I dislike the closed in feeling of Over the Ear headphones and they also make my ears very hot. Especially in warm weather or rooms. So I prefer On the Ear models. Even though I know that there are some trade-offs involved. Over all I have been very pleased with these headphones, especially at $85. Here are some quick observations.
THE GOOD
1. The most important question for any headphone/earbud is how do they sound? I'm very pleased with the sound range of these Jabra's. Plenty of bass for my genre's (pop, classic rock, musicals, etc). Nice highs and midranges. At this price point they are terrific for most music. Although if you're looking for thumping bass these may not be your best choice.
2. They are very comfortable. Once again, your preference between On Ear and Over Ear will influence your opinion. Also, unlike the Beats Solo 3's, which I also tried, these fit well without feeling like your head is in a vise. The ear cups are soft leather with memory foam, as is the headband.
3. I feel they look very nice and premium. Especially in the black and copper color. Nice soft carrying bag. Although it would be better if they folded smaller and included a hard case.
4. Jabra has an excellent phone app that allows you to fine tune the sound and features. I previously had the Jabra 75t earbuds and found the app very useful. It also makes it easy to update the firmware.
5. So far Bluetooth range has seemed impressive and the connection has been rock solid. Even through walls and from one end of my house to the other.
6. No active noise cancellation. But the memory phone ear cups mold around your ear and do a good job of passive noise filtering. Although they won't do nearly the noise cancelling of much more expensive models, like the Sony and Bose.
THE NOT SO GOOD
1. While I'm pleased that they're not as vise tight as some other On Ear models, like the Beats Solo, they can almost seem a bit too loose at times. Not a problems when you're listening while sitting or even walking. But they would not really work well for running or any kind of strenuous exercise. Sometimes even tilting your head downward can make them feel like they're about to fall off. I'll take slightly too loose over way too tight. But depending on how you plan to use them it's a consideration.
2. I like the numerous buttons and the ability to control things like volume, skip songs, pause, and summon the assistant. But the buttons are hard little pieces of plastic that feel about the same and are very close together. The entire outer ear cup feels a bit cheap and plastic to the touch. But the buttons especially feel cheap, a soft rubber top would make them more comfortable to push and maybe differentiate each button. It would also be nice to be able to reassign their functions. But perhaps that can be addressed in a future update.
Many of you will want to know about their microphone call quality. But I have had no chance to use them for a phone call or video conference. And since I bought them purely for music it's unlikely that feature will be of much use to me. Overall? Very nice solid headphones from a reputable company. A good buy at $100. But if you can get them for $85 or less they're an exceptional choice. I would highly recommend them.
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