Article Feedback:
User Rating 1 out of 5 1 out of 5
(1 review)
01 Write a review


Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 1 out of 5
New Product - Same Old Problems, October 17, 2008
By amphibiano

"As an active swimmer and previous user of H2O Audio products, I was hoping that their new products, and specifically, their iSH2-Waterproof Headset (Natalie Coughlin Signature Series) would be an improvement over their initial offerings. While this product, at first blush appears to be satisfactory as reported in the excellent review written by Mat Luebbers shown above, with repeated use, I found that the iSH2 product to be unsatisfactory for the following reasons: 1) essentially no improvement in the fit or sound quality of the waterproof headset and earbuds. As widely reported on the web, the headset is rather uncomfortable and the earbuds (whether used with or without the head brace) do not stay in the ears well, do not sound very good, and are not comfortable to wear. If the earbuds are used without the earplugs, water gets into the ear and muffles the sound terribly. If the rubber earplugs are used, water exclusion from the ears is very inconsistent with repeated adjustment necessary. Further, with repeated use, the sharp contours of the barbs on rubber plugs irritated my ear canals so much that I developed an outer ear infection (swimmer’s ear). For better fit H2O’s manual states that the user should “Wrap the cylinder of ear plug wax around the largest barb of the earplug (see http://h2oaudio.com/download.php?f=download/manuals/iSH2-5A3_20080312.pdf ). This creates a custom mold to your ear and will help prevent water from entering the ear and muffling the sound”. Excuse me? Clearly, their instruction manual is suggesting an ad hoc and jerry-rigged correction for a basic design flaw of their headset. If I knew that I would have to use ear plug wax to seal their earbuds into my ears, I would have just sealed standard audio earbuds into my ears with ear plug wax and duct tape! If I pay a large premium for a waterproof headset, I expect it to work without further modification with ear plug wax! Finally, to position the earbuds so that they will fit into the ears, the swim goggle strap must be maneuvered just right or the alignment of the earbuds to the ears or they fail to work even marginally.

Second: While their new iPod Shuffle case seems to be an improvement over their iS2 Waterproof Case for the iPod Shuffle that required silicone grease be used to seal the case, no such messy silicone grease is required to seal this new iPod Shuffle Case for the new
Natalie Coughlin Signature Series product. Unfortunately, this case still suffers from a variety of design flaws, including a rather bulky size that when clipped to the swim goggles, tends to move and bob around which is an irritating distraction while swimming; the use of a gasket to seal the case which as indicated in their manual must be kept perfectly aligned and scrupulously clean in order to keep the water from leaking into the case and then ruining your iPod Shuffle. After several uses, I found that the gasket became misaligned and tended to accumulate debris that allowed drops of water to enter the case. It should be noted that H2O’s manual and guarantee specifically state that “Warranty does not extend to any damages that may occur to the iPod or loss of any data.” So if their case fails, they are not responsible for the iPod that their device ruined! Further, their limited warranty is only good for 90 days. This is one-quarter of the 1-year warranty offered by Apple for their iPods and the 1-year warranty offered by other waterproof iPod Shuffle companies that can be found on the internet. Finally, the Natalie Coughlin Signature Series product permanently attaches the earbuds to the waterproof case with a rather short cord. This permanent connection (unlike other waterproof iPod Shuffle products seen on the web) does not allow for replacement of a damaged headset with another one, nor does its short length allow the swimmer or surfer to wear the case on an armband, waste belt or in a wet suit pocket located away from the head.

In summary, I have found H2O’s new offering to be but a new package having the same old problems. I might add that my poor experience with H2O’s Natalie Coughlin Signature Series product are not unique, but appear to be rather common as, for example, can be seen in the posts on one of the most respected swimming forums on the web, the United States Masters Swimming discussion forums (http://forums.usms.org/showthread.php?t=11217&page=3 ).

Finally, while finding the H2O iSH2 product to be lacking, I have subsequently found other waterproof iPod Shuffle products offered on the web to be not only satisfactory, but to greatly enhance my enjoyment of my lap swimming workouts."

64 of 65 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?  Yes No