The Good: Decent quality, Comfortable, Dirt cheap!
The Bad: Not excessively durable, Back of clip is still slightly uncomfortable for prolonged use.
The Basics: A vast improvement over earbuds, Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips are a wonderful alternative for those who need inexpensive, comfortable headphones!
A few weeks back, I was very excited because my local library managed to get in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (reviewed here!) and My Week With Marilyn (reviewed here!), which I was very eager to see. Unfortunately, they arrived at a bad time for me and I had to watch them quickly and return them, lest I face overdue charges. This necessitated me taking the movies to work with me, which was fine because my boss was away and I have a laptop computer. Unfortunately, all I had to prevent the audio from being disruptive to my office was a pair of Apple Earbuds (reviewed here!). I learned something very important that day: earbuds absolutely suck for prolonged useage. After three days of suffering with enflamed Eustachian tubes because I used the earbuds for eight hours, my wife got tired of listening to me whine. In my Easter basket, she presented me with a pair of Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips.
The Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips are very handy earphones that do not jam hard plastic into the ear canal and immediately struck me as a much better idea than earbuds. Instead, the Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips are a pair of foam-covered headphones (earphones?) like many of us grew up with. The difference between Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips and the now-classic headphones from portable tape players is that there is no solid headband that connects the earphones to one another and the head. Instead, the Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips attach directly to the ears.
The Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips are essentially two 1 1/2" in diameter foam-covered speakers that are each attached to a curved plastic support that is just under 2” long and 1” deep. The two earphones are connected to one another by 17 1/2” cords that then connect to a cable that is three feet long. Both ear clips are marked (L) and (R) to clearly indicate which ear they are intended for.
Very easy to use, Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips are almost idiot proof. The 3.5 mm plug at the end of the cord plugs easily into your MP3 player or computer port. The ear clip is a little more of a challenge, at least initially. I found they worked best when I held the tip of my ear in one hand while I rotated the clip around the top of my ear until it stopped at the back of the ear. The foam portion of the actual earphones is then easily adjusted over the ear canal. When properly positioned, the foam part lays flat over the ear canal and the clip itself does not actually dig into the back of the ear. With my Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips, the left side fits absolutely perfectly, but for some reason, I can never quite manipulate the right one to both lay flat and not poke the back of my ear. Even so, this results in minor irritation, not anything that hurts for more than a minute after the ear clips are detached from my ears.
What surprised me most about the Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips is how well they present music. I’ve been listening, I am sad to say, to the same Britney Spears album on heavy rotation while at work and I’ve been listening to it through the sound system on my computer. When people come into the office, I plug in my Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips. When I did, I was astonished to discover that the ear clips presented entire tone ranges that the computer speakers did not! Delivering with true stereo sound, the Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips actually made music sound better than basic computer speakers did.
Having worn these Maxell EC-150 Stereo Ear Clips for the last several days for longer-than-average work days, I can authoritatively report that these ear clips do not cause pain (outside minor irritation outside the ear on one ear) and they deliver pretty wonderful sound quality. My wife found these at Five Below and five dollars, this is one of the best investments she has made in me lately!
For other products for the ears or that pertain to digital music, please visit my reviews of:
Howard Leight Laser Lite uncorded ear protection
Dewalt Interceptor Earmuff style hearing protection
Apple iPod Touch
8/10
For other electronics reviews, please check out my Electronics Review Index Page for an organized listing of all that type of review!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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