Apple Earpods

[karna68]

Anyone have anything to say about these? They look pretty cool, just don't know if they're worth $30

[kornchild2002]

They aren't worth the $30 price but they are some of the best earbuds that are included with a product. I wouldn't go out and buy them directly but I won't be throwing them away when my iPhone 5 comes in. My boss didn't like them at all as they wouldn't stay in his ears. I had a pair of older Apple earbuds that came with my iPod. I traded with him so I now have the EarPods and he is using an older pair as those stay in his ears.

In my totally unscientific, sited test; I would say that the EarPods are better than the older earbuds that Apple would include. They are louder at lower volume settings (probably because of their direction) and, also for the same reason, they produce a better sound. The EarPods still aren't better than the $30 Skullcandy earbuds I purchased and they definitely don't hold up to my Bose QuietComfort II headphones. There are better earbuds from Sony, Koss, Philips, and even Skullcandy for that price. There are even better earbuds for a lower price. The EarPods are better than the cheap headphones that came with my Droid X and will definitely beat out what comes with most smartphones. They aren't going to hold a candle next to earbuds/IEMs/headphones from Sure, Sennheiser, Bose, or any other the other higher end manufacturers.

[CHUI]

I got mine with my iPhone but if it wasnt for that i would not recommend anyone going out to buy earpods. For me they do sound a bit better than the last generation but my ears doesnt seem to allow the earpods to stay in when im moving.

Overall for the price of 30$ i think its a decent price for apple ear phones. Just make sure they even stay in your ear...

[Code Monkey]

Originally Posted by CHUI

Overall for the price of 30$ i think its a decent price for apple ear phones. Just make sure they even stay in your ear...

I'm not really sure how the qualifier "for Apple ear phones" makes a relevant difference. Yes, I guess that's technically true since Apple has only shipped mediocre earphones, charged just as much, and those previous generations do not sound as good as these new ones. However, they sound no better than $10 Sennheiser earbuds, they stay in your ears no better than $5 Koss earbuds, and you can get truly quality sounding products like JVC HAFX67 for under $20 and JVC HAFXC51 for under $25 (slap some marshmallows or complys on those last ones and you have something very, very close to $200+ earphones in fit and sound).

So, unless you just want to be seen looking a fool who would rather try and listen to a brand instead of sound, they're the same crap that's always been sold by Apple. I gave mine that came as pack ins to my 4 y.o., he left them in the floor and one of the cats destroyed them. They will not be missed.

[Jesse Hollington]

Personally, as somebody who has been using high-end earphones for years (Shure SE-530s), the Apple Earpods left me cold -- not to mention the fact that I do have big ears and the Earpods simply didn't fit snugly unless I held them in.

That said, for $30 earphones they're not an unreasonable choice -- particularly considering the remote+mic is included -- and as pack-ins they're actually a huge step beyond what Apple (or most other manufacturers, for that matter), include in the box.

Our review of them is here: Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic. They actually received our high recommendation, and keep in mind this review was written by somebody who regularly uses extremely high-end earphones.