The Spot-Two earbud holder is a singular take on a common situation: storing one’s earbud headphones. Although one would assume an earbud storage case would contain two circular holes, Spot takes a different approach by using two parallel, flexible bars to hold the headphones in place. Placing the earbuds into the flexible bar makes almost any style of earphone fit in snugly.
In-ear earphones fit well because of their foam tips on the ends.
MetroFi's in-ear 'phones without their tips are another story...
After testing various earphones around the office we saw some interesting results. We found that noise canceling, in-ear headphones worked best mainly because of the larger rubber tips, which helped keep them in more securely. Using a pair of Sony Walkman noise canceling earbuds as well as Apple's in-ear headphones worked well (with special Comply foam covers in place).
When we used a pair of ultimate Ears metroFi 220 and removed their tips, the earphones had a hard time staying in, although this is a rare use case. It is worth noting that if the rubber tips on your earbuds are larger than normal (triple flanged sets that go deep into the ear, for example), they won't fit well in this holder.
We tried using regular earphones (Apple’s standard white earbuds and Toshiba’s Gigabeat earbuds to be specific) and they also stayed in the carrying case well. The only problem we found was that, at times, the cord was difficult to wrap around the product like the manual suggested. Even though this is how Spot prefers we use the product, we can see this reducing the overall life of the headphone set.
The clip and space saving perks are useful but may not be a necessity for everybody. If it’s worth $12.99 to have your earbuds always in one convenient spot and reduce cord tangle, Spot’s product might be for you. If you’re okay with throwing your headphones in a pocket or backpack, then you can probably skip this product.
