I’m adding two of the iLuv products to this review as I can’t
really go into huge depth with either
of them. The first up will be the Sweet Cotton Mini
Earphones, and I’ll follow with the stylus/pen
ePen Pro. Both accessories work great so I’ll just get to it.
Sweet Cotton Mini Earphones
I’ve gotten to try a few headphones, and I’ve mostly stuck with with my Arctic P311 Bluetooth
headphones, but they’re nearly useless for cardio workouts or wearing a hat like I tend to do.
I’ve used some Nike over the ear athletic earphones, some of HTC’s Beats by Dre
headphones, and some $5 bin basket ones, and the Sweet Cotton Mini’s (SCM) are among
the best. The SCM earphones (note: not HEADphones) were a welcome addition to my daily
routine. I’m not a huge audiophile, but I can pick the good ones out of a lineup, and the SCM’s
standup to my test.
There’s not a lot of fluff to these earphones, but I did notice the cables are a bit sturdier and
thicker than most. I’m not sure if that just means less tangles (nope), more protection (probably),
or if there are actually extra wires to produce a better sound (probably not). The SCMs come
with a very clean, black polished button to end calls or play/pause music and a mic to talk into.
It’s not intrusive at all unlike some other headphones’ remotes. The earphones themselves are
small pieces that slide right into your ear. They’re small and peanut-shaped with a curvature for
the tip that actually goes into your ear. Like many headphones nowadays, the SCM’s have
three different choices for tips, small, medium, and large.
While the SCM’s didn’t block out ambient noise completely, they made it mostly white noise
which made the sound so much better. Clarity was my number one takeaway from these
earphones. Music sounded extremely clear and crisp. I could have done with a little extra
oomph to the loudness (although my kernel may have had something to do with the volume
settings). From what I expect from small, budget earphones, these iLuv Sweet Cotton Mini’s
had it all: comfortability, clarity, and a great form factor.
You can find these on iLuv’s site for $29.99 with the Play/Pause remote button or $19.99 in various colors without
it.
ePen Pro
This pen/stylus is remarkable for me. I was in the market for this before I received it for review,
and I felt like it fit my needs perfectly. With a fashionable design, the ePen is black with a
kevlar-like pattern on the handle and silver accents. It’s a very gorgeous design.
As a stylus (which I’ve never used regularly), the ePen handled great. It’s not a small stylus as
the tip is broad and round so it probably wouldn’t be the best thing for a smaller device like an
old Windows Mobile phone, but for my Nexus and coughiPadcough, it worked without fail.
Making highlights on my law PDFs and write small notes in the margin were so much easier
with the stylus than my finger. When holding the stylus, however, you may get tripped up by the
pen clip if you’re holding it close to the tip. Not a big annoyance, but it’s there.
As a pen, the ePen writes beautifully. I’m a lover of fountain pens, and mostly hate anything not
a fountain pen (it’s easier on the hand), but the ePen is a blend of gel and ballpoint pens. It
glazes over the tops of papers with very little pressure and had no skips or bad angles to write.
The middle simply unscrews to open the pen so nothing too fancy. My only complaint is that it’s
a little on the top-heavy side when writing. I write with a very loose grip so heavy pens tend to
slide around on me, but if you have a firm grip, you probably won’t notice the weight.
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