Sony MDR-J10 Review

I have owned 5 of these over several years. I am very sad that these now costs nearly $100. I originally paid $10, and became very hesitant at $20.

Design

Personally, I love the design. (I am fashion-illiterate so don't trust me on the looks)

The great design is that it hooks around my ear rather comfortably. I can wear them for hours without it causing soreness. It does not move much even while exercising. The best part is that it does not plug into my ear. It does go in slightly but not like other earbuds. It almost hangs near the entrance.

Problems

The biggest problem is that the durability of these earbuds are very questionable. All of mine died (the latest today hence this post). The last was probably my best at nearly a year (and probably because I used them less often). The oddest part for me is that the left one always dies first. 

I haven't figured out why this happens. I don't tug on the cable. Maybe the cord of one or two have been rolled over by an office chair, but haven't been the immediate cause of the sound disappearing. Also there are no visible damages to the cable. Nothing appears to be clogged in the earbud.

There were two that did consistently shock my ear (usually the left too). I thought it was because of the dry air. The worse of the pair did sometimes shock the right ear but much less frequent. I recently read a post where some people had the same problem, so I figured I should mention it.

Because these break so frequently for seemingly explainable reasons, I cannot justify paying more than $20 per pair. $100 definitely out of the question. I would pay $10. More, and I start trying other brands before returning.

I do like the other brands and/or models. Sony also had a similar one with a softer rubber material. It was ok but I prefer the harder plastic as it was easier to put on the ear. The software one was sometimes tricky to sense where it sat on my ear without having to adjust it a few times to get the best quality. I do not like the ones where it loops completely around the ear. It was uncomfortable, and also trickier to put on. 

Side notes

I am not much for fashion or sound quality. Personally, they look decent enough and the sound quality was decent enough.

 

Keywords

earphones, earbuds, headphones, sony, over the ear, MDR-J10

References

Amazon -
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-J10-Headphones-Non-Slip-Design-x/dp/B000092YR6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1546449995&sr=8-15&keywords=sony%2Bearphones%2Bover%2Bthe%2Bear&th=1