The Soundwise S1 sports earphones are similar to the EzEars SX50's we reviewed last week in that they use the same 10mm cobalt driver units, but these earphones are pitched at a different market that of the active MP3 user. The sort of chap who is either jogging or even sailing while listening to Mp3 tracks, so you'll probably find the S1's paired with a flash based ruggedised player.

So for our tests we used a combination of a Sony flash based player and a 3G iPod,  the earphones didn't arrive in any snazzy packaging but then we're not sure we have any right to expect them to do so when they cost just £14. The styling is a bit more striking that your average earphone with a mixture of the expected white and a splash of yellow which for some reason makes them look a bit aquatic? The 1.2 meter cord is long enough to reach a player clamped to your belt but no further than that, the 3.5mm mini jack is gold plated and the whole package seems well enough built to stand a few knocks.

Plug up the Soundwise S1's and its time to see what the 60mW of power sound like. First up we selected the same Fat Boy slim tracks used on the EzEars model, the difference was immediately noticeable, while the S1's sound good they lack the bass that the SX50's had in spades, they are clearly a very different character. We managed to play around with the fit a bit more and managed to increase the bass with better in ear positioning, but with only one supplied set of sleeves its tricky to get a good fit and without it the S1's sound a bit lacklustre. The top end is there ok and there isn't any spurious hiss or other noises but the lack of a good seal makes the sound a bit washed out.

Given that these are active earphone this could be a problem, if you are likely to be moving around a lot it must become more difficult to maintain that seal required to give the drivers any chance of coping with bass rich tracks. We tried a bit of jogging and generally jumping around and managed to dislodge one earphone but they did hang on in there quite well.

The Soundwise units are also water resistant which is a vague statement, again we decided to test these as if you were using a player in a wet environment, a small splash of water didn't seem to phase the S1's and even a good soaking in the rain saw them still batting out the tunes.

Overall the Soundwise S1's are a mixed bag, they do produce enough volume and have a reasonable amount of clarity but the loose fit seems to compromise the seal that all in ear headphones reply on for bass reproduction. Priced at just £14 they are great value for money and ideal for situations where earphones may get damaged, just don't except them to provide stunning audio playback.

Published - 23/04/2006

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