Trigger Finger

It’s been a very long time coming but finally I have the time (thanks to a sleeping baby!) to finalise my words on these headphones with the thought they deserve.

As previously mentioned on the site, the goal is to finally find a pair of headphones that are top quality in terms of build and sound, whilst also being fully compatible with the iPhone. By fully compatible I mean that they fit into the recessed jack without the need for an adapter, they have a microphone for taking voice calls, and the little rocker switch for the same basic control of the phone that the standard Apple headphones have.

Additionally, from a personal point of view, I need headphones that solve an old problem for me. In over 25 years of looking, I have never found a pair of ‘bud’ style headphones that stay in my ears. I must have tried somewhere in the region of 50-100 models in that time and not one is capable of staying in my ears for more than a few minutes, even when I am stationary! The record for when walking is somewhere in the region of 45 seconds, let alone jogging! Believe me when I say that if a pair of headphones stay in my ears, I guarantee they will stay in anyones!

So how did these headphones stand up to the test? Read on to find out!

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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.’ continue reading »

Well the reader response to my previous post has been terrible so far

But I have had some luck in locating some headphone options I hadn’t previously heard of.

Etymotic HF2 iPhone Headphones

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4vi iPhone Headphones

But then I also found another interesting solution which is an adapter that you can use with any heaphones to give you the mic and play control functionality! With the rather odd name of iSoniTalk Heaphone Adapter. You can check a review of it here

If you have used any of the above hardware, let us know how it they are in the comments below. I have emailed all the companies to see about a review and shall see whether they provide the goods for a full on showdown review here.

Seriously, why are companies not falling over themselves to produce fully functional iPhone headphones? The stock ones are as terrible as ever, but I am forced to use them fairly frequently. The main reason is that they act as a hands-free kit for the phone as they have the click button and microphone that enable me to make and receive calls. With normal headphones, every time a call comes in I am forced to fumble around, rip the headphones from the phone and then eventually accept the call (extra dangerous when driving!).

Why are the OEM Apple iPhone headphones so bad? Well for one thing, the sound quality is the usual tinny/baseless quality as normal ipod headphones, but the other thing is that they absolutely refuse to stay in anyone’s ear for more than 5 seconds. It’s not just me, I have asked maybe 6 or 7 people to test them for a little while and they all report the same thing… it’s like they were designed to actually repel ears! When driving, it’s almost to the point where I cannot look left or right at junctions without one or both buds falling out. So I have a choice of either not looking left and right (dangerous!) or fumbling around after the junction trying to find them again after they have fallen out (just as dangerous!).

When not using them I have a wonderful set of Sennheiser PMX70’s  which are truly the best sounding headphones I have ever had the pleasure of popping in my ears. Unfortunately the band around the back of the head is really uncomfortable when lying down, reclining in a chair or generally sitting in any relaxed position. So I would like to get the OMX70’s instead as they would essentially cut out the only bad part of the headphones… the band, yet still stay in my difficult ears.

But of course then I would still be in the situation of having no hands-free iphone function and checking out the alternatives is a depressing alternative.

V-Moda were out of the gate early with some fully iPhone compatible headphones, but reviews are mixed. The sound quality and build quality seem to have a lot of question marks raised about them. They have the mic and the click button for full control of calls and music; the most thorough review I have see is Macgirl’s  and I would be prepared to take a chance on them if they were so seemingly expensive for a dubious sound/build quality.

Errmmm and thats it! I cannot find a single fully-compatible alternative to these.

So here is the challenge for readers, and manufacturers. Tell me of some fully iphone-compatible headphones.

By fully compatible I mean:

• The headphone Jack Fits in the iphone without the need for an adapter
• Has a built in microphone that can be used for calls
• Has the music/phone control button (or similar implementation) that the OEM headphone have

For Bonus Points:

• They will be some "can’t-fall-out-of-the-ear" solution like the PMX/OMX 70’s above
• They would be cordless (bluetooth)

If you are a manufacturer, get in touch about a review and i will give them as fair and objective test as I can, and guarantee to sing your praises from the hilltops if they are suitably boombastic!