A few weeks ago I got my hands, er, make that ears, into one of the latest accessories to complement our active lifestyle, Yurbuds Ironman Inspire.  Here are my thoughts:

Yurbuds Ironman Inspire at first glance looks cool but a bit intimidating.  You can not notice its red color and that Ironman logo is saying something, but the intimidation factor comes when you look at the ear buds themselves–your mind will just start wondering how it would feel.

Before I dig deeper into this review, let my just first clarify that I’m not an expert nor am I an audiophile so please bear with me and my non-professional review.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s proceed.  Yurbuds started from the need of athletes wanting to have a good pair of ear buds that could “keep up” with them during their training.  We all know that head pieces can be very difficult to wear when we’re moving and the fact that we could ruin it with our sweat isn’t very encouraging but since Yurbuds was designed by athletes, they know of all these issues, and eventually created a product that’s “good enough” to earn that Ironman logo.

Aesthetics aside, what about comfort?  During my test period I’ve tried wearing my Yurbuds Ironman Inspire for a few hours and I can definitely say that given you wear it properly (as instructed) it is just the most comfortable ear buds I’ve ever worn!  You can easily forget that you’re wearing it because it’s very comfortable and you don’t feel it “burn” your ears.  It also fits very securely as promised with their TwistLock technology so even if you tug on it, it really won’t fall off!  I was actually thinking of having a picture of me hanging myself upside down with it just to prove the point, but didn’t have the chance to. 😀

Yes it looks cool, it’s comfortable, but how does it fare as an ear bud?  You’d be glad to know that you really get your money’s worth–it’s just awesome!  I may not be an audiophile (as I stated earlier) but I do know what sounds good.  I particularly love its deep bass, quite comparable to competing ear buds in its price range/class.  To put it into a simpler perspective, it easily beats the generic ear buds that come with your iPod (which is already pretty good to be fair).

Before providing my conclusion about Yurbuds Ironman Inspire, I’d just like to add how much I love that woven cloth that covers the wires–practically tangle free!  I usually have at least two sets of wired ear phones in my bag (for my iPod and my phone) so I really get irritated when they tangle with themselves and oftentimes along with other wires (charges, cables, etc.).  Since the cords of Yurbuds Ironman Inspire is colored red you can easily spot it, and because of that woven cloth it just slides out of tangles easily.

Here’s my summary:

Pros:

• Great sound
• Just the right length of wires
• Very comfortable
• Doesn’t easily tangle
• Doesn’t fall off
• Sweat proof
• Cool looks

Cons:

• Rubber cover doesn’t have a guide in case it was accidentally removed (so don’t remove both of them at the same time!)

Conclusion

Overall I think that Yurbuds Ironman Inspire is a great product for all those who live an active lifestyle and wants their sounds to accompany them with their training.  Not only is it designed to withstand our sweat, it’s also worry-free because it doesn’t fall off.  Best of all is that it really delivers exceptional sound quality that just about everyone would love, regardless of your lifestyle.  To be honest, I love my Yurbuds Inspire from the moment it landed on my ears!  (I always gauge audio devices with Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas, and it passed the test easily :D)  Highly Recommended!

Yurbuds Inspire has an SRP of ₱2,500 and is now available in Planet Sports, Runnr, Rudy Project, Chris Sports, Power Mac Center, The AShop, Mobile One, IGig Center, Switch, Gadgets in Style, Riovana, Electronics Boutique, The Brick, Primo Cycles, and Sabak.  For more information about Yurbuds Ironman Inspire and other Yurbuds product, visit the Facebook page of Cascos Inc., the official distributor of Yurbuds in the Philippines, or www.yurbuds.com.