I’ve always been skeptic about in-ear headphones, but without any direct experience. The Galaxy Nexus comes with in-ear headphones, so today I decided to give them a try while going to the office via mass transit as usual.
The Good
Sound quality is somewhat superior, especially when compared to my previous cheapo Creative headphones. They’re still distant from “serious” headphones like those I use at home, but they’re closer. I guess there are much better in-ear headphones out there, so sound quality could get an additional boost.
In-ear headphones have the ability to shield away most of ambient sound, so you not only can listed to the music at a lower volume, but you don’t have to hear all those noises usually heard on mass transit – including people talking.
Thanks to the better sound quality, I could use less aggressive equalizer settings, improving the sound quality another bit.
The Bad
For the entire duration of my test session, I’ve always felt like I had something huge stuck into my ears. That is probably because I actually had something huge stuck into my ears. The feeling is a bit weird, but I guess you get used to it.
Because I couldn’t hear much coming from the outside world, I was almost ran over by a bus – and probably many other vehicles I didn’t even notice. I think there’s a radar app you can install on your phone to get proximity warnings.
Not hearing your own footsteps is surely weird.
I have some concerns that the headphones can get dirty over time, although it’s easy to detach the silicone earbuds and wash them.
Verdict
I’m not sure yet. I’ll use them for a few more days and then decide. If I like them, I think I’ll purchase another pair based on reviews found on the web.