by With the recent rumours that Apple might be eliminating the audio jack on the next iPhone we may soon be looking for Bluetooth headphones to replace the standard ones that Apple supplies.
Now I have no issue with Apple’s earbuds other than I’ve never had a pair that managed to stay inside my lug holes for any extended period of time. In fact I often notice folks walking along nonchalantly sporting the famous white earbuds that appear to be glued to their ears without any issues and it has always caused me a pang of jealousy.
I recently read an article by Serenity Caldwell on iMore that mentioned the Jabra Move Bluetooth Headphones and I thought I’d take a punt on the device. Priced at £53 on Amazon (price may fluctuate) there are many cheaper BT headphones available, some I have purchased previously such as the Bluedio HT, which are available for £18.99
Firstly I was impressed with the packaging. It’s funny but I never even considered packaging until I bought my first few Apple products. I used to only care that the packaging protected the device in transit but now I pay closer attention to how the packaging presents the product as I open it and does it give me that ‘Wow’ factor.
The box contains the headphone (obviously, if not then something had gone terribly wrong), a USB cable for charging, an audio lead (for if you get caught short of power) and an instruction manual (which I glibly ignored….I’m a guy, it’s what we do).
The earphones come in three colours, red, blue and black. Not being that adventurous when it comes to colours, I opted for the black version. I was quite surprised by how small and compact the headphones are. They consist of a padded headband, padded ear-cups and a length of curved metal attaching them both.
The controls are quite limited but essentially cover everything you might need in your earphones. There is a controller on the left ear-cup that controls the volume as well as stopping and starting the track you’re listening too. Next to this is the audio jack to use the earphones if they run out of power.
The right ear-cup contains the USB charging port along with the On/Off switch, which also doubles up as the Bluetooth syncing button.
I haven’t heavily tested out these earphones for accepting phone/Skype calls but they do work for this function, and sounded fine in the limited testing I have done.
Although the headphones already had some charge in them on unboxing, I resisted my desire to try them out right away and attached the USB cable to charge them fully. This didn’t take very long and I was soon ready to pair the headphones to my iPhone.
As it turned out this was simply a case of pushing and holding the on/off switch for an extra few seconds, that placed the Jabra Move set into seeking Bluetooth mode. I then simple went to Settings > Bluetooth on my iPhone and selected the now visible Jabra Move and violin….I mean viola, they were connected. The device can link with up to eight separate bluetooth devices but only two can be active at any one time. It is also very easy to quickly reset to factory settings should you need too.
Once connected I slipped the Jabra Moves onto my head, slipped my phone in my pocket and headed out for a power-walk.
The first thing that struck me was how comfortable the earphones were. I have a fairly big head (don’t say anything) and earphones tend to crush a little. The Jabra Move felt very comfortable and the cushioning on the ear cups meant that after a very short period of time I hardly even noticed I was wearing them.
Obviously the most important aspect of any earphones is the sound. The Bluedio HT earphones, that I mention earlier, had always sounded fine to me but the Jabra Move just moved the sound quality up several levels. I mainly listen to Rock and Country music, with the odd smattering of Podcasts and Audiobooks, while working out and I have been pleased with the quality of all these formats. I’m sure they wouldn’t win many awards from dedicated audiophiles; but to my ears they sounded fantastic. After all, I was listening over Bluetooth and from a compressed audio sources.
Keeping all of that in mind, I still enjoyed the gentle sounds of the opening to Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ as well as the more pounding beats of AC/DC and Metallica tracks.
It has been a few weeks since I took delivery of the Jabra Moves and I have continued to wear them every time I go out, both for commuting and when training. They remain comfortable and reliable and last for many hours between charges. I have had the odd occasion where the Bluetooth appeared to be dropping out; however I eventually tracked this down to a streaming issue with Apple Music, so it wasn’t the Jabra’s fault at all.
I have synced them with a number of devices during this period and every time the process has been simple and fast.
If you are on the look out for some headphones as a possible replacement for your current audio ear-wear you should really consider giving the Jabra Moves a look.
Available at Amazon
Leave a Reply