Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsBluetooth headphones with flaws
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2014
Despite the glowing reviews of this product being from Amazon's Vine Program, I thought the overall rating of this product justified a purchase. Vine Reviewers received these headphones free and a few positive reviewers explicitly stated that while the headphones were good, they had doubts whether they would have purchased the product at the current price. Hopefully, I can provide a review that sufficiently incorporates that aspect of the purchase.
Update (01/16/2015): I have gone through two of these headphones, and ran into problems that were not included in my original review. FIRST: the volume in the right ear can decrease significantly. The first pair of Jabra MOVE headphones dropped to essentially nothing. SECOND: bluetooth connectivity becomes erratic. They used to automatically connect to Mac, or Android phone, but the connection disconnects and reconnects randomly. The sound quality drops for a short time and alternates between good and poor quality randomly. Restarting the computer, headphones, the bluetooth on the device, and/or the music program (Spotify, iTunes) rectifies this problem. THIRD: The headphones emits a VERY loud burst of static when it has trouble connecting sometimes. This tends to happen when the headphones are connected to a computer and the computer is busy running other programs. The static is long and sustained and forces you to restart the headphones and bluetooth connectivity. FOURTH: the cost of the headphones are nearly $100. Many of the very positive reviews for this product came from Amazon's Vine Program, as previously mentioned, and received these headphones for free. While there are few good bluetooth headphone options at reasonable prices, the technology is becoming more common. Hopefully, competition will drive up the quality on bluetooth options and drive down prices. At the moment, I would not purchase these headphones again at the current price.
Luckily for me, the problems arose within 2 months and the return process was simple and easy. Another positive I have not mentioned is the surprising longevity of the headphones. On a single charge (~1-2 hours), the headphones lasts at least 8 hours of near-continuous use.
Original Review. Edits are marked.
The Jabra MOVE is a great set of Bluetooth headphones with minor conceptual flaws. Importantly, the wireless audio out of these are as good as any currently available and even preferable to certain headphones that are overly heavy on the bass. The build is sturdy (stainless steel), the design is solid (looks good), and comfortable for on-ear headphones (soft ear cups can press on the ears after long-term use). However, there are several flaws with the functional controls as well as some other quirks.
Cons:
First, the functional buttons on the headphones are in a weird position. When wearing the headphones, the volume/multi-function controls sit towards the bottom. When pushing these buttons, you also push the headphones up and off of your head. You probably do not have to press as hard, but there is no feedback (tactile or audio) whether the button has been pressed. This function would be better if placed on the sides or the top, in my opinion.
Second, there is a quirk when pairing the device to a Mac: iTunes automatically launches whether I want it to or not and the volume controls (which also double as a forward/backward button for music if you hold the buttons down) ONLY seems to work on iTunes, but not other programs such as Spotify.
Last, secondary functions for volume buttons do not work at all. Holding both volume buttons should mute the sound, but it does not. Pushing the volume buttons when not listening to music should report the battery levels, but this function does not work as well.
Pros:
While I detailed several things that were annoying about the headphones, there are many positive points I would like to point out.
First, the sound is great. The headphones are not noise canceling and are similar to other on-ear wired headphones that I have used. They have decent range and do not overly favor the bass registers. That being said, these have good sound for the price and functionality. Some audiophiles may argue the sound quality, but for general purpose, these are pretty good. (EDIT: The volume out of the right ear dramatically drops in the first set of headphones I used.)
Second, the ear cups are nicely padded and there is sufficient padding to comfortably wear these headphones on your head for several hours. Like other on-ear headphones, however, some people will feel their ears pinched somewhat and find it irritating. This can be relieved by shifting the position of the headphones forward slightly on the ears such that your ears are not pinned back. However you position the ear cups, you will be able to hear what is going on outside, as there is no noise-cancellation nor seal around your ears.
Third, the device is compatible with every bluetooth device I had tried thus far: mac, macbook, pc, android phone. The connection was not instantaneous and you still had to manually turn on bluetooth to pair the device, but it was fairly consistent. (EDIT: Bluetooth connection can be spotty and requires restarting the headphones, the bluetooth connection, and the music playing device to rectify.)
Conclusion:
Finally, just an overall conclusion on the price point for these headphones. Personally, the current price point for these headphones are higher than I would like (~$70-100, depending on the color and seller). However, the freedom from wires coupled with decent sound quality makes this an invaluable set of headphones that I will likely use far into the future. (EDIT: The combination of the right ear having lower sound volume, bluetooth connectivity issues, and high price (~$100) make this only an ok purchase. I am on my second pair of these headphones and will not be purchasing a third.)
I will update this review if there are any significant changes to the longevity or quality of the headphones.
