Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic: Product Review

Recently, I was given a 16GB iPod Touch for my birthday by my wonderful boyfriend. As soon as I started playing with my iPod Touch, I knew it was one of the coolest gadgets I had every had the opportunity to actually play around with and call my own. The many different apps I could download to my iPod Touch via the iTunes App Store just kept making my iPod cooler and cooler. Soon, however, I discovered that several of the apps, like the Skype VoIP app which allows you to make super-cheap telephone calls from your iPod, require that you have a microphone for your iPod. The only microphone officially supported for the iPod Touch is Apple's own "Earphones with Remote and Mic," so I decided to get a pair.

I was given a Wal-Mart gift card for my birthday, and it turns out Wal-Mart sold the earphones with microphone from Apple, so I went there to get my pair. I believe the cost was just over twenty dollars. The earphones look just like the white earphones that come packaged with all iPods, only these had a small white "capsule" on the wire leading up to the right earbud. The capsule actually serves as the microphone and a "remote" button for the earphones. As soon as I plugged the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic into my iPod, the microphone and remote capabilities worked immediately...no setup at all required. The remote on the earphone wire allows you to increase or decrease the music volume, start or stop music play back, and go to the previous or next track...all with a simple push of the button. The microphone is positioned just at mouth level, making it perfect for calls from Skype, Google Talk, or any other VoIP application.

In my experience, the microphone was pretty decent. Occasionally my callers had trouble hearing me, but overall the sound quality was good enough for most calls. I've made several calls using these Apple earphones and my iPod, and I've really been pleased with the overall quality. The microphone is definitely good enough for indoor calls, but might struggle with calls and sound recordings made outside or in a noisy environment. The "remote" feature is great and allows me to control my music without looking at my iPod, a godsend when it comes to walking through the city. I have been very pleased with these earbuds, and I would highly recommend that an iPod owner pick up a pair to add a lot of functionality to their current iPod. Check the Apple website, listed in the resources section of this article, to see if the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic are compatible with your particular iPod model.