Thursday, February 4th, 2010
So I got an email the other day that went something like this…
“Hey Jamie, remember the Phonak pro cycling team?”
“Yeah! Floyd Landis is the man! What a BAMF!”
“Agreed. Well Phonak primarily makes hearing aids, but they have some pretty sick earphones. Wanna test ‘em out?”
“Heck yes I do!”
Unlike last winter when I was still teaching spinning classes a few times per week, I’ve been spending a TON more time listening to music by myself on the bike trainer (and even more once I really ramp up my running) so I thought this would be the perfect piece of new gear to review. Soon I got a nice surprise in the mail and started putting ‘em through the SwimBikeRun product testing gauntlet.
Introducing the Phonak PFEs.
PFE stands for “perfect fit earphones.”
For such tiny little earphones, they sure promised a lot (a perfect fit and and incredible sound quality – without the distraction of ambient noise) so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. After poking around and finding some pretty impressive reviews, including this one from CNet, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I tried to stay as unbiased as I could and give ‘em a fair shake.
Giving ‘em a good sweat test on the trainer.
FIT/COMFORT TESTING:
Pretty tiny, right? The wires are held back behind your ears by these thin silicone ear guides (little plasticy tubes which can be easily taken off if you want). They are really light and comfortable, but most importantly of all, with the ear guides you don’t have to worry about the earphones jumping out of your ears while you are running. 
Most people use the standard iPod earbuds that came with it, but if you listen to music at all with your iPod while working out, I’m sure you can associate with my frustrations. I’ve tried everything from wrapping the earbud wires around the sides of my sunglasses to tucking the wires into the sides of my hat to help hold them in my ears. But that doesn’t change the fact that the inside of my ears are not round little circles, but iPod earbuds are. It is no wonder they are such a pain to keep in place. Any mild jostling is going to shake them out.
The PFEs came with a three different sizes of silicone ear tips (small, medium large) and one set of Comply foam tips to help you get the right fit for your ear shape. The foam tips are by far my favorite. Think of the same type of material as earplugs. You smoosh ‘em down, place ‘em in your ears, and they expand, fill in the gaps, block out noise and give AWESOME sound quality. Plus, they basically hold themselves in place from INSIDE your ear. I am loving that. Sure, something expanding inside of your ear does sound pretty uncomfortable, but trust me on this one.
It was pretty hard to hear anything else with these on. I loved that for the sound quality, but for that reason I doubt I’d ever use these while riding my bike outside or in the car. If I’m on the bike and being overtaken by a car, I want to be able to hear it and give them plenty of room before it is right on my wheel, but everyone has different comfort levels with riding.
Okay. Fit and comfort gets an A, but let’s talk about actual sound quality.
AUDIO QUALITY TESTING:
Just by looking at their size, I wasn’t expecting huge sound quality from these little buggers, but I was pleasantly surprised. Songs that I had listened to thousands of times in my car, computer stereo and iPod earbuds (note: none of which are all that fancy, except my Harman Kardon computer speakers) sounded clearer than ever there were even all these background notes and sounds that I had never even noticed before. Some parts sounded like a brand new song, it was pretty crazy.
The one and only part where these earphones fall flat a little is the bass, and unfortunately this failing is pretty obvious. Highs and mids sound amazing, but on hardcore spin fest intervals where I was trying to tear my legs off and blast some beats to keep me pushing hard, the music couldn’t keep up. Now, it wasn’t awful, and I may not have even noticed if everything else didn’t sound so great, but even at low volume the lack of bass thumb-ability was pretty obvious, even when listening to acoustic stuff. It wasn’t only noticeable when listening to techno or rap either, but for such tiny earphones this is forgivable given how clear everything else sounds.
Sound quality: B+
SIDE NOTES:
The version I tested also has a microphone built in to the wire that is compatible with the iPhone. It was great for taking calls while on the trainer and not having to get up, pause my workout and hope that it is actually someone important. I haven’t tested the microphone quality as much yet, but was pretty impressed with how much it picked up and I didn’t feel like I had to talk awkwardly loud just to be heard over the background noise from my bike trainer. Plus, the microphone button works to pause the music so you don’t have to worry about your sweaty hands all over your iPhone. Happy camper.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
All together, I was pretty impressed with the Phonak PFEs. They definitely have a reason why they are named “perfect fit earphones.” If you spend a good portion of your training time listening to music, these would be a good choice of upgrades from just about anything else that you are plugging in to your MP3 player and sticking in the side of your head.
They aren’t super cheap at $139 for the regular model and $159 with the microphone, but the quality definitely justifies the price. Plus, let’s be honest. I’m sure you have spent a lot more money on more frivolous training gear that barely got any use. Lets just say that after reviewing these over the last two weeks, I’m not sure if I’m ever going to use those junky standard round earbuds from Apple anymore.
If you want to check ‘em out and get your own pair, start here: http://www.audeoworld.com
Disclosure: These earphones were provided to me by Phonak to review. Phonak had no part in contributing to the content of this review.
Tags: phonak pfe, product review | Posted in Cycling, Running, Spinning, Triathlon | 4 Comments »
