Klipsch S4i Headphone – Review

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I became acquainted with Klipsch speakers back in 1990; I was in college and my next door neighbor was a huge fan of the company.  He had his home system and car audio completely outfitted with Klipsch speakers.  At that point in life, we rocked out and I thoroughly enjoyed the sound.  So, when I lost my last pair of in ear iphone compatible headphones I decided to give Klipsch a try.

I came about the Klipsch headphones because they were one of the few mid to upper priced headphones ($100) at Best Buy.  Ok, so not exactly my most researched purchase.  I looked through the packaging and could see some of the construction; look pretty good but buying them was educated guess at best.  They did meet my criteria of being in-ear and compatible with the iPhone for voice calls.  I also knew I could control the music via the buttons on the lanyard.  This is important for me when running trails and ultra marathons.  I want to stow the phone and be able to control the music and incoming calls without getting the phone wet from handling.

After my purchase, I immediately tried them outside the store just in case they were a disaster.  They passed the first test very well.

Their next big test would be the out on the trail.  While trying to stuff my iPhone in the back pocket of my running shorts the plug made it almost impossible to get the phone in there sideways.  The plug goes straight out from the phone 1″.  So for use in the shorts they don’t work.  But, I have a little sleeve for the phone which clips onto my shorts.  This works fine because the plug has a place to come through the top… problem solved.  While running the headphones stay in ear very well.  The cord does not bounce around like many before.  In the past, many cords seemed to have a life of their own and loved to dance as I ran; inevitably my hand would get caught pull everything out like a ripcord.  The S4i’s don’t have this issue.  Durability has been good, I’ve run with them many times and they’ve held up well after getting balled up stuffed into pockets or being completely soaked in sweat and hours of use.

The sound quality is nice.  Not too much bass but enough to provide a rich tone.  The treble doesn’t sound like nails on a chalkboard when turned up.  I should note I have very sensitive ears and Tinnitus.  If I play music too loud or have bad quality sound it can bother me for days.  I’m happy to say these haven’t aggravated my ears.

So after about 100 hours of use I’ll give them the a thumbs up.  I would give them a higher rating but I know there are much better headphones out there… at price points I’m not willing to go to yet.  With 100 hours on them I won’t say they have justified the price.  In my value system, they are gonna have to last about 2 years for me to feel I’ve gotten my money’s worth.