JBL Roxy Reference 250 earphones with mic (yellow)

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Roxy Reference 250

Extreme sports and music go hand in hand, so it's not surprising that companies such as Skullcandy and Nixon take advantage of this relationship to market headphones to teens and young adults with an interest in such activities. Now you can add Roxy to the list. The female-centric surfwear maker has teamed up with JBL to offer a line of stylish earphones aimed at young women. The middle-of-the-road model is a canalphone called the Reference 250 earphone that sells for $40. This reasonably priced set offers the best value of any of the headphones in the Roxy line, and sound quality isn't half bad.

Like their cheap earbud sibling, the Reference 230, the Reference 250 earphones offer a conspicuous design that is available in two color combos: orange and pink or green and blue. In either case, the earbuds are decked out in one color while the cable is coated in the other. The outside of each earpiece features an external speaker shaped slightly like a radiation symbol, beneath which the JBL logo is stamped in white (along with an L or an R designating which ear each 'bud is for). The earphones are quite tiny and feature a squat appendage to which you attach one of two sets of silicone eartips. We're a bit surprised Roxy didn't included more than two sets, as this limits the amount of people who will be able to achieve a secure and comfortable fit. For our part, we had no issues after more than 2 hours of wear and found that the earphones offer a good amount of passive noise isolation.