Sennheiser OCX 686i Sports Ear-Canal Ear Hook Headset for Apple Devices

I bought these for running. I have somewhat large ears, both ear and canal. At first these sounded awful unless I jammed them deep into my ears, which was both uncomfortable and impractical, especially since they would wiggle out eventually while running. Then I experimented with the different sizes of flexible tips. Once I put the largest ones on and tried them on again, they felt and sounded absolutely amazing. It also makes a difference if you put your finger on the speaker part and push them in, instead of letting them hang on your ear and lightly pressing them against your ears. If you decide to buy these, **make sure you experiment with the tips and fit/wear first before you write a negative review and send them back**. I come from Bose Soundsport in-ear headphones, which have been the best I've had so far, except I went through 2 sets of those after each set shorted themselves out from my sweat. I'm a convert now and I will never go back to Bose after buying these. Pretty much everything about these is perfect for exercise. They're the most sweat-resistant headphones I've ever owned. The rubbery material they used for everything feels like it could be submerged in water and still keep going. They also don't hang on your ear the way other headphones do. Instead, they hang slightly forward which feels counter-intuitive at first. Once you get used to not wanting to twist them further back on your ear, you'll notice they suddenly feel totally natural, as if you weren't even wearing them. They're incredibly light, unless you don't clip them onto your shirt - then you'll notice the weight of the volume control on your right ear. The sound quality, once you get used to them, is typical Sennheiser well-balanced goodness. Nice bass but not too heavy, comfortable mids and good clear highs that aren't tinny or screechy. I listen to a lot of dance, DJ, techno, EDM, and alternative rock on my runs, and all of my music sounds great and immersive on these. They're also pretty good at noise-cancelling, too, even while moving. Overall, one of the best all-round pair of in-ear headphones I've owned to date.

The ear-phones are actually good quality with a nice sound . The deal-killer is that the cords to each ear wrap are totally uneven and much longer on one side. There is a volume control on the short end and it ends up hanging just below the ear and will basically just bang into your face with even light movement. No idea why they would be designed that way and makes them basically unwearable. I honestly wonder if mine were defective, because i can't see how anyone would be okay with that set-up.

It pains me to have to write this review. I'm a huge fan of Sennheiser. All of my other headsets are Sennheisers, and I've been using Sennheiser exclusively for almost 10 years for everything except my workout headphones. I was using Powerbeats 2, but something happened and the sound volume of the right ear was severely lower than the left, So I decided to give the OCX 686i's a try. There are a few problems with them. First, they sound good, but not great. They seem to be a bit high on the upper end (probably around 6khz and above). Music that sounds great or even amazing in my other headphones, just didn't sound that great here. Second, the design they use for the wiring was what I'd call clunky at best. The right ear always feels like it has a heavier weight on it because of the control, and then you have to swing a cable across the bottom of your face to get in the left ear. It would have been more effective to have both cables just go down and join at a point like most headphones do. Third, and probably the most important reason I won't be using these anymore, is that they just don't stay in your ears. I was constantly adjusting them and trying to get them to stay in my ears. Actually it was to the point where I managed to push my left ear in a bit too much and ended up hurting for a few days. And yes, I tried with multiple size nodes. The good sound quality doesn't matter when the earphone keeps coming out partially. It got so bad that I stopped my workout midway, went back to my locker, and pulled out the powerbeats that had mismatch volume and used those for the duration. The only good thing that came from me buying these was that it got me to actually take the time to take apart the powerbeats so that I could fix them (which I did thankfully). I've very disappointed in Sennheiser for these. I'm hoping that their next version is much better. Sennheiser, if you're listening, you need to work on hardening the arm that has the actually speaker on it so it resists being pushed around. Don't need to reinvent the wheel here.

I already did the research - trust me and just get these!!! I have gone through so many headphones for my gym/running shuffle iPod. Some I really liked but none have as many features as these. I know what you're thinking, "they are a just little headphone, how can these be so amazing?" Well buddy (in a gender-neutral way), let me tell you. I use to love the Philips SHS3200BK with Flexible Earhook, but it had a couple flaws for me; 1) the cords were easy to tangle and knot 2)I found that the input plus would wear down or somehow stop working as well. I would have to twist it in my shuffle until I found the correct direction like I was playing with rabbit ear antennas. So after going through a couple models, I wanted to try something else. I tried a higher priced beats earbud - which was the worst. I tried a super cheap Panasonic - and you get what you pay for. Finally, I did a ton of research and looked at tons of reviews for headphones/earbuds. I saw a few places recommend Sennheiser brand, so I gave it a shot. $35 is not that bad for something I use every day. And now that I've had them and tested them for a week, I am in ear love with them. The ear hook feels amazing, soft and gentle. The canal fits perfectly. The wires below the remote have a nice thick oval case so it is much harder to tangle. The input plug has a great fit. AND most importantly the sound is great! You should really get these, but save me a couple when I need to buy more in a few years.

Am a runner and am very particular about headphones and have owned a variety over the years. Until recently I was quite satisfied with the yurbuds ironman series with the ear loop and volume/track control which are extremely comfortable and secure with satisfactory sound quality. The problem I experienced with them is that every one of them I have had (I have multiple so as to always have them available when a chance for a run comes up) has had malfunction of the control function which though not critical is annoying. I run with an ipod with touch screen which has the ability to advance the track with one of the buttons and control volume with the others but cannot pause or rewind without seeing the screen which is not feasible when running. After some research I decided to try these and am fairly pleased with them. One of the big differences is that the controller is near your mouth on the right side so as to use the mike function if using a phone. I do not run with a phone (music distracting enough) and so do not need this function. The way they are designed is that the left cord is longer than the right for the microphone feature (this is intentional- read some reviews where people returned them because they thought it was a defect) so that if the cord comes down the front there is excess which can bounce with running. This problem can be solved, however, I found by having the cords come behind your neck rather in front and then clipping the main cord to your shirt so if there is bouncing it doesn't hit your face and is not noticeable. The other problem I have had with all previous headphones is tangling and the flat and wide cord seems much more immune to this problem. The ear loops are extremely light and comfortable and secure. Interestingly, the music volume coming through was much lower than my yurbuds but when I turned up the volume on my ipod the sound was quite good and clear. The one further concern I had was for safety in that they advertise they are for indoor use as the design supposedly does not allow much ambient noise to filter through but I do not notice much difference from my previous headphones and I tend to run in parks on trails away from traffic although this could be a concern for users who routinely run on city streets. I would expect that I could hear the horn of a car in any case but have always relied more on sight than sound for staying safe. Also considered the bose model but tried them once in the past and did not find the in ear hook to be as secure as the over ear loops. Only issue when compared to the yurbuds is that the price is twice as much and I have to say the one time I returned a pair for controller malfunction they replaced them for free with no questions asked but packaging them and bringing to post office is not my idea of how I want to use my time. The sennheiser control is not as easy to feel which buttons are which but I got used to it quickly. Hopefully they will not malfunction either. Time will tell but pleased so far.

I rarely write reviews on Amazon, but felt compelled to warn folks that these are weird. I’ve used Sennheiser ear-hook headphones for a long while, but my preferred model wasn’t available, so I ordered these since my last pair finally bought the dust. These things are ugly as sin with their neon green cabling, and most perplexingly, the microphone/volume-control/split-point is about 5 inches below the right ear, and there’s a14” cable that goes from it to the left ear hook. So, the controls are right near the right side of your jaw, and the cable comes down from the right side of your head. Most folks who carry their phones in a pocket do so in their left pocket, so to wear these, you’ll have this bright green cable stretching across your torso. (The photos in the Amazon listing certainly don’t show the non-centered design of the cables’ yoke. In fact, they lead me to believe that the controls are centered.) The packaging is unbelievably frustrating with little strips of tape holding everything in place, despite the fact that everything is wedged so tightly into the vacuform plastic insert that there’s no chance it would have slipped out in shipping, anyway. The description also says that the cables “resist tangling” which may be true, but they certainly seem to want to knot up in a major way. And because of the weird, asymmetrical layout of the cable split point, I can’t figure out how to wind them up in a logical manner at all, so they encourage me to just shove them in a pocket, where, guess what? they get tangled up. All of that aside, the sound quality for playing music is actually pretty decent; good bass response and nice, clear highs. I haven’t used them to make calls, so I can’t report about that quality, but for what I use them for mostly, they sound rather good. It’s just a shame they’re so weird and ugly.

I have tried almost every sport headphone in the market and these are in a league of their own. Sennheiser basically invented today's popular headphone and you can't go wrong with these bad boys. They have the most accurate sound reproduction for a sport headphone that rivals many audiophile in-ear headphones and they are comfortable too. The most important part.. when you are in the middle of a workout they really get you to the next level. The highs are clear and the mid is excellent. The lows are accurate but not too heavy. If you are looking for a heavy bass headphone in a workout you can accidentally hurt your ears by turning it up too much in my opinion. These headphones have more bass then their predecessors (which I welcome) but not overly so. Recommended for anyone who loves to exercise/workout with the best sounding headphone on the market. PS. If you love Bose headphones and think they sound great then you typically like more bass and less mids in your mix. These headphones will have a flatter mix but more clear sound. Enjoy and best of luck with your fitness goals!

The sound quality was mediocre, not great but not bad for the price. The real problem is that I have yet to find any activity that doesn't cause them to slip out of place or actually fall off my ears. Running (or cardio of any sort)? The microphone bounces and makes them fall off but only after they move around enough that you can barely hear them at full volume. Weight lifting? Leaning to your side or lying on your back all make them fall off quickly. Yoga? See weight lifting. This might fit some people but there's no way to adjust the length of the stem the earbud is on and so if you aren't one of the lucky ones you are out of luck. There are no benefits to these. Buy some other brand that is just as cheap and at least slightly adjustable.

Muy cómodos, suenan muy bien, aíslan el ruido exterior también muy bien y funcionan perfectamente con el iPhone. La bolsa para transportarlos que viene incluida añade un buen extra. Los compré para regalarlos pero mejor me quedo con ellos.

could design a pin in the connection so it does not catch on every thing, tips fall off after a while, BUT only design that actually stays on during exercise.

Great for biking, they really stay in the right spot

He probado otros sennheiser arriba de los HD 2.10, sony xtrabass, earpods y estos 686 son los que mas "normal" se escuchan. No digo que sean malos pero tienen un audio muy decente y son superados por los mencionados arriba, la ventaja de estos audífonos es por lo higiénico en cuanto a los materiales, comodidad, aislamiento y resistencia a la lluvia o duchas pero en el instructivo se recomienda darles una enjuagada con agua del lavabo después de usar en esas circunstancias.

I have been using these earphones for a little over 2 months now. I bought these as an upgrade over its predecessor - OCX 685i (which was also tremendous, but in a few ways, a little flimsy). I would have to say that these are an amazing pair of earphones. The sound quality is fantastic. No major cons. I use these with all kinds of music, mostly bass-filled, and I found them to support the music very well. The build quality is also commendable - they feel solid. The wires are not flimsy at all. Overall, I would definitely recommend these earphones to anyone interested. Note: The the wire leading to the left hand ear bud is longer than the right - these were designed to go behind and around your neck. Watch out if you're not the kind of person who likes this design.