ZAGG smartbuds

Are ZAGG smartbuds more intelligent then your average earbud?  Probably not, but ZAGG's design team certainly proved itself to be clever enough to pack a lot into this tiny, reasonably priced package. 

The ZAGG smartbuds have a nice enough sound, but what really left the biggest impression was the features.  The smartbuds come with a nice long tangle-avoiding cord, a volume control, a microphone, a nice cord management system, and a carrying case.  The case looks nice and is midsized.  I think it is a little on the thick/large side but it still fits within my pockets comfortably.  Getting the earbuds and the tips in it is a little tight since the volume controller is about the diameter of the carrying case.

The cord is coated in a plastic which makes it fairly strong and quite tangle resistant.  The cord management system does a good job of keeping the earbuds and cord in place.  It is simply 3 little beads that you can slide up and down the cord.  You use the top bead behind your neck and the bottom two to secure the loose cord.  It is a little hard to describe, but it accomplishes the job of having the cord to sit comfortably around your neck.  Hopefully this helps illustrate how it works.

As can be seen in the picture above, there is a small controller on the cord.  This has a slider that allows you to adjust the volume, a microphone, and a button that allows you to answer/end calls on smartphones.  The microphone works well enough, but it is hard to tell since phone calls have such poor sound quality generally.  The volume controller works well and is stiff enough that it isn't likely that it will slide by accident.  I find the place that it sits on my chest a little awkward when trying to manipulate it, but I am quickly getting used to it. 

The tips that come with the smartbuds are also nice, though I found the foam ones to be a little uncomfortable.  The normal style tips are reasonably comfortable and provide decent noise isolation.  They were a little hard to get on the earbuds, but the tips remained firmly in place once they were on.

Now that we got all of that out of the way, we can discuss how they actually sound.  The smartbuds amplify the bass quite a bit.  Personally I am not a fan of the accentuated bass, but it certainly forgivable as some people will appreciate it.  The rest of the frequency spectrum seems to come through just fine with maybe a little bit of a quiet midrange.  When it comes to volume, the smartbuds can get ear-shatteringly loud without any sound degradation.  As is usual with lower range earbuds, the music will get muddy pretty quickly as the music becomes more complicated.  If you are an audiophile then you probably want to look into some more expensive earbuds, but if you are just a casual listener, the ZAGG smartbuds are certainly a decent choice.  The ZAGG smartbuds sound pretty good, have a lot of great features, and are not too expensive.