Thursday, October 2, 2014

jabra sport wireless+ review: part one

Honestly, I had a hard time deciding which gif to use.
So many great choices haha. I chose this one since
it is exercise themed ;) Source.

If you're like me, you love to run while listening to music. Also, if you're like me, you have a hard time finding earphones/buds that work well with your ear. I've gone through different pairs trying to find the ones that fit just right, stay in my ear, and are comfortable, as well as needing controls for the volume and play/pause/skip functions, so I don't need to bring my phone or nano out every time I need to adjust volume or want to skip a song. I obviously also want some good sound. In walks (or maybe I should say special mail day delivers) the Jabra Sport Wireless+.

I have been a lover of the Yurbuds Inspire Talk for Women for the past year or two, but had been thinking of going wireless for a while. I was so excited when this great opportunity to test out wireless Jabras came knocking on my door.


One of the perks of being a BibRave Pro (in addition to the occasional race entry and being part of an amazing community of runners) is that sometimes I get to try out some sweet products. One such product is the Jabra Sport Wireless+. I've only had the chance to try them out twice on shorter runs, hence the 'part one' of the review. I always like to try products on short and long runs to give them the full work up. I don't think you can get a feel for a product on just one or two short runs... at least one long run is necessary.

Jabra Sport Wireless+

The eargels and clip that come in the box.

What's in the box? You get the earphones, eargels, fitclip, USB charger, and a protective bag. Also, they save music time for these is 4 hours, standby is 120 hours, and talk time is 4.5 hours. Unfortunately, these won't work for me for my marathon, since I am slow and expect 6–7 hours to finish haha. Oh well. They'll be great for the shorter long runs ;)



Anyway, so far, so good! I have to admit, that it took me a while to get them on. There are so many different eargels (7) to try, which I'm thankful for, as everyone's ears are different and I've had trouble in the past finding a comfortable pair of earbuds that stay in. I tried to figure it out on my own, but ended up going to Jabra's website and watching this video. Very helpful, even though it seems so easy haha. I felt like a dummy for having trouble in the first place.




After taking out of the box and reading the instructions, I charged them for about 2 hours until the green light stopped flashing, indicating a full charge. It was extremely easy pairing the earphones to my Nano. The earphones automatically go into pair mode the first time you turn them on, and there was even voice guidance to help you pair your earphones with your device. You need a bluetooth enabled device, then, generally, you go to settings, turn on Bluetooth (or look for a new device to pair), the name of the product comes up, click on it and voila. It mentioned entering a password, but I wasn't required to do so in my process (not to say you wouldn't have to – depends on your device). 


One of my favorite Parks & Recreation episodes!

This is pretty great too. This is what I did when I
heard I would be testing out the Jabras :)

The earphones were comfortable while running and I found it easy to turn up the volume and pause. I need to check on the process for skipping songs and I'm set! I barely noticed them while running, and I really like that the wire behind the head is just that, a wire. They never felt like they weren't secure and didn't fall out at all. No bouncing (I used the Fitclip to secure the wire behind my head so it wasn't loose and flopping), which is a huge bonus in my book.



I was very happy that these are built towards US Military Rain, Shock, Sand, and Dust standards so it’s built to withstand the most intensive workout conditions. While I was out running Tuesday, it was either drizzling or Lake Michigan was spitting at me. Either way, I was happy to know my earphones wouldn't be ruined if they got a few drops on them. Hooray! It's also a bonus because I'm a sweater... big time! Take note that they ARE NOT water proof, but water resistant. They can withstand a short rain shower, but are not waterproof and cannot be submerged in fluids. If your device gets wet, it should be wiped clean of any traces of water in order to protect it from potential damage! 

The sound was good to me, and I didn't notice the it going in and out, like bluetooth devices sometimes do. I think it happened twice on my second run, but didn't have any troubles on my first run. That's awesome. Who can stand the music cutting in and out constantly? Fingers crossed I have great results on my 15 miler this weekend.


You can find out more about these earphones by going to Jabra's website, where you can also purchase them for $99.99 – a decent price for wireless earphones, I'd say (especially ones, that so far, work excellently). There's also a page to find retail locations that sell them.

My one concern is that they go behind the ear. I wear sunglasses almost always when running (I get headaches from squinting... which I do even on non sunny days. I must have sensitive eyes), and am not sure how sunglasses will fit on my head if they don't have ear space to hang out. This is why multiple wears are important — my short runs were on cloudy days and I forgot to wear sunglasses. I will let you know how it goes in part two of the review.


Thank you to Jabra and BibRave for the opportunity to test the Jabra Sport Wireless+ out! Head on over to BibRave.com and write reviews for your races, or look up races you're on the fence about to help you make your decision :)

Want other opinions? Check out the reviews from other BibRave Pros:
Angie
Melissa
Matt
Sarah
Jenn

Some Pros also had a chance to try out the Jabra Rox a while back, check out their reviews:
Matt
Sarah
Jane
Jeremy
Angie
Kristen

*Disclaimer: Jabra sent me the Jabra Sport Wireless+ to review as part of the BibRave Pro Ambassador Program. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and are completely honest.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great review. I want to get a set of Bluetooth headphones for running for a while now but I've been lazy and have been putting off any research.

    I look forward to part two because I'd like to know if they stay comfortable on a long run and if they work with sunglasses as both are a necessity for me. I'm slower too but right now I top out at a half so they'll work until I eventually get crazy enough to run a full

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    Replies
    1. Thanks John! I'll let you know how it goes on the long run :) Have a great weekend!

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