Sennheiser CX 980

Cable Connectivity (4.16)

The Sennheiser CX 980s are just shy of four feet long, which is a decent length for a set of in-ears. Unless you’re eight feet tall and carry the bulk of that in your torso, four feet is more than enough to reach that iPhone in your front pocket.

The cable’s plug is super fancy and can twist to a 90° angle. This seems like it could be a useful feature, but we’re not sure how it might affect the headphones’ overall durability.

The CX 980s also come with an airplane adapter. Like the headphones’ plug, the airplane adapter also has a swivel point.

Portability (10.00)

For starters, in-ear headphones are supremely portable. They’re just a small bit of cord with some plastic bits on either end. Maybe if you’re lucky there’s some metal involved, but even then it’s only a tiny bit. In addition to a small form factor, the CX 980s also come with two pouches. The first holds all your sleeves and keeps them from rolling around everywhere. The second lets you wrap up the cord to prevent it from tangling up.

Maintenance (6.00)

Unlike many other in-ears, the CX 980s actually come with a cleaning tool. In-ears are the only headphones that are intended to brave the disgusting human ear, but very few manufacturers seem to have hygiene in mind.

The CX 980s answer to the ear wax problem is the same as Shure’s: a small bit of plastic with a thin metal loop on one end. Additionally, the CX 980s come with small, removable, foam plugs fit into their nozzles. We’re definitely a fan of these little foam plugs. As we’ve mentioned in myriad Shure reviews, that little included scraper can’t reach stuff at the bottom of the nozzle: any gunk that finds its way that deep is a permanent resident, at least until you personally revolutionize the miniature scraping device industry.

Other Features (6.00)

Battery

The CX980s don’t require any batteries, which is great because batteries are annoying. The CX 980s pick up some easy points here.

Volume Control

The Sennheiser CX 980s have an in-line volume control slider. It functions as you’d suspect. Since most media devices also have volume controls, we don’t find this a particularly compelling feature.