The In:Ear’s

I was sent the In:Ear’s in the full retail packaging that really shows off the product from day one. The package looks like it was chiseled from a glacier (in a good way) and has the distinctive Icemat logo placed at the top.

The product is on display in the clear window below, showing the earbuds and the clip-on mic. The earbuds are made of white plastic, with frosted silicon ear sleaves. The mic is also made of white shiny plastic, giving the product a very ipod-esque look.

Included in the package, are a pair of ribbed (for want of a better word) ear sleeves, two pairs of standard ear sleeves, an extension cable, the ear buds, the clip-on mic and a small Icemat bag to store your headset when not in use.

This headset was obviously aimed at laptop users due to the small size of the product, and the fact that Icemat have provided the user with a small carry bag. This will be of special interest to anyone who uses IP telephony on the move; where a standard headset simply wouldn’t be practical.

Everything about the headset is really tactile; like the bendy rubber earbuds and smooth plastic surrounds. The look and the feel of the product makes me actually look forward to using them.

Having a spy at the specs and comparing to the SteelSound 5H v2, shows us that the frequency response is a little tighter meaning that the speakers of the In:Ears should be less able to deal with varying sounds. However, the In:Ears are just that, in your ear, as opposed to the headset design of the SteelSound 5H v2 which changes the sound outputted. This also should mean that the bass is worse, we will have to see…

The headset absolutely oozes class, and mainly because of the simple things that Icemat have decided to include. For example, the wire splitter for the earbuds is small, well designed and has a tiny little Icemat logo. This is definitely not a headset you would be ashamed to wear in public.

The extension cable is useful for connecting the In:Ear’s to your computer. The length of the earbuds wire on its own is on par with headphones that you would use with your MP3 player for example. The extension allows you to connect the mic to your computer as well. You don’t have to use the extension wire, so if you have audio I/O ports on your keyboard for example, you can cut down on cable clutter.