Sound quality aside, one of the most common complaints about Apple's previous earbuds was that they didn't stay in listeners' ears well. That flaw was annoying for the wearer, but it also meant that the earbuds were often positioned in a way that produced poor sound quality. The new design, at least in my ears, offers a much more secure and comfortable fit. The EarPods didn't fall out due to pesky things like gravity during normal use (although a sharp pull on the cable will dislodge an earpiece).

That said, the EarPods' fit is still far from perfect, as I discovered when I used them during a workout. Within a minute or two, the right earpiece would work its way out of my ear. Everyone's ears are different, and your mileage may be better or worse than mine, but I soon switched back to my trusty Koss KSC--75 for the rest of the workout. Still, I found the fit of the EarPods was worlds better than that of the old Apple earbuds, and I think that will be the case for most listeners.

Because the EarPods fit deeper in the ear than the previous Apple earbuds, and are designed to guide sound more directly into the listener's ear canals, they also offer a bit more isolation from outside noise and they leak less sound. However, when it comes to isolation and sound leakage, they still pale in comparison to true canalphones and canalbuds, which form an acoustic seal in your ear.

The proof of the pudding

Beyond the better fit, Apple says the EarPods' clever new shape is designed to "make a headphone that was the very best it could be." In my initial tests, I was quickly impressed with the EarPods' audio performance. Bass was always a weak spot of the previous Apple earbuds: It was either nonexistent if you had a poor fit, or overbearing, muddy, and indistinct with a good fit. With the EarPods, bass is much cleaner, with distinct tones, though it's still muddy and lacks detail--the EarPods seem to attempt to compensate for a lack of bass quality with an abundance of bass quantity. Overall, this is solid bass performance for an earbud, but not up to the level of, say, an inexpensive canalbud or canalphone.