Flat-cabled earbuds echo the iPhone 4’s
styling
The $75 a-Jays Four
earphones have been designed with the iPhone in mind. They Feature a
remote,35mm in length, that echoes the styling of Apple’s smartphone and allows
iPhone users to answer, conduct or decline calls. But are they all style and no
substance?
The answer would be no.
They offer good sound quality and benefit from a flat cable, which rarely
tangled. Although a 5mm thick cable on earphones certainly stands out, so the
a-Jays Four are not the ideal choice for anyone who wants their headphones to
discreetly blend in.
They come with five
different pairs of silicone Lips, ranging in size from XXS to L ensuring that
you’ll get a snug fit.Jays says they’re “Fully washable” —we opted just to
clean them with a damp cloth, and it had no ill effect on the tips.
We Found the a-Jays Four
offered good sound quality, with sharp bass even at loud volumes. However,
there was a little sound leakage at the top volume.
The three-button remote
offers the ability to pause, play and skip Forwards and backwards through
tracks, as well as an in- built microphone to conduct a call or even use
voice-recognition on the Apple iPhone 4S. The remote responded well to the
lightest of touches and was easy to use, while the microphone picked up our
voice when we spoke at a normal volume. However, we did find the remote was
placed a little too close to our face, 140mm down from the right earbud. and we
kept brushing our cheek. We would have preferred it to be positioned lower.
We reviewed the a-Jays four
in white (they also come in black) and they did get slightly grubbier than a
darker colour might have done, although this isn’t restricted to the a-Jay
Fours and is an automatic down side of owning any white earphones. The
earphones are also robust, and we Found they stood up well to rough handling.
The a-Jays Four earphones
offer good sound quality at a reasonable price point. We think the remote’s
styling is an added bonus if you’re an iPhone4 or 4S owner, and the flat,
almost-tangle-free cable — it’s easy to unravel even if it does knot— is one of
these earphones’ biggest pros. Carrie-Ann Skinner
The skinny
Likes: Tangle-Free flat
cord, iPhone styling; highly functional remote
Dislikes: Remote too
dose to Face; some noise leakage