Let's be honest. The earbuds Apple bundles with its iPod and iPhone range are horrible. Their sound quality is terrible, with weak bass and a tinny mid-section, they're uncomfortable in the ears and have abysmal sound isolation.
It's as if a decade's progress in audio design passed Apple by, leaving you with earbuds that would struggle to impress at the turn of the century, and certainly won't satisfy now.
If you've invested in an Apple audio device, it makes sense to spend a little more and get yourself a set of earbuds that do your music justice. And if that device is an iPhone, you could go for a set with inline controls.
In a nutshell, inline controls enable you to operate your iPhone from a unit mounted on the earbuds' cable. At the very least, you can pause your music and receive an incoming call at the push of a button, while an inline mic allows you to converse without removing your earbuds – much better than fishing around in your pocket for your phone.
Some headsets on test also offer volume controls, track skipping and VoiceOver support. In this group test, we take a look at six iPhone-compatible earbuds that cost under £120.
Are they comfortable to wear? Are they easy to use? Is the sound quality up to scratch? We pitch them against each other and see which set comes out on top.
The contenders
Klipsch Image S4i - £86
Radiopaq Custom Tuned Jazz - £50
Scosche IDR655m - £60
Sennheiser MM50iP - £40
Shure SE115M+ - £112
Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi - £60
Your comments (8) Click to add a new comment
berty7
January 17th 2011
8. I have have a pair Ultimate Ears 5vi (excellent price from dabs.com). The sound is great (I prefer them to my siennheiser, MM40/50 ??? - bought a couple of year ago). Once major flaw with the UE - the build quality is awful! I'm on my second pair which are now knackered after 2 months. The headphone units themselves are sturdy, but the mic and jack plug are really poorly built, leading to problems with crackling in calls and the mic button malfuctioning. I've never had these types of problems with any other headphones I've had. Looking to get a refund and pay more for a pair of HF2i !!!
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jparsons
August 11th 2010
7. Just recently bought the Phonak Audeo PFE 022 (with iPhone mic) and have been VERY impressed by this earphone.
The fit with the PFEs is extremely comfortable and sound quality is breathtaking. The sound is very well balanced - lots of clarity and punchy bass. Highly recommended.
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pixelologist
August 2nd 2010
6. I had a pair of the Senns up until recently. Much to my chagrin, they've now given up the ghost. I'll probably get another pair because, really, they're a very nice deal for the price. The least expensive buds reviewed in this article, they nevertheless produce a reasonably musical mix. I've never compared them directly to the more expensive buds but contrary to TechRadar's reviewer, I rather liked the mix of very present but not boomy bass (the Sonys I'd had before were particularly muddy thanks to their amped up bass response), a reasonable midrange and, I thought, good detail up top. The controls ARE in an awkward spot but they do come with a clip, as well, and as long as I used the clip I had no problems. And yes, the small cord length is supposed to go BEHIND the neck....not dangled in front. : )
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narcoustic
August 2nd 2010
5. okay nice review apart from the results..wtf? how were the final results decided? Fair enough the Scosche's won almost every category so having the title makes sense but the Klipsch's out performed the sennheisers in every test and came joint third? the sennheisers were outperformed in every category buy the Klipsch's but were better overall? how exactly does that work?
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shizuka15
August 1st 2010
4. Uhm, these are all earbuds. how about the éar-muffs'(not sure what they're called) type?
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dang33
August 1st 2010
3. Cyclone Earphones are the best I ever had, I use them with my iPod, iPhone and Blackberry. I have everyone I know using them now.
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jahooba
August 1st 2010
2. When one of cords is longer than the other it's not suppose to hang under your chin -- it goes around behind your neck. It's called a 'J'-cord. I think it works quite well.
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guvstar
July 31st 2010
1. i highly recommend the beyerdynamic mmx100, i have been using them for 2 weeks and they are stunning, audio and comfort the best i have experienced, also no slippage even with heavy cardio sessions.
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