Headphone Review
  • JVC HA-F120 Gumy Stereo Mini Headphones 2
  • JVC HA-F120 Gumy Stereo Mini Headphones 3
  • JVC HA-F120 Gumy Stereo Mini Headphones 1
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JVC HA-F120 Gumy Stereo Mini Headphones

Inexpensive stereo headphones from JVC that sound great and are far more comfortable than the Apple earbuds.
The Good

Tonal balance that is somewhat thin, but not unpleasant to listen to at low-medium levels. Far more comfortable to wear than the Apple earbuds. Under $10. Rather good with pop and well-recorded music. Easy to find in most major chains.Good isolation from outside noise.

The Bad

Bass is rather nonexistent on some music. Not great when pushed to really loud levels. Cord is very thin and a few extra inches would be great for those of us who run on a machine.

Full StarFull StarFull StarEmpty StarEmpty Star The Verdict

Impossible to go wrong with these clean sounding headphones that feel great inside your ears. The comfort level is far superior than the Apple Earphones.

Staff Recommended

JVC HA-F120 Gumy Stereo Mini Headphones: Solid Emergency Pair of Headphones

While somewhat lightweight in the bass department, the Gumy mini headphones are rather listenable for longer durations and far more comfortable than the Apple earbuds.

I realize that it might appear odd that the same website editor whose reference pair of in-ear headphones run almost $300 would wax poetically about a pair of $10 rubber stereo headphones, but the reality is that I really like the JVC HA-F120 Gumy headphones. Running through the airport one evening while away on company business, I sprung for an emergency pair of headphones from Apple. Big mistake. Not only did I find the popular earbuds to be congested sounding in the midrange, but I could not believe how uncomfortable they were. What amazed me more was that after almost 100 million sold iPods, nobody at Apple has figured out how to make comfortable headphones. Crazy.

As much as I love my Sennheiser HD650 full size headphones, I really cannot use them when I exercise each morning at 5am, nor can I schlep them around with me when I travel. I love how they sound, but I am not about to add them to my growing collection of things I need to take with me everywhere I go. My Ultimate Ears super-fi 5 Pro’s have earned that honor. They also cost twenty-five times more than the JVC HA-F120. Do they offer twenty-five times the sound quality? No, but they communicate in a very different way that moves me when I listen to Sam, Ella, and Portishead.

To their credit, the diminutive HA-F120s feel almost weightless in my ears and I have left them in for more than an hour without feeling the need to pull them out. They are beyond comfortable. The cable is a tad thin and I did worry about tearing it if they caught on something as I walked through the terminal or on the subway in Manhattan. So far, so good. One thing for sure – they crush the Apple earbuds in the comfort department.

Tonally, they need some help in the bass department, where there is not much meat down there. Dance music and hip-hop suffers as a result, but they do a credible job on vocals and well-recorded pop. For the money, they do very few things poorly and I would have no problem using these in a pinch. A real sleeper product to say the least.

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