RHA has made a name for itself by offering quality headphones and earphones at budget prices. Eventually the company expanded its lineup to include some pricier options, like the RHA T20, but is returning to its roots with the S500i. The in-ear S500i, at $49.95, offers more accessories than plenty of earphones twice the price, with a design that also seems imported from a pricier tier. Beyond the accessories and design, the actual audio performance is powerful, with solid bass response and noticeably sculpted highs that result in some extra brightness. There simply aren't many options like this in the $50 price range, and so the S500i earns our Editors' Choice award.

Design
The S500i flaunts a sleek, stylish look, with earpieces that are tiny and execptionally lightweight. Metallic accents on the earpieces, the inline remote control, and the 3.5mm connection are paired with a black cable that includes a section covered in Kevlar.

Situated along the right ear's cable at chin-height, the inline remote has three buttons: a multi-function button that controls playback, track navigation, and call management, and + and - buttons for volume control. The volume buttons work in conjunction with your mobile device's levels.

A whopping seven eartip pairs are included with the S500i, including a single set of flange-style eartips. The in-ear fit is secure, and blocks out a significant amount of ambient room noise. It's important to use the right size eartip from an audio standpoint—the smallest tips still stayed securely in my ears, but the bass response was seriously diminished unless I had larger eartips in. This is true with all eartips and earphones to some degree, but the variation in bass response, despite a secure fit, was quite noticeable with the S500i. RHA also includes a shirt clip and a padded mesh drawstring protective pouch.

Performance and Conclusions
On tracks with powerful sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the RHA S500i delivers thunderous low end, and at top, unwise listening levels, the drivers do not distort. At more moderate volumes, the deep bass is still prominent in the mix—but because the S500i also boosts and sculpts the higher frequencies quite a bit, there's a decent sense of balance between the lows and highs. On other tracks, the high-mids and highs can seem more prominent.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with little in the way of deep bass, gets some added low frequency presence through the S500i, but not so much that it overpowers things. The drums receive a little extra deep low-end power, but primarily, we notice how bright and crisp things sound—Callahan's vocals have plenty of treble edge, and the percussive hits and guitar strums that populate the mix are particularly bright. At times, this can make things seem a bit sibilant, but the sound signature is never harsh or brittle.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack gets a generous helping of treble, allowing it to stay sharp and easily slice through the mix's many layers. The vinyl crackle of the loop seems elevated here, another example of the S500i's noticeable brightness. The sub-bass synth hits and sustain of the drum loop still get plenty of low-end boosting and presence, however. Again, the vocals can sound a bit sibilant, but things aren't overboard in this regard.

On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the earphones definitely favor the already-prominent higher register strings, brass, and vocals. The sound here is bright and well-defined, and there's enough low frequency boosting to make sure things never sound brittle. The lower register instrumentation can sometimes sound powerful, but mostly plays a supporting role on tracks like this.

Even with the super-sculpted sound signature, the RHA S500i earphones sound excellent for $50. Most of the similarly priced models also have very sculpted sound signatures and tend to be exercise-focused, like the JBL Synchros Reflect, the Skullcandy Method, and the SOL Republic Relays Sport. If your budget allows, we truly enjoy the Marshall Mode EQ, which has a button that allows you to boost the bass response. But clean audio performance and an abundance of accessories make the RHA S500i a solid deal in this price range. For those who enjoy some added brightness with their bass, this is an excellent budget wired earphone option, earning it our Editors' Choice award.