Good.
These little guys have been following me most everywhere since I’ve gotten them, and I have to say I’m impressed.
They’re quite comfortable in the ears, they don’t block out sound very much (which I prefer, at least for my applications), and the audio quality on both the speaker and the microphone sides is surprisingly good.
They do have a habit of collecting a bit of dirt around the edges inside the case, and if you at the back, near the hinge, you can see what basically amount to iron filings that accumulate on the magnets that keep the case closed.
The feel to them is great, the case has a satisfying snap when you shut it, and the buds themselves click in quite firmly but come out easily. They hold a charge quite nicely, even several months in to ownership, and the case recharges the buds quite rapidly.
Without the silicone overmold case I have them in now, they slip right in to a coin pocket on a pair of jeans – because of my work, I tend not not carry them that way most of the time, simply because my work pants have no coin pocket, and I don’t like having to think about where I am before I reach for something. It’s the same reason my utility knife always rides in my right rear pocket.
Oh, and the support for Siri is kinda neat (even though, if I’m honest, Google’s voice recognition is noticeably better), but I really don’t use it that much.
All that said, they definitely look a bit dorky, and, well, this article from the Washington Post says it better than I can, or more specifically, Kyle Wiens, the founder of iFixit says:
The life span of an expensive, resource-intensive gadget shouldn’t be limited to the life span of one consumable component. You wouldn’t buy an electric toothbrush where you couldn’t replace the brush. Or a car with glued-on tires.
Kyle Wiens
Go read the article, it’s short and totally worth your time.
Regardless of their unfortunate environmental implications, I got these as a gift and intend to use them for the foreseeable future (or until they obsolete themselves… *shakes fist*
-T