Every once in a while a gadget comes along and you have to say ‘DUH That’s like so cool!’ or basically smack yourself in the head and ask ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ Portable music players have been around for a good many years, and just devices that use headphones have been around longer, but recently a company came up with a device that just makes you wonder why didn’t someone think of this sooner?!
The device or gadget is called the Replug, and it’s just awesome in its simplicity and usefulness, you just have to say where has this been for the last twenty-five plus years that we’ve been using headphones for our music devices.
Everyone, I don’t care who you are, if you’ve owned a device with headphones you’ve walked away from it and pulled it along with you, causing either damage to the device, the headphones and in some cases yourself. If you use headphones with your laptop that’s just not a good thing at all to do, it can cause quite a few problems with more than just the headphones.
The Replug is essentially a breakaway plug that goes between your headphones and the device you are using them with, be it a laptop, and iPod, cellphone or whatever. It has two functions really, the breakaway plug that will unplug itself from the device and the flexible shaft that will allow your headphones to unplug before pulling the device along with them as you stroll off somewhere. No magic or magnets are involved with this gadget either, just quite a bit of great design work.
Review: Replug The Breakaway Audio Plug
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Replug
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Save Your Jack
Replug transforms any 3.5mm audio jack into a breakaway connection, protecting your audio jack from the rigors of daily use. It is comprised of a plug tip and a body which grips the tip using a resilient elastomeric ring. When too much force is applied, Replug simply detaches from itself, preventing catastrophic damage to your audio device. Simply reattach plug to tip and youre ready to go. Jack saved.
About:
Replug LLC was founded by product designers William Tan and David Goetz, the principles at Amalgam, an interdisciplinary design firm located in Los Angeles, California, and is responsible for the design, development, and marketing of all Replug products.
Replugs mission is to make the electronics we live with more capable of handling our active turbulent lifestyles.
Nobody likes being jerked around by their cord, and we aim to eliminate that from happening to our devices.
FAQ:
1.) Does Replug work with the iPhone?
The current Replug works with most devices using the standard 3.5mm stereo format. However, iPhones jack is recessed and requires a longer plug. Please check back soon for product updates!
2.) How does it breakaway? Or, is it magnetic?
The green ring of the Replug body is a resilient elastomer which physically grips onto the plug tip, no magnets are used. When excessive pressure is exerted on the body, the body releases from the tip.
3.) How much force does it take to pop off?
About 1.5 pounds of lateral force is required.
4.) Is it difficult to get the tip out of the device after it pops off?
In most cases, no. Some devices have recessed audio jacks, in such situations its easy to use your fingernail to pull it out. Sometimes its easier to re-attach the body to tip while the tip is in the device.
5.) What other products are available?
We cant talk about anything specific yet, but there are several breakaway products in the works. Check back with us for product release updates! (Sign up for email updates we dont spam!)
A Better Look at Things
:
The replug comes in a rather large box for such a small product, and it’s actually two boxes, a cardboard one and a plastic sealed clamshell box as well. Replug sent me a little brochure with the Replug as well to tell a little bit more about it. The front of the box has a nice large picture of the Replug, while the back has a cutout window that allows you to see it up close. There’s a little description of the uses as well underneath the window.
The plastic clamshell is the sealed kind that we have to cut open to get at the contents, and there’s only two items inside, the Replug itself and a very brief instruction manual. The instructions are only three comical diagram panels, but there isn’t much need for detailed instructions with this little gadget is there?!
The Replug itself looks like a 3.5mm jack extender, it’s very lightweight, and seems well made.
The center of the Replug is thinner allowing for great flexibility to let you headphones come unplugged instead of taking your device with them. The male end audio jack actually comes off, this is the breakaway part that allows the entire Replug to come apart and be easily reattached should you decided to take a walk while wearing your headphones and your device isn’t mobile…
Taking a closer look at the actual jack and it’s housing we can see that there are connections inside of the Replug end that match specifically with the metal jack, no magnets, just friction or compression of the green plastic tip is what holds it together. There is a little lip on the jack itself that clips into the Replug to hold it in place and make the connection. It does feel secure, but yet does easily come out when enough force is applied to it.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Installation is a no brainer here, plug it in, then plug your device into it, that’s it all done…
For testing here’s a short movie of me pulling my cord… (that doesn’t sound quite right does it?) anyway in the movie you’ll see the Replug working in both ways, detaching from my laptop, and letting the headphones come unplugged from itself. You’ll also see me plugging it back in as well, it’s very easy to do…
It works! YAY! WooHoo, the greatest invention of 2007 or maybe this decade… anyway, it truly is a really cool gadget that is just simple, nothing special, but extremely useful and can protect your devices from serious damages caused by ‘human error’.
Summary:
Well what can I say? It’s a great little device that I think should become a standard attachment for any device that utilizes a 3.5mm audio jack.
I can easily recommend everyone to go out and get one, or two, or three right now!
The Replug truly is a great and innovative gadget that everyone can utilize.
DragonSteelMods gives the Replug a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Cool
-Multiple uses
-Very well made
-Can save your gadgets and your money!
Cons:
-None really
I would like to thank Replug for the chance to review the Replug and for their support of DSM.
review# 314