Today I’m reviewing a product from ZAGG called Z.buds. The product is positioned as an iPhone ear bud replacement, but can be used with any listening device that has a 3.5mm jack.
The first thing I noticed about this product, when I was finally able to remove it from the bullet proof packaging, was the nylon wrap around the wires. At first I didn’t think I was going to like that because it felt strange, but it has definite advantages. For one, the nylon material actually aids in keeping the wires from getting tangled up. Second, it should prevent nicks in the wire as they are used.
There are three adjustable silver beads that can be used to tighten or loosen the cords leading to your ears. I find this to be a winner because when you wear ear buds during physical activity, the split wires get tangled an buds usually fall out. The beads also add some style to the black and silver color scheme.
The ear pieces themselves sit in your ear hole, they don’t hang from your ear like the Apple ear buds. The package also includes 5 different bud covers, two clear rubber sizes, two foam sizes, and a cover that looks like a pawn from a chess game. Having this many options is great. I tried them all, and found the small clear cover to work best for my ear.
One thing you have to get used to with buds that fit in your ear, rather than just hanging, is the tight fit it creates. You really can’t hear much around you once you get the Z.buds fitting correctly in your ear. This adds to the over all listening pleasure. It helps keep all the ambient or passive noise out, and you just hear whats playing on your device. This is fantastic when your in a crowded room or on a noise bus.
The Z.buds also include inline volume control, a very nice feature which I use a lot. The Z.buds also have an inline microphone for use as a hands free headset for your iPhone. I tried the headset with my iPhone and it worked as expected. I also noted that the microphone piece works like the Apple ear buds that come with the iPhone, where the button on the mic will advance music when listening to iTunes. I’m not sure, but I suspect it would work the same on other brands. There is also a small nylon loop in the middle of the cord, presumably for connecting to a shirt or jacket button? I couldn’t find any specific use, but I guess you can be creative.
The only real problem I had, was the inline mic seemed heavy, and kept pulling the ear piece out. I had to move the tightening beads further up to even out the weight.
Overall I found the ZAGG Z.buds to be a very well made, very usable product. The sound was as good as any other headset or ear bud system I’ve reviewed. I tend to max out the volume so I can see how the speakers handle various music types. While the Z.buds performed well with all types of music, I did notice that at times the bass seemed muffled at lower volume settings. Turning up the volume helped, but you can’t always listen at higher levels.
If you are looking for a well priced, well performing ear bud, I don’t think you can wrong with the ZAGG Z.buds.
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