Music to my ears? Fingers crossed! (JVC HA-F240-VN-E)

Member Name: kerrypanda

Product:	JVC HA-F240-VN-E
Date:	30/09/09 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Budget price, excellent colour choices, good quality sound.

Disadvantages: May not have much life in them, I am on my second set. Not for hardcore exercise nuts!

Ipod headphones don't have a great reputation, so I wasn't surprised when mine started to cut out in one ear 18 months after I bought my nano.

I chose the JVC HA-F240-VN-E (also known as Gumy Air) stereo headphones as a replacement for the very important reason that they were available in purple to match my ipod. I didn't compare prices or performance, I didn't read any reviews (shame on me!), I just wanted pretty purple headphones to match my nano, so that's what I went for.

They come in clear plastic packaging, not the irritating kind that's sealed all the way around and has to be cut open, it's only sealed at the top and can be pulled apart. There's no leaflet included, but headphones are so straight-forward to use there is no need for one. There are some warnings printed inside the cardboard insert which I hadn't noticed until today.
'Do not use while driving or cycling',
'If they cause inflammation or irritation to the skin (silicon allergies?) stop using them',
and my personal favourite 'In the dry air such as winter, you may feel a static shock when using the headphones' - nice to have something to look forward to!

The packaging promises a comfortable fit, and they are very comfortable for me, though that's no guarantee for anyone else as headphone/earphone fit is an individual thing.

The headphones have soft silicone rubber air 'cushions' that surround the speakers, they are marked l and r though it's easy to tell which ear each one is for from the pear shape design of them. They are designed to sit in the 'hollow' of the ear (Fact - the hollow of the ear is called the concha, I just googled it) , they are a perfect snug and secure fit for me but I have got small ears; men in particular might find them to be too small, and they are not as secure as in-ear earphones. I don't think they would stay put for vigorous exercise.

As I said, I chose purple to go with my nano, the other colour options are blue, orange, pink, green, yellow, red, grey, black, silver... they are coloured to match with all of the nano/shuffle 4th generation ipod model colours. The silicon ear cushions are black, everything else is in the colour specified, including the 1.0m friction noise reduction cord.

The headphones have a gold-plated iPhone compatible plug, but the gold plating looks thin as my current set are only two months old and it's wearing away already. I don't know if gold plate contributes much in way of performance though, I have heard it's just a marketing gimmick, but don't quote me on that!

They cost me £9.77 from Argos (and are currently being offered at the sale price of £6.77) and they cost £9.15 from Amazon.

Performance - initially I was very pleased that I had paid less than ten pounds for headphones that sounded better and clearer to my ears than my ipod ones. I had to turn the volume down lower than I had before as the sound was very sharp and louder than I'd experienced with the ipod headphones. There was no static noise in the background either so I was really pleased with them - for about three weeks.

The reason for the three star rating is that I'm currently on my second set. After three weeks use the original set just lost its sound altogether, and I had to get a replacement set. In fairness I do use my ipod every day and the cord can get tugged, especially when doing housework, but I didn't expect them to die on me quite so soon! I have had the new ones for about eight weeks, and touch wood, they are working well, but I wisely spent £1.49 on replacement cover just in case.

Another reason for the three star rating is that I am nervous of the winter static shocks that are probably just about to commence - I'll let you know if it happens!

Summary: You get what you pay for. Great basic headphones, but treat carefully.

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