Jabra Sport Wireless+ Reviewed

If you work-out, and love music then you’ve most likely done both at the same time. The problem for me and probably most others is if you’re using a wired ear bud you’ve most likely snagged it on a piece of exercise equipment!

A simple fix to that, I usually put the wire under my t-shirt, but what ends up happening is I lay on it, turn my head which results in tugging the ear bud out of my ear…

They say good things come to those who wait, however I didn’t have to wait that long…

Most recently I was fortunate enough to test a pair of Jabra Sport Wireless+  ear buds, which couldn’t have come at a better time, as my regular ear buds tore from the abuse of everyday workouts and regular use.

The Jabra Sport Wireless+, is a Bluetooth ear bud that has a ‘behind the ear’ design to stay in place while running, jogging or working out.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Connectivity

  • Wireless Technology: Bluetooth
    Supports Bluetooth™ for wireless connectivity
  • Bluetooth version: 3.0
    Supports Bluetooth® version 3.0
  • AVRCP: Yes
    You can control your music from this device when it’s streaming from another device, such as your mobile phone
  • Music Streaming: Yes
    Device can stream music from a source, such as a Smartphone, Bluetooth enabled laptop, tablet, or MP3 player

• Microphone

  • Microphone Type: Omni Directional/noise filter
    Enhances call clarity by eliminating background noise from the office.
  • Mute function: Yes
    Mute gives you the option to mute/unmute the microphone directly on the device

• Battery & Power

  • Talk Time: Up to 4 hours
    Talk Time is the maximum time you can talk before a device runs out of power
  • Standby Time: Up to 120 hour(s)
    Standby Time is the maximum time a device can remain powered on

• Design

  • Wearing Style: Behind-the-ear
    Behind-the-ear wearing style
  • Ear Cushion Type:

    • Large (L) sized ear gels
    • Medium (M) sized ear gels
    • Small (S) sized ear gels

With the unit, Jabra includes seven different type of ear gels which help both with ensuring a comfortable fit for your ear type and a tight fit for non-interrupted music listening.

If you check out the video below, Jabra, shows stress tests done to the ear buds.  This is most likely an effort to show the consumer just how rugged they are.  Having said that, the Jabra Sport is rain and dust proof, they are also shock resistant based on ‘US Military and IP54’ Standards.

httpvh://youtu.be/jmWvZ2sr43c

Jabra also bundles a 3 month free premium subscription to Endomondo, which is a sports tracker app (for use with your smartphone).  This allows you to monitor your performances including giving you audio feedback and ‘pep talks’ through-out your workouts…  Using GPS the app tracks your route, distance, and duration as well as calorie consumption.  This app makes a great addition to the Jabra Sport, but if you’re an Android or iOS user you most likely already have an app that does all that.  Regardless, the Endomondo is worth a try for the first 3 months.

The ear buds themselves supports Bluetooth version 3.0, and has controls on the buds themselves that allows you to skip tracks, control the volume, take phone calls and if you don’t feel like pairing your phone for music, it comes with a built-in FM tuner that allows you to listen to the radio.

The unit has a built-in rechargeable battery, which comes with a mini-USB port and cable for charging.  Talk time is said to be 4 hours, with a standby time of up to 120 hours.  I’m not entirely sure if that ‘talk-time’ includes music streaming?  I would say that using the ear buds, I have been averaging about 3 hours worth of music play (without using the phone feature).

Comfort and fit for me was good.  With the seven different gel sizes/types it may take you a few fittings to find the right ones for you.  I found that the first set I tried had the speaker sit too high on my ear (not directly in line with my ear canal), not allowing to hear the deep bass response.  I eventually found a set of gels I could use, however one tore as I tried to fit it around the ear bud itself so use with caution.

Once around my ears, they did not move and I did not find them uncomfortable to wear.  As a matter of fact, at one point I didn’t realize I had them on (other than the fact music was playing).

The pairing of the Jabra Sport + and my device was very simple, and even had voice guided instructions during the entire pairing (so it helps to have them on while doing this).

The performance of the Bluetooth was a little disappointing.  I didn’t experience any issues while sitting on the train and listening to music indoors, but once I got outside I started getting audio drop outs.  My device was about 2 feet away from the ear buds, so I’m not sure what other variables would have caused these dropouts.

Perhaps another firmware update could address this?  The current firmware (at the time of this publishing) available for the Jabra Sport is v.5.7, which is supposed to improve battery life and make other performance improvements.  The update is installed through a PC/MAC with the Jabra Sport connected via USB.

Audio on the Jabra Sport was as expected for a small speaker/ear bud.  The real challenge is finding the appropriate gel bud that sits properly in your ear.  Even with the appropriate gel fit, I still found that if I hugged the ear buds closer to my ear they sounded better, something I’m sure can be achieved with a better ear gel mold.

Switching between music and phone calls was at the push of a button (on the ear buds), the calls were clear and the person on the other end did not find it difficult to hear me.

In conclusion I thank Jabra for thinking of us physical athletes, and for creating an ear bud that is both durable and comfortable to wear.  The audio dropouts are a concern, but I’m hoping another firmware update will address that sooner rather than later.  At $99, it’s not a cheap ear bud, but it’s in line with what the competition ear buds cost and is very rugged.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VJAy0AJF28

Source: Jabra