Design and features:These earphones have an integrated microphone and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls for use with paired Bluetooth devices. The Moto Surround uses a collar/earphone design - all of the electronics and controls are incorporated into an open collar that sits around the neck, and the earphones are attached to wires that extend from the collar. When the earphones are not in use they can be magnetically attach to collar. Additional features include three selectable EQ (tone) settings, the collar vibrates to provide notification of incoming calls, and the manufacturer claims it is water resistant. This model comes with three pairs of ear pieces in various sizes and a USB charging cable, and works with the Motorola Connect app which is available for free download for Android mobile devices.
Sound quality: We found the Moto Surround delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. In the most balanced tonal setting the overall sound can best be summarized as neutral (neither full nor lean), slightly bassy, and a bit edgy. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but is slightly grainy and edgy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but smeared (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer sound blurred) and uneven; the lower treble is prominent while the upper treble is subdued. The sound has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open -- sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears. The various EQ modes have a noticeable effect either making the sound thin or more bassy.
Comfort: We found that these earphones fit and stay in place with no problems, and the collar is not generally noticeable unless it interferes with clothing, and is very convenient. When the earphones are not in the user's ears they can be magnetically attached to the ends of the collar. The earphones do produce sense of pressure in the ear opening might be uncomfortable for some, and when wearing this model while walking the vibrations from air going past the earpiece cables can be heard as a mid-pitched "zipping" sound (kind of like two pieces of corduroy being rubbed together) through the headphones. The audio intermittently glitched (skipped) during playback when these headphones were used with two different Apple mobile devices that we use for testing; no problems were noted with Android mobile devices.
