H20 Audio Waterproof Headphones from Otterbox
Technoreview by Jack Turner (jckrenrut)

Having been a competitive swimmer for a large portion of my life so far, I’ve always found myself wondering what it would be like to listen to music during practice. I think this is something that crosses many swimmer’s minds at some point or another simply because of the inherent boring nature of the sport. As physically tasking as swimming may be, it is in fact extremely unexciting; practice merely entails swimming back and forth through the water with little to no variation. With this in mind, I was very excited to here that I would have the chance to review the H2o Audio Headphones available from Otterbox. These headphones would finally allow me the chance to listen to music while swimming, and I discovered that, like anything else, it has it’s ups and downs.

Overview:

The H2O Audio Waterproof headphones are designed much like any other behind-the-neck pair of headphones. A stiff plastic band runs along the contour of the back of your head and the headphones are inserted into your ears from behind. The buds of the headphones are surrounded by plastic semicircles that are meant to go behind your ears. The buds can be adjusted by pushing them up and down or rotating them on their axis. Although this provides the user with some level of comfort adjustment, I found that the fact that the plastic semicircles are not adjustable can be a hassle. They are in fact too small for my ears. When worn on land, they become uncomfortable, which means they will probably not be that comfortable in the water. The headband itself is not actually adjustable either, but it is very flexible, which makes it easier to put on. In the back of the headphones is the 3.5 mm headphone plug. Although I didnt actually measure the length of the cable, it is definitely long enough to span the tallest of swimmers. Its patented coil design keeps it from getting tangled while you are swimming, and works extremely well. The cord seems to be pretty durable. It is thin, like most headphone cords, although it appears to be pretty strong, esspecially when stretched out fully. The manufacturer states that the headphones can be submerged up to 10ft/3m, but be careful. If you are using a waterproof case for your mp3 player (which I would assume you would be), then be sure to check how deep it can be submerged. For this review, I am using the Otterbox for iPod Video, which can only be submerged 3ft/1m when paired with the H2O Audio headphones.

Use:

At first I was hesitant to use my newly acquired waterproof headphones. I didn’t quite know whether or not the whole she-bang was going to work.  But alas, I had too, and so I slowly dipped the whole unit into the water and pulled it out relieved to hear music still playing on the other end.  Having tested the waterproof capabilities, I was now ready to test the sound quality.  Because the cord comes out of the back of the headphones, I chose to use the belt clip provided with my Otterbox to attach my iPod to the back of my suit right where the tags are.  I then plugged it on, put on the headphones, and entered the water.  Upon submerging myself, I made a rather odd observation.  Underwater, the bass of the headphones is improved enormously; its as if someone cranks up the bass boost on their stereo.  After thinking about it, this makes sense because water carries sound better than air.  That in mind, I figured I’d try it out swimming a few laps.  After swimming about 15 yards, I figured out why the headphones had to be so uncomfortable.  If they weren’t, they’d fall right off your head.  It’s a simple compromise, to make them comfortable they wouldn’t be useful, so they have to be uncomfortable.  But, after I had swam for a while, the discomfort was pretty much out of my mind.

Because the sound quality on the headphones outside of the water is mediocre, I dont really see myself using them as regular headphones.  They are also a little uncomfortable, as I mentioned earlier, which means they dont really compare to my current headphones.

As I’m sure you are aware, water tends to get in one’s ears when they swim.  This creates a problem for the H2O headphones.  If too much water and air gets trapped in your ear canal, you can no longer hear the music, or it comes in largely muffled.  But H2O has a solution for this as well.  The grey buds that are inserted into your ears are meant to be trimmed down until they fit your ears perfectly, creating an air tight environment.  Once I cut off the desired amount, this problem was completely solved.  The earbuds can be replaced, in fact they are shipped with two whole extra pairs in case you lose them.  This is something that many manufacturers don’t do and I give H20 props on that one.

One problem I found is that it is rather hard to actually hear other people while you have the headphones in (as you would imagine).  But the earbuds themselves are adjustabel such that you can rotate one of them out to open up one of your ears.

I never tried the headphones with a swim cap (mainly due to the fact that I don’t own one), but having had experience with swim caps, I would think that there wouldnt’ be much of a problem. YOu could simply put the headohones on outside of the cap and have your ears outside of it as well.

Overall:

Basically, I would say that the H2O headphones do a great job of providing me with music underwater. They are easily set up, supply sufficient sound quality, and even look good.  At 39.95$, I would have to say they are well worth the cost.

Pros:

• Good sound quality
• Innovative design
• Fairly inexpensive
• Works with most waterproof cases including the highly popular Otterboxes
• Coiled design of headphone cord

Cons:

• Uncomfortable at first
• Can be distracting during a practice
• Can only be submerged 10ft/3m (no SCUBA diving with these bad boys)

My Rating:

9 out of 10