When I purchased my first iPhone back in the summer of 2007, I immediately rejected the hard, white plastic ear buds that came with the device. Instead, I went and purchased my first ever set of cool ear buds. It turned out to be a semisweet experience: economically painful, midly comfortable, and largely aesthetically pleasing.
$128 dollars (plus tax and S&H) later, I was the proud owner of black/white V-Moda ear buds. I kept seeing these ear buds mentioned all over blogs and Twitter at the time. Little did I know, it was a social media product placement technique. They were the most expensive ear buds I had ever, or would ever purchase. I loved the different sizes of silicone buds for comfort, the grippable textured metal ear bud and the quality of the product. The controls were awesome as well. Regrettably, they disappeared in the void that is my house after about six months, never to be seen again.
Back then I was the hasty victim of social media hype and little to no pre-purchase research. I learned my lesson: research must precede a purchase, form must follow function, and all must follow economy of cost.
Flash forward to 2011, when I was looking for ear buds to use with my Droid Charge. I went to my Verizon store to scope out any potential ear buds and walked away with Pure Gear's PureBoom flat rubberized cord ear buds. These made a horrible sound whenever I accidentally rubbed the cord while listening. Like nails on a chalkboard to be honest. That, and the fact I lost the travel case (if they even came with one?) and I started losing my patience a little with these. But otherwise were comfortable, relatively easy to clean, and didn't break the bank. At some point in time, over the last year or so, they stopped playing sound consistently on the right side, so I decided to look for a replacement.
Finally, I found success in ear bud shopping in spring of this year, when I upgraded my two year old Android Charge to a Samsung Galaxy S-III. Again, crappy ear buds came with my device. I decided I would do due diligence so I wouldn't be ashamed of my ear bud purchase, this time. I was looking for an economical purchase with comfortable buds, some aesthetics, and a control feature to use along with my smartphone's many purposes. Quite the shopping list.
After a Google News, Lifehacker, and C-Net search I ended up looking into Klipsch ear buds on Google Shopping and Amazon. I purchased the Klipsch S4 pair. These don't come with audio control, but they were economical, come with three different size silicone buds for comfort, and a cool, oval, silver metal case to store them in. Love them and use them now for over 8-9 hours a day.
I liked my pair so much, I bought the upgraded version, the Klipsch S4-A Inline with Microphone for Android. After some investigation, I found out I'd need to download their app (Klipsch Control, free) to add additional functionality. Google Play store reviews were negative, with many saying there was no real volume control. I was a little peeved. However, these are comfortable and are a nice upgrade/Plan B in case my original S4s disappear or are damaged.
It pays to research well. This is an accessory category that is absolutely exploding with potentially good products, making a choice can be difficult. Don't get swayed by what other people use, but read the technical info in the reviews to make up your mind. Don't try to ask for too many features, remember the KISS principle. And remember, everyone has return policies and you never really know what will work for you unless you try things out.
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