Customer Reviews: Read 71 more reviews...
 Good sound, riddled with design flaws November 14, 2008
I bought a set of these to replace my battle-scarred original Apple earbuds. I bought them because they looked like a good replacement set, spec-wise, in the price range I wanted. Especially for their frequency response.
They sound great for such small buds in this price category. Far better than the stock Apple buds. I love their sound, which is of course a very important attribute in a set of earbuds.
Everything else about them, however, is troublesome. The material used for the cord is thin and rubbery-coated, catching on clothing and usually resulting in the removal of at least the left bud from the user's ear if a person moves very much while wearing. the connector in the cord acts as a pendulum when a person walks or runs, further aggravating the tugging at the left ear and creating noise as well.
These would be great earbuds for a person who listens while sitting (commuters, desk workers, etc.) but very frustrating for walking, running or general workout use. Even eating while wearing these creates noise due to the way that the buds fit snugly into the user's ear and making jaw movement and chewing vibrations more easily heard inside the ear. If Philips could rework the cord material and weight (a bit heavier and more solid, less prone to tangling or twisting), get rid of the connector jack in the cord, and shorten the left-side cord from the earbud split joint, they would have a much better product on their hands.
 Like my buds October 12, 2008
Use my ear buds just about everyday at the gym. I wish they had a little clip or something to attach to clothing while working out...I use a paperclip.
Great sound October 6, 2008
The product works great (sound, feel in ear, etc). I bought them for use at work and on the motorcycle. For the bike, the tension on the wire bothers my ear after about 30 minutes, but in the office they are outstanding.
Very comfortable and great sound, but unwieldily cable system September 20, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
These are fantastic earphones. Beautiful sound, extremely comfortable in-ear seal, and overall excellent-quality construction. So why am I giving this three stars instead of five? Because some idiot at Phillips' R&D department came up with the idea of an asymmetrical cable system. In other words, the right hand cord is ten inches longer than the left hand cord. This is supposed to make the cables easier to manage (after all, your iPod is only on one side of your body), but it ends up making the left earbud slip out of your ear constantly. This is not a problem if you are sitting or lying down, but if you are jogging, walking, lifting weights, biking (basically moving at all), then you are reaching down to re-insert your earpiece every half minute.
These are great earphones for the person who sits still 24-7, but for the active person (which applies to almost everyone), the asymmetrical cable design is a major design flaw and a huge annoyance. So here's your choice: superior sound and terrible cable design, or slightly inferior sound and the cable design that has worked perfectly for decades: symmetrical.
 good sound, bad for exercise use September 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Philips SHE9500 plays loud booming sound when I'm sitting at my desk, but I bought them to jog with, and they fail at that purpose. The asymmetric-cable-behind-the-neck thing is a disaster for me when jogging. Any attempt to turn my head to the left causes the ear bud to pop out, since the cable sticks too easily to the back of my neck or shirt. Plus in my opinion, the extender cable is a pain--it's too short without it, but when connected, it causes a weight on the cable itself, which means any swing of the connector during movement will put tension of the earbuds. And surpise, they pop out. Still, the sound is very good, and songs recorded as lesser volume are easy to hear.
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