Full Review

13 December 2006 - Bose has long been the purveyor of good headphone can that sit on your noggin and give great sound. So when the company announced that it was launching a new in ear variety we were sceptical. Could Bose create that great sound in half the size and more importantly half the prize? We took a closer look.

Small and compact the Bose TriPort IE are very, and we mean very, comfortable to wear. Fitting in the well of your ear rather than having to ram the thing down your ear canal the headphones feature soft silicone tips shaped to rest gently and securely in the outer bowl of your ear.

Bose has also included two further removable tips bringing the total you get in the box to three; small, medium and large meaning you can adjust the size for a more accurate fit.

It might sound strange but at times we almost forgot we were wearing them.

But comfort is only one element to a good pair of headphones, more importantly what about the sound?

Sound overall was perfect and even better than the eShure's we've got. Sound was crisp and clear if not a little bassy.

We tested the TriPort IEs on a number of tracks from Massive Attack, Everything But The Girl, Dave Matthews Band, The Kooks and some classical music. We were impressed on all accounts.

The only track that caused concern was "When You Were Young" by The Killers, but this sounded flat no matter what headphones or device we tested it on.

BOSE says that its "in-ear headphones are engineered specifically for portable audio devices like MP3 players, and CD and DVD players".

Wanting to make sure no device caused adverse affects we tested the headphones on a Apple iPod Shuffle (both 1st and 2nd generation), the Creative Zen Vision:M, the Sony Ericsson W810i mobile phone and a Apple laptop just for good measure all bar the laptop (as expected) were excellent raising the quality of sound produced over that of the headphone supplied in the box in all cases.

VERDICT
Coming in a small carrying case that protects the headphones when not in use, we have to admit we were slightly sceptical when the TriPort IE's arrived in the office as Bose has never done in-ear before.

We were pleasantly surprised. So much so we will be happily recommending these to anyone looking to spend that little bit extra over a regular set of headphones. With a 30 day money back guarantee you'd be silly not trying these if you are looking to upgrade.

Oh, and better still, they aren't white.