I am the first to admit I’m hardly a headphones snob. I’ve been known to use those free or $1 earbuds you can get on airplanes in my iPod. Headphones for music listening are just not something I’m going to spend money on.

That said, I was happy to sample a pair of $19.99 Ear Pollution Plugz with Mic earbuds from iFrogz on my flight this morning. And I’m happy to report that they block out ambient noise — such as chatty passengers next to me — quite well — and better than the $9.99 pair I compared them to (which I’d bought at Wal-mart a couple months ago).

Indeed, the differently sized ear pads do help you figure out what best fits most comfortably in your ear canal (mine are apparently medium sized). I did find that I had to turn the volume up a bit on my iPod when I had the Plugz in — more so than when I had my cheaper ear buds in there.

Regarding the included mic, I tried it with my Blackberry and it seemed to work well during a conversation with my husband on his cell phone. I might also use it for hands-free phone interviews or Skype calls with my family while I’m on the road and they’re back at home. But I certainly would not advocate using the iFrogz ear buds with a cell phone while driving; those suckers block out ambient noise so well, it’s just not safe.

If you’d like to try Ear Polluton Plugz with Mic earbuds yourself, head on over to my blog The Vacation Gals, where we’re giving away a pair. Hurry, though – you’ve got until midnight Tuesday, November 10, to enter.