Panasonic RB-F10 review: The earbuds I’ve been relying on for working out and the office

Open-earbuds are the best workout earbuds. In my mind, this is a fact. But how do you know which ones to buy? For me, the Panasonic RB-F10 are an easy recommendation. They’re lightweight and comfortable for workouts and all-day wear, and have a well-balanced, bright sound that will please most listeners. The call quality is great too, and the 25 hours of battery life lasted me for days on end.

But they’re not without their flaws. The bass performance lacks punch, and elements like drums and cymbals in the midrange are sometimes lost in the background, but this is to be expected when listening with open earbuds. Unfortunately, there’s no companion app for EQ customization to fix these qualms. The buds only have an IPX4 durability rating, which means they have no dust protection.

To learn more about the open-earbuds, read my full Panasonic RB-F10 review.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Specs

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Price & availability

The Panasonic RB-F10 open-earbuds are available to purchase from Amazon U.S. for $99 and from Amazon U.K. for £79. You can pick up the buds in Black or Beige, both of which look slick and understated.

These are hook-style open earbuds, like the Beyerdynamic Amiron 200, which are firm favorites of mine. The Beyerdynamics cost a little more than the Panasonic buds at $199, but the sound from the Beyerdynamics is truly unmatched in the world of open-earbuds. That said, the Panasonic buds fit excellently and are incredibly comfortable, just like the Beyerdynamics, for half the price.

In the same price range are the JLab Epic Open Sport buds for $114, which are secure even with intense movement. However, their hook-style fitment won’t be for everyone. So it’s worth checking out the EarFun Clip 2 for $99. As the name suggests, these clip to the outside of your ear. This style is better suited to glasses wearers too, which I appreciate.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Design

The Panasonic RB-F10 open-earbuds look great. I often find hook-style buds a little jarring, as they can look bulky on the outer ear, but I really liked the look of these buds.

The earbuds and case have a durability rating of IPX4, meaning they’re splashproof and can withstand splashes from any direction. However, they don’t feature any dust protection, meaning you can’t take them to the beach or work out anywhere dusty. This makes them a great option for running in some very light rain, but for anything more I would give these buds a miss and go for something with a higher durability rating like the EarFun Clip 2, which are IP55.

It’s great that these buds have wear detection too, so I’ve been able to pause my music just by taking them on and off without worrying about losing my place in my music or audiobook.

Comfort

The Panasonic RB-F10 earbuds are very comfortable to wear for extended periods. I wore them for a whole evening while running errands before going for a run and wasn’t bothered by them at all. Each earbud weighs 0.31 ounces, making them lighter than the Beyerdynamic Amiron 200, which weigh 0.4 ounces.

Controls

The Panasonic RB-F10 have touch-sensitive controls. These are very sensitive, as even brushing them when I tucked my hair behind my ear set them off. However, there is a slight delay of about a second between tapping and the action. This didn’t impact my listening but was annoying.

Connectivity

The Panasonic RB-F10 open-earbuds use Bluetooth 5.4 to connect to your streaming device. They have a 33-foot operating distance, so I was able to leave my phone in the house and head out to the backyard to get on with some yardwork without losing the connection.

You can connect the earbuds to two devices thanks to multipoint connectivity. This made it easy for me to switch between listening to music with my phone and listening to work calls on my computer.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Sound quality

The Panasonic RB-F10 earbuds have a very well-balanced sound for open-earbuds. They suffer in the bass department, but that’s to be expected because of the open design, which cannot deliver bass to the ear in the same way. However, I was disappointed by the lack of EQ customization. Of course, this isn’t essential, but it’s a feature available from most audio brands, including Beyerdynamic, Soundcore, and Sony — the list goes on. Having EQ customization from an app would have allowed me to improve some of the problem frequencies of the buds.

To evaluate bass performance, I listened to Sympathy is a Knife by Charli XCX, which is driven by deep synth. I’ll start by saying the Panasonic buds performed a lot better than other open-earbuds I’ve tested. There were no issues with distortion or crackling — but I wasn't exactly impressed either. The bass wasn’t powerful. It sounded fine, but lacked the power that I’ve come to expect from this track.

I then listened to Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance, a song with very prominent drums, to judge the mids performance. Again, I was a little underwhelmed. While it wasn’t awful, I felt the drums and cymbals became lost in the background and sounded weak. I also listened to Exile by Taylor Swift. Here, the piano sounded crisp and clear, so it’s clear these earbuds thrive with simpler songs.

Finally, I listened to Next To Me by Kingfishr. This is an airy folk track rooted in its vocal performance and acoustic guitar. The harmonies were prominent throughout, and the whole track sounded perfectly bright. This is where the earbuds thrived. The guitar in the background was prominent, and the harmonica was crisp when it came in.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Call quality

The Panasonic RB-F10 earbuds have become a permanent fixture on my desk for taking calls. To make sure I sounded crystal clear, I called my mom, which is my standardized test. Despite having a lot of traffic whizzing past right outside the window of my home office, she could only hear my voice. This showed just how impressive the two beamforming microphones are for environmental noise cancellation.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Battery life

The Panasonic RB-F10 open-earbuds have a total battery life of 25 hours with the charging case. This is more than enough to get me through a couple of days before needing a charge. But if you need more, buds like the EarFun Clip 2 can offer 40 hours of battery. Each of the Panasonic earbuds holds seven hours of battery life, which is enough for me when I’m sitting at my desk all day long or heading out for a run in the evening.

The charging case takes two and a half hours to fully charge via USB-C, but if you’re in a rush you can get an hour of listening with 15 minutes of charging, which I found particularly useful before heading out on a run.

Panasonic RB-F10 review: Verdict

The Panasonic RB-F10 open-earbuds have become a staple on my desk for ambient awareness at work and are also great for workouts. The buds are lightweight and comfortable — I can wear them all day long, and the 25-hour battery life meant I wasn’t worried about running out of juice. The call quality sounds great, and the audio is well-balanced for open-earbuds — bright audio quality made them lovely to listen to my music with.

While I enjoyed the overall sound of the buds, it’s worth noting that the bass lacks punch and mid-range frequencies such as drums and cymbals were sometimes lost in the background. This could have been fixed with some EQ customization, but unfortunately there’s no compatible app to pair the earbuds with. However, this is to be expected with open-earbuds due to their design.

I’d recommend these buds to anyone who wants to try out open earbuds for working out or staying aware in the office.