Apple In-Ear Headphones

Gallery can be found at https://mypersonalgetaway.com/hardware/headphones/index.htm

At Macworld San Francisco in January of this year, Steve Jobs introduced before the iPod mini a “companion” the current iPod family. He showed off a forty-dollar pair of in-ear headphones in the same distinguishable white as the included iPod headphones. He boasted they had better sound since were deeper in the ear and were also more comfortable. I agree with the comfort level but other than that, these headphones have more downfalls than I can list in this short review.

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Let’s go over the positive features of the new headphones, which are outnumbered by the negative. First of all, the headphones come in a carrying case. This helps you to store the headphones more easily and the case also has the Apple logo and a place to store the other two size in-ear pieces for those with smaller or larger ears. Those with the current headphones know how easily they get tangled when they are in your pocket or backpack so the case is a definite plus in my book but nothing ground breaking. The second feature is comfort itself. The pieces that go in your ears are ultra soft plastic that don’t force your ear to conform to them like the included headphones but move around your ear canal to make a tight fit and hours of wear does not get uncomfortable. One of the main complaints with the included iPod headphones is they don’t fit everyone’s ears. Apple has modified the headphones two times in each release of their iPod to fit everyone’s ears. The three sizes (small, medium and large) fit everyone’s ears so you can get the right fit. Since they are in-ear they have to fit perfectly and the different sizes make sure of that.
So Apple spent an extra nickel on a box and some rubber fitted pieces. Everything else about the headphones makes it worse or equally as good as the free headphones already in the box. The cord is still way to short for those that are working out, running or doing any other type of physical sport with their iPod. If I run with the iPod headphones it tends to stretch out or they come out of my ears because the cord is not long enough. I have not seen headphone cords so short.
Secondly, the quality is horrid. Even the included headphones have bass to them. The sound coming out of the in-ear headphones sound like listening to 96kbs encoded music on an AM band. These headphones are only suitable for talk radio but if you want anything but, you will be very disappointed. You can hold the headphones deeper in your ears but then the pitch or treble gets drowned out and the bass is too much. I tried the headphones without the rubber pieces and you can get them deeper but then they are uncomfortable. Either way, when it comes to sound, you can’t win. The final complaint is its ability to handle loudness. These are comparable to the already included headphones. They are loud but not extremely loud and when you crank the sound up the quality is too much for the tiny speakers and causes distortion.
Apple’s in-ear headphones are a terrible companion to the iPod. The iPod has such style, ease of use and quality to it then Apple releases headphones that you could get out of a gumball machine. As an alternative to the included headphones, they would be fine because in most features they are evenly matched. For forty dollars, I would have to stick up my nose and buy a pair of ten-dollar Sony headphones that actually carry bass. If Apple competitively priced these at ten dollars or below and as alternative headphones included with your iPod when you order it from their store, I would also choose them. Sadly these headphones are below any standards in headphones and the only thing cool about them is when someone sees you wearing them, they think there is a hip iPod somewhere at the end of those crappy headphones.