Perfect for airplane travel, protects your hearing from loud volume

These earphones do a fantastic job of significantly reducing background noise (e.g., airplane engine hum) so that you can listen to music or a movie without turning the volume up as loud as you would need to without noise reduction. They are perfect for the frequent traveler because they have a compact design and they come with an airplane adapter. The beauty of the noise cancellation function is that you reduce the chances of damage to your hearing associated with loud volume.

Those who have written negative reviews about these earphones obviously had unrealistic expectations. They won't produce thumping bass, and they don't cancel every external sound. You can still hear people talk, but true noise (like the white noise from a blank TV) is dramatically reduced. The difference is really noticeable when using these on an airplane. Try listening to music or a movie on your next flight with and without the noise cancellation on. It's amazing that you can get that much functionality out of a set that costs so little.