Very nice earbuds - well worth the price.

I've been reviewing different sets of headphones & earphones for a while now.   Why?  Because I am notorious for destroying my headphones quickly.   Cheap ones, expensive ones, moderately priced ones - you name it, I break it.   I've been seeing these in the local big-discount-stores (You know them) for a while now.   They're about $30, and they look decent.  So - I give them a try. 

I was pleasantly surprised.


I'll go through feature-by-feature and give you my observations on these earphones. 

Package
Sweet and simple.  You get the earphones, a cord wrap, extra "earpads" and a little pouch to put the earphones in.  The extra earpads are in sizes medium, large, and "Does anyone have ears this small?" - so only one set of earpads is of any use.

Physical features
I took a quick look over at the design of these earphones, and I was immediately impressed.   For starters, the cord wrap worked.   It opens up, you pop the earphones in - and wrap the cord around the plastic case.   Small & simple - and I liked it.   Worked until I lost it (of course.)

The cord for these earphones is a two-part cord.   You can either use it to have an extra-long cord, or break the cord in half if you like a shorter cord.   What I enjoyed - is it acted like a breakaway cord for when I (inevitably) snag the cord and would normally rip it in half.   You won't believe how many times these earphones survived death thanks to this nice feature.


Sound Quality
Not bad, not bad at all.   I've gotten a lot of excellent listening out of these earphones.  Normally, it's my experience that headphones you find in your "regular" stores would cater to people who enjoy listening to flatulence ... ahem, lots of bass.   Happily - I actually get normal bass out of these earphones.   The headphones are the "tight seal" isolation sort which work like an earplug.  Everyone knows that style by now.  These work pretty good - but the seal wasn't awfully strong in the ear - as the pads flex.  They're decent.   With my music/podcast libary - I can play with the features of my player, and see very notable differences between different equalizer presets.   I can pick out the same highs/lows/mids that I could with my PC, or my car's audio system.   The range of the drivers in these earphones is very good, and quite accurate.   No major distortion that I can pick out. 

Comfort
These earphones have a very flexible silicon pad, which is comfortable to wear all day long.   I've had other earphones with more rigid pads - and they do lead to in-the-ear pain after wearing for extended periods.   They're light as well, so they're not cumbersome at all.  The cord is long - and can be wrapped in a jacket/shirt to keep it from getting caught on things.   Great for workouts, work, housework, play, just sitting around - you name it - these earphones are great for it.   A quick note - the OEM earpads are much better than replacement pads if (when) you lose a pad.   Be warned - if you use third party pads on these (as I did), they may not be the same as before.

Durability
This is what I like.  These are my kind of earphones.  Let me give you a rundown of the torture I put these through.
- Work:  Snagged on desk corners, hit against shelves, pulled, yanked, the works.   They still worked!   Not to mention making the day less boring.
- Excercise:  Caught on machines, caught on equipment, pulled, snagged, yanked.   Ditto - they carried on. 
- Yard Work:  They got caught on fences, trees, branches, bushes, etc ... the worst that happened?   They'd pop out of my ears or the cord would split in half (via the inline jack.)
- Washing Machine:  These went THROUGH THE WASH!   They came out working.   How's that?   I was amazed as well.   The cord was badly tangled - but I worked it out.  For these - I'll sit there for a half hour untangling the cord.

2 years after I purchased them - I was actually shocked that one of the cords finally gave out.  I thought these were invincible.   Oh well, I guess everything goes after a while.  With the torture I put these through - I'm guessing they'll last anyone just as long or twice as long as they lasted me. 

With the performance and durability of these earphones - I give them a 5/5 - and I'll buy another set in an instant.  Excellent quality headphones.  Well worth the price.