Noisehush NX80 stereo earphones -- just the ticket for the regular commute

I’m pretty particular about having a decent set of earphones around. I do certainly appreciate the super-expensive, super-quality ones, but there’s a time and a place for those. I’m particularly interested in good quality ‘normal’ earphones. Earphones for the morning rush-hour commute, for example, where you’re being pulled from pillar to post by the crowds. Routine situations such as this aren’t necessarily the place for your £300 earphones. I had a pair of mine severely damaged by some guy rushing off the tube carriage at the last minute and taking half of my earphone-set with him. He just gave me an apologetic look and rushed off as the doors closed, leaving me to pick up the debris on the floor.

So when the chaps at mobile accessory specialists Wireless Ground emailed to see if I’d like to take a look at a pair of NX80 Noisehush Stereo headset, I said yup!

They retail at a wholly reasonable — and in fact, rather unbelievable $19.95 or £12.70 (that’s against a standard RRP of $69 or £44).

I say unbelievable because, well, there are two really good points about this headset:

1. Everyone assumes that you are wearing some crazy super-super expensive earphones because of the red cord. It’s very reminicent of those Dr Dre headphones you see around the place.

2. The cord is a revelation. I don’t know what they’ve done with it but it’s really REALLY thin and the plastic or rubber they’ve used is brilliant at avoiding tangles. This is not to be under-rated. I wonder how many readers out there have got some ‘ok’ earphones that they have to unpack and unwind for minutes every single time they get on the train? You don’t have that problem with the NX80s.

Now then I’m no audio genius so I shouldn’t comment on the frequency or bass response. I really only have the following definitions that I use — bad, good, excellent. I would place the NoiseHush in the good segment. Definitely good, and arguably excellent depending on your quality appreciation. However, do remember the price point here.

There’s also an inline microphone and call-answer button. The microphone does a good job of filtering out external noise — but then again, remember the price point.

If you’re thinking about getting hold of a good pair of secondary earphones for the commute, then do consider these. You can make some serious mistakes at the $20/£20 price point as I have in the past with Vodafone (incidentally, the ones I bought at their store were also £12 — I wished I’d known about these Noisehush ones then!)

If you’re in the market, then Wireless Ground will ship you these for $19.95 plus $9.95 international shipping so $29 in total or £18.