Trigger Finger

As I have lamented previously here on the site, the iPhone is a great piece of hardware let down (very surprisingly) so far by one thing, an almost total lack of fully compatible and functional headphones! Apart from the worthless white buds you get with the phone, there are very few headsets on the market which offer the full functionality the iphone should be blessed with.

So I dugg around and managed to find a few alternative headphones that offer superior sound quality to the standard headphones whist being fully compatible with the iPhone functions. Before I start the reviews let me just define what I mean by ‘compatible and fully functional.’

• The heaphone jack fits into the iPhone’s recessed port without an adapter
• The headphones have a mic that can be used to for calls
• The headphones have a button for accepting calls
• The headphones button can also be used to skip tracks

For bonus points:

• The heaphones have volume control
• The headphones stay in your ears!

For Perfection

• The headphones would be wireless!

So with that out of the way, the alternatives I found were:

• Etymotic HF2 iPhone Headphones Review Product Site
• Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4vi iPhone Headphones Review Product Site
• iSoniTalk Heaphone Adapter Review Product Site
• Griffin TuneBuds Mobile Review Product Site

As and when I receive the sample units for review I will update this article with the links to the review for each candidate. When all reviews are complete I will revisit this article with easy summary of all the alternatives to maybe pick a winner!

The reviews are based on several factors:

Sound Quality Music/Video – Obviously this is the most important thing about the headphones. After all that’s the reason we bought the iPhone right?
Sound Quality Calls – Again pretty important for a telephone.
Comfort and something I decided to call the ‘Ear Ejection Factor‘ (EEF) – Comfort is crucial, especially for extended listening on long trips. But what frustrates me more than poor music quality is the EEF. Headphones from every brand, designer and style seem to eject themselves from my ears. I cannot walk my dog without constantly adjusting and replacing most models of headphones into my ears! Nothing stays in them unless they are a design such as this. I have never found a pair of buds that stay in my ears for more than 10 – 15 seconds even when stationary!
iPhone Functionality - This relates directly to the list above of iPhone specific features that the headphones should have such as the mic and control button.
Design – Design has a lower importance than the other factors, but noone likes a bulky or ugly design.

For the music/video quality I will be using a set range of tracks and videos to test. The track list is designed to represent a varied selection of genres and thus musical challenges to the headphones whilst also being some of my personal favourites:

Massive Attack – Protection

Probably the most soulful and relaxing song in the universe from my all time favourite band. Though I say soulful and relaxing, it still has a strong baseline and very strong vocals

Portishead – Mysterons

I could name 10 or 15 pairs of headphones I have owned in the last decade that have not been able to handle the subsonic baseline of this track. Which is a shame as the melody of this beauty actually lies within that baseline

Leftfield – Melt

If ever there was a tune designed to wind you down from any level of stress, this is it. It is also dependent on faithful reproduction of its melodical ambience to really be appreciated.

Coldplay – God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

A truly classy guitar track which somehow manages to maintain a thumping rythm with romance. A few sets of headphones have struggled to produce the chorus cresecendo without distortion in the past, and if nothing else it always puts a smile on my face when blasted at high volume!

Stone Roses – Waterfall

A classic from the 90’s and my hometown

Review Links will appear below this point once they are up:

Related posts:

1. iPhone Copy and Paste Announced….Finally!