Audio-Technica QuietPoint ANC In-Ear Headphones

I buy this headphone to reduce background noise so that I don't have to turn the volume too high to hear it clearly (which is bad for hearing), and it does work! Noise cancelling performance: ANC-33is does significantly cancels background noises, especially sounds like air-conditioner noise or traffic noise. It feels magical to quiet down the world around you with just one switch on the noise cancelling unit! Though it does not completely cancel all noises, I think the performance is good enough for its price. You can still hear the noise a little, but when music is played, the noise will become barely audible. I highly recommend it to people who listen to music in noise surroundings. (If you want something that blocks noise as much as possible when you are not listening to music, say sleeping, this is probably not what you are looking for. It does not reduce as much noise as my Mack's earplugs) Sound quality: I am not a headphone expert, but I can clearly tell that ANC-33is is better than my 10 dollar Sony MDR-E9. The sound from ANC-33is is more stereo and clear. Though it is probably not as good as normal non-noise-canceling at the same price, I think the sound quality is good enough for me. Build Quality: It is well build. The wire is covered with high quality rubber and noise cancelling unit is delicate. About the wire control, At first I find that it works on my iPod but does not work on my Android phone, but later I realized wire control was disabled in setting of my music app. After fixing the setting, it works perfectly. Battery life: Impressive! I use it for about one hour per day and the battery lasted for almost three months before the lower battery LED started blinking! It even outperforms its specifications on Audio-Technica website, which says "up to 60 hours". Wire length: The total length is enough, but the position of the noise canceling unit can be improved. There is about 50cm of wire between the plug and the unit and 80cm from the unit to headphone. If you prefer to clip the unit on the side of your pocket, the portion from the unit to the headphone may not be enough. I am 1.7m tall and the length is exactly enough. EDIT: I am no longer perfectly confident about its durability. About one year after my purchase, it started to have problems when noise cancelling is on. At some positions the NC stooped working but if the cable was bent a little to some direction, NC worked again. So when I were running and the cable moved a lot, the NC sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, which is pretty annoying. I thought it was a cable connection problem. Then I sent it back to Audio Technica for repair and they sent back a new pair (good customer service!). Then it works perfectly for almost a year, and now same problem show up again. Now it is not as severe as last time and the impact is still tolerable (occasional slight noise in left ear), but I am not sure if it will worsen in the future. From my observation the problem comes from the part of cable connection the NC unit to actual headphones. If I remember correctly, this was also the part the failed in the previous pair. I am not sure if this has anything to do with that I often wear it to gym. Though I never stretch it, sweat may to damaging it.