I have been on the hunt for earbud tips that are small enough for my tiny ear canals for as long as there have been earbuds.

The problem with large earbud tips (all earbud tips are “large” to me) is that they won’t seat properly. My AirPod Pros extend straight out of my ears, with a gap of about a centimeter between the stem of the AirPod and my face. Over the course of any given session, they tend to slide out of my ears. So I’m constantly re-seating them, which risks turning them off accidentally (annoying in a call, at best) and hitting the mic, etc.

I’ve tried several memory foam tips that are sized “small” in the hope that a combination of them being technically small and also moldable foam would make them work. Alas. This has not been my experience. Every month or so, I’ve started a dive into finding an extra small tip that works with AirPod Pros (not all tips do) and found myself putting off making a decision because it just feels like a low priority. Many recommendations I found online weren’t actually for extra-small tips, or they didn’t work with Pros.

Finally, in a Reddit thread, I found a recommendation for an extra-small tip that works with AirPod Pros, and I figured I’d just bite the bullet and buy them without diving in any further.

I ended up buying the AZLA SednaEarfit XELASTEC tips in SS for AirPod Pro. They fit the standard AirPod Pro oval connection without any adaptor necessary, and measure about 10.4mm across (according to the literature). They’re (obviously) small, so they fit into the case while charging, which was a worry I had about some of the flanged options out there.

These fit really nicely. They actually make the AirPods feel less obtrusive/heavy (heavy isn’t quite the right word), which makes sense since the larger tips were simply not fitting into my ear canal properly. They feel more secure, and forgettable while in — I don’t feel pressure against the walls of my ear canal where the tip fits. This isn’t even something I had pinpointed as a problem, but it’s very noticeable now the problem is gone. They also “hug” my ear and the stem of the AirPod actually touches my face, which tells me that they seat more deeply than larger tips (again, makes sense). I don’t know if they come in other colors, but the black works great with the custom paint on my AirPods!

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Also, in my experience, they need to click twice to be fully connected. Don’t do what I did and rush through connecting them, or you might end up with a very small tip nestled in your ear, sans AirPod. Everything turned out fine, don’t worry.