Sony MDREX15LP In-Ear Earbud Headphones

The Sony MDREX15AP in-Ear Earbud Headphones with Mic offer exceptional value for their price, delivering clear, balanced sound and a comfortable fit. The 9mm neodymium drivers produce surprisingly rich audio for earbuds at this price point, making them a solid choice for casual listening and everyday use. The integrated microphone and in-line remote provide convenient control for calls and music playback, adding to their functionality. While the build is primarily plastic and may lack durability for heavy use, the overall performance and comfort make the MDREX15AP a great budget-friendly option for those seeking reliable, on-the-go audio.

Broke after 3 months. The buds fell off a lot, too. But it was affordable at first and comfortable, plus great audio. Depressed they broke apart and stopped working. To be honest I will probably buy it again for some reason.

For the price point, the sound quality is no better or worse than I expected. They are too lacking in bass to be good for music but fine for audio books and podcasts. The earbuds are small enough to be comfortable for side sleep, which is the reason I purchased them, but the left cut out a couple of times the very first night I used them. To be fair, they are not designed to be pressed into pillows for 6 to 8 hours. All corded earbuds are delicate because the wires within those cords are fine and easy to damage. I just hoped a Sony product would prove sturdier. On the other hand, I paid ~$8 including tax. My expectations were as high as the price point. Used as designed, they’re OK. I would not replace them but that is because they aren’t suitable for the reason I purchased them.

> MUSIC QUALITY – The sound-quality of music using the Sony MDREX15LP is very good – with typical earbud base. That’s just a matter of physics, earbud drivers are simply to small to produce good base. (“Base boosted” earbuds produce louder base (which smothers the high- and mid-tones), but “loud” (lacking any detail) is not the same thing as “good”). Suggestion, use the earbuds when you are out, but purchase a Sony ZX headphone set for listening to music at home — and enjoy the base.
> VOICE QUALITY – Clean, clear and crisp in the voice-range, without fiddling with an equalizer – largely because the base is poor. So these (or similar) earbuds are clearly the choice for listening to audiobooks, podcasts, talking on your phone, etc. Listening to music, with base-rich music, can be very enjoyable — but Sony ZX headphones produce far better base than any brand of earbuds, at any price.
> Loud vs efficient. Sony MDREX15LP earbuds are very efficient — the volume is loud at low volume settings — not TOO loud, there is plenty of room for adjustment, but louder than many other earbuds and louder than most headsets, at the same volume settings. Practically speaking, “efficient” means that the earbuds do not drain the battery on your battery-operated device as quickly. “Efficient” is a good thing. Also, if you pay attention, you can usually lower the volume, and the sound quality will be just as good — and your battery will last longer. Always play music at the lowest setting that you can hear well. Or you can crank up the volume and plan on being deaf by the time you are 50 — 40 if you use garbage “base-boosted” earbuds.
> EXERCISE, ETC – Stays in place better than most earbuds. But, if you engage in strenuous exercise, consider Panasonic ErgoFit, which fit deeper in your ear. The down side of the Panasonic ErgoFit is that they fit so securely that it is difficult to get them out of your ear quickly, to answer a phone, etc.
> SYMMETRY – The Sony MDREX15L are close to being bilaterally symmetrical – It doesn’t really matter if you put the put the left earbud in your right ear, etc. However, the Panasonic ErgoFit are not, they fit deeper into the ear, and are shaped differently to match your right and left ear canals. It can take a while to get used to inserting the right Ergofit earbud into your right ear, and the left into the left.
> ISOLATION – All truly in-the-ear earbuds, with cup-shaped rubber cushions, are good at reducing outside noise, better than headphones – often good enough for air travel (depending on the aircraft and the location of your seat). Many earbud brands claim to feature “noise cancellation” but do not actually have any noise cancellation circuitry. Passive isolation (such as provided by the Sony MDREX15LP earbuds), is NOT noise cancellation. Feedback reduction (on wi-fi earbuds with microphones) is often called noise cancellation, but isn’t. Beware that while true noise cancellation works moderately well for aircraft engines (and similar sounds), it doesn’t work at all for screaming children or random noise. If your earbuds feel loose in your ear, you may need to install large cushions on the earbuds, to get them to seal in your ear canal good enough to provide good isolation.
> COMFORT – The secret to comfort when using earbuds is to use the smallest cushions which work for you. Three sets, small, medium, and large are included with the Sony MDREX15LP earbuds. You might be most comfortable with smaller cushions. It a can also take a while to build up tolerance. So, if earbuds hurt your ears, build up slowly wearing them a little longer each day. It can take weeks to get to the point that you can wear them all day long without pain. Changing, or replacing, earbud cushions is easy — just pull the cushion off, and push the new one (or cleaned one) back on.
> PLUG – The plug is angled, at 90 degrees, unfortunately. If you pull on the cord, you won’t easily pull the plug out the socket, but you will put on strain on the cord (where the cord attaches to the plug), and potential damage it. In my experience, this is how most headphones fail.
> PACKAGING – The Sony MDREX15LP earbuds that I purchased came in wonderful frustration–free packaging — in a small plastic bag in a small easy-to-open cardboard box. But, I can’t promise that you won’t get a horrible retail anti-theft pack. Amzn used to promote and feature frustration-free packaging — but, sadly, doesn’t anymore.
> SLEEPING – The Sony MDREX15L don’t stick out as far as some other brands, and so, may be more comfortable when resting with your head to the side (or inside a helmet). Panasonic ErgoFit fit deeper in the ear, and are a little more comfortable in such situations. APTEK offers a nice earbud set for sleeping that is even smaller–but the cushion is built-in, so you can’t choose the cushion size. However, even with the APTEKs, I cannot comfortably sleep with an earbud in the ear that is on the pillow. My solution – I just use one earbud in the ear that is NOT on the pillow. In fact, I recycle earbud sets where one earbud has failed, by cutting the failed earbud off, and using the working earbud, shifting the earbud from ear to ear if I change sides.
> TIP – CLEANING EARBUDS – The build up of earwax is a serious problem. It can actually muffle and distort or block the sound, and when it gets that bad, effective cleaning is difficult or impossible. The best and simplest strategy is to take a look at your earbuds every few days, and vigorously scratch/flick the open hole of the cushion several times. That breaks loose the wax into flakes, which you can then just blow away. Wiping (such as with a Q-tip) doesn’t work so well (unless you take the cushions off, clean them, and reinstall them), because wiping with a Q-tip may just grind wax into the little screen in front of the speakers, which is then impossible to clean. Caveat, Sony MDREX15L earbud cup-cushions are a slightly different shape from other brands, with a smaller hole, and seems to collect less earwax — even so, regularly checking and clearing earwax is a good thing to do.

This is my go to when bluetooth headphones are acting up.

They live long and price doesnt bite.