After I explained some of the aspects that disappointed me about the Via Earbuds my dad bought me, my mom decided to try her hand at picking out a pair. She surprised me with the e-Circuit Earphones from Dollar Tree, which also cost $1. Let’s see if the e-Circuit Earphones are better than the Via Earbuds.
First Impressions
The e-Circuit Earphones (to use their terminology) come in a long, rectangular, plastic box. To open the package, I peeled off two pieces of tape on either side of the top flaps.
The earphones themselves sit in a thin plastic tray that smoothly slides out of the box. Although the Via Earbuds’s simple packaging seems more environmentally friendly, the e-Circuit packaging feels more premium. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which aspect is more important to you.
The earphones really pop, with their red-orange exterior and transparent rubber tips. They also have silver accents: a circle with a series of swirls in the center of the head of the buds and a cap on the bottom where the cord comes out. These little touches make them look like a pair of Beats earbuds from a distance. In fact, my mom says she chose them because they reminded her of my old headphones.
Lastly, the cord is great. It’s flat like a linguine noodle and feels sturdy. Best of all, the cord is very long—48 inches long according to the package. That’s nearly 20 inches longer than the cord on the Via Earbuds!
Despite the length, the cord is advertised as tangle-free, which I’ve found to be true thus far. No matter how tangled they appear, a few shakes solve the problem. Awesome.
Fit & Sound
I would describe the e-Circuit Earphones as very comfortable. Rather than being a single piece of plastic like most earbuds, the heads are attached to a teardrop-shaped back.
That back is important. It creates a hard limit for the earbuds: they sit inside the ear, just far enough that they won’t fall out. And that’s fine, because you don’t have to shove them deep in there to get good sound.
Speaking of which, I’m very pleased with how these babies sound. While there’s still a certain amount of hollowness—which seems to be the norm for all cheap headphones—they sound a lot better than the Via Earbuds. I can listen to them for hours without wanting to swap them out for something better.
Verdict
Sorry to Dad and the Via Earbuds—Mom wins with this cheap headphone battle with the e-Circuit Earphones.
They really impressed me. I haven’t found a single major problem with them yet. Not only do they fix every problem I have with the Via Earbuds, but they raise the bar for cheap headphones in general. I’m tempted to buy several more pairs to keep on hand.
Update 3/12/23: The e-Circuit Earphones ultimately lasted almost a year. The base of the headphone jack shorted out, leaving only one reliable earbud.
The earphones also seemed to fade in color since I got them. They’re a dull, washed out red now.
Still, they held up pretty well for headphones that only cost $1.