Item review-Koss iSpark iphone 4 earphones

Hi once again and I hope that you are comfortably settled in for the night. I love this time of year, particularly when it is so blooming cold. It is nice to be able to draw the curtains, crank up the heating and forget about the miserable weather outside. Unfortunately, yet again, the United Kingdom shows its complete lack of preparation for inclement weather. If folk abroad can cope, why can't we? "Get off your soap box" Keeble!

This evening I thought I would do a quick review of an often overlooked item. I am talking about stereo earphones and in particular the,

Koss iSpark iphone 4 Earphones

Koss iSpark

The Koss iSpark are available at MobileFun.com , they cost a very reasonable £25.97. I have had mine for a few weeks so they are thoroughly tested.

What comes in the box?

In addition to the earphones, the Koss iSpark come with a soft carry case and a spare set of memory foam ear buds, I will explain more about the ear buds later.

Description.

I would guess that these are the low entry earphones made by Koss. The earphones are sound isolating and are made of a durable polycarbonate type material which is very light in both the hand and the ear. The lead is about 4 foot in length and although prone to tangling has posed no real problem for me.

The earphones are tipped with a very soft and spongy foam ear bud, which are easily replaced and a spare set is thoughtfully provided. Initially I thought the ear phones looked a little bulky but as you can see from the image below, that is far from the truth.

The Koss iSpark also comes with an in line microphone and button, allowing the user to access the iphones ipod and telephone functions. In use the button and mic always sit in a convenient place and are easy to use.

The earphone connector is a 3.5 mm jack and fits the iphone 4 perfectly. I have tried it with various makes of case and have never had a problem in fitting the earphones to the device. This can be problematic with other makes of earphone so it pays to test the jack and case if possible.

Overall use of the Koss iSpark.

Due to the light weight nature of these earphones, the user will never be left feeling as though they will fall out. The memory foam buds provide a really comfortable fit and the sound isolation worked really well.

The sound is surprisingly crisp with a decent amount of base response. I liked the fact that the base response was not over powering.

The in line mic is of very good quality, being able to immediately take a phone call is a real bonus. People I have spoken to whilst using the mic have commented on the excellent clarity of speech.

Whilst the primary use for most will be listening to music, many will really enjoy playing games whilst wearing these particular earphones. There is one particular app called Osmos where it is recommended that earphones are worn. Having played this game whilst wearing the Koss I can verify that the sounds made the game really absorbing.

There are no real negatives that spring to mind and considering the price the Koss iSpark earphones are excellent value for money. Yes there are better ear phones on the market but they carry a hefty price tag, with the Koss iSpark you get a pair of earphones that will satisfy a majority of users. With Xmas less than 4 weeks away, these little gems would make a cracking stocking filler.

I give these earphones 4/5. They would score a perfect 5/5 if they were completely tangle free but that is asking an awful lot considering the price.

I will be back later this week so keep checking in if you can so until then stay safe,

Andy.