REVIEW: Klipsch S3m In-Ear Headphones

Don't ditch the Klipsch.

If the scorching summer heat is really getting to you, simply pop in a pair of earphones and turn your mp3 volume up to maximum: problem solved. But how do good quality earphones help keep you cool on a roasting hot day? Well, they can't. But what they will do is drown out the sound of everyone whinging about how hot it is.

We found that in order to do this properly we needed a pretty decent pair of 'phones. We found them with the Klipsch S3m In-Ear Headphones.

Klipsch is a new company for us and after perusing their site we were impressed by the range and styles of headphones and speakers on offer. We were sent a pair of the minuscule S3m In-Ear Headphones and at first (and here we are brutally honest) we weren't that pleased.

Our initial reaction was born from the first look we had of the headphones while still sealed up in their packaging. They looked... erm... cheap. We know, pretty harsh reaction considering we hadn't even opened the box. It may have been the colour (we got the Jade set, a rather bright green) which only served the highlight the plastic body and the thin rubber ear tips. But we persevered, putting aside our first impressions and tore open the box. And we're glad we did.

A 3.5mm standard stereo jack makes the S3ms compatible with all major audio devices, and a single button remote control on the tangle resistant cable makes for easy pausing and call answering. All fairly bog standard so far.

Fitting the headphones into our ears was next on the list, but as we started to wiggle and push the rubber tips into our lug-holes - expecting the typical mixture of annoyance and discomfort that you tend to get with similar products - we were pleasantly surprised. Klipsch specially make their earphones with oval-shaped tips meaning they fit more snugly and more comfortably. Seriously, we were shocked at what big a change was made simply due to the change in shape. So top marks for comfort. Next, we plugged them in.

Straight into an Android phone and with the music player app ready to rock, we selected a range of songs and tunes to test them out. For a start the comfort of the oval tips certainly helped with sound quality as they provided such a snug fit that extraneous noise was kept from our eardrums. This meant there was no need to crank up the volume too high, which of course meant there was much more detail to the music.

Bass was handled pretty well by the Klipsch S3ms, as were stand alone vocals. It was nothing spectacular, but considering the size and weight of these diddy 'phones, it was rather impressive. Clarity was good throughout most volume levels, with only a slight fuzz and crackle appearing at the very loud end of the scale. As with all headphones, play around with the levels on you device's music player to find the right sound for you.

Next we made a call to test the headphone's built-in microphone in the remote control. Call quality was certainly rich through the speakers themselves and the person we called said they had no idea we were doing so using a set of headphones. Top marks again.

So all in all we were pretty pleased with our little introduction to the world of Klipsch. The S3m headphones are a decent wee set, and although we might not necessarily agree with Klipsch's choice of colours and styles, these are a great mid-range way to put music into your brain.

Around £39.99

Visit www.klipsch.com