Review by: Meaghan Murray
While in Austin for TRE in December, we met with up with the Jabra team, a global producer of headsets. They walked us through their new lineup for 2015, which is SICK, to say the least. Most recently, they launched the Jabra Sport Pulse Wireless earbuds and sent us a sample for review. Here are my thoughts.
I’ll start off with a bold statement: the Jabra Sport Pulse earbuds are far superior to other wireless options I’ve tried. They just are. For starters, there’s not much to these guys (design-wise). It’s actually pretty incredible when you think about all the features they come with. Two small, water-resistant earbuds are connected by a short cord, just long enough to fall around the neck. The earbuds come with 4 eargel sizes and 4 EarWing styles (Silicone around the earbud that keeps them in place) so you can craft the perfect fit. This also ensures heart rate monitoring is possible, but they’ll walk you through all this when you download the Jabra Sport Life app. Near the right earbud is a built-in remote, used to play/pause music, adjust volume, etc. Right above this, hidden beneath the Silicone EarWing, is the USB cable. Syncing up to your iPhone is as simple as it gets, and a voice prompt keeps you updated through workouts, even letting you know if your battery life is about to come to a crashing halt. I never had any issues with earbuds falling out mid-run. I even gave them a few head-shaking tests – once they’re in, they’re in. The quality of sound is also a major win; I usually prefer earbud-style headphones because of the noise-isolation, but they don’t always come with quality sound. The Sport Pulse excel in both.
There were a couple times mid-run, when I found the cord closing-in on my neck and shoulder. I think the cable has a tendency to land in that area, and if you’re sweating, it’s probably going to stick there. It’s something I noticed, but nothing that would ruin a workout. The only other issue I see with these headphones is the battery life. The earbuds last a solid 4.5 – 5 hrs, but there’s no automatic life-saving battery mode. If you don’t remember to turn the device off after every workout, you’re hosed. And it’s devastating.
I’ve already mentioned in a previous review my love for wireless technology, but I will reiterate it here. Wireless earbuds just make sense, especially for the athlete. What I would have recently considered a luxury, I now consider a necessity. Although I’ve only tested out a few wireless headsets, I think Jabra has a superior product with the Sport Pulse. The price point of $199 is arguably high, but you’re getting a pair of quality earbuds AND a heart-rate monitor. I say splurge.
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Thanks for the review Meaghan. You talked quite a bit about the music functionality of the earbuds, but not a lot about the HRM. Did you do any comparitive testing of the HR data from these earbuds to another known HRM device (chest strap, etc)? I was wondering how accurate you found the data.
I had some big problems last summer with my chest strap HRM causing bad chaffing any time I wore my hydration vest (for long runs), so I stopped using the HRM last training cycle. I have thought about getting a wrist mount HRM, but this is another valid alternative. Thanks.
Prior to trying out the headphones I was using a Mio ALPHA HRM watch. I didn’t do a real-time comparison, but I know the numbers were similar. I haven’t done a deep dive into HRMs so I can’t speak to this in great detail… Hope that helps a little!