Customer Reviews

Ultimate Ears MetroFi 200v Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I paid $30 for them to use w/ my Iphone 3g and boy, they sound great, you need to lower the volume on your MP3 since these are very loud. I was using the cx300 sennheiser and while they are good, you can't compare to these, I can hear sounds and instruments from the music that I never heard before, they have very strong bass, you need to make sure to place these all the way in your ear to get the right sound, people that complain about not getting good bass is because they are not placing hem correctly in their ear canal. The cable is a bit heavier and thicker than many other earphones. As a phone headset w/ my I-phone, it works very well. Very good deal at $30.

I have owned the Shure e2c, e3c, and the e4c headphones. The e2c headphones sucked. I have loved my e3c's which I've had the longest, close to 3 or 4 years. I've only had the e4c headphones for a day having ordered them at the same time as the headphones being reviewed. These Ultimate Ears MetroFi 200v headphones for only $30.00 sound as clear as the e3c & e4c headphones yet actually sound more supported on the bottom end. There's more bass in the Metro's by a fair margin, they also have a decent high end as well. The Shure seem to have them beat in the mid range however, but it's not a hugely noticeable difference to me. So far I have been extremely impressed with these headphones. They are as good as the higher end Shure headphones yet cost 1/10th as much, creating a clear precise sound. The e2c's I owned for three days lacked the quality all of the other Shure's possess and are totally not worth owning.

I purchased the foam ear sleeves with these headphones and found them to be an essential part of owning these headphones. They fit better for me than any of the silicone sleeves that came with the Metros. The sleeves allow me to listen to music without having to turn it all the way up when driving on the highway and do as good a job as the e3c foam headphones I owned. I have used the e3c foam phones on an airplane and had NO problems hearing the music, and these are just as good if not better than those were at blocking out external noises. My only minor complaint is they fit slightly bigger in my ears than the e3c's, largely due to the speaker being what goes into your ear rather than the flimsy tube used by Shure for their headphones, which is ultimately what broke on my e3c's). The larger size could be a problem for people with small ears or really sensitive ears. My sensitive ears start to feel the pressure after having them in my ears for a long time, but can be minimized by not moving them around a lot, ie taking them out and putting them in again.

The case that comes with the headphones is nice and compact and seems like it will hold up for a little while, but doesn't seem like it will go the long haul since it's hinge is thin plastic and seems like it will wear out before too long.

(UPDATE: Yeah, I was right, the case stinks. Broke the closure tab which holds the case closed (not the hinged section) trying to open it to put my headphones away not even a week after owning them. I'm now using my Shure e3c case to stow them. Still like the headphones though. I wasn't even hard on the case, it just stunk hard core.)

I wish the cord was maybe another four inches in length, since when my shirt isn't tucked in it pulls slightly on the cord with my ipod clipped onto my pocket with the clip facing out and the ipod itself in my pocket. The other thing is the plug is not bent like the Shure headphones are so wrapping the cord around the ipod (a 6gb mini) is probably not a good idea.

Costing only $30, adding $14.99 for the foam sleeves (Comply T-400 Foam Tips - 3 Pair Pack) still makes these headphones cheaper and a better deal than any of the $300.00 to $400.00 Shure e3c and e4c headphones. Go for it, there's really nothing to lose with these.

(Update: well, I listen to a lot of audio books and the midrange is where it counts for those. These headphones have great highs and lows, but lack mids for the most part. I have been using my e4c's predominantly since they have good mids and highs while missing the lows. I still use these around the house, but the short cord also causes me problems as I'm 6'6" and have a long torso (ie long way down to my pockets). Now that they've raised the price I'm not sure if I'd go with them or not, but they are still pretty good in ear buds.)

(Update (01/30/2010): Well less than a year and they broke while I was changing out the foam sleeve. I superglued the thing back together and it still works, but rather cheap to have it break so easily. Next purchase will probably be something that touts it's "All aluminum headphone.")

I plugged these in and listened to songs I've heard 100 times and heard things I didn't even know were in the song! These are awesome and a great price!

these are actually an awesome pair of earphones. sound quality is pretty amazing, they work with a 1st gen iPhone, and unlike other noise-cancelling sets, these are very comfortable. i was able to buy them for 1/4 of the original price, so even better. they were pretty much perfect until one of the earpieces broke off 2 months after i purchased them. this is when the nightmare started.

i contacted ultimate ears for a replacement, and it was plain ridiculous. customer service is awful. to keep this review short (could go on and on, but won't), customer support basically told me that amazon was responsible for replacing them. they guy actually told me "you should hold amazon responsible for the replacement". i made it clear to him that it was THEIR company, and not amazon, who actually manufactured a sub-par set of headphones. guy insisted i contact amazon because i bought it from them. the non-sense went on for about 25 minutes, until a replacement was approved.

then, they requested a serial number for the headsets. i did not have the original packaging, nor the manual, so i didn't have a number. this was another big issue. they basically refused to send me a replacement without this number. after another 20 minutes on the phone with them, i was able to get a replacement approved, but they were out-of-stock, so i'm still waiting for a replacement, and who knows when i'll be able to receive them.

my advice: don't purchase these for regular price. if you can get them for $25 like i did, i guess it's not too bad. they are not worth the original $100 they are asking for. amazon should consider not selling these either, since customer service was ridiculous and they were basically assigning blame to amazon. i used to own a pair of shure earphones, and they would replace them at no cost and no questions asked.

I have tried several different buds for ipods/iphone.

The sound on these rivals my "poor man's reference" buds, which are etymotic er-6's. In comparison, these are more bass-heavy (what isn't), but not to a fault. Bass clarity is good and not oppressive, as with the V-moda's.

The top range is not as transparent (what is) as the er-6's, but still satisfying.

The key to proper volume, clarity, and isolation is to make sure the buds are in fairly deep. These do not isolate as well as the multi-vaned or foam tips of the etymotics, but are a lot faster to put in. They stay in very well, and the mic and button parts are light enough that they have no tendency to pull the buds out.

The Zagg iphone buds, for example, do not stay in well at all, and the mic/button assembly is heavy enough that any vigorous movement will cause the right bud to come out. Plus, sonically they are mediocre.

So, in summary, sound quality is almost as good as my etymotics, good enough that it can simply be a matter of taste. If you want good, clear, but not punishing bass, these are a good choice. They are well-designed, comfortable (as any bud), and isolate well.

For $30, they are an absolute must-buy for any iphone user. They sound better than anything less than $100, and simply blow the stock iphone buds away (what doesn't).

I'm not sure what the difference between this model and the newer UE metrofi 220vi. The new ones certainly look cooler, but I doubt they are $70 better.

Having gone through 4 pairs of mid-price buds, I was seconds away from going with the etymotic hf-2. These are more than good enough for me, and at $30, I can let the kids use them without worry.

Fit is everything for in-ear phones, and these are exceptional. I get full range of sound without having to crank the volume, so I get more detail and more mids. Plus it has the phone functionality. These were on sale for $30 for a while! I tried the (higher rated on Amazon) Radius Atomic Bass, and they were tinny with the small plugs and too boomy with the large ones. These turn my Blackberry Pearl into a viable iPod replacement. Fantastic at $30-40. Not sure what it competes with at $90, but these deliver great sound.

You can't go wrong with these headphones, especially not at this price!! I ordered a set for my iPhone and love the way they sound as well as the functionality of the mic and inline button (click once to answer phone or pause track, click again to play, double click to skip to next track).

The sound quality and bass response was excellent, so I plugged them into my iPod Nano to see if there was also a difference or just on my iPhone. They sounded just as great there...so good that I couldn't go back to my ol' Sony MDR-EX71's (which used to be my favorites), so I just ordered another pair for my Nano too. As a nice surprise, the inline button also works with the Nano as a pause/play/next track button, very helpful for when I'm cycling.

I'll now have two pair of great sounding headphones for much less than the price I've paid for one! My only improvement would be a shorter or two-piece cord, but I can live without, just practice a little "cord management"...

i had a pair of ultimate ears superfi 3. the cable broke between the split for R/L, so i bought this pair, also because i bought an iphone and wanted a mic + switch.

i am not an audiophile, though i can definitely hear the difference between the bass and treble relative to other earphones. these pale in comparison to the superfi 3, but that is a different price range. for the price i paid (much less than the current $72), it was an unbelievable deal. i wouldn't pay $72 for them now, maybe $50 would be reasonable.

the one gripe i have with UE earphones is the wires. like the superfi, this pair is giving me problems with the wires too. i've been using them for less than 6 months, and now i can only hear from one side unless i do random wire maneuvers near the jack. i have just sent logitech/ue a complaint, will update once i hear back from them.

UPDATE:
logitech customer support replied the first time and asked me to show proof of purchase. i did, but for the past week, i have been trying to contact them to no avail. this is the WORST customer support ever. the (previously) ultimate ears products are great, but since being bought over by logitech, i would suggest you try another brand.

I have owned this for half a year. It blocks the noise nicely when I mow. Comparing to Shure E2C, this earphone is a lot more comfortble. The bass is better than E2C. The best thing I like is the built-in mic. I have been using it for Skype with my itouch. The sound quality is superb. I am just extremely satisfied with this product. The mic is tiny. There is a version without the mic. But my personal opinion is even you don't need a mic for now, you should still get this one (with mic) because who knows if you will get an iphone in the near future. Overall, I rate this as 5 star product.

Good:
These were my first earbuds I got after my Apple Earbuds, and it's an amazing improvement! The sound quality is so much better, and it's really comfortable. At the $25 dollar price-point, this is a great deal. The earbuds come with several different sized "cushions" ranging to really small (for me!) to HUGE (for giants).
If you're looking at these earbuds because they are "noise isolating", you're in luck too! I could easily mow the yard and still be able to hear my music and podcasts, without sacrificing sound quality or my ears. They're not perfect though, so if you're at a metal concert don't expect to be able to block that out :p

Bad:
It's not all great, though. If you ruffle the earbuds while your walking you'll hear a little bit of static in your ear. It doesn't make it unbearable, but it is slightly annoying. What's also annoying is that the cushions can fall out of the earbud too easily, so over the course of 3 months I've gone from 6 cushions to 2. Finally, and this is why it got a four, is that my earbuds stopped working after 3 1/2 months. Now only earbud works, which sucks. But for $25 dollars, I'd say it's still worth it, and I'm also not the most gentle person, so that might have been it too.

Short:
GREAT VALUE, Comfortable, Nice Sound Quality, Able to block out sound.
Slight ruffling sound while walking, Doesn't last too long