While there are any number of vastly better-sounding third party options available, the reality is that most iPhone and iPod users stick with the earbuds that came with their device. And while carrying those (or any) earbuds in your pocket without using any form of protective case or pouch will eventually lead to their certain demise, most people do it anyway. So for those users of Apple’s earbuds who can’t bother keeping them inside something protective, Deos offers a solution that might at least slow the rate at which they get the crap beaten out of them in your pocket – and even if they don’t achieve that, they’ll at least make your earbuds look a little more stylish.

These pair of thin soft silicone rubber pieces slides onto the left and right buds of your Apple earbuds and covers the entire outer shell and stem while slightly recessing the speaker grilles. The good news is that I found them easy to slide on and to remove, and more importantly, they didn’t make wearing the Apple earbuds any less comfortable or block the grilles in a way that would affect the audio. The flipside is that my experience in testing thin silicone products is that they’re more adept at protecting against cosmetic scratches than impact-related damage, meaning that this product is realistically more about styling than it is about protection. This might be best evidenced by the fact that while the simple silicone Deos that I’ve tested here sells for a mere ten dollars, the company also offers sparking and diamond-studded versions of the product at higher prices.

My advice on iPhone and iPod earbuds remains the same: spend a few bucks and get a pouch to carry them in. Or better yet, spend twenty bucks on in-ear earbuds, and then carry them in a pouch. But if you’re more interested in making your existing earbuds look more stylish, while adding a layer of possible protection, I can report that the Deos does indeed work as advertised.

Learn more about Deos at DeosLive.com