Monster ’phones without the monster price

Headphones are a personal, subjective thing, and so is one’s affinity for the movie TRON. Monster’s T3 earbuds are a tie-in with the recent TRON remake—the website boasts that they feature “Disney’s futuristic styling and the phosphorous glow of the TRON universe.” Well, they don’t actually glow, and if we hadn’t been informed that they were TRON-related we never would have recognized the silver-and-blue TRON-ish T design on each earbud. But they are pretty cool looking.

Monster products have a reputation of being well made but pricey; the T3s are certainly well made but at a mid-range $59.95 price point. Monster says they’re targeted for gaming, music, and movies, so we tried them out with all three and were pleased with the all-around performance. The included silicone ear tips create a comfortable noise-isolating seal, and the earbuds deliver respectable, detailed sound across the spectrum, from highs to middles to lows. We could hear all the chaos in Bridesmaids, the pretty soundtrack in artsy iOS game Contre Jour, and all our music sounded good, too. When we blasted a few hip-hop tracks the bass wasn’t overpowering, but still had power—nice and balanced.

Inspired by the movie TRON, and normal enough for people who don’t care.

The earbuds are comfortable for long periods, although they did protrude from our ears just enough to prevent us from listening while lying down on either side. The flat cable is a nice touch. It wasn’t prone to tangling and didn’t transfer noise from rubbing against our clothing.

The bottom line. These seem like they’ll last a long time, and deliver clear sound with punch. We’re a little bummed Monster didn’t include their ControlTalk feature for controlling iPod playback and hands-free iPhone calling, which would be more appreciated than the forgettable TRON styling.