Customer Reviews

Shure i2cT Sound Isolating Earphones with Connector for Treo 650

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received the i2cT from Shure a few days ago and my initial opinion is pretty good. I had been looking for a hybrid solution that was compatible with Treo 700p and was of better quality that the Seidio I purchased for my Treo 600 years ago. The Seidio sound quality was lacking, and the ear buds kept falling out. Its overall quality was lacking. Shure has done a good job in the quality dept. This series for the Treo is well made and has great sound quality. It is comfortable to wear and comes with several ear bud options to fit any size ear. A nice travel case is also supplied with the headset.

The only reason I did not give the i2cT five stars was the size. The ear buds on the i2cT are large and stick out from your ear. The i3cT and i4cT are much smaller, but they were cost prohibitive for me. The microphone is on the wire coming from your ear on one side. It is also large. Shure should have put it where the wires meet at the chest even if the sound siffered slightly. (the microphone sounds great by the way). The controller is also large. It has a very sensitive volume wheel and mute with a shirt clip. Finally, the wires are large and long, and they don't flex easily. My understanding is that the i3cT and i4cT share the same controller and wires.

It's nice to have a durable hybrid package for those of us that travel and will use this type of headset alot. I mentioned quality as something I valued. However, Shure has provided quality w/o consideration of the user. A business person (typical Treo user) wearing a suit, doesn't want to look like they are wired for sound. This headset is bulky enough that it is hard to wear discreetly. The large components, connected by large long wires makes it less destructable, but also less appealing to a professional user. If your use is primarily for air travel or you dont anticipate being interrupted often with calls while listening to music, I would recommend getting the Palm 3.5mm stereo adapter and a good set of earbuds until the hybrids are refined for style.

The Shure line of earbuds and headphones is top quality. I own several pairs of Shure earbuds, and I have always been very happy with the range of frequencies and crispness of the sound produced. One criticism of Shure buds that I have seen points to the apparent lack of strong bass, but with the i2cT, the earpiece is large and bass conductivity is strong if you wear the buds properly (you have to get them snugly into your ear). The buds are comfortable and immersive once you find the right way to wear them.

Two big disappointments:

- I was hoping the mic attached to the buds would let me make use of the Treo's Voice Command capabilities while the phone was in my pocket or in a backpack. However, the mic only becomes activated when a phone call is placed (unlike other similar products that allow you to activate VC and actually place a call from the buds themselves).

- The buds routinely fall out when I'm on the treadmill. I sweat alot, and unfortunately when the earpieces get wet they just slide out of my ears. However, I do find them better than iPod phones at staying on while I'm working out.

Very nice set of earphones, and some of the most comfortable ones I've worn. I've used the black flexible rubber set of earphones over a nearly 10-hour airplane flight from Rhode Island to California, and they were great at keeping out the airplane noise and the screams of toddlers.

The volume controls are bulky, however, and the wires are rather thick. And, the volume controls are nearly useless since the dial is way too sensitive, so I taped over it so I don't accidentally bump up the volume. But I don't find them as big of a hindrance.

I have tried different earphones and these are the best for the price. The fit is good, wires are a little thick but not an issue after you have used them a bit.

I've had this headphones for a few weeks, and they work very well, they deliver very good quality on the music (although I am no expert).

The only minor drawback is the carrying case, which is too big to carry on my pocket, and that makes me not take them around on the bus commute, which is one of the things I wanted them for.

The isolation is good, although not complete, this is one thing I was looking for, but I understand that to get complete external sounds isolation, I had to go for the more expensive model.

One funny thing is, I thought having sound isolation would help me use them to speak on the phone as an improved handsfree. To the contrary, since it has sound isolation it doesn't allow me to listen to my own voice, so it makes using the phone with them a bit uncomfortable.

Besides that, I am satisfied with them and will keep using them at least on my airplane trips.

Soud quality of mic and earphones is excellent and outside sound isolation is great. Nice carrying case and comes with a wide selection of sizes and types of plugs for any ear. Although they are very sturdy, they are a bit bulky and the volume control (which is very sensitive) and mute button are very near the phone plug. Better design would probably be to merge the microphone with the volume/mute control and put it at the join of the two earphone wires.