Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones

Although the B&W C5 headphones have tremendous sound quality (super deep bass for buds, great mids and highs as well), I have had to return them twice so far due to the same manufacturer's defect. After a month of buying these from the Apple Store, the left ear monitor stopped working. Apple was kind and switched them out for a new pair free of charge under their 30 day retailer's warranty. This was in October, and now three months later in January, the left ear monitor on the newer headphones has stopped working again. The sound goes in and out if I jiggle the cord that enters into the headphone but it was too frustrating to deal with so I returned them to B&W. The flaw is in the design of the headphone in that the loop that extends above the headphone that is supposed to fit inside your outer ear also contains the cord that enters into the headphone, so it seems very easy to disrupt the connection when you are adjusting the size of the loop. These are great sounding headphones when they work but the headaches they have caused me due to their malfunctioning design have led me to write a poor review. Avoid these if you want a durable pair of great sounding headphones (these will NOT last).

I got these earphones for christmas, and I have to say that they have a terrible overall design. They are not very comfortable in the ear for long periods of time, and tend to fall out of your ear if your working out and sweating. They also stick out of your ear a lot more than you would think, so it looks funny.

The worst part is that with normal use, these earphones only lasted 6 weeks until the wire got disconnected from the left earbud. Not too happy about these earphones considering they cost almost 200 bucks.

After lots of tryouts - to find the right fit - the headphone provide good sound. That's everything positive about them.

- The fit is globally not good, the headphones hurt your ears after wearing for more then 15minutes. Their system to make them stay in your ear is not convincing and they are also too heavy for in-ear headphones.

- The cables are very stiff; i.e. it's not really possible to wind them up to store them.

- The remote is really badly designed - it is cylindrical!! - but you can only push the cylinder in one way - i.e. you have to perfectly turn it each time you want to press - plus the button doesn't work well - so most of the time it just doesn't work

- The included pouch is ridiculous - there is just no way to put the headphone nicely in it. Seriously there is no way.

- Really bad price/quality value on this product. It feels a lot like "Made in china".

I own other B&W Products and really love them - actually I'm quite a fan of the brand - but the C5 are seriously disappointing. The sound is good but all the rest makes them unusable, just for being badly designed. I strongly recommend you take them in your hands once before buying them. I'm now back using the ones included with my iPod, despite the better sound of the B&W's.

Great sound when they work... I'm on my 2nd pair and on both sets the left driver has failed... I'm done with these...

The sound is good but the overall product is HORRIBLE!! I have had to ship mine 3x's so far back to have them 'fixed' or given another pair. The wires connecting the aux are faulty and keep on breaking. DO NOT BUY!!!!!! It'll cost a lot more shipping to have then 'fixed'

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In short, I fell in love with these the instant I put them in my ear. If you listen to bass heavy music, these are a dream. Yet, DO NOT BUY THESE EARBUDS!

After about two months of use, the left earbud no longer works properly. Because I thought I finally found the perfect earbuds, I would take very good care of these. All to no avail though. So I sent them in for repair and got them back within a few weeks. After about three weeks of usage, the problem returned. Now, I have to put my phone in my pocket upside down so that there is pressure on the jack. And only then do they work...sometimes. What a piece of...

These look cool, but the sound quality isn't the greatest and I've already had to had them replaced because the wiring came loose resulting in jumpy sound quality. Plus the worst part...they've shocked my ear on multiple occasions (both the old pair and the replacement set). Looking for a new set set of headphones now.

After reading so many positive reviews, I thought these were the perfect choice to support my inner audiophile. I excitedly opened the box (needlessly complicated) and plugged them right in to my iPhone. To my extreme disappointment, they sounded like Apple Headphones! Argh!

I thought these would be better than Bose MIE2I but NO! They sounded terrible. The left ear crackled at low volume and the much vaunted loop design did not stay in my ears. The huge "Made in China" tag said it all.

I am definitely returning these and going back to my MIT-Boffin Designed Bose Earphones.

Just bought this yesterday and am returning it today, what a disappointment, great sound if you listen to Bob Dylan, really awful to listen to dance and techno music