A few years ago I received a Jabra drive to use and review and I'm happy to say that three years later I am still just as happy with the performance of my in-car Jabra hands-free speaker as I was when I wrote the review back in September 2011. So when I had the chance to review the Jabra Sport Rox wireless earbuds I jumped at the opportunity and I knew they would be super.
The Jabra Sport Rox wireless earbuds are premium earbuds to be used by those who love to indulge in serious sports whilst listening to their music or podcasts. They retail for £129.99 on the Jabra site but I'd recommend shopping around as I managed to find them as low as £75.59 on HandTec which is a seriously great price. They'd make a superb Christmas present for a runner or gym lover.
For sports use only?
I'll clarify for you now, I am NOT a serious sports star, many of you will have seen pictures of me and I'm just not cut-out for it but I do go to the gym each week and I love to walk round the three lakes at my home so these earbuds are great for the not-so-serious sportsperson too. The two earbuds are attached by a short wire that you wear behind your head/ neck and there is a tiny fitclip that you can put on the wire if you wish to make it shorter/ a more tight fit but do be careful as it is so tiny it would be very easy to lose and I have already dropped it under the fridge once!
I was impressed to see that these little earbuds have been built to US military standards and are sweat, rain, shock, sand and dust proof.
Practicalities
The ear buds are clearly marked with L and R so you know which ear they need to go in and there are 4 sets of different size EarGels which are very easy to attach to the earbud and ensure you have a nice cosy fit in your ear, of course this is important so they don't drop out whilst you are exercising. They also act as a good barrier to sweat getting in to the earbud. As well as the EarGels to ensure a good fit there are also 3 sets of different sized EarWings which fit into the top of the ear and give even greater stability to the earbuds.
I love the fact that if you want to pause your workout you can just hang the earbuds around your neck and the steel metal plate/ back side of each earplug is a magnet and they connect together so they don't fall off or get lost. When the magnets are connected they also send the earbuds into power saving mode which is very useful. The white colour is really stylish and anyone would be proud to be seen wearing these. Although to be honest once they are in they are nice and inconspicuous.
You can do everything you need to with this tiny headset - play and pause music, skip tracks, control volume, and even take calls with a quick tap on your headset. With the built-in microphone these earbuds are great for taking calls when you need your hands free to do other jobs as well.
As well as the earbuds, EarGels and EarWings you also receive a USB charger and armband to put your phone/ iPod in.
How easy is it to set up?
Super simple is the quick answer. They’re Bluetooth (4.0) and NFC/Perimeter Pairing-compatible, so you can choose the set up method that suits you, I used my Bluetooth. The instruction book says it is a 5 minnute set-up guide and it really is. You turn your headphones on for the first time by pressing the button on the earbud wire for 5 seconds and then you hear the audio set up instructions. Basically I had to make sure my Bluetooth was on and go to that menu and the Jabra Sport Rox appeared and I pressed it and it automatically paired and was ready for us.
I switched the EarGels to the right size for me and added on EarWings so I had a good close fit and that was it I was ready to go.
What is the performance like?
I loved the sound that came out of these tiny earbuds. It was so good and it is great that you can download the unique Jabra Sound App to experience Dolby sound (code included with each purchase). I didn't experience any interference or noises that I was not expecting, just good clear songs and speaking from my music and podcasts.
There is 5 hours music playtime before the earbuds need recharging and you can do this easily by slipping away one of the metal coverings and revealing the mini USB charging port. Plug the included lead into any laptop or USB charger and in 2.5 hours you will have fully charged headphones again.
The standby time is roughly 432 hours and talk time if you are using it as a phone headset is about 5.5 hours. I think these are all pretty good times and certainly enough for me exercising! It is also pretty darn good that you get a verbal cue to tell you when it is time to recharge the headset.
I'm really pleased with the Jabra Sport Rox earbuds, if I'm honest I think I am more of a traditional earphone kind of girl as I'm not so sure about having the tight fitting earbuds but then again as I do not do the rigorous sports I don't really need them. I was chatting to my friend Natalie who is an avid runner and she tried out the headset for me on a run and pronounced them a Godsend, so that is high praise indeed!
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