EcoSurvivor Sport Clip Active Earbuds
Editor: Katja Hurt
Just the facts:
Give adventure a soundtrack with EcoSurvivor Active Earbuds. Just connect the earbuds to your smartphone, tablet or other device for convenient access to your favorite playlists while you’re on the go. Take your music virtually anywhere — the IPX4-rating means your earbuds are sweat resistant while the durable cable is designed to withstand everyday wear and tear. Enjoy the secure, comfortable feel of the flexible ear loop as you move, as well as silicone gel cushions in three sizes to give you the best fit and reduce ambient noise for high-intensity listening. In addition, the in-line controller/mic makes it easy to operate your music even while you remain active. When you buy EcoSurvivor products, you’re making a difference. EcoSurvivor donates 50% of its net proceeds to Water4, a 501(c)3 charity that is committed to providing at-risk, indigenous people access to clean water. Your EcoSurvivor purchase helps their mission of eliminating the world water crisis that impacts nearly 1 billion people and causes over 3 million preventable deaths each year. Stand up to the elements with the EcoSurvivor Active Earbuds.
Features:
IPX4-rated sweat resistant
Flexible ear loop
In-line controller/mic
3 sizes ear cushions
My Story:
If you stay home because of the rain out here in the Pacific Northwest, you stay home a lot. Even though I have adapted to running in adverse conditions, a lot of my tech gear hasn’t. So I was very excited when I found out about the EcoSurvivor Active Earbuds. Could they really hold up to the worst of it? I couldn’t wait to find out!
My first impression was from the packaging that the earbuds arrived in. Very sleek design; it was like opening a present as I removed them from the box. I liked the smooth, lightweight feel of the earbuds and the fact that they came with different sized ear cushions. One of my complaints with wearing earbuds when I’m active is that my ears get uncomfortable, so much so that I still have some very beat up pairs of actual headphones for when I do longer runs (spoiler alert: I doubt I’ll be going back to those now that I’ve used the EcoSurvivor Earbuds!).
I have a newer version of the iPhone so as soon as I opened the packaging, I knew that I’d have to use an adapter to plug the round earbud jack into the rectangular iPhone port. Luckily I’ve stocked up with a few of the Lightning Adapters (3.5mm connection) and it was a quick fix, ready to go!
My first concern was, “how well do these handle phone calls?” I’ve had mixed success with the in-line mic system on other products, so I set out on a long walk with my two dogs to put the phone capabilities to the test. The call quality from my end was superb–I could hear the other person clearly and never felt a need to speak louder than normal or crank up the volume. The person I called reported no distortion to sound quality either. We kept a 30 minute conversation going as I navigated the neighborhood and walked past plenty of traffic and maintenance noise, none of which was a problem for either of us.
A few days later, it was time to test the earbuds out on a cloudy, wet, windy day. The wind-whipped rain was so cold that I spent half the run pulling a buff up over my face to make breathing easier, but I never had to worry about the EcoSurvivor earbuds. They stayed comfortably in place and never seemed to be impacted by rain or perspiration. Having the in-line controller was awesome because with a single click I could pause my music, then one more click and it was back to the tunes. The flexible ear loop and perfectly fitted earcushions resulted in the most comfortable run I’ve ever done while listening to music.
By the time I got home I was pretty darn wet from the rain and had to deal with all of my gear accordingly except for the earbuds. They looked and felt like I had just pulled them out of the box and continued to operate beautifully.
Plus, I love EcoSurvivor’s awesome mission of eliminating the water crisis around the world by donating 50% of their net proceeds to Water4 (a fantastic organization helping to solve the water crisis by leaving the traditional charity model for an entrepreneurial approach to working at a local level to bring about changes to water sanitation–you should definitely check this organization out!) When tech and do-goodery combine, everyone wins!
Find it here:
What could be done better:
I don’t know if the new iPhone headphone jack is patented or not, so this might be wishful thinking, but it would be great if these connected directly to the new iPhone model instead of requiring the adapter. Other than that, I can’t think of anything I would change.
5 Stars!
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Functionality
(5)
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Value
(5)
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Ergonomics
(5)
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Durability
(5)
