Five of the best headphones / earphones with a built in mic

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Pretty much all smartphones nowadays come shipped with with headphones – especially Apple iPhone’s and Sony Ericsson handsets – but the bottom line is that they tend to be great for making calls, but pants for listening to music. Seeming as you could be listening to music a lot from your phone, and we don’t blame you, wouldn’t you prefer some cracking headphones that you can actually make calls from? Well we would.

Tossing those pesky 12p to manufacture white Apple trademark pre shipped earphones aside, here is a post showcasing five of the best earphones for your phone with a built in mic. The round up starts after the ad break.

Klipsch Image S4i Headphones – iPhone 3G S and 4 compatible (£81.52 Amazon)

In the box: Three sizes of oval eartips (Small, Medium and Large) to achieve the perfect fit. TB highly recommends the S4i.

Made for music-loving and multi-tasking iPhone consumers, the Image S4i in-ear headset lets you enjoy superior sound, control your music library, as well as answer and end calls without skipping a beat. The  Klipsch Image S4i is one of the first third party headphones to feature Apple’s advanced three-button microphone and remote system; technology that handles the voice and/or music control of the iPhone 4 and 3G S. They also look great, and are highly comfortable in your ear.

Nixon Wire Mic In-Ear Headphones – iPhone 3G S and 4 compatible (£49.95 Apple)

The Nixon's come with 3 sets of silicone tips to customise fit, and are soft touch to aid grip.

Possibly the nicest looking headphones with a mic to ever grace the market, or rather Apple Store, are the Nixon Wire earphones which have had great reviews from customers via Apple’s UK Store. Cheaper than the S4i featured above, albeit with far less reviews and feedback, the Nixon’s certainly talk the talk, but do they walk the walk? They come packaged with 3 sets of silicone tips to customise fit, which is great, and also a little carry pouch. Bass reproduction is apparently top notch!

iFrogz EarPollution Plugz In-Ear Headphones – iPhone 3G S and 4 compantible (£12.99 play.com)

These headphones are dirt cheap, we'd recommend these just to back up an existing pair you have.

This post would not be complete without a set of headphones with a built in mic which are dirt cheap – basically, these are so cheap that you could be arrested for theft. At just £12.99 from Play.com, these headphones come in a range of colours (red shown) and look alright. With no user reviews however, it is hard to say whether these are of a good quality – but for £12.99 who cares? Grab yourself a pair to back up the more expensive pair you just bought.

Sennheiser MM50 iP Headset – iPhone 3G 3GS and 4 compatible – (£34.99 Amazon)

Sennheiser's are great value for money and last for years.

Sennheiser’s are commonly regarded as one of the best manufacturers of headphones worldwide, and using a pair of CX300 II’s myself, I can back up the fact that they are great value for money. The MM50′s are no different, and all with the functionality of a built in mic too. Packaged with 3 sizes of ear bud and a carry pouch, these headphones are a top option for anybody who wants affordability and quality at the same time.

Scosche IDR305md Increased Dynamic Range Earphones – iPhone range compatible (£29.99 Apple)

These headphones have four and a half out of five stars on the Apple Store.

Designed by audio enthusiasts for audio enthusiasts who want to get the most out of their music, Scosche’s Increased Dynamic Range earphones accurately reproduce the full range of sounds for all musical genres, and with four out of five stars in Apple’s online store, consumers seem to agree. These headphones also look great, and you can control play, pause, adjust volume, skip tracks and much more using the convenient tapLINE II control surface.