gdgt

This makes me sad.

good information on the new ear pods, v. question: ever try the bose mie2i? if so, how do they compare?

Thank you Veronica, I was thinking about these for my other stuff as well as my iPod. I guess the search continues.

Not surprised... overall most earbuds given with a device suck. I mainly Skull Candy brand for the cheapies and a few nice Sony and Bose pairs.

Too bad that your ears got sore after a while. After all of Apple's talk about making it to fit everyone, this kinda sucks. I was hoping they would be comfortable at least. Oh, well.

According to this site, you own quite a few high-end headphones, incuding a pair of $700 Shure earbuds. Don't you think it's possible you're a wee bit biased by the super high quality stuff you use regularly? I have a set of Bose Mie2i's which are still low end for dedicated audiophiles, but having experienced them, of course a $20-$30 pair of anything is probably going to suck.

gadgetation - the bose Mie2i's are seriously not low end at $129. i tried them after years of the apple ear buds and $20 sony specials. oh. my. freakin'. gawd. it was like i was rediscovering my music catalog all over again. the sound was that good. not the QC2's, but pretty damn good.

Thanks for taking the time to do the review Veronica but I'm not surprised by your results. Apple just can't seem to make decent ear buds.

Yuetsu-I love them. Really I do. They are so comfortable, sometimes I forgot I have them on. And I agree with Veronica somewhat that at some level of audio quality, I probably couldn't tell the difference. It might be a $129 pair of Bose headphones would sound the same to me as a $500 pair earbuds. I was just trying to avoid the mockery of "Audiophiles" who spend thousands of dollars on headphones. I have never found a $30 of earbuds that don't suck in both comfort and quality.

Darn was hoping this would be more comfortable than the other ones. Can't say I surprised though. May still check them out sometime at the price they are at.

@agabot Well, they might be very comfortable. Thats the thing about earbuds.. it almost doesn't make sense to review how comfortable they are because your milage will vary widely. The old Apple earbuds fit my ear very nicely and I can wear them comfortably for hours. My co-worker, on the other hand, can't even keep them in his ear for a few minutes.

lol.

They tested them by stuffing them in Steve Jobs' ears. He didn't complain, so Apple designers took that as a sign of approval.

So this is a good review to me because (a) My own first requirement of earbuds or headphones is COMFORT, which is hard to come by (b) 128kbps audio files on any phone just get worse when you throw better listening equipment at them (but 320kbps with a good preamp is another matter) and (c) therefore the ideal set of phone earbuds should be ultra-comfortable with decent (no bass boost or other perverted equalization) audio engineering, and should cost under $20 so you don't feel bad when you lose 'em. Just one question that you don't need to answer of course, but it would helpful to know -- are your ears "tough to fit" as in unusually narrow? My sister complains that most earbuds are painful for her, and we have concluded that she has narrow ear canals. I'm also a little alarmed that these are such a fail, because Apple's folks sounded and acted like they're unusually proud of this product -- even gifting the media with a skillion pairs, thus signaling they WANT to be judged by these near-turkeys. Either they made a serious error or you're holding them wrong. Anyhow, thanks, Veronica. excellent review.

So any recommendations on semi cheap earphones? Bonus points if they include an iPhone compatible mic/in line remote.

I wondered if they were any good. I guess others will just have to try out the fit.
I would say design/form factor is tied to comfort. ie if they didn't design them properly, they won't be comfortable, instead of the aesthetic design looks good. I guess it's up to you how you define that criteria though.

For anyone who wants cheap earphones but would like good sound quality, I would highly recommend the sound magic brand. I own a pair of soundmagic mp21 earphones, they have a mic for calls and the button lets you skip/play/pause tracks. They are low end but the sound quality and comfort is equal to much more expensive brands. I was hoping these earpods would be decent at least but I suppose anything is better than the original apple earphones!

Maybe my ears are horribly misshapen, but I kinda like the old (current to me) earbuds.

I've always found all of Apple's earbuds to be incredibly uncomfortable. And they always fall out. Terrible design. The ones that came with my Galaxy Nexus are awesome.

@AlphaLima, my fave cheapies are $2.93 on Amazon -- treat yourself to three:

www.amazon.com­/gp­/product­/B004I51GWE­/ref­=wms­_ohs­_p...

What is wrong with Apple? Can't they make simple in-ear phones like the ones Samsung gives with their devices? They are very comfortable and really stay in there.

These earpods ar so uncomfortable make my ears bleed. Apple got really cheap and lost all their vision. Shame on you Tim Cook! Stop harassing other companies and start innovating instead of selling old technology.

funny that I read this review in Veronica's voice.. lol

anyway, based on veronica's review, the question would be: Is this set of headphones good/great at what price?
We know Apple would sell this at the usual $29/$30 price but perhaps it should have been at $10-$15.

But then again, it comes free with the new iPhone/iPods so you still can't beat free.

I was/am a fan of the old earbuds. They're comfortable (for me; apparently not Veronica), and the sound is fine when I'm on the bus or walking to work through the bustle of downtown Seattle. The new EarPods are way better. The bass is richer, the highs are crisper, and I'm amazed by how much better they sound.

On Day 1, I made the mistake of trying to insert them into my ears, like I did with the old earbuds. My ears were tired and sore after even 20 minutes. The trick: don't shove them in. Instead of putting them in and twisting 90 degrees, only go about 35-45 degrees. They now fit so well, I often forget I'm wearing them.

I also have a really nice set of noise-canceling, over-the-ears for when I'm in the office. Those sound much better, but they also cost me way more than $30. :)

Bottom line: If you're looking for a better pair of earbuds, and you're already planning to get a new iDevice, the EarPods are great. If your old Apple earbuds break and you need to buy a new pair anyway, I'd be happy with this $30 purchase. If you already have and like your last-generation Apple earbuds, there's no need to rush out immediately, but definitely pick some up at some point.