Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Useless outside, December 17, 2006
The reason to not buy these headphones is that you can't hear anything if there's more than a slight breeze or any sound above a whisper. I rode my bike with these and could barely hear my iPod and then took the subway and I may as well have not had any music on. There's no reason to buy these: Bose's larger Triport headphones are good if you're not leaving the house, and if you are, well, you need another pair of headphones 'cause these are worthless. VERY disappointed.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
TERRIBLE - What a ripoff, February 16, 2007
I have owned tons of headphones of many different types, and never have I felt as though I truly got ripped off, until now.
1. The gel earpieces are terrible. These come off the phones VERY easily, and you WILL lose them. The force of simply taking the headphones out of your pocket is enough to pull them off, and indeed, two weeks after I bought these, despite being very careful, I lost one. I then called Bose, and they sent me 3 pairs of replacements, for, I believe 21 dollars plus shipping. Yes, you get to pay to compensate for their poor design. It has been two months and I am down to 3 gels, that's 5 lost gels in 2 months. I have since superglued two on, hoping to at least have one good pair, but since the gels are, of course, flexible and non-porous, the glue didn't even stick. One thing a pair of earbud headphones should not be is HIGH MAINTENENCE, for which, I think having parts constantly falling off them qualifies.
2. The cord is made of some annoying springy plastic and is thin and cheap and will FAIL very quickly. These headphones lasted me all of TWO MONTHS before developing a short in the cord near the plug. Now they are just infuriating to wear, as the right phone constantly cuts out when I move or breathe. They are now garbage. I wear my headphones to and from work on the subway. That is all. Twice a day for 45 minutes each way. That's roughly 40 work days. So, about 60 hours of use. At the cost of 109 dollars spent on these headphones, plus the 21 dollars for extra gel pieces, that comes out to about $2.17 per hour of functionality. I don't know about you, but to me that's kinda steep for some headphones that do not sound at all special.
3. They sound about as good, if not worse than headphones costing half as much. As difficult as it is for me to take Apple seriously, but I had some of their inner ear headphones for my iPod and they sounded great compared to these things. I also had some 50-dollar-ish Sony in-ear headphones that sounded about as good. Both had much better isolation and reproduction of bass tones. Sure, the Bose headphones get loud, but that doesn't really matter because of the next point...
4. They do not isolate at all. Maybe the gel earpieces might fit your ear well and seal off your ear canal if you have perfectly circular ears, but I do not. As such, I could hear everything going on around me, even with my iPod at full volume. Yes, you can expect to hear every idiot on a cell phone, every car that drives by, and every subway commuter coughing and snoring. I could even hear the treble pop-tish of other people's headphones over the sound of my own. The only way these provide isolation, and the ONLY way you will hear any decent bass is if you stand with both hands constantly jamming the earphones into your ear canals with your fingers. This, is not particularly practical. Otherwise, you will hear everything going on around you and the bass tones will sound like garbage.
5. The lovely little impractical case that they give you to protect your investment is held shut with a MAGNET. This, of course, is perfect to stick in your pocket next to your iPod, your digital camera or your wallet full of credit/atm/ID cards.
6. More on the gel earpads. They include three sizes: Too small so they're falling out and you can hear the outside world, Medium - aka a little too big for average ears, and Extra hilariously huge. I wore the smallest size because anything bigger HURT. Don't let the gel fool you. They are squishy, but not squishy enough to actually conform to your ear. Instead, you stuff one in your ear that might seem large enough to stay put, and it tries to pry your head apart. Regardless of what size you pick, you can be assured that they will try to come out of your ears constantly. You will find yourself repeatedly stuffing them back in, and whether I was wearing the small or medium, they always lacked the ability to isolate. I never tried the large size because I am not a sasquatch.
To sum up, Bose has made some quality products in the past, but the past is the past and I was ripped off by buying these pieces of garbage. Save your money and buy any other inner ear headphones you want, because these are probably not even as good as most of them out there. In any case, if you buy something cheaper, at least you didn't flush 130 bucks down the drain for a cheap pair of headphones that dies after 60 hours of use.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great sound but too many bugs, December 13, 2006
Despite superb audio quality, I would not recommend the Bose in-ear headphone to anyone who exercises and has an active lifestyle. First, the cord that Bose has chosen to use with this headphone is plastic-coated and fairly stiff, a significant departure from the supple cords used on other Bose headphones. As a result, the cord for the in-ear headphone tends to tangle and kink easily. Second, the cord is about six inches shorter the similar headphone cords. That presents a real problem if you are working out in a gym and use the Bose in-ear with your iPod or MP3 player. Third, the soft plastic earpieces -- Bose provides three pairs - small, medium and large -- tend to fall off a little too easily. A snap-over ridge doesn't do a very good job of holding the earpieces to the headphone unit. Consequently, they come off, and Bose charges for replacements. Bottomline is ... great sound but too many aggravating little problems associated with this headphone.
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