You probably all know a music lover/headphone snob that looks at you with despair every time you pull out your stock iPhone headphones. Too often, it follows by him trying to sell you on the “We can hear the difference” cult while pushing his dirty $600 piece of plastic in your ears.
As you already noticed, I’ve never really been sold on expensive headsets and I held on tight to my stock ones. After I got a snarky reaction from an Apple Store Genius when I went to replace them for the 7th time last month (Apple replaces them free of charge, a good reason not to switch), I realized that I had overdrafted my replacement privilege and it was time to make the step.
That’s how I ended up getting myself Bose’s Mobile In-ear headset. I’m sure there are tons of good headphones out there but Bose made a nice move last summer by releasing a version specifically meant for phone users, featuring the sine qua non functions provided by a button and a microphone.
So if you’re also wondering whether you should make the step, here is my take after a month of use.
If you even remotely enjoy music, then it’s a must-have. The clarity of the sound and the intensity of the bass will really make you rediscover your music library and Oasis has never been so enjoyable.
If you’re tone deaf on the other hand and just plan to place calls, it’s of no use. There is simply no way to improve the iPhone’s very poor performance as an actual “phone”. A nice headset won’t make any difference and actually those half-in-ear ones aren’t as practical and quick to put in your ears. Also, as I said, this model happens not to be real “in-ear”. They kind off stick out and don’t isolate much from the exterior, so don’t rely on this to improve you in-flight experience.
So yeah, it was totally worth it for me, but might not be for everyone. They go for about a $100.
I swear by my $49.99 NuForce NE7M headset. The range of music that I hear is far better than any headset that I have tried. It’s half the price of the Bose but I bet they aren’t half the sound quality. Give them a try and let us know if paying a premium for Bose name is worth it. The nice thing with the NuForce is that they are extremely durable they last thru 2 machine washings, no problems. The cable is rigid so it doesn’t tangle easily. The hardest part with them as any in-ear headset is getting the correct seal in the ear. Once this is accomplished the music sounds great. Another issue that I’m concerned about is Cord noise. The sound you hear in the headset when you are walking around. Some (cheaper headsets) have a really bad problem with this at all volume levels. The NuForce you can really only hear it at 0 or low volume. From middle to high it’s almost non existant. I prefer no to hear myself walk around so that’s important to me.
I didn’t know replaces them for free
Neither did I. Mines a bit tarty now, so Regent street here I come.
I did not know about the free replacements either, cool. Although I never use them any LOL. I have had a set of the Bose for a few years and I added a set of Sure SE115 which I prefer to the Bose.
I agree that if you want to use headphones to talk with you might as well use the stock but if you want to listen to music or play games a good set of headphones makes a world of difference.
They replace them for free? What do you them inorder to get them replaced?
Shure SE530’s ftw!
But then again I use my Zune 80 for audio/video playback instead of my iPhone/iPod.
BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment