The first gear review I ever wrote at TouchGen was back in the autumn of 2009. It was for the original EarSet 3 from Bang Olufsen, and I was blown away by the excellent sound quality, and immaculate design. The EarSet 3i is an update to the original adding a better microphone, and the coveted volume controls.
The EarSet 3i is an open design with nothing entering the ear canal. Instead the earphones lie flat against the inside of the ears much in the same way the stock Apple headphones does. To keep them steady large rubber covered hooks go around the ear. These are adjustable in height by telescoping the brushed aluminium rod. It is hard to find a more comfortable solution than this, and it is easy to forget you wear them even after hours of listening to music, or playing games. This is both due to the rubberized material on the hooks, and the fact that they only weight eight grams for each ear.
The sound quality is crystal clear, and there are no interference due to the high signal to noise ratio. These headphones work really well for any kind of source material, and can even tackle bass well. That is not common among headphones that don’t go inside the ear canal. Cranking the volume up never sacrifices any aspect of the sound, and it keeps the sound clear.
One thing that bothered me with the original hasn’t changed, and that is the lack of noise isolation. At moderate volumes they still work well in an office environment. When outside with traffic around they get quite drowned, and even with higher volume outside noise disturbs the experience.
The new microphone is well placed below the chin. It could have been placed about three centimetres higher to be perfect. The sound quality is top notch, and definitely at the very top of the headsets when it comes to limiting noise. Having handy volume controls is great both for calls, and for general usage. I kind of miss the round microphone used in the original due to the cool form factor.
Bang Olufsen has kept the great attention to detail, and high quality materials that made the EarSet 3 such a marvellous experience. The addition of volume controls, and better-placed microphone turns it into one of the most comfortable headsets out there. The lack of noise isolation still hurts the final rating, and I hope to see that aspect improved. Overall the EarSet 3i is a worthy successor, and worth upgrading to if you already own the original.
Final Rating
