I'm been researching for earbuds that match my requirements, and I seem to be in a minority demographic of people that can't stand to have things jammed in their ear canals. I'm looking for recommendations on non-sealing earbuds with an inline play/pause/answer-call button and mic, that works with Android phones.
I am not interested in over/on ear headphones. I also cannot stand the ear-canal / plug-style IEMs: I find them painful, they never seem to stay in place, and I do not want the sound isolation. This leaves my preferred style, the "old-fashioned" earbud style that rests in my ear without plugging it.
Yes, I realize that earbuds do not produce the same sound quality as ear-canal or on/over-ear headphones. I am OK with that.
I will be using the earbuds exclusively with my Samsung Galaxy phone, with music downloaded through Google Play Music. I also listen to audiobooks. Therefore the quality of the source music is not particularly high. I also need to be able to answer calls and play/pause music with an inline button, and have a mic that works with Android (some inline mics do not work with Android).
I've been using Yurbuds Talk for the past year, but one of the earbuds recently died on me (just after the one-year warranty was up). The sound quality was just OK and the cables tangled easily, but they were very comfortable and functional. I'm looking for better quality headphones in a similar style.
A local store had the Bose SIE2i headphones on sale so I tried them out. Both the build and sound quality were better than the Yurbuds, and they were very comfortable, but the mic did not work on my phone - no idea why - so I returned them. Bose has just released new SoundSport earbuds designed for Samsung Galaxy phones, but I'd rather not spend $150 just for a popular brandname.
I found a thread here from someone with the same requirements:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/657091/looking-for-non-isolating-earbud-headset-for-my-smartphone-with-mic-that-is-comfortable-to-use-other-than-bose-mie2
He decided on the Jabra Active headphones, but they don't seem to be available (anymore?), at least not in Canada.
Sennheiser has a few earbud models, but they all either have frames connecting the earbuds, are earplug-style, or do not have a mic.
The best option seems to be the new Audio-Technica ATH-CHX7iS SonicFuel Hybrid Earbud Headphones for Smartphones:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/0985fc7f8b0b07b6/index.html
But there are very few reviews for those earbuds, and would take a couple of weeks for them to ship.
I'd love to get some feedback on the ATH-CHX7iS from anyone that has tried them. Otherwise, does anyone have other suggestions?
I am not interested in over/on ear headphones. I also cannot stand the ear-canal / plug-style IEMs: I find them painful, they never seem to stay in place, and I do not want the sound isolation. This leaves my preferred style, the "old-fashioned" earbud style that rests in my ear without plugging it.
Yes, I realize that earbuds do not produce the same sound quality as ear-canal or on/over-ear headphones. I am OK with that.
I will be using the earbuds exclusively with my Samsung Galaxy phone, with music downloaded through Google Play Music. I also listen to audiobooks. Therefore the quality of the source music is not particularly high. I also need to be able to answer calls and play/pause music with an inline button, and have a mic that works with Android (some inline mics do not work with Android).
I've been using Yurbuds Talk for the past year, but one of the earbuds recently died on me (just after the one-year warranty was up). The sound quality was just OK and the cables tangled easily, but they were very comfortable and functional. I'm looking for better quality headphones in a similar style.
A local store had the Bose SIE2i headphones on sale so I tried them out. Both the build and sound quality were better than the Yurbuds, and they were very comfortable, but the mic did not work on my phone - no idea why - so I returned them. Bose has just released new SoundSport earbuds designed for Samsung Galaxy phones, but I'd rather not spend $150 just for a popular brandname.
I found a thread here from someone with the same requirements:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/657091/looking-for-non-isolating-earbud-headset-for-my-smartphone-with-mic-that-is-comfortable-to-use-other-than-bose-mie2
He decided on the Jabra Active headphones, but they don't seem to be available (anymore?), at least not in Canada.
Sennheiser has a few earbud models, but they all either have frames connecting the earbuds, are earplug-style, or do not have a mic.
The best option seems to be the new Audio-Technica ATH-CHX7iS SonicFuel Hybrid Earbud Headphones for Smartphones:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/0985fc7f8b0b07b6/index.html
But there are very few reviews for those earbuds, and would take a couple of weeks for them to ship.
I'd love to get some feedback on the ATH-CHX7iS from anyone that has tried them. Otherwise, does anyone have other suggestions?
