If you are like me, your eyes start to glaze over when people start talking about headphones. There are too many in the marketplace and they seem to be all the same. Punch Plugs will make you stop thinking that. The folks at Rockford Fosgate sent me their new Punch Plugs, which just started shipping this month and there are not one, but two major breakthroughs with these. And these two breakthroughs make these headphones to put on your list.
Cords
The Punch Plugs use a flat cord and it’s awesome. The cord just lies flat, doesn’t tangle and looks pretty cool. Unlike all my other headphones, the Punch Plug cord isn’t a snargly mess. You’d pay $70+ more than the Punch Plugs to get Monster’s version of the flat cord. Fosgate has this dialed and it is pure genius.
Sound
Companies are always sending headphones to bloggers. This gave me the chance to put the Punch Plugs through a good test. The result? Punch Plugs blew them away.
From Bose to Radius to Apple, none could compare with the rich, full sound from the Punch Plugs. I tested one in each ear and cycled through, keeping the winner in that ear and repeated on the other ear. The Bose are my goto set and the Punch Plugs have me rethinking this. They sound that good.
Style
The earphones remind me of Monster’s Tour headphones. They are quite stylish, work extremely well and cost just $99. The Punch Plugs ship with 4 different ear tips so you can find the best fit. I found the smallest ones to work best for me.
Wind. uh oh.
My first test was a brisk hike at the beach. The wind was cranking and when walking into the wind, the noise overshadowed the music. After some testing, I found the smallest ear tip made the wind noise less intrusive by a large degree, but it was still there.
I called into tech support and found I seem to be alone with this issue. The tech did note they’d heard from some joggers that the Punch Plugs fit so well, there was some stethoscope-like feedback when running, but I’ve found that with most headphones.
I had a friend try them in the wind as well and she had the same issue with wind noise. I am not sure what to make of it. The smallest ear tip reduced it a whole lot, but it was still there and is non-existent on my Bose.
Summary
Overall, the Punch Plugs are impressive. The near perfect sound complete with a cord that doesn’t tangle you up is a great concept and at $99, many will find Nirvana with the Punch Plugs. If listening to music on trains, the gym or inside is your thing, I can’t recommend them enough. If the outdoors is your playground, it might take some experimentation to get a wind noise free sound.
These sound very good and your review is helpful. All of what you mentioned seemed sincere and descrioptions were great.
NOW… if they had noise-cancelling I would likely buy them.