In-Ear Headphones

I use my in-ear headphones a lot: I work from home and have a couple of video conferences. I go running and listen to podcasts. I go cycling and talk with my father. And my in-ear headphones break often.

This article is only about in-ear headphones with a microphone and a cable. And it's mainly about cheap options.

I will not look at wireless earbuds where you have two seperate pieces. I'm just too afraid that I would loose one and I can't imagine that the microphone quality is good enough. I will also not look at on-ear / over-ear headphones. They are just too bulky for me most of the time. I want something that I can easily take with me.

Please let me know if you have headphones you're really happy with 🙂

Buying on Amazon

Before you buy anything below 40 EUR on Amazon, look at the seller:

Go to the seller page
Go to the seller page
Look at the country of the shop
Look at the country of the shop

Very often, they are either in the UK or in China (CN). If you buy stuff below 40 EUR and you want to return it, you have to pay the shipping cost. Which can mean that you would actually pay more for shipping than the product costed originally.

I had negative experience with UK based shops. They sent me broken headphones / headphones which broke within a month, and I couldn't reasonably return them.

I could return a cheap, but broken product for free to RS Traders.

You should also be aware that there are a lot of white-label products from china. This is not negative or positive. The concept is that a company produces a product, but does not create a brand. There are other companies which take care of marketing / brand creation. So you might see a lot of products which look super similar... because the products are the same. They just have a different label.

AKG Samsung Galaxy S10 earbuds

Those are the default ones you get with the Samsung S10 smartphone. They are ok, but considering the price of the S10 I would have expected something better. Mine are broken after a year. I didn't let them fall down. I didn't put water over it. I treated them well, but used them often. First the left ear piece went more siltent. It didn't break, just the volume went down. Then the microphone made me more silent. I had to scream in a video call so that people hear me.

AKG EO-IG955 Specs
Impedance 32 Ohm
Frequency Response 20 - 20kHz
Sensitivity 93.2 dB/mW
Release date 2019-03-08
Weight 15g
Cable length 120cm
Price 20 EUR
Durability 8 months
Control 3 buttons
Reviews soundguys.com

SAMSUNG EG920

Those are the default ones for the Samsung S7. I liked them a lot. The quality of the headphones and of the microphone was ok, they were comfortable, they didn't fall out of my ears. They are also pretty cheap; sadly in both senses of the word: Low price and they broke pretty soon.

I bought them 3x from FoneM8store, once from The Smart Phone Shop and once from EXCELLENTAS. I was super angry at FoneM8store as they broke VERY quickly; the other ones lasted a couple of months. The ones from FoneM8store were broken after the first two weeks or so.

Spec Value
Name SAMSUNG EG920
Release date ?
Weight ?
Cable length 120 cm
Price 5 EUR
Durability 3 months
Control 3 buttons
Frequency Response 20 Hz
Sensitivity 98.5 dB/mW
Impedance 32 Ohm
Reviews soundguys.com

Zedela Bluetooth Kopfhörer V5.0

I bought the zedela Bluetooth Kopfhörer V5.0 for 25 EUR from Zedela. At the time I found a lot of similar ones, so I guess this is a white-label product.

I can't find any of those anymore.

They are comfortable to wear at home or while cycling. They don't work at all for me when I'm running. They work ok for phone calls during cycling, but when there is wind, the noise becomes too strong. The battery live is amazing.

Mpow Flame

The Mpow Flame costs about 27 EUR, they are aparently IPX 7, support bluetooth 5, have up to 7 hours of playing time. The two ear pieces are connected and they are advertised for sports.

I can't find mine again. I vaguely remember that they were average, but not comfortable to wear.

Sport Wireless Earphones TB08

I bought those a while ago and I'm pretty happy with them. They weight 22g, have a battery capacity of 130 mAh which (according to the producer) gives about 9h of play time. I can confirm that the play time is super high.

They use Bluetooth version 5, are comfortable to wear when I'm going by bike.

Panasonic RP-HJE120E1K

I aparently bought the Panasonic RP-HJE120E1K for about 8 EUR. I really don't remember them, but it took 3 years until I bought new headphones. Maybe they were just good?

Everdigi and Hanmir

I bought Everdigi for 8.59 EUR and Hanmir for 12.99 EUR. I returned both of them. I don't remember the reason. I think they might have been super uncomfortable.

Sennheiser

Sennheiser is a well-known brand for high quality headphones. I had the HD 201 over-ear headphones from them and liked them a lot. I bought my father the Sennheiser RS 170 and he liked them a lot. But I didn't ever try in-ear headphones by Sennheiser. In case I have to buy new headphones, I would likely give them a shot.

I ignored the model CX 100, as it seems to be inferior to the CX 300S.

CX 300S

Momentum

  • Official Page
  • Impedance: 18 Ohms
  • Frequency response (Microphone): 100 – 10,000 Hz
  • Frequency response: 15Hz - 22000Hz
  • Sound level pressure (SLP): 118 dB (1kHz/1Vrms)
  • Review

In one Amazon Review, I have read that the cables are not robust enough. Aparently the cables break easily. There are also photos about it which makes the statement more trustworthy.

Ludos

The old model is called Clamor, the new model is called Ultra. I tried them, but when I called my girlfriend she told me that there was a noise from the microphone. Also, the position of the microphone was directly at the splitter which is to far away.

The magnets were pretty nice.

  • Foam H
  • Magnetic Ends
  • Inline control: Volume up, Volume down, Accept phone call
  • 13.57 EUR

There is a marketing video

The "KLIM Fusion" headphones look similar, too.

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