Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

[The original review] I'm trying to choose my words carefully here so as not to sound too much like a fake infomercial. The truth of it is, these earphones just arrived and I couldn't be more pleased with them. They exceed my (admittedly modest) expectations in terms of sound quality, comfort, and also my original reason for buying them--how well they stay in my ears when doing moderate physical activity. COMFORT: My original reason for buying this style of earphones was because i wanted to be able to do some light exercise (either hiking in the real world, or using the treadmill) without the constant feeling that I had to keep my head perfectly stiff and upright, lest my earphones fall off. (This was a constant pain in the butt with both my conventional earphones, and my other pair of earbuds. It really inhibited the way I exercised, making me feel I had to restrict my movements.) Well, the Rovking does my modest expectation one better. Not only do they seem to stay put (so far so good; I just got these), but they are by far the most comfortable pair of earphones I've ever owned. This is not something I was expecting. Considering they're the "earbud" type of earphones, I was just crossing my fingers they wouldn't be outright *painful* to use, like some earbuds are. It's crazy, but they fit so well in my ears (and here's the "infomercial" sounding part) that it literally is easy to forget I'm wearing earphones at all. [Note: I see a couple reviewers have complained about their earphones not fitting great. I can only speak to my personal experience. Maybe I just lucked out, and this particular brand is the exact fit for my ear canals. Keep in mind, the product description *does* say that these come with different sized inserts (and indeed, my pair came with a pouch of spares); I wonder if these people tried swapping out the rubber inserts to see if any of the other sizes fit their ears better before writing their complaint.] FREEDOM: This is what I got these for, and man, they really do work on this front. The more I use these earbuds--exercising, walking around, generally forgetting they're even on--the more it dawns on me just how constricting to my movement wearing other earphones were. I hadn't realized before just how much I was subconsciously keeping my neck unnaturally still and straight, simply because I had to prevent my earphones from falling off. Now that I've been using the Rovkings for a while, it's oddly liberating. SOUND: Again, this isn't something that was even on my radar. I *just* wanted some earphones that would stay in place without me having to restrict my movements. If they didn't sound completely awful, then that was icing on the cake. But considering these are earbud style earphones, I wasn't expecting much. Well, the sound is surprisingly good. Particularly the bass. (Almost *too* good. The lower frequencies are now so prominent, I had to fiddle with the EQ settings on my mp3 player to scale them back.) Until now, I had just assumed it was physically impossible for earbud-style earphones to produce any bass at all. (Even another fancy-schmancy brand of earbuds I own, whose selling point was that they're made of wood, which is supposed to somehow make a wider EQ range possible, can't really produce any bass.) Well, it turns out it *is* possible. Keep in mind, I'm not saying the sound quality of the Rovkings will be better than *really* premium high-end earphones. But the sound quality here is better than any other earbuds I've owned, and possibly even better than the "casual" normal, larger earphones I've been using. FEWER TANGLES: This is a plus I hadn't even considered. All of the earbud-style earphones I've owned in the past have been just terrible with how easily they would get tangled up. The cord of the Rovkings, however, seems to be slightly stiffer and thicker than that of other earbuds I've owned. Result: They seem really resistant to becoming tangled. Again, this is something I didn't even know I "wanted" in earphones, but now that I see the convenience, I can't imagine having to revert back to the Christmas-lights-wrestling-match frustration of conventional earbud cords. That's it for now. As I say, I just got these. If they happen to spontaneously combust over the next few months, or give me some kind of weird disease, I'll adjust my review accordingly. But until that happens, I'm seriously tempted to order a backup pair. _______________ Update #1: The original title of my review was, "Given my expectations, the best earphones I've ever owned." Unfortunately, I have to subtract a couple stars from my initial rating. When earphones poop out after only 3 months, that's got to be mentioned. Said "pooping out" is kind of what happened this morning. I was listening to my mp3 player and found the sound cutting in and out. Only through constantly fiddling with the earbud's cord, bending it this way and that, could I get the sound to intermittently come back. (I did test the mp3 player with other earphones to make sure it wasn't an issue with the jack on the player.) For now, I've got a piece of Scotch tape on my Rovking earbuds--making sure the "problem section" of the cord stays bent at just the right spot so that the sound doesn't keep cutting out. After my stopgap Scotch tape fix finally stops working, I guess I'll be shopping for some more exercise earbuds. _______________ Update #2: The Defway Customer service came through and sent me a replacement pair, free of charge. (They also gave the option of a full refund.) I opted for the replacement pair, given how much I liked these earbuds before the cord went south. With all the positives these earbuds had going for them (the most important being how much more comfortable they are compared to every other pair of earbuds I've ever owned), I thought they were worth another shot. Everything factored together, including the customer service response, I feel it would be unfair to rate these with anything less than four stars. _______ Update #3: January, 2018: Well, it happened again. The second pair of Rovking earbuds that I started using regularly after my first pair went belly up, well, these shorted out today as well. Like with the first pair, I got about 3 months of consistent use out of them. (Bravo for a predictable lifespan, I guess?) And like with the first pair, the short seemed to happen around the part of the cord that connects to the jack on the mp3 player. I feel obligated to lower my rating to two stars. I know Defway showed nice customer service by offering a replacement pair the first time this happened, but that only goes so far. Nice customer service or not, I cannot recommend these earbuds. Yes, they are *very* comfortable in the ear. And yes, they sound pretty darn good, especially considering they're not full-sized earphones. But should those two positive traits be enough to recommend earbuds which have proven to only have a 3 month shelf-life? In my opinion, no. Granted, as a society we've gotten used to and somewhat accepting of this "new standard" where we buy cheap stuff from overseas which is all but guaranteed to end up in a landfill within a few months. And if you're someone that fully expects that to happen when you buy something, and are fine with that, then I guess you can overlook my negative review. But if you're like me, and perhaps naive enough to feel that, even in this day and age, when you buy something, it should last longer than 3 months before breaking down, then I'd recommend trying another brand.