Customer Reviews

Bose In-Ear Headphones

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(38)
1 star:		(50)

 

 

I wasn't positive I wanted to spend $100 on earbuds, but I'm glad I did. Bose has solved the silicon earpiece problem you read about in almost every review. The snap on silicon cover fits securely and doesn't detach without a fight. So bravo to Bose for taking care of that. Now for the sound! If you spend $200 or $300 for the really high end earbuds you aren't going to be able to discern any difference. The Bose delivers full bass and crystal clear highs. I had no idea how great my iPod could sound,the iPod earbuds are an insult to it. Use your accoustic setting on your iPod equalizer for a great range of sound.

As noted in many reviews already posted, there is a quality problem with these earphones. After less than 18 months of gentle use (but over the 12-mo warranty) the wires and their protective covering frayed and separated where they enter the jack. Bose service rep says this is not repairable (I can't imagine why not, except they'd rather not). He offered me the 'opportunity' to replace the earphones for $50. Say what? Why would I want to pay that for the same product after it fell apart? As usual, Bose's promotion and advertising far exceeds product performance.

I've had these two years and the sound quality is better than the stock ipod ear buds. But of course it should be. What the sound quality isn't is 5 times better than the $20 stock ear buds. But that would be OK, since sound quality is a relatively subjective thing and others might think they are 10 times better. The reason for the bad review is the product durability. I lost the silicone ear pieces, but got some new ones and was thereafter more carefull. They would still come off in my pocket or elsewhere and came close to getting lost again. But that was still OK. After all, you can always get more. The killer for me is that like many others on this site, the wiring on my ear buds is now disconnecting from the back of the jack. The sound is starting to go. I called the very friendly and easy to reach customer service department who advised that since I was well beyond the one year warranty, I could buy a new pair for 50% off. I asked why I would want to throw more money after bad, so to speak. He politely responded that Bose had made significant improvements in the construction and the new pair would likely hold up better. Well, thanks but no thanks. If they needed that much improvement, send me a new pair!

It's not like I used the ear buds 3 times a week for two years. My use actually was pretty sporadic. I just think they are very poorly made and designed and would recomend that you purchase something else.

Bill

************UPDATE 6/9/2010********************

So three weeks after I wrote this review, I got a call from Bose customer service. The gentleman had read my review and offered to send me a new pair. As he put it, "it sounds as if in your case the wiring did not hold up like it should have." I would have to agree given my limited use. But, of course I had already told customer service that when I called in the first place! At the end of the call, he not so subtley asked if I would consider updating my review and I have now obliged. Not about the product so much, as the impact of a review on Amazon. So hand it to these forums. I complained a bit and was finally heard. Fascinating really.

I received the new headphones. They have improved my original - the silicon pieces do stay on better and the wiring design seems better. Is this a bought and paid for update? I don't think so, but you can reach your own conclusions. Happy listening!

Firstly I want to start off by saying that I am not one of those people who hate on Bose no matter what they make, even if they are good. I love Bose products; the QC is a great line of active noise canceling headphones, but these IE headphones....??? they cant compare to the shine that their other headphones illuminate. I don't think these headphones are terrible, I just think they are WAY overpriced. I think it should have fallen below $60, but I know, they might run out of ad $$$.

Now to begin the review, what you see is NOT what you get. The design is top notch, and looks crazy cool. Although they are not the first ones to come up with that type of design, Samsung came up with one of these designs around 2001, but these look much slicker than the Samsung ones. The build of the IE is nothing less than great.

Just because they are In Ear, does not mean they block noise as most in ear monitors do. They fall right in between in ear canals like the Etymotics ER6i and the Sennheiser CX 300. They feel very insecure on your ear; it feels like its going to fall off. Since they are just hanging there in your ears, there is a lot of open space which allow you to engage in conversations without having pull out your headphones.

The silicone tips get lost very easily, that's why they provide you with the leather case, so USE IT!! The silicone tips also get dirty very easily if not put in the case while not in use. You don't have to worry too much about your ear wax getting stuck to it because it doesn't really go real deep inside you ear. Other accessories include the cable winder and different sizes of the silicone tips.

I am used to getting a complete seal to enjoy bass response; these headphones surprised me with producing excellent bass response without the full seal. The bass is good but it empowers over the mids and highs. If you really love bass driven music but also want to enjoy the mids and the highs, Sennheiser's CX 300 is the way to go. The IE's reproduction accuracy of music is very poor, it exaggerates the bass and seems blurs out the other frequency ranges.

I am used to having my volume on 30%, but these headphones require 53% to enjoy the full sound. The CX 300 works smarter and is very power efficient compared to the IE, which eats up your battery life faster.

Overall they are better than the iPod stock buds (not to hate on them but their last revision was pretty impressive), but any headphones above $20 should be better than the stock (duh). Many people seem to worship these headphones, but I just hope the nominating reader has tested better cans than these.

Let me propose my listmania of best value IEMs for under $100 bucks!

There are a number of audiophiles who will attest that Bose makes crappy products, terrible sounding, not worth the money. They're right on one count most of the time -- Bose products are often overpriced, and lately more so than in the past. I'm an owner of Bose 201, 301, and 401 speakers, two pairs of their Triport (around ear) headphones, and a 2009 version of their in-ear (IE) headphones. I like their older speakers because the "Direct/Reflecting(R)" design in the 1990s resulted in small, attractive speakers that provided a better, wider soundstage than highly rated "big speakers" for the same or more money. Direct comparisons with Infinity and Cerwin-Vega speakers showed that the Bose 301s and 401s provided a more natural sound, and without any tonal adjustment necessary (with proper placement, my 401s provide as much home theatre bass omph as a 150W Yamaha powered subwoofer). Consumer Reports rated their 301 large bookshelf speakers highly in some late 1990s comparisons, determining that they had a flatter frequency response (the "accuracy" of a speaker) than other, and more expensive, speakers.

Whereas staunch audiophiles want crisp realistic reproduction of the source music without any coloration, Bose products often provide a warm, "live" presentation. Bose marketing blabs often hawk that "you can hear everything." So know what you're buying: Bose headphones will sound "lush" or "dramatic." The customers they're selling to like that. For private listening, when I tested their Triport around-ear (AEM) headphones a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised that, because of their reflex "port" design, when I increased the volume on a demonstration iPod, the music got louder, but didn't "blast" my ears or hurt. The ports allowed air to escape so that clean, distortion-free music was heard over the spectrum of quiet to loud playback. I expected no less from their newer, in-ear model.

After a 72 hour burn-in (in which white noise, pink noise, occasional frequency sweeps, and a wide variety of music at a normal listening volume are played into the headphones near constantly for a few days), I compared Bose IE ear buds with a known good pair of their Triport AEMs, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the IEs provide nearly the same sound reproduction and gentle bass that the full-sized headphones do. Comparing specific tracks with some resonant drums, subtle high frequency sounds, and diverse close-up and background instruments, I could only detect slightly less "oomph" from the IEMs. In all, they sound very nice, presenting a full-bodied soundstage similar to the larger AEM headphones. Again, Bose headphones have a strong natural bass foundation, without booming into your eardrum. I like the ability to leave any tonal adjustment off, as even new iPods have a nasty tendency to distortion if you use any of the built-in EQ settings anyway. Since these in-ear headphones do not "seal" your inner ear completely, loud volume levels don't hurt (well, they CAN hurt, just not immediate, piercing discomfort). After a few hours of listening, I didn't experience the gradual discomfort that other jam-in-there earbuds give me.

NOTE: a lot of reviewers denigrate the Bose IE phones because of "poor isolation." Be clear here ... these are not designed to seal your ear and isolate you from surrounding noise. Says so right in the user guide. Reviewers who ignore that and bleat their disappointment do a disservice to Bose and potential buyers.

N.B.: The IEM package as sold in 2009 does not include a 5' extension cord, which is provided with the Triport AEM headphones. The IEMs cord is something like 3', which may be fine for listening to an iPod in your pocket, but can be a little limiting for desktop use (say, connected to an iPod in a dock, a laptop, or plugged into external speakers' headphone jack). Bose sells 16", 43" replacement cables(for OEMs) and a 20' extension cable (rather thin for such a long cord), with plugs that should be compatible with iPods and iPod cases. A 5' extension cord might be a needed accessory (you can extend the lifetime of your IEMs cable by coiling it up in your pocket and string the cheaper extension to your iPod). Shop around, headphones extensions are in plentiful supply.

N.B.: Some internet sellers offer replacement cases for what seem like reasonable prices, but check pricing for any accessories on Bose's web site or a Bose store before buying, sometimes the source is cheaper.

Now, if you're looking for the best headphones (IEMs or AEMs) that money can buy, don't pay full price for the Bose IE headphones. For $100, you can find numerous great brands and values in ear buds: Grado, Thinksound, Shure, Etymotic, Sennheiser, et al. Bose Triport around-ear headphones are a great value ... at $50. But for $140-$150 MSRP, you can find better headphones with more accurate reproduction and better construction. The same holds here. The Bose IEMs are nicely designed and built, come with 3 sizes of ear-fitting covers, and rest comfortably in the bowl of the outer ear (something I like), instead of jamming into the outer ear canal. Are Bose IEMs worth $99 MRSP? Only if you like the status of the Bose name, the non-isolating design, the inclusion of a handy neck lanyard (which takes the weight of the cord, if any, off your ears), a zippered case, and a shirt clip, not to mention the accentuated, dramatic sound that Bose products provide. If on the other hand you're not sure, shop around, read reviews at sites like Gizmodo and [...], and decide for yourself.

If this objective characterization of the Bose in-ear headphones helped you in your shopping, please click the "Yes" button. ;)

I had been a loyal Bose customers, purchasing many different products from Bose. And this In-ear Headphones is a terrible junk. Not only that it constantly fell off my ears, but it started to have audio quality problems and then lost sound completely after about 12 months of gentle use. When I came back to the Bose store for repair, they told me the jack wire broke and it was beyond repair. And then they offered me to buy a new one with 50% discount, as if this was a great favor to me--!!

Don't buy it.

I've been buying various headphones for years, and own various models from Sony, Sennheiser and a pair of Bose QC2's. I'm always looking for the holy grail of phones: compact, comfortable and full-range sound, since in-ear phones usually achieve one out of three (compact) but are lacking in low frequency response and tend to irritate my ears after a while. Frankly, jamming anything deep into one's ear canals seems unnatural and is not a pleasant experience, but it's always been the only way to get a tolerable level of bass response due to the "seal" that forms if all goes according to plan. I can usually stand to wear in-ear phones for about two hours at most before I can't stand them anymore.

I was at Tokyo Narita airport a couple of months ago with some time to kill, so on a whim I tried out a pair of the Bose In-Ear headphones at a demo station in one of the many shops there. The phones were missing the molded silicone cushions (probably a good thing in a public demo station), but even without the cushions I could hear bass. Lots of it! In fact, the whole audible range sounded quite good. I was sold, but waited to get home before buying a pair due to the better price you can get here.

What's great about these phones is that you can enjoy very good sound quality with decent bass response without having to jam them deep into your ear canals. This results in less ambient sound isolation, but that's actually a good thing for me. I like being able to hear the phone ring or someone calling me or large cars approaching at high speed. The better comfort factor is due to the way these phones rest in the lower part of your outer ears with the silicone cushions pointed toward the canals without actually going into them very far. This is a superb design because I can wear them for hours without wanting to rip them out and hurl them across the room.

As for things I'm not crazy about, I would say the black and white cord is a little obnoxious; I prefer a nice, understated black cord instead of the zebra look. I also think the case could be smaller - maybe by half? - since it's awkward to carry around and seems to waste a lot of space. It's not something you would want to carry in your pants pocket. But aside from these minor issues, I'm very pleased with these phones and use them almost exclusively now when I'm not on a plane -- that's where the QC2's do their best stuff.

I would recommend these headphones without hesitation to anyone who wants full sound in a small, unobtrusive design while maintaining high comfort and an awareness of surrounding sounds. At $90-$100, I think they are a great value.

These were the best earbuds I've ever heard, true with the Bose name. The problem was, after about a year of use, the cable had fallen apart in many places and the right earbud stopped working. Strangely enough, the cheapest earbuds I've ever owned (97 cents) hold up better!

I've tried a number of in-ear headphones, and somehow they never work all that well for me. I think the main problem is that I may be listening to music for 7-10 hours in a row. Several products I've tried have sounded good-to-excellent, but most of them start to bother my ears if I am doing a lot of listening for several days in a row.

These have remained comfortable for me, even when used for very long periods of time. In my case, I'm using them connected to an iPod while working in my office, so maybe I'm not putting them under much stress. But at least for me, these have lasted over eight months so far. Some of the other earbuds that I have tried have not lasted that long.

I love how light earbuds are, so I'm glad I finally found a set which work well for me. I love the Bose QC2's even more, but they're a lot heavier to wear for long stretches of time!

OK, let me start out by saying that the sound on these headphones is incredible. After about a week of breaking these in I can not believe how clear and beautiful the sound is. This isn't the most I've spent on headphones but still a pricey product. However, I think these are worth the 100 bucks. I can wear these for hours without any pain or fatigue in my ears. I have no problem with the buds falling out of my ears although I don't wear them while exercising. I do a lot of bike riding and walking around the crowded city of Osaka Japan and haven't had any problems with them coming out. Also, I like the fact that these don't seal in your ear which allows ambient noise to penetrate through which is convenient if you are walking around in a city full of cars, bikes, and trains.

The only complaint I have is the style, primarily the black and white zebra swirl they do. I would have preferred just a straight balck wire like most earbuds but this is a minor complaint.

I'm impressed with the way the bass comes through, usually with earbuds you need a seal to get the bass but not so with these. I highly reocmmend these for anyone who loves music and can't stand most other earbud type headphones. The sound probably isn't as good as a pair of high end cans but for the in-ear type, these are the best I've heard.