Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips SHN2500/00 Noise-Cancelling In-Ear Headphone

I'll start with the bad. you have this weird bulky amplifier thing that gets in your way, ends up hooking on to things, and just adds extra bulk to your pocket when you aren't using your generic MP3 player. The bulky amplifier thing takes battery, which is really annoying, so now I have to carry a spare battery around with me. Durability isn't superb either, have had it only for about three months and I am getting intermittent sound in my right ear.

Now for the good. the amplifier thing works, I get absolutely brilliant base out of this. The bulk is hung from the neck so the weight isn't that much of an issue. the inner ear part works brilliantly, the noise canceling is brilliant, it totally makes those tube rides bearable. Overall sound quality is one of the best I have heard from headphones.

Conclusion. The negative points of bulk and extra battery carrying is set against the extra base and sound quality the amplifier affords you. Infact, so much so, it hardly bothers me at all, I would even say it makes me a little affectionate to it for the extra hit I get from the music. Carrying a small AAA battery is also little price to pay. Noise canceling claim really works, and makes the base sound great. Durability-wise I wish it would last me a little longer, but headphones just seem to be going the way of mobile phones - exchange them every year. I bought these headphones for £35, and the price has fallen quite a bit in three months. These are well worth it, even with the hassle of the bulky amplifier thing.

I bought these as an impulse purchase for a couple of flights I had booked, and they really do cancel out all manner of low level noises. Naturally, they are not priced up with other more superiors headphones, but for the price these were an excellent investment.

There is a low background hiss which, if used in an environment that isn't that noisy, can become irritating, and for that reason, I felt only three, and not four stars, were appropriate.

The battery compartment and amplification unit can get in the way from time to time, but can be hung very conveniently around your neck.

To the comments previously about the rubber ear-buds. Yes, they come off, and yes, I lost one. Even tho' Philips do not supply replacements, they are not unique to Philips. Replacement earbuds for Sennheiser CX300 are identical to the ones supplied by Philips - I know, I bought some.

I only realised how good these are when they were nicked and I bought a different set. I agree about the cancelling unit getting in the way and therefore bought a different set as replacement. However I listen to a lot of podcasts whilst commuting on the London Underground, and with my new set I cant hear them properly. With these noise reduction ones I could hear every word. They are worth every penny. One word of advice though ... the price in the US is the same in dollars as the sterling price ie around 29 bucks compared to 29 pounds. If you are going to the US pick up a set from there. Next time I go I will buy another pair.

I spent a long time researching whether to buy this product and found numerous reviews from rubbish to excellent.

Having a cheap pair of noise cancelling earphones, which had similar reviews but were in fact excellent, I thought that opting for a well known brand would be a sure thing. Many people do not realise noise cancelling does not magically block-out all noise but removes a lot of the irritating stuff and I thought this was why there were bad reviews.

Big mistake!

I had heard that these earphones do not have any noise cancelling and that Philips give no customer support - well that is what I found myself.

They just hiss and amplify the music - not block background noise the way my cheap EV headphones do. I contacted Philips to see if they backed their product and could perhaps explain if there was a reason they did not work - maybe I was not using them correctly. They replied with company blurb which was no help at all. I asked again if they worked and, if so, could they explain what I was doing wrong.

Philips never replied, so I can only assume that these things really do not work and they cannot defend them.

Believe me, I am used to this type product and researched this well - do not get caught-out - these earphones are useless.

The title says it all really. OK, so they are much cheaper than the alternatives, and the noise cancelling is reasonably successful, but when you switch the noise cancelling circuit on, it introduces a high frequency hiss, which completely defeats the object of noise cancelling...

Also there's no clip on the noise cancelling box, so it pulls the earpieces out of your ears all the time. Grrrr....

The only upside is that the noise cancelling circuit also boosts the volume a bit which is useful if you have (for example) a recent 6th generation iPod Classic with the over-zealous EU volume limit.

Overall: Disappointed and saving my pennies for a decent set - the Sony ones seem to get good reviews...