INTRODUCTION

   It seems that lately more people spend their free time either running or working out at the gym and although i do go running outside from time to time i don't really have much free time so to that end i have installed a treadmill and a home gym at the office to try and keep in shape (spending 10+ hours per day on a chair is never good for your health). Unfortunately from what people tell me it's still not easy for them to find sports headphones that not only offer crystal clear sound with deep bass and complete noise isolation but also stay on no matter how fast they go or how hard they work out. Personally i don't think it's very easy to have all of the above from sports headphones (besides audiophiles will most likely not enjoy listening to music while running or working out) but I’m always looking for something like that myself and it seems that Jabra might have delivered with their latest Sport Pulse model.

   Jabra is the brand of GN Netcom, a subsidiary of GN Store Nord A/S (GN) - listed on NASDAQ OMX. Jabra employs approximately 850 people worldwide and in 2011 produced an annual revenue which amounted to DKK 2,106 million. Jabra is a world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of a broad range of hands-free communications solutions. With a reputation for innovation, reliability, and ease of use that goes back more than two decades, Jabra’s consumer and business divisions produce corded and wireless headsets, plus mobile and in-office speakerphones that empower individuals and businesses through increased freedom of movement, comfort, and functionality.

   The Jabra Sport Pulse wireless earbuds feature Bluetooth v4.0 connectivity (10 meters range and support for A2DP v1.2/AVRCP v1.4/HFP v1.6/HP v1.2) with EDR (2EV3), SCO (HV1/HV2/HV3), eSCO (EV3), NFC (near field communication) sniff mode and secure pairing mode. Under the IP55 certified (dust and water protection) housing of both earbuds (also offer passive noise reduction) we find two 6mm dynamic stereo drivers that feature a max input power of 5mW and a frequency response of 20Hz-20KHz with 94dB sensitivity and 16 Ohm impedance. Jabra has also used an integrated MEMS (MicroElectrical-Mechanical System) microphone for answering calls that features a frequency range of 100Hz-8KHz with 14dB sensitivity and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack that gives the Sport Pulse up to 5 hours of music playback. The really impressive feature of the Sport Pulse however has nothing to do with all of the above but rather with the integrated biometric in-ear heart rate sensor which can provide invaluable assistance to people who work out. So on paper at least the Sport Pulse does seem to be one of the most advanced set of wireless earbuds around and it's once again up to us to see if that's really the case.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Sport Pulse wireless stereo earbuds are placed inside a small box that has a female athlete at the front wearing the product (a picture of the product is also placed at the bottom left).

On the left side we see a few words about Jabras life app and a picture of the product placed on a smartphone.

The product features are listed at the rear of the box right next to the bundle contents.

You can check the product out prior to purchasing it from the front of the box since it opens up like a book (a few screenshots of the life app are also present here).

As you can all tell the bundle of the Sport Pulse earbuds is extremely rich and includes a "rugged" carrying case, 31cm long USB to micro USB charging cable, 4 sets of eargels, 4 sets of EarWings, 4 fit clips (two black and two yellow), warning paper, warranty information paper, Dolby audio app code paper, and a quick start guide.

THE SPORT PULSE

The thick carrying/storage case is a very interesting addition to the Sport Pulse since we don't see something similar a lot (so yes i had to take a picture of it).

Jabra has used a 60cm long tangle-free cable to connect the two earbuds together and the entire product weighs just a tad over 16g (both earbuds are rubber coated).

The exterior of the left earbud acts as the sports button which is basically the start/end button for the life app (the optomechanical heart-monitor is placed on the lower end).

You should try all 4 sets of eargels to see which size fits your ear (just pull to remove them).

Jabra used medium-sized 6mm dynamic drivers so right from the bat we know that bass levels may not reach our expectations.

The micro USB charging port is "hidden" by a rubber cover and located at the base of the right earbud (exactly where the heart monitor is located on the left one).

Left and right markings are placed on the cord area right beneath the earbuds.

An inline controller is placed near the right earbud and from here you can turn the headset on/off, play/pause music, answer/end/reject calls, redial last number (all these from the multi-function center button), adjust volume, skip track, mute audio and check battery life (from the top/bottom buttons).

ANDROID/IOS APPS

There are two apps you can download and install for the Sport Pulse Wireless Earbuds, the Jabra Sound app and the Jabra Life App (if during setup you can't calibrate/detect the heart-rate monitor skip it and use the app - it happened with one of our smartphones but the heart-rate monitor was detected fine when we used the app).

The Sound App can be used with most Jabra Devices and not only does it give you 16 equalizer presets which you can use (Blues/Classical/Country/Dance/Electronic/Flat/Hip Hop/Jazz/Jungle/Latin/Metal/Pop/RnB/Rock/Speech/Urban) but it also allows you to create your very own.

Moving onto the Jabra Life app things are much more interesting since this works directly with the heart-rate monitor and your smartphones GPS (it also offers a battery charge display) to produce accurate workout data (distance/time/heart rate/calories/cadence/pace) from a wide selection of activities (running/cycling/walking/cross-training/hiking/skiing/skating/spinning and treadmill exercises).

CONCLUSION

   Two pages earlier we said that the 6mm dynamic drivers of the Sport Plus may not be large enough to produce good bass levels but we were partially wrong since these are even better compared to the good ROX model. True we’ve heard deeper and richer bass with a few other earphones in the past but for a sports headset the Sport Pulse does extremely well in that area. Overall audio quality is also very good with crisp and accurate mids and highs although when the volume is turned all the way up you may experience some slight distortion (of course that depends a lot on the type of music you’re listening). The heart-rate monitor also works as advertised and although it may not be just as accurate as our polar chest monitor still it comes extremely close. The only problem with the Sport Pulse is their battery life since at almost full volume with the heart-rate monitor enabled we had a really hard time crossing the 4 hours mark. Of course even 4 hours should be more than enough for running or working out but there are some sports headsets out there with almost twice as much battery life so do keep that in mind (still those don’t feature an integrated heart-rate monitor).

   So how much does this little “wonder” by Jabra cost? Actually things are very good here too compared to when the Sport Pulse Wireless Earbuds were first released roughly 18 months ago since currently you can find them for USD138.94 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 119Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). So if Jabra was still asking the same amount of money for the Sport Pulse as they did 18 months ago we’d probably have a problem with that but since they don’t and the price is right we think that these sport earbuds represent one of the best models in the market currently which is why they get our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (IP55 Certified)
- Design 
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Audio Quality
- Excellent Stability
- Stereo
- Bluetooth v4.0
- Jabra Sound / Fitness Apps
- Rich Bundle
- Current Price (For Some)

CONS

- Battery Life (Only Up To 5 Hours)