Review: Klipsch A5i In Ear Sport Headphones with Mic and Apple Controls

These are the sports headphones in the Klipsh range. They retail for £129.

My biggest bug with headphones when I am running is the continual fall out, plug them back in etc. It drives me nuts.

I am not your dainty lady in the gym who puts on her make up and goes to the gym to pose. No I am there for a serious challenge and I need a set of headphones that can keep up with me.

There are three issues with running in the gym for headphones

1. How loud the music is in the gym

2. How loud the machines are

3. How well the headphones seal so you can hear your chosen beat without having to deafen yourself.

Yes in many gyms I have simply given up as without deafening myself it was a pointless exercise as the background music was so loud.

Then if you are running outdoors there are the safety aspects of being able to hear vehicles and the approach of others.

Now at Digital Summer we went through all the earpieces for some different headphones and to be fair I was not convinced by the seal on the normal headphones in terms of blocking out sufficient background sound.

However these sports headphones adapted well to the ear, when I first tried them they sat above my ear and I was slightly concerned but by bending the black flex wire adjustment I got a great fit on my ears. I don’t have big prominent ears so fitting well is essential. They come with a full range of ear tips so you can adjust to your ear size. Most importantly I can happily have these in and my ears are completely comfortable even on a long run.

So being the heartless tester I am I took them on the wobbly treadmill- yes something wrong with the balance on that one!! I took them on the stable treadmill too. I tried speed yes all the way up to 12 mph and hills to see if I could dislodge them and no luck.

So I took them outdoors and they withstood the uneven path I chose without a problem.

They are a very secure fit and it is a bit of a fiddle to get the hang of getting them on and off. However once you have mastered that they stay where you put them which is more than many headphones I have tried.

They coped well with the background sounds but they are not total sound blocking. Personally I prefer that as I would rather that people can’t sneak up on me.

They have an Apple control clip and microphone part the way up the lead and this is very useful as what often dislodges headphones is the cable swinging about as you run. No such problem the ability to secure them part the way up the cable was a useful feature.

The cable is a good quality Kevlar cable so a far better quality than many and you can see the difference in terms of tangling etc.

My only slight negative is that they only come in lime green. So just look at the view and not the headphones and you’ll be fine but it does make them easy to find in your sports bag in fairness.

Note: The website is now listing magenta as an option which might be easier on the eye.

Soundwise-

Though not an absolutely pounding bass there is enough oomph to get you moving on the treadmill. These headphones are clear detailed and refined with a good response across the rated 10Hz – 19kHz frequency range.

Conclusion: A secure set of headphones for a runners beat

http://www.klipsch.co.uk/all-products/headphones.html?cat=61