Brookstone Surround Sound Earbuds with Microphone

The Brookstone Surround Sound Earbuds are inexpensive, comfortable, and do a decent job of offering an open audio experience. If you frequently suffer from listener fatigue, definitely consider these headphones.

 for the reasonable price of $35. 

The Brookstone Surround Sound Earbuds offer a relatively basic design with two exceptions: a small, oblong mic built into the cable and dual 3.5mm plugs at the end. In fact, one of the plugs (colored pink) is specifically for a mic jack on your computer. The other one--colored green and labeled "SPK"--is for headphone ports. Unfortunately, from ear to plugs, the cable is only about 42-inches long, which made it impossible for me to sit up at my desk while having the plugs connected to the computer. Like many users, I keep my computer box on the ground, so if your system is up on your desk--or an all in one, like the iMac--you might not have a problem. Still, considering the earbuds are marketed for use with VoIP, I'm surprised the cable isn't adequately long. At least it's an easy fix: just pick up a headphone extender.

The earpieces of the Brookstone Surround Sound Earbuds are adequately comfortable. The earbuds come with a rubber fitting that helps them fit securely inside the ear; a couple standard foam covers are also included for added comfort. Integrated ear loops aim to keep the earbuds in place even during activity, but they are not adjustable and so might not work that well for those with non-average size ears. However, thanks to a lightweight design, the Surround Sound Earbuds will probably stay on most users just fine.