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Ultimate Ears 500 in-ear headphones review
Jason Tsay
As you may recall, we took a look at the Ultimate Ears 700 in-ear headphones a while back and were impressed. Today, we’re back with its little brother, the 500’s. The UE500’s feature a tangle resistant flat cord as well as several different types of tips. But what do they sound like?
Features
- Delivers noise-isolating, rockin sound for an immersive musical experience
- Sits stylishly and unobtrusively in your ears
- Saves time and eliminates tangles with hassle free flat cord
- Seals out background noise with Comply Foam Tips
- Fits all ears comfortably with five sizes (XXS-L) of soft silicone ear cushions
Our Impressions
The Ultimate Ears 500 comes packaged in a very similar blue cardboard box as the 700’s we reviewed earlier. Inside, you ll find the headphones wound around a bit of foam along with a hard carrying case, manuals, and extra tips in the sizes XXS, XS, S, M, L, as well as one pair of Comply foam tips.
The headphones themselves are fairly nice looking. While you aren’t getting the miniscule body of its older brother, there’s that same chrome finish. Build quality is what we’ve come to expect of Ultimate Ears - top notch. The earbud is shaped in an arc, connecting to a flat, tangle resistant cable. The top region of the cable features an interesting wave graphic. The cable itself is a joy to use and actually pretty durable. A plastic cap is included to prevent the gold plating from rubbing off of the 3.5 mm jack.
Sonic performance on the Ultimate Ears 500’s is fairly consistent. The familiar clarity of the brand’s headphones stands out. Highs are great and this time, bass actually does makes an appearance. It’s most definitely not strong but it’s there. Noise cancellation is above average even without the Comply foam tips. In terms of comfort, the UE500’s were alright. For some inexplicable reason, I found it more difficult to find a comfortable fit in comparison to the UE700’s but in the end, we were able to keep the headphones in for a more than adequate amount of time.
Overall
The Ultimate Ears 500’s are a decent pair of in ear headphones. They’re nowhere near the level of epicness the 700’s reached but then again, those cost twice as much. The 500’s produce above average sound but are not for everyone as they are not suitable for many types of music, particularly those that emphasize bass. When it comes time to purchase, though, we’d probably go for the 500vi - the headset version which will set you back $10 more.
Pro’s
- Decent highs
- Nice looking set
- Flat cable
Con’s
- Sound is a bit tiny
- Weak bass
Where to buy
Ultimate Ears / Amazon — MSRP: $69.99
This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the Ultimate Ears 500s by Ultimate Ears.
