Packaging & First Impressions

Like all good things, these headphones come in a box. Included in said box are the headphones, two sets of ear "housings" and a small instruction manual on what to expect when you are diving with your iPod (not suggested).

To get started we first put the housings (rubber earphone covers) on which took a little doing. They go all the way around the lip of the earphone, so make sure to get a good snug fit. After getting them on we did what we feel should be done with all earphones which is to try and put them in our ears. Paying attention to the markings for left and right we struggled a little to get them into place. The trick, we found, was to first them rested in the ears and then worry about the white plastic bits that go around the tops of the ears later. Tugging and pulling for a bit got everything into place although bruising our ego because of the size of our ears.

Land Ho!

A trip back to the instruction booklet explained that we could cut the housings to fit either deep or shallow ears. We left ours uncut for testing purposes.

First up was just plugging them into our test iPod which gave us the sounds of music which was a good sign. The sound was clear but the highs and lows were a little dim. We tried some rap, R&B, pop and some Christmas music to round out all the tests. Overall they sounded good, but not great and probably wouldn't be our day to day earphones.

Second test was to put our iPod into its scuba gear (Otterbox) and head for the full tub. Song playing, iPod waterproofed, we dunk our heads into the water and enjoyed the sounds of Madonna's "Holiday" as we swished and swashed away. It was a strange sensation to have earphones on under the water, but it worked. The outside world is more muted so the volume of the iPod seems to increase. This is one of those things you just have to try for yourself.

Pros, Cons & Rating

Pros Small and light Swim with your iPod Rugged design Cons Difficult to put on Sound just above average

Conclusion

The H2O waterproof headphones are a good option for those who really want to take your iPod everywhere. Combined with an Otterbox case you will be able to swim the oceans or just take a shower with your iPod. The sound quality is not up to the higher end headphones but they get the job done.

Specs

• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Waterproof to 10ft
• White with black cord
• $39.99

Available at Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) and H2O Audio (www.h2oaudio.com)