BOSE (R) In-Ear Stereo Headphones
by BOSE
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of BOSE (R) In-Ear Stereo Headphones
Customer Review: amazing sound/comfort, tips fall off but good support from bose
Summary: 5 Stars
These headphones are amazing. They're definitely the best earbuds I've ever heard. Only problem, like everyone else says, is the little silicon tips. They feel comfortable in your ear, you just have to use the included case or you'll loose a tip.
The only comfortable tip for me is the medium, I went to Bose's website and saw they don't sell them. They have a 24/7 hotline so I figured I'd give them a call to see if they'd sell me some, expecting to pay $5-15. I called around 3:30am, within seconds someone answered and she was very friendly and helpful. They're sending me out a new set free of charge, should be here in about 10 days. I was honestly amazed by this. I know it's their design flaw that causes the issue, but honestly how often do you get support like that.
As someone else mentioned, I'm going to try a bit of silicon to hold them in place. That should stop me from ever losing another one, because using the case is sort of a pain.
Sound - 5/5 (Didn't know you could get that kind of sound out of an earbud)
Comfort - 4.5/5 (they're in ear which I'm not partial to, but they're not total noise canceling so you don't feel like you have something buried in your ear canal.)
Design - 3.5/5 (the tips work great, just need a lip or something to hold them in place.)
Price - 4/5 (I actually think $100 is a decent price. I received these as a gift, I probably wouldn't have bought them unless they where in the $50-70 range. But for the sound I'd say they're worth $100, although $20-30 of that is just the name :P)
Customer Review: Overpriced and not delivering
Summary: 2 Stars
Let me first mention that I have tried many earphones, from the cheap Maxell $5 to relatively expensive ones like the Shure E2c (that I currently own). As a very content owner of the Bose Companion 3 speakers (which also employs the "True-Space" circuitry of these headphones) I thought I would give these a try, and expected exceptional sound from them...
Unfortunately, these did NOT deliver even CLOSE to the amount of sound clarity and quality I expected from such a reputable company as Bose.
First of all, they have an over amplification and over "muddiness" of the bass. Not good at all, and I do listen to some hip-hop/R&B. Such songs sounded very unrealistic and muddy.
They do not offer any sound isolation whatsoever, so do not expect them to function very well in subways, noisy office spaces, etc...
Sound clarity is VERY dissapointing, considering the headphones are made by such a known company as Bose. They truly lack any high, the mids sound like someone put a thick handkerchief over the singer's mouth. The bass is very boomy, unrealistic, and muddy as well.
Overall, if you were to change the little logo on the headphones to a dollar-store company, people would easily be fooled into thinking they actually were such low quality.
In the case of these headphones, the high price can be attributed to Bose's generous advertising budget, not it's engineering.
I have exchanged them for the Shure E2C's and they sound phenomenal.
Look at Shure's, Etymotics, or Ultimate Ears.
Customer Review: Excellent buds, well worth the investment
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a recent convert to higher-quality headphones, and these are my second pair. I got them to replace a set of Shure SE-110s which, unfortunately, the family puppy got hold of over the holiday break. I'd had some concerns rise during my use of the Shures, and thought I should look around before replacing them.
I chose these Bose buds because the sound was so rich and vibrant. The Shures had needed some boosting in the EQ settings to please my ears, but these Bose earphones are sensational without any tinkering. I was also happy to once again have earphones that are quick and easy to get in and out, but I was concerned about outside noise, as the primary perk of the Shures was their ability to block outside noise. While these Bose buds do allow more outside noise to trickle in, I was perfectly happy listening to my iPod amidst the crowd in a busy mall, and I forsee few problems with this in the future.
These have an excellent quality of sound and are whole-heartedly recommended.
2011 UPDATE: Being a bit better versed in audio equipment, I must say that while I enjoyed these for as long as I had them, their sound signature is a bit muddy and is overly thick with bass. They're a definite improvement on stock buds, but at the Tri-Ports current price point, you'd be better off going with the Klipsch IMAGE S4 In-Ear Enhanced Bass Noise-Isolating Headphones which, while still somewhat heavy on the low-end, offers much greater clarity.
Customer Review: Excellent service from Bose make this a 5 star
Summary: 5 Stars
I received a pair of these as a gift from my wife 3 years ago. I didn't use them very much at first, but really came to like them a lot. I disliked the "sticky" cables used on them (I don't like the newer iPhone cables, either), and these sticky cables were the earbud's undoing. Last week, I was sliding the small plastic organizer up the cables toward the bud end of the cable when I met a little resistance. This wasn't unusual since the cables are sticky. When I looked, I saw that the little plastic slider had stripped the insulation off of one of the wires entirely, ruining the earbuds!! Aaagh! Now I truly detest the sticky cables! Now what?
I just got off the phone with Bose customer service and had a great experience. I didn't expect them to replace or repair these, as they were 2 years out of warranty. I was interested in some kind of a flat rate repair service, but they do not repair earbuds. Instead, Bose offered to replace my earbuds with the new version of this product (Bose IE2) for $50, which I thought was a very excellent thing to do. I need only mail them the old set in return for this (I can even keep the leather case and other accessories).
So while I never liked the sticky cables, and it took me a while to come to really like these earbuds, Bose really came through with a nice offer to replace them with an improved version of the product at about half the price of a new set. I consider this excellent customer service and I'm really looking forward to getting the new set in the mail. Thank you, Bose!
Customer Review: Disappointed? Yes, quite.
Summary: 2 Stars
A big problem with in-ear headphones in general nowadays is the bass not being strong enough. Bose, with the creation of these headphones, has proven that it IS possible to have TOO MUCH bass. So much bass that the treble gets drowned out even after extensive adjusting of the equalizer settings to compensate. Not only does it sound bad, but it actually might be dangerous - while listening to these headphones, certain frequencies of bass lines would give the sensation that it was rattling my entire skull.
Another noted problem is that these headphones are NOT loud enough! My mp3 player of choice is a Sony a728B and the supplied headphones are notably louder at 20 than these Bose are at 30 (max). I was comfortably listening at the max volume and wanting more after a while, whereas I couldn't get past 23 or 24 with stock headphones without being in serious pain. I didn't have any volume restrictions done, these are a WEAK pair of headphones.
Forget about jogging with these headphones. Even with the supplied lanyard the weight of the headphone itself is significant enough to fall out of your ear after 10 or 15 strides. While I realize these are not meant to be lightweight running/jogging headphones, I just thought it was important to note.
These headphones leave something to be desired.
A strange combination of too much bass and not enough general power added onto the rather steep $100 pricetag leaves these headphones not the greatest choice. Shame on you, Bose. I know you can do better than this.