged design that you won't want to keep in your ears.

Sound quality is a bright spot, hitting the 78th percentile. The titanium-plated dynamic drivers do a respectable job, delivering clear audio that's well above average for this style. But the open-ear design means you're trading immersion for awareness, and the sound profile, while good, won't challenge a sealed in-ear bud. Connectivity is strong thanks to Bluetooth 6.0 and multipoint pairing, sitting in the 82nd percentile. The mic performance is solid for calls, but the ENC noise reduction can only do so much in a truly noisy environment. Battery life is a real highlight, with 8 hours in the buds and 35 total from the case, putting it in the 84th percentile. The rapid charging is a nice bonus for topping up before a workout.

Stacked against the Sony WF-1000XM6 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, the Essonio's weaknesses become glaring. The Sony and Bose dominate in ANC and comfort, areas where the Essonio is frankly disappointing. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro also offer a far more polished and comfortable experience. Even the Soundcore P31i, likely at a fraction of the price, will give you a more balanced feature set. The Technics EAH-AZ100 is another league entirely for sound quality. The Essonio's build quality is its only real bragging right, but a well-built earbud that isn't comfortable to wear is a hollow victory.

At $450, the value proposition here is almost impossible to justify. You're paying a premium price for a product that gets smoked by competitors in key areas like comfort and noise cancellation. The strong battery and build quality don't make up for the fact that you can get a best-in-class pair of earbuds from Sony or Bose for this kind of money. This feels like a $100 pair of workout buds with a $350 mystery surcharge.

The Essonio ES-f10s-WH is a bit of a puzzle. It lands in the 92nd percentile for build quality in our database, which is genuinely impressive for an open-ear design, but then it stumbles hard with a comfort score down in the 29th percentile. That's a strange combo for earbuds that are supposed to be worn all day. The overall score of 42.3 out of 100 tells the story of a product with a few high peaks and some very low valleys.

Almost everyone should skip these at this price, but especially commuters and anyone who values comfort. The 35.5/100 commute score and 29th percentile comfort ranking are major red flags. If you need earbuds to block out engine noise on a plane or train, look at the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. If you just want a reliable, comfortable pair for the gym, there are far better values out there that won't leave your ears sore.

We can't recommend the Essonio ES-f10s-WH. The strong battery life and excellent build quality are completely overshadowed by poor comfort and a price that defies logic. For $450, you deserve earbuds that feel good, sound incredible, and block out the world when you want them to. These do none of that consistently. The low comfort score is a dealbreaker for something meant to be worn during long workouts or commutes.