Are The Milwaukee RedLithium Jobsite Earbuds Any Good? Here's What Users Say

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Jean-Michel Basquiat once said, "Art is how we decorate space; Music is how we decorate time." And these days, time can be as decorated as much as we want, with how easy it is to have all your favorite music in the palm of your hand. For the average consumer, there are a ton of earbud brands that you can choose from available in the market today. However, not all of them are built to withstand the organized chaos that occurs in job sites, wherein you'll need to balance situational awareness and overall durability with being able to take calls or enjoy your music. For this reason, you may want to invest in earbuds specifically designed for tough work environments, like the Milwaukee RedLithium Jobsite Earbuds.

Some things that make the Milwaukee Jobsite Earbuds preferable for construction workers (or people who work in similar environments) are features like the "Jobsite Aware Mode" and a 55ft range, which is great if you don't always have phone access. And of course, it can manage calls and has audio control buttons. Milwaukee claims that it's capable of going up to 70 hours with just a single fully-charged case, so you're not spending an absurd amount of time plugging it in after every day, considering you're already doing that for the rest of the power tools in your arsenal. But are they actually worth the money?

The short answer is that they're probably not. On the official Milwaukee website, the Jobsite Earbuds received an abysmal 2.2-star average rating from over 220 reviewers. Apart from a little under half of the buyers giving it only a single star, an astonishing 70% of reviewers also didn't think it was worth a recommendation. After only a few months of use, several users reported a cocktail of issues that range from charging problems with both the case and the earbuds themselves, random disconnections, an earbud going silent, and inconsistent volume between the two earbuds. Additionally, several users mentioned how the case itself is a little bulky.

On the other hand, it did score significantly higher on Amazon, where over 120 people have given it an average rating of 4 stars. However, as we've mentioned before, Amazon isn't listed as an official Milwaukee retailer. For this reason, it might be a hit or miss in terms of authenticity. Not to mention, there have been reports of buyers receiving used items with hair and earwax on them.

When it comes to good jobsite earbuds, we've mentioned the likes of ISOTUNES, Klein Tools, and CAT before. But if you're looking for options from another beloved power tool manufacturer, DeWalt offers several affordable options that are generally pretty well-liked by buyers. Among its more popular models on Amazon, the Dewalt Heavy Duty Bluetooth Neckband Headphones enjoys an average rating of 4.4 stars from more than 3,300 reviewers. Although you can expect less than half the overall runtime versus the Milwaukee option with the case, the DeWalt neckband headphones do retail for less than a third of the price at $52.99. While it's not everyone's cup of tea, its around-the-neck design is great for people who tend to lose their earbuds often.

That said, it's not as compact as true wireless earbuds, so if that's more your jam, you can get the $85 DeWalt Heavy Duty True Wireless Ear Buds instead. Out of the box, it comes with multiple ear cushion sets, and DeWalt claims that it can run up to 10 hours with just a single 1.5-hour charge. Plus, it has added features like in-ear smart sensors and a fast-charging case. In terms of durability, it boasts an IP56 dust and water resistance, so it's more than capable of dealing with hours of sweat while you're on the job. So far, more than 1,700 Amazon reviewers were reasonably impressed with its performance and have given it 4.3 stars.