Despite the model name, Philips isn't marketing its SHE9850 In-Ear Headphones to women only. These comfortable $99.99 earphones certainly aren't bass-heavy, but they offer a reasonable amount of low-end presence. There's a bit of brightness missing from the high-frequency response, but overall these 'phones deliver solid performance for the price. If you have 100 bucks to spend on a pair of earphones, the SHE9850 set is definitely worth considering.

A semitransparent plastic housing for the earphone drivers combined with a metallic surface on each earpiece results in a sophisticated look. The ear tips offer a superior fit, but some might find the rubber ones a bit uncomfortable for long-term listening. Philips has thoughtfully provided some foam tips for people, like me, who prefer the fit and feel. All of the included ear tips offer a certain amount of earplug-like passive noise reduction. The included storage box is a metallic tray that slides out from a covered compartment. It houses extra ear tips, an earpiece cleaning tool, and a shirt clip, which helps cut down on some of the thump that comes from the cable hitting your chest or shirt—when you exercise, for example.

Philips designed the SHE9850 earphones to compete with products from Shure and Ultimate Ears—companies that are less about boosting the bass way up and more about providing an even frequency response, with some tweaks to accommodate modern music. I found that I occasionally wanted a little more push and articulation in the low end, but the earphones never distorted (except at the very highest volumes) on bass-heavy tracks like "Cymbal Rush" by Thom Yorke. At the high end, instruments like percussion and guitars lose a little shimmer and definition. Admittedly, I'm being a bit picky here: At $100, this is a solid choice for just about any genre except those that rely on super-deep bass. Low-end lovers should check out the $40 Radius Atomic Bass earphones, which offer some serious bass bang for the buck.

Our HEAD Acoustics frequency response tests show that the SHE9850's bass response splits the difference between a bass-heavy pair like the Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro and a set like the Etymotic ER-4P, which offers a flat response. The graphs also show a drop-off in response right around 11 kHz, which means these 'phones sound a bit less bright and crisp than some listeners might prefer. Our linear frequency response tests also show a discrepancy between the left and right ear at around 10 kHz, but for the most part both earpieces output very similar audio performances, which means that the drivers are well matched and that the earpieces provide a consistent fit.

The included shirt clip, as mentioned, helps cut out cable thump, but if you really want a pair for exercising, I suggest the less sonically impressive, but thump-free and comfortable, Sennheiser MX75 Sport. If audio performance trumps gym-friendliness, however, the SHE9850 is certainly worth considering alongside similarly priced competitors, including the Ultimate Ears super.fi 4 and the Shure SE110.