Replacement iPhone earphones on test

Etymotic hF2 Headset + Earphones

Manufacturer: Etymotic
UK Price (as reviewed): £97.82 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $179.95 (ex. Tax)

Frequency response: 20Hz – 15kHz
Carry case: Soft Pouch
Tips: Small, medium cones, foam barrels
Cable length: 122cm
Weight: 37g
Remote: Clicker

Etymotic’s hF2s are deafening, although not in the traditional sense. Rather, they’re fantastic at keeping out noise. While they can’t compete with active noise-cancelling headphones, we were taken aback by just how much of the outside world they managed to exclude. Central London is a notoriously loud environment, but with the hF2s the traffic and crowds melt away. You really do need to be careful when crossing roads when wearing them.


The hF2s are available in black and red. As with all the in-ear headphones, a tight seal is imperative to getting the best audio quality. Etymotic approaches the subject of tips differently to the other manufacturers in the test, and the hF2s are supplied with incredibly invasive tips that look like mini Christmas trees and are only slightly less comfortable to stick into your ears – at least they don’t have little pine needles on them.

Other hF2 users report that they’re ‘surprisingly comfortable’ once you get used to them, but I couldn’t bring myself to wear them for more than a few minutes. Fortunately, Etymotic also supplies some chunky foam barrels. You need to squash these between finger and thumb, stick the earphone in and then the foam expands to create a perfect seal.

This process makes the hF2s slower and fiddlier than the V-Modas (and Sennheiser and Apple pairs) to insert, and the foam itself seems rougher than it really needs to be. The hF2s are extremely light though, and once they’re in they’re comfortable to wear for hours.

Although they’re very good at keeping sound out, they don’t suffer from cable noise (a problem the V-Modas have). The cable can be a pain though. It’s made from a waxy plastic that’s uncooperative which makes it difficult to get the mic opening on the long, bulky remote to actually face you. It’s only 9.5cm away from the right earphone so it hangs in exactly the right place to pick up your voice.

On first listen, the hF2s seem to lack bass, but once the foam has fully expanded to create the seal, and you take a couple of minutes to get used to them, the sound is absolutely beautiful. Like the SE210s, the hF2s are precise, but they’re able to back up their light touch with accurate bass. Kanye West’s production in ‘Heart of the City’ really pops, and aggressive rock songs such as ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Back in Black’ sound sharp and on point. Unlike the SE210s, the hF2s seem able to translate their precision into sound that’s incredibly direct.

Listening to them, we were regularly pulled up by hearing moments we never realised were there. Voices in particular are full of life and even on compressed audio, strikingly real. The start of ‘Only Shallow’ strikes you as a flat wall of noise through most earphones, but with the hF2s, you can hear the fantastically weird texture Kevin Shield achieves through ‘glide guitar’ (constantly but slightly bending the strings in and out of tune using the tremolo bar) and the layers of delicate harmonies. Some people might find that the hF2s lack bass, but for most listeners, they’re incredibly rewarding and their lightness of touch means you can really get lost in their sound.

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• 8/10

Score Guide