Use Your Favorite Earphones With iPhone Headset Adapter

Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under iPhone Accessories

As a rule, the iPhone comes with Apple headsets, featuring a combination button and a mic to pick up the phone, pause playing tracks, or move to the next track with a double-click. But why is it always Apple? I personally prefer to use my own favorite pair of earbuds.

Let’s consider some iPhone headphone adapters with iPhone compatible mini plug ending with a button and microphone, as well as a place to plug in any headphones you have, along with a clip to attach it to your clothing in the place not far from your mouth.

The Griffin SmartTalk ($20) features microphone & clicker module, an excellent compact block with smart integrated clip. Its button is very easy to double-click when you want to switch tracks. The microphone has the best sound quality of all the adapters considered, producing clear sound with a minimal noise. The cord is wrapped in nylon, and this way it feels a bit classier than other adapters’ rubber coating. The best choice with short cables and good audio quality.

Shure’s Music Phone Adapter (50$) has an easy-to-use button and fine sound quality, perhaps just a bit noisier than the Griffin SmartTalk. The adapter doesn’t comprise an integrated clip, but goes with a plastic clip clipped itself onto the cable. And as a result the adapter’s attractive microphone button module flops around.

The Shure adapter’s mini plug is pretty stable, with an extended plug rotating at 45 degrees to reinforce the cable. But as soon as you point the plug in the wrong direction, its angle may cling to the pocket while putting the phone away. Not bad, but the price tag is doubled pointlessly.

Boom Bags’ iJack (20$) features a small, tapered silver mic button module with a clip integrated. Its microphone turns to be the loudest of all, but it has high gain. So it is the noisiest microphone. The button is easy to click a single time, but it is really difficult to double-click. So it may pause your iTunes track instead of moving to the next one.

Newer Technology’s iPhone Mic Extender Cable (15$) and FastMac’s iPhone Mic Adapter (14$) are the cheapest ones, and it feels that way. They are identical to one another, with integrated clips and unattractively large black plastic mic button modules. The buttons were rather difficult to double-click and sound quality is poor, not competitive with the Griffin or Shure adapters.