Jabra Move Wireless: Is It a Good Gym Headphone?
Founded in 1993, Danish company Jabra is now part of the GN Network and back in January, we looked at its soon-to-be-released Elite 85H and found that — when paired with sweat-proof covers — it made for a pretty decent pair of over-ear workout headphones. But what about the Jabra Move Wireless? Is it a good gym headphone?
Both the Jabra Move Wireless and the more recent Jabra Move Style Wireless are very affordable wireless headphones. Some UK online stores are selling them for under £50 (approx $65) with the Jabra Move Style Edition headphones retailing at less than £90 ($116).
It’s good to see wireless technology beginning to filter down to the lower-price brackets. Earlier in the year, we noted that Skullcandy (known for being at the cheaper end of things) had — in the Hesh3 — released a quite reasonable pair of wireless cans. After all, it’s not everyone who can or who wants to pay hundreds of pounds or dollars for on-ear and over-ear workout headphones.
Is the Jabra Move a Good Workout Headphone?
No one likes getting tangled or caught on a cord during a workout, so we’re big fans of going wireless in the gym. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the Jabra Move will easily and quickly pair with your device and allow you to control your music and calls from your headphones. Playback controls on the left ear cup make it easy to skip between tracks as well as playing and pausing even if you’re mid-stride.
There’s a choice of three bold colours — cobalt blue, coal grey and cayenne red. According to the website, these were all inspired by the colours of a metropolis. They’re good looking headphones, too, something which Jabra boasts about on its website, describing the Move Wireless as being clean, simple and Scandinavian.
Jabra’s reputation was built on its headsets and, fortunately, this technology has been carried over into its headphones. For those who take calls during a workout, or for anyone who likes being hands-free, these offer clear sound on calls with only minimal background noise.
The Move’s 40mm drivers also provide a clear sound quality for music and podcasts. Jabra’s digital signal processing offering depth and clarity that makes its competitive pricing even more impressive. The stainless-steel frame, plastic cups and pleather cushions are lightweight against the ears and head without feeling budget in the hand.
The headband is adjustable and the cushioning provides a firm grip which is ideal if you’re intending to run whilst wearing a pair. These are on-ear headphones, however, which are notorious for pinching and clamping the ear (it’s often the case with whatever brand you buy). If these are just for the gym, then they shouldn’t bother you too much.
The battery life for the Move is only around 8 hours which isn’t brilliant but is definitely forgivable at this price point. The Move Style Wireless, however, offers almost 14 hours of playback. Of course, if you do run out of juice, then there’s always the option of plugging in.
They’re compact and as the name suggests are designed to be used on the move. Easy to carry, these aren’t going to take up too much room in your gym bag or locker. One thing that is a little annoying, however, is that they don’t fold down.
Overall, we’ve been pretty impressed by the Move and Move Style wireless. The weight, the price, the look and the sound quality will more than serve most people’s expectations of a gym headphone…
BUT
Wait.
There are NO moisture-resistant covers on the cups.
We were a bit surprised by that. After all, these are touted as being for people on the Move. In a blog post when the Jabra Move Wireless was first released, they were included on the company’s blog as being among — the best wireless headphones for running. The get-out with that appears to be the sentence ‘so long as your workout isn’t too high-paced’.
Review site The Sound Guys also flagged this up in their review.
If you are going to wear these headphones during exercise, then we’d recommend you add moisture-proof covers from the EarHugz sweat-proof collection. The Jabra Move Wireless may not be expensive, but you don’t want to keep having to replacing them.
Passive noise isolation also isn’t brilliant on these but — again — at this price point it’s to be expected. If your gym is super-loud, then these might not be the headphones for you. There’s no active noise cancellation with these but that technology always comes at a higher price.
Is the Jabra Move Wireless a Good Gym Headphone?
These can make great gym headphones BUT only when you add sweat-proof covers. We’d definitely be nervous about wearing them in the gym without moisture protection. Even if we weren’t doing anything ‘high-paced’.
But other than that, we think these do represent very good value — both for the gym and otherwise. Considering the Move is now available for under £50 it’s a good entry point for anyone thinking of wearing on-ear wireless headphones during a workout but have been concerned about the price.
You Might Prefer the Jabra Elite 85H Headphones
If you’re interested in headphones with noise-cancelling technology and a choice of voice-activated assistants, then the Jabra Elite 85H headphones may be a better option. Released in April 2019, it uses four microphones to block ambient and wind noise. It also has a very impressive battery life — 32-hours with the active noise cancellation (ANC) turned on. Reported to be retailing at around £280 and $299 it represents good value for ANC and they look superb. Although, you’d certainly need to pair them with headphone covers in order to protect them during your workout. You can read more about what we had to say about the Jabra Elite 85H here.
If you'd like to find out how EarHugz can gym-proof your over-ear on on-ear headphones, then visit the website.
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