By Julian Prokaza on Wednesday, 09 January 2008
 The iPhone may be the perfect blend of
smartphone and media player, but Apple managed to overlook one tiny but crucial
detail - the headphone socket. Given that other smartphone manufacturers think
it's acceptable to use 2.5mm jack plug sockets or even mini USB ports for their
earphone connections, we suppose we should be thankful that iPhone has a standard
3.5mm socket at all.
But at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, let's be honest -- as far as 3.5mm earphone sockets go, the one one the iPhone is next to useless. It's so deeply recessed into the case that it's impossible to plug in most earphones – the plastic surround of the plug is simply too wide.
The white Apple ones supplied
in the box obviously fit, but they're decidedly mediocre and even if you do
manage to find an acceptable pair that can be plugged in, they'll lack the in-line
microphone that lets you make and take calls while you're wearing them.
The solution lies in an iPhone earphone adapter - yet another burgeoning accessory
market for Apple's wares. At around £40, the Shure Music Phone Adapter
may seem a little pricey for what is essentially a short length of cable, but
it offers a little more than most.
The reason for the Music Phone Adapter's £40 price tag is that unlike
other much cheaper models, it has a microphone at one end of the cable. So this
means that you can use any headphones or earphones with the iPhone and still
make hands-free calls.
The microphone is combined with the bulbous 3.5mm socket into which your earphones
connect and has a large button for answering calls. The button also doubles
as a simple playback control when listening to music - one click pauses playback,
two clicks skip to the next track. Considering the price, it would be nice to
have a remote volume control too, but we don't know if the iPhone socket supports
such a feature, so we won't blame Shure for the omission.
Shure's VoicePort microphone technology purports to eliminate background noise
from calls. This isn't true noise cancelling - the mic is merely tuned to pick
up the frequencies of the human voice, but calls are certainly clear enough,
even in noisy environments.
Unfortunately, the position of the microphone ports makes it all too easy to
cover them with a finger when you're holding the microphone to your mouth. There
is a clip on the cable to hold the mic in place on your clothing though, so
there's no real need to fumble with it once you've pressed the button to answer
a call.
The other drawback isn't really Shure's fault at all, but it still needs mentioning.
The Adapter's cable is 35in long, which is more than enough to keep the microphone
near your mouth even if the iPhone is stashed in a trouser pocket. The problem
is that most earphones have equally long cables of their own and when plugged
into the Adapter, you end up with several feet of cable to manage.
 We tested the
Adapter with a pair of Shure's own sound isolating earphones and these
have quite a thick, stiff cable. When coiled, it weighs a good couple
of grams and resulted in an unwieldy tangle sticking from the Adapter's
3.5mm socket. This isn't the fault of the Adapter, of course, but it's
worth bearing in mind before you buy.
 Update It
seems that the Adapter has been designed to work best with Shure's new
range of SE earphones. These use a two-part cable, most of which can be
detached and replaced with the Music Phone Adapter. This is a much
neater solution, but the catch is that Shure earphones aren't cheap...
Product title
| Price
|
£39.95 |
| Rating
|
6 out of 6 |
| Good
|
Inline mic; sturdy construction |
| Bad
|
Long cable leads to cable management issues... |
| Verdict
|
Not cheap, but a great way to use any earphones with an iPhone
without losing hands-free calling |
| Manufacturer
|
Shure
|
| Buy
from |
Apple
|
Specifications
| Cable length |
33in |
| Socket |
3.5mm jack plug |
| Other |
Mic; clothes clip |
|
