Review
of
the
Samsung Wired Stereo EHS63
Earbuds, made by Samsung
(You can print this review in landscape mode, if you
want a hardcopy)
Reviewer: Mark Lamendola
See also:
These earbuds fit securely and comfortably. They have an earpiece shape I
haven't seen before, and it works quite well. These come with two additional
booties, for a custom fit. I tried them all and like the default ones best.
I've owned many earbuds, over the years. This is the first set that doesn't have
the tangling cord problem. Kudos to Samsung! This particular problem sometimes
makes knots that are inordinately difficult to undo and the repeated annoyance
can become quite frustrating. As an electrical engineer, I can tell you that
Samsung has fixed this problem by using a cord that is thicker and that has a
better insulating jacket. That also means better performance and longer life of
the product. So, a triple benefit.
The next set of earbuds I buy will be this very model.
Wrapping the cord around your MP3 player does reduce the tangling problem, but
it also shortens the life of the cord. So it's not really a solution. It's good
to see a manufacturer finally cared that users have things to do in life other
than untangle earbud cords.
I generally do not listen to music (the content adds little or nothing to my
character, knowledge, or value as a human being), and don't use my MP3 player
for that. Except for emergencies, I don't use a cell phone (at one time I did,
but then figured out what an intrusive timewaster this is), so don't use earbuds
for that. Thus, I did not test the microphone that's in this earbud set.
What I use my MP3 player for is the brainbuilding experience of listening to
nonfiction audio books, and the experience has the effect of continually being
in university. But instead of sitting through classroom lectures, I learn while
doing housework, yardwork, and driving down the highway (among other
activities). Famous fitness guru Bill Phillips listens to audio books while on
his recumbent bike.
Because I don't listen to music and because I respect my inner ear parts (I've
had them for a long time and have grown fond of them), the sound coming to them
from my MP3 player is normal conversation level. That means I don't need the
hear-through safety feature. But if you do listen to music or if you aren't
protective of your hearing, this feature could save your life and these earbuds
have it. Just a safety note to fellow ear-owners: you should wear hearing
protection when using any machinery (lawn mower, leaf blower, kitchen blender)
that requires you to raise your voice to carry on a conversation. The penalty
for not doing that is tinnitus when you get older, plus the habit of saying
"What?" when people speak to you.
With any earbuds, the issue of sound quality must be addressed in a review. For
me, it's a matter of clearly delivering voice. I compared these earbuds to two
other models during my review evaluation, and they clearly have the least loss
of sound. What I mean is you can turn the volume down on the MP3 player because
these lose less energy; that's because of less voltage drop on the thicker wire.
One benefit of this is your battery charge will last longer; another is less
sound distortion.
It's amazing how a few simple design changes can so profoundly improve a
product. Samsung made the right changes.
Samsung has clearly produced a winner. These earbuds are pricey, but the
elimination of the tangling hassle alone justifies going with this premium
product. However, let's just consider the total cost of ownership. I would be
surprised if these don't last 5 or 6 times longer than an "average" set of
earbuds. So you'd need to find a set for about $9 just to break even on cost. |