Apple In-Ear headphones

CNET editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.4 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Steve Guttenberg
• Reviewed on: 03/05/2004
• Released on: 01/07/2004

Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.

It's no wonder Apple's iPod is a huge hit. It's beautifully designed, and it sounds great--as long as you steer clear of the lackluster earbuds that ship with it. The company now has a better idea: the $39 Apple In-Ear headphones. Though they have the same iPod-friendly, all-white color scheme as their predecessors, the In-Ears, with their rubberized earpieces, are not only intended to be more comfortable but to offer superior sound.

After comparing the two models, we much prefer the Apple In-Ears to the 'buds that came with our iPod. The In-Ears put out richer sound, play louder, and offer greater isolation from outside ambient noise. At 42 inches long, the Apple In-Ear's cable is nice and short, offering ample but not excessive length when connected to the iPod's in-line remote cable; you could, of course, use them with anything that has a standard 1/8-inch minijack plug. You get a selection of three pairs (small, medium, and large) of interchangeable rubbery earpieces; try 'em all to see which is the most comfortable. One minor design snafu: The headphone's teensy "left" and "right" labels will be illegible in broad daylight to many owners and worthless to everyone in low-light conditions. But on the bright side, Apple includes a cool-looking, plastic storage case.

The skimpy owner's manual doesn't offer any advice about proper insertion techniques; the only way we could achieve the required 'bud-to-ear seal was to fit the In-Ears upside down, with the wires facing forward so that they looped up and over our ears. We had used that strategy with our Shure E2c ($99) in-ear 'phones with great success. A contest between these two models gave the nod to the Shures for their bigger, more bass-driven sound and their superior ambient noise isolation on the NYC subway. But that's to be expected, with the Shures (and our current favorite earbuds, the $130 Etymotic ER-6 Isolators) costing two and a half times the price of the Apple headphones. Then again, Sony's MDR-EX71SL also offers good sound and a snug fit for a mere $50.

Our main problem with these headphones was that we had trouble keeping them in our ears. Joggers, take note: While we were walking, the In-Ears lasted five minutes before flopping out (though the fit will likely vary from person to person). That's too bad, considering everything else that's good about them.

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Apple In-Ear headphones: $49.99

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Recent user reviews

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 117 reviews
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• 0.5 stars

  "USELESS for iPod shuffle or iPhone 3G"

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  by Clive444--2008 on March 23, 2009

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