OE102

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Olin has recently released a slew of products into the already saturated portable audio space. Resembling the Cygnett Groove Bassbudz headphones we looked at before, the OE102 headphones are a hybrid, falling somewhere between earbuds and canalphones. While their design is reasonably comfortable, it fails to achieve a proper seal, and the sound quality is somewhat of a let down.

Pros

  • Poor bass levels, Inaccurate mid tones, No seal achieved

Cons

  • Cheap

Bottom Line

While they do have an attractively low price tag, you'd be better off spending a little more and getting a pair of headphones that offer better sound quality.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 14.90 (AUD)

Sporting a cone shaped design, with a small plastic tip that rests close to the ear canal, the OE102s can't quite make up their mind exactly what sort of headphone they want to be. While they do sit in the ear canal, close to the ear drum, they don't go as deep as some In Ear Monitors (IEMs), and don't achieve a proper seal, which has an adverse impact on the sound quality. They are reasonably comfortable however, and look quite good in with their blue silver colour scheme and slightly off kilter shape.

We found the sound lacking in several areas. The lower registers were the worst, with the OE102s exhibiting almost no bass impact at all. Furthermore, the lower mid range was quite poorly rendered, sounding highly inaccurate at times. This was exacerbated by the rather dark sounding treble notes, which didn't sparkle nearly as much as we've heard on other units.

That said, the OE102s did exhibit some impressive detail and had quite a reasonable sound stage for a budget product. Instruments were well placed and all the little elements of our music that are obscured on many other headphones were evident on these.

Overall the sound quality is a little lacking, and won't impress most people, but the price tag is extremely low, making these a decent but not outstanding unit for those looking to replace their default iPod or other earbuds.

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