Panasonic RP-HC55

Short-Term Use (6.00)

There are two caveats to this score. The first is our typical, ’it’s likely your head isn’t as horribly misshapen as that of our reviewer, so trust your own judgment over this write-up’ spiel. The second pertains to the active noise cancellation pendant. If you’re around 5 feet tall, then the pendant will probably reach your front pocket, but we wouldn’t count on it. Otherwise, you’ll need to tether the pendant to your shirt somehow. If you don’t or can’t, then the pendant will flop around and pull on the ear buds. We thought a good strategy to combat the flopping would just be to zip up a jacket/hoodie/vest over the pendant to hold it still. This worked a bit, but the weight from the pendant still pulled on the ear buds, only now the cord rubbed against the garment we were wearing over the headphones. The combination of this extra friction and gravity’s assault on the battery-carrying pendant meant the ear buds would easily pull out of our ears. The best solution is to tether the pendant (reduces pulling) and then wear something over the cord (reduces flopping). If you do this, the RP-HC55s would be an average set of in-ears as far as comfort’s concerned. Other in-ear headphones don’t have these crazy issues, not even the ATH-ANC3s, which also have an active cancellation pendant.

The earbuds themselves weren’t particularly uncomfortable, but the pendant is simply located in an awkward place. Though these weren’t the worst headphones we’ve had to put on, but the restrictions for a comfortable fit certainly hurt the RP-HC55s here.

Extended Use (6.00)

The same issues from above applied here. The headphones themselves didn’t get any less comfortable over time, most likely due to the thin sleeves not putting a lot of pressure on our inner ear. The pendant just creates an awkward situation.

Cable Connectivity (5.23)

The total distance from ear bud to plug, including the control pendant, is 4 feet, 8.75 inches (1.44m). This is a bit longer than the average set of in-ears, but not by a great margin. The cable ends in a standard 1/8-inch plug.

An airplane adapter is also included. These aren’t the most well-connected in-ears we’ve seen, but for they’re price they’re definitely above average.

Customizability (2.25)

There really aren’t many ways to customize your RP-HC55 wear experience. The headphones come with the standard small, medium, and large soft plastic sleeves. There’s also an adjustable neck split. Other than these features, however, there aren’t many options available. Sometimes in-ears come with more sleeve options, and a few come with a jack split part way down the cable, so you can plug in a volume control or another accessory.

Portability (6.56)

In-ears are typically very portable, but the RP-HC55s are a bit of an exception. The control pendant is a bit big, and even though it allows you to snap on a cord wrap to keep your headphones organized, these are going to take up more room in your pocket than the average set of in-ears.

While the cord wrap is a nice inclusion, we’re not fans of including little pouches as a carrying case. We like somewhat rigid cases with internal pockets, since they both offer protection and optimal organization.

Maintenance (2.00)

We have yet to review a pair of in-ears that let you disassemble them to any degree. Sure, you can remove the sleeves for easier cleaning, but that’s about the extent of it. There is no cleaning tool included, there’s no removable wax guards, and there’s no duplicate sleeves included in case you lose a set.

Other Features (4.73)

Battery

The RP-HC55s can’t play back music when their battery is dead, which is something we wish we’d see less of. A lot of headphones nowadays are making the active cancellation an optional feature, allowing you to use your headphones to listen to music sans cancellation even after its batteries have died.

These gripes aside, the headphones have a stupid long battery life, however. One AAA will get you about 110 hours (4.5 days!) of continuous noise cancellation. This is an absurdly long battery life, which is especially nice since you’ll need to keep feeding these things AAAs to keep them going. A 4-pack will last you for almost a month of non-stop cancellation.

Volume Control

The side of the RP-HC55s’ control pendant has a volume switch. Depending on the media source you’re hooked up to, this could be a pretty useful feature. It’s also good if your music isn’t all volume normalized.

Active Noise Cancellation

The RP-HC55s don’t have particulary good implementation of their active noise cancellation feature. For starters, the headphones have a single on/off button that controls both power and active noise cancellation. As mentioned above, many newer active-cancellers will let you switch the feature on and off, which will let you conserve batteries for when you actually need active cancellation. Many active-cancellers will also play back music without battery backup.

Plus, the pendant’s shape and red LED mean that, while turning your music off or on, there’s a chance some overly-dramatic onlooker will think you’re trying to detonate a bomb. We’re not sure if this is a good or bad thing. We’re guessing bad in most cases.