Fairly good earbuds for the price

I was in the market for some new headphones mainly for use at the gym since that's where I listen to mp3 music the most. Generally earbud style headphones do not work for me since they never fit or stay in my ears. I had some Sony's that are like earbuds, but have a "hanger" that hangs on your ear so the buds just kind of rest in there.

Well, those broke so I had to look for a replacement. I couldn't stomach spending a lot of money since they would just be used for the gym, my aural acuity is not that refined, and I didn't want to order something online that I didn't know would be good. That last one really limited my selection as I looked at my local Wal-mart. I picked up two sets, these Philips phones and a set of Koss.

I just finished writing a review here for the Koss so I thought I'd throw in my opinion of these Philips as well.

These are inexpensive ($15) and they sound OK. Not much bass at all which is really noticeable when comparing with other phones at the same time. I'm not sure I really buy into the whole Surround Sound marketing. They sound fine, but besides the bass being less powerful, I can't say they sound a whole lot different than other inexpensive earbuds.

They are comfortable and seem to just kind of "stick" in your ears. The little rubber cushions are tacky feeling so they do not slip out too easily. They come with two sizes of cushions so the range is not too great if you have very small or very large ear canals.

Then it was time to try them at the gym. They stayed in my ears pretty well through the intense workout. I was happy. I got varying results each day I used them. Sometimes they seem to stay in fairly well and other times, they'd start slipping out. Generally I work up quite a sweat and sometimes, the sweat makes the tacky cushions pretty slick. I found myself occasionally reaching up and pressing them more firmly in my ears.

So they passed the gym test....barely. I didn't have many other options besides getting a new set of the Sony's that broke so, for now, I am sticking with these. They sound OK and usually stay in OK. I'll see how long they last with using them at the gym every day with the sweat and everything. If they last about as long as the Sonys, then I''ll just go back to the Sonys.

Misc. things:
-The cord is asymmetrical which a lot of people don't like, but I don't mind it.
-The spot where the cord goes into the earbud is flexible to reduce strain on the wires. I hope it works since this is where my previous headphones failed.
-The little cushions are easy to switch around and also would be easy to lose, so I just keep my unused ones in the original packaging.

I guess that's about it. Overall, for the price, I think they are pretty nice earbuds. They sound OK, but the bass is lacking quite a bit. Might be an OK option for exercise use, but I guess it depends on the individual and their ear size, amount they sweat, etc.