Jabra Wireless SPORT Bluetooth Stereo Headset Review

A few months ago, Jabra sent me a pair of their wireless SPORT Bluetooth Stereo headphones to review*. They arrived quickly and I was so excited to get them. They also came packaged nicely. It felt like Jabra cared about me — it was like Christmas again!

But before I had a chance to set them up, Mr. T did. No gadget is safe around my husband. I swear. He says the set-up was easy and straightforward. But that’s coming from a computer engineer. Luckily, I had the opportunity to sync my headphones with my phone all by myself one day (I have a Windows Phone). It took some instruction-reading, but I got it after a couple of tries.

What I had a more difficult time with was the earpieces. They are over-the-ear hanger style, and Jabra provides you with three different sized ear bud gels for a perfect fit. Except I have teeny ears, I think. It wasn’t the inner-ear bud gels I was having a problem with, but the hanger part itself was too big, too thick, for the space between the tops of my ears and my head. Mr. T says I have tiny ears. I wonder if, in the future, they could make the hangers in men’s and women’s sizes.

I ran with the Jabra SPORT headphones twice, but each time I had issues with them falling off. To be fair, they didn’t want to stay on my unusually small ears when I was standing still. When they were on (the first time, I wore my phone in my iFitness belt around my waist on the noisy Cedar River Trail, and the second time, my phone sat in the dashboard of my treadmill), however, I was very surprised at how good the sound quality was! With no wire connecting them to my phone! (There is nothing I despise more than having that earbud wire snaked down the back of my shirt while running…and it starts to slide over and across my shoulder…argh!)

I may not be able to use these fancy headphones, but Mr. T can! My husband even bought some special Jabra EarGels to go with the headset. The headphones stay perfectly on Mr. T when he walks, and he even synced them with the laptop to watch a movie in bed while I slept!

Here’s what Jabra’s website says about the Jabra Sport Wireless Headphones with Bluetooth.

• Play music and take calls, skip tracks and adjust volume from headset
• Secure and comfortable fit during workouts
• US Military Grade rain, dust and shock protection
• Powerful bass sound and built-in FM Radio
• Offers up to 4.5 hours of talk time and up to 3 hours music time
• Works with Apple, Android, Blackberry and standard phones or music devices
• For optimal performance outdoors, place mobile device in right armband

Here’s their cool ad:

They have a ton of special features, including the free Edmondo Sports Tracker app that can be used for running, cycling, walking and other distance sports, according to the website. Mr. T downloaded for me, but I never got the opportunity to use it since the headphones wouldn’t stay on while I ran. Also, nobody ever calls me so I didn’t get to try the answer/end call feature.

The downside to this particular style of headphones for me (and this is all hanger style sets, not just Jabra), is that I typically only leave one earbud in when I’m running outside for safety reasons.

The Bluetooth capabilites on these headphones are fantastic — and it seems like the uses for these are endless, from cycling to walking to video games and movies. I think for the right person (ahem, Mr. T), these are worth the $99.99 retail price. (They are significantly less at Amazon.com.)

*I received the Jabra Wireless SPORT Bluetooth Stereo Headset from Jabra for free, but these opinions are entirely my own.

Do you run with music? I recently stopped obsessing about having music with me while running and learned to enjoy going music-less more often than not. What music device do you use? Ever had any luck with the hanger-style headset?