I usually can’t get my earbuds to survive a week of trips on a city bus, so these “Tested By Animals” headphones and earbuds from Philips & O’Neill caught by attention.
Philips (the Dutch electronics company) and O’Neill (the Santa Cruz surfing company) introduced a line of headphones “to withstand the rigors of an active lifestyle.” The product website features video of their “animals” — gnarly young adrenaline junkies — hucking big air on surf boards, snow boards and skis, presumably while wearing these audio products that are “inspired by the heavy-duty materials and styling of wetsuit materials,” so hopefully they can also handle a daily commute and maybe a little mountain biking. I have no idea if they’re actually waterproof and suitable for surfing or rainy weather bicycling.
$50 for a set of earbuds seems pretty high, but then I’ve probably already spent that much already on destroyed earbuds this year.
$99 for the high impact & high stress crack resistant Philips Stretch. The Philips Snug
seems like it’s decently priced at $60.
All feature tough, tangle-free cables; the Snug and Stretch also have breakaway cables that separate from the headphones if they’re yanked. If you’ve ever snagged a cord on a tree limb you know how handy that can be.
See also:
- Waterwings, earbuds, and thongs
- 3 bikes and a bike lifestyle, only $17,000
- Top 100 lifestyle blogs
- Active Community Transportation Act, H.R.4722







