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If you want one pair of USB-C wired earbuds with a built-in DAC, an inline mic and call controls for a modern phone or laptop, choose ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones; if you need a ten-pack of simple 3.5mm earbuds to hand out to a class, a library, a gym or a group of kids, choose Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10.
• ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones — biggest strength: a USB-C plug plus a Hi-Res/DAC decoder chip, an inline microphone, and push-button volume and track control, so one cable does sound and calls.
• ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones — biggest trade-off: it's a single pair built around USB-C, so anything with a 3.5mm jack is out unless you add an adapter, and there's no multipack for sharing.
• Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10 — biggest strength: ten individually packed earbuds in ten different colors, each with a right-angle 3.5mm plug that resists accidental pull-out — instant one-per-person coverage.
• Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10 — biggest trade-off: no microphone, no remote and no volume control at all. It's a listen-only earbud, and it's 3.5mm only.
• Who each pick is for: ASKUBSKU for one person who takes calls and wants better audio on a USB-C device; Maeline for anyone equipping a room, a group or a drawer full of spares.
The ASKUBSKU pair is the "one good pair" answer. It's a wired USB-C earbud with a semi in-ear, 45° angled design that the brand describes as ultra-lightweight and comfortable enough for all-day wear. The cable is a 3.9-foot anti-winding oxygen-free copper wire, which is the kind of length that works at a desk, on a walk, or with the phone in a pocket. There's a mini storage bag in the box, and the earbuds are magnetic so they snap together instead of tangling loose.
What it does best is the electronics inside. A Hi-Res and DAC digital decoder chip takes the digital signal straight from a USB-C port and converts it, which is the reason these exist at all — USB-C devices don't output analog audio the way a 3.5mm jack does, so a DAC chip is doing real work, not marketing work. The driver is a dynamic driver with a 20 Hz–20 kHz frequency range, 32 ohm impedance and 115 dB sensitivity, and the spec sheet lists sound isolation as the noise-control approach. In practice that's a normal, easy-to-drive earbud that will get loud from a phone without an amp.
The other half of the story is control. There's an inline mic for hands-free calls and answer/reject, plus push buttons for play/pause, next/previous track and volume. That combination — DAC, mic, controls — is what separates it from almost every cheap wire in this category.
Buy it if you carry a modern USB-C phone, tablet or laptop and you want calls, track skipping and decent audio without a dongle. Skip it if your devices are older 3.5mm gear, if you need to hand earbuds to ten people, or if you specifically want active noise cancellation — this is sound isolation, not ANC.
The Maeline pack is a logistics product, and I mean that as a compliment. You get ten earbuds — pink, orange, yellow, red, white, grey, purple, black, blue and green — and each one is individually packaged. That single detail is why this set gets bought: you can hand out ten sealed earbuds and nobody has to share, and the colors make it obvious whose is whose when they come back at the end of a session.
The design is deliberately plain. Lightweight, ergonomic, rounded-tip earpieces with soft silicone tips, built for extended wear. The plug is a right-angle 3.5mm, which is a small but genuinely useful choice — an L-shaped plug sits flatter against a phone or tablet and resists the accidental sideways yanks that kill straight plugs. It connects to standard 3.5mm jacks: phones with a headphone jack, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, PCs, Android tablets, MP3 and CD players, fitness equipment.
And then the big caveat, stated plainly on the sheet: there is no microphone, no remote and no volume control. No inline buttons means no skipping tracks without the device, and no mic means no calls and no video meetings. This is a listen-only earbud. The audio side is a dynamic driver with the same 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range as the ASKUBSKU, and it also lists sound isolation rather than active noise cancellation.
Buy it if you're a teacher, librarian, trainer, gym owner or parent who needs a stack of working earbuds at once and doesn't care about calls. Skip it if you need to talk on the phone, if your phone is USB-C only, or if you want a single pair you'll actually baby.
• Best for phone calls and video meetings → ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. It has the built-in mic and inline answer/reject controls; the Maeline has none.
• Best for track and volume control without touching your phone → ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. Push-button play/pause, skip and volume are on the cable; the Maeline has zero inline controls.
• Best for modern USB-C phones, tablets and laptops → ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. Pixel, Galaxy, OnePlus, recent iPhone and iPad, and MacBook are all covered by the USB-C connection.
• Best for older 3.5mm devices → Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10. The right-angle 3.5mm plug fits standard jacks on Chromebooks, PCs, MP3 players and fitness equipment.
• Best for classrooms, libraries, group sessions and giveaways → Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10. Ten individually packed earbuds in ten colors is the whole point.
• Best for kids and shared use → Maeline Bulk Earbuds 10. The pack is described as kid-friendly and suitable for all ages, and sealed individual packaging means no sharing.
• Best for audio hardware → ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. A Hi-Res/DAC decoder chip is a real component a plain 3.5mm earbud doesn't need.
• Best for keeping one pair untangled and handy → ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. Magnetic earbuds, an anti-winding cable and a mini storage bag.
If I were buying for myself, I'd take the ASKUBSKU USB C Headphones. The DAC chip, the inline mic and the push-button controls make it a complete daily earbud for a USB-C phone or laptop, and the magnetic, anti-tangle design is the kind of small thing you notice every day. The Maeline ten-pack is excellent at exactly one job — arming a room or a group with cheap, color-coded, individually wrapped earbuds — but no mic and no controls make it a poor fit for one person who actually wants to use them. Buy ASKUBSKU for a person; buy Maeline for a population.
For one person, no — you'd be paying for ten units and losing the mic and inline controls you'd probably want. It makes sense when you need to supply several people at once.
Yes, per the compatibility list they cover recent iPhone models with USB-C, including the 17, 16 and 15 families, plus iPad and MacBook. Older Lightning iPhones are not on the list.
On paper the ASKUBSKU has the edge for USB-C devices because of the Hi-Res/DAC decoder chip and digital input, versus the Maeline's plain 3.5mm analog connection. Both use dynamic drivers with a 20 Hz–20 kHz range.
No. The Maeline sheet states there's no microphone, remote or volume control, so they're for listening only. For calls you want the ASKUBSKU pair, which has a built-in mic.
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