Review: Jabra SPORT Bluetooth Headset

Earlier in the year, I started taking a mile run in the mornings. …Okay, I started taking a mile jog in the mornings. …FINE, I started taking a mile WALK in the mornings. I have bad knees, get off my case, you’re not my mom. Anyway, as a way of making the walk seem shorter, I’d stick my iPhone in my pocket, plug in my headphones, and blast various albums directly into my brain. The problem I had, and let me assure you the problem was not contained specifically to this one particular type of earbud use, was that the earbuds would constantly fall out of my ears. This has always been a problem for me. Now, with the Jabra SPORT bluetooth headset, it is a problem no longer.

I’ve tried various over-the-ear single headsets for answering and making phone calls. Very few of them have ever been comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time. On top of that, none of the ones I owned would stream music through bluetooth. The Jabra SPORT is not only comfortable over the ear for extended periods of time, it also streams music into both ears with the connected pair of earpieces. Aside from the fact that the over-the-ear design makes it easier for the earbuds to stay in my ears as I run…jog…WALK, the connecting cord between the two earbuds, when worn behind the neck, acts as a catcher in the low likelyhood that they do fall.

No music player? No problem. The Jabra SPORT comes with a built in FM Tuner.

As far as the hardware itself is concerned, the only drawback is the charging unit. It does include a charging unit, don’t get me wrong. The problem is that the charging cable is approximately four inches long, meaning your bluetooth headset is likely to spend a great many evenings charging on the floor. A longer charger cable would have been much more appropriate, given that the nature of the device would benefit from the practice of general hygiene. I’m generally not in the habit of picking things up off the ground and shoving them in my ears.

To make up for that shortfall, however, the Jabra SPORT comes packaged with three interchangeable sets of earbud shapers. Each small rubber pair is shaped different to fit a wider variety of ear canals and openings. Since the earbuds don’t directly mount in your canal, like a regular set of earbud headphones do, using the wrong earbud shaper can result in a lower volume, because of the gap between the earbud and the canal. Using the correct shaper for your ear can help normalize the volume by gripping the contours of your inner ear more naturally.

Pairing is extremely simple. Instead of having to dig through an instruction manual to find the four digit pass code that most bluetooth pairing devices require, you simply turn on the device and listen. A calm, soothing voice will walk you through the process of pairing and protecting your bluetooth headset. It also indicates when you power on, power off, connect, have low battery, etc. directly into your ear.

Even with the interchangeable shapers modified to provide the best fit, there will still be a gap, and the overall volume will be lower than with a proper set of earbud headphones. If you can look past that, and prefer the benefits of earbuds that actually stay in your ear, have no wires to untangle or get in your way, and are more discreet, the Jabra SPORT headset is a fantastic choice.