Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-Q68LW Clip-on Style Headphone with Retractable Cord

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Length:: 2:39 Mins

They rock!
Watch the video to see why this product is so much better than the JVC version of it.

Update 12/2009. Still working great. My wife made me get her one.

I am an audio engineer, and although these are not professional quality headphones, they are the best mix of price and convenience I have ever had in a set of headphones. (I have gone through quite a few). They are easy to carry around without getting your cables twisted up, they sound great, they are comfortable, and they are well built. For those who don't like earbuds, I strongly recommend this pair.

Just so you know where I am coming from, my previous headphones were Sony MDR-Q22LP w.Ear Headphones with Interchangeable Headphone Caps. I thought they worked great and I went through 2 pairs of them over the last 6 years or so. My only complaint was that the cord was always getting tangled up. So when my last pair broke I thought these would be the perfect answer, still made by Sony and with a retractable cord.

Well, the retractable cord works great, no complaints about that so far. My complaints are that first off, the cord is much shorter then in the MDR-Q22LPs. I measured it to be only slightly longer than 3 ft long (a fact that isn't found on the product's page). I am not a tall man, only 6 ft tall, but the cord bearly reaches from my ear to my pocket where I have my Ipod. This is very annoying and I have almost dropped my Ipod several times because of this short cord. Also,I find that the sound quality of these headphones is worse than that of the MDR-Q22LPs, which are $10 cheaper.

All in all, I think next time I'll save the money (and the problems) and buy the MDR-Q22LPs.

The sound quality was very good. The retractable cords are great! No more tangled cords!!! I love that feature. I also like the clip on ear pieces. They are very comfortable and they stay on. The shiny surface on the back of the ear pieces is like a fingerprint magnet, but that's minor. The padding is ample and comfortable. I am very happy with this purchase.

I bought these headphones for my walks and to take with me for my lunch breaks at work. So most of the time they're in my pocket. That's why I wanted a pair of headphones that retracted. They've held up for the past few months very well. Not the slightest problem.

PROS:

Small and lightweight.
They retract very easily with the button on either headphone.
There is a yellow part on the "end" of the cord so you know you shouldn't try and pull any more out.
They are a nice sleek black.
They put out REALLY nice sound. Seriously, if you want better sound, you'll have to use a pair of headphones that covers your ears. These have extremely clear sound that is capable of a nice deep bass.

CONS:

I wish the cord were about 6" longer. The cord that plugs into your music device comes out of the left headphone. So when you're wanting to walk with it, you have to carry it with your left hand to avoid yanking the left headphone off of your ear.

I'm use to my old Sony headphones that had a kind of metal and plastic mesh over the cord that prevented it from being damaged. In comparison to the cord for these headphones, these have a very small cord. I tend to be worried about it, but so far so good. I've dropped my mp3 player many a time which has yanked on the cord hard enough to pull the left headphone off of my ear a few times and still the cord seems perfectly fine.

FINAL SCORE:

Minor gripes aside, it's the best portable headset out there. You want something to carry around and not worry about it breaking and/or getting tangled? Look no further my friend. You have found it. :D

Of course, you shouldn't expect a $30 headphone to answer your stereophile dreams...but the MDR-Q68LW achieves one dream. Most portable music listeners have had to contend with a mess of tangled, knotted cables; in a few cases, this leads to a dead connection in one ear. Sony's innovation, albeit incremental, may be the perfect approach: these earclips automatically spool cables, making for a tidy pickage. Owners of earbuds and IEMS frequently start their listening sessions with the "unknotting of the cables" ritual, but earclip innovation seems to have achieved a new level of sorts.

In addition:

- These ear clips are flexible and comfortable for well over a few hours - unlike the popular Koss KSC-75. Moreover, they don't fall off with light exercise.
(+) Although the cables are thin, build quality is well suited for portable use.
(+) These are surprisingly good-looking while worn; their shiny black tone is striking
(o) The issue of sound quality is relative. In comparison to, say, the much cheaper KSC-75, the SQ seems a bit "clipped." Sony promises a sonic range of 16-24,000; it actually comes closer to 50-15,000, and you can hear how a number of music tracks can sound rather "dead,." depending on the track. (High volume levels don't suit these clips.) If you're a critical listener, you might be disappointed.
(-) Unless used with care, there's a fair chance that a cable will get stuck. Depending on your luck, this may render this phone's major asset useless.
(-) Played at louder volumes, the sound quality can become harsh, depending on the tune.

I use these phones while listening to computer audio on my computer (never music). It's perfect for watching movies with the iPod Touch. For convenience, these phones are hard to challenge.

I have several earphones for various uses. But I needed something portable to work with my mp3/audioplayer device. I carry the player around with me and listen to it at random times of the day to make use of "dead times". So I needed earphones that I didn't need to spend time untangling wires, unwinding, pulling out of a case, etc; yet still sound reasonably good.

The retractability of these headphones are exactly what I needed. The units auto retract the cords with a button, and pull back out with just a pull. Perfect; no tangled wires, winding, or cases. The units clip over the ear like the ends of a pair of glasses. This works only if you are standing upright. If you lie down, they tend to fall off.

Sound wise, they are comparable to the $22 headphones they are, which makes them about the same sound quality as equivalently priced Sony's and about the same or slightly better than the white earbuds that come with ipods. Due to the position over the ears, bass is kind of lost.

Overall I'm happy with the units; particularly for their quick to use nad reasonable sound.

I've been purchasing this product for a number of years now, and I keep coming back because I have yet to find another that is so well designed. I am an urbanite that rides the train to work and walks around downtown. I like to listen to music to help drown out the ambient noise from that obnoxious cell phone user sitting across the aisle, the crazy dude rambling about how we should all find god, or even just the trains themselves.

These headphones deliver on everything you can think of. I like the clip on-ear function of these headphones simply because I don't like the feeling of having an earbud actually inside my ear, but also detest having bulky cans on - I'm a professional in a suit, and it just seems... odd... to have cans on. These are discreet enough to blend in. My favorite feature is that the cord goes around the back of your neck. Particularly since I do often have to take off my headphones briefly to either talk to someone or listen for something, having the Y cord means I have to either find a place in my pocket for the cord or allow them to dangle towards the ground freely. With this cord, the headphones just stay put and dangle off my shoulders, which is a lot more convenient. The sound quality is good, but not excellent. It's certainly better than many other headphones I've used, but it's not among the best. Finally, the retractable cord is very convenient for stuffing in a briefcase, bag, or purse - it's very nice not to have long cords getting tangled up with everything else you have.

As far as durability goes, however, expect to replace them every 12-18 months. That's not awful, considering the low cost of the product. The rubber ends of the ear clips seem to be the first thing to go on it, as they start to fray and ultimately tear off. The cord itself is not the most durable thing in the world either, which is to be somewhat expected given the retractable nature of it.

All said, I highly recommend these. There's a reason I keep buying them!

I have small ears, so headphones that don't go inside your ears are a must for me. These are very comfortable, even for long stretches of time. The retractable cords are great, and I even like the fact that they leak a fair amount of outside sound. I prefer to hear what's going on around me!

These headphones are pretty nice. Push the button on the side for the cords to retract into the earpieces. The cord on the left piece connects the headphones to your player and the cord on the right piece connects to the left piece. With this kind of set up I can control the length of the cord behind my head and get the right length to reach my iPod. With a shorter cord, I couldn't keep the player in my pants pocket while listening to it. With a much too long cord, it would get tangled in my bag and snag on my bike handles. The cords on this model make a clicking sound when being lengthened and have yellow bands near the end of their extents to keep you from over extending them.
I love that they sit outside my ears since the bud styles hurt my ears and tend to fall out while exercising. It may take some adjusting to get them in the right position as the clips are spring loaded and can put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on the ears if not positioned well.