Why Jabra's Revo Are My Pick for Best On-Ear Bluetooth Headphone

Out of a crowded field, the Jabra Revo Bluetooth headphones ($199.99) get my vote as one of best pairs of Bluetooth headphones of this year. Specifically, within the on-ear category of headphones, the Revo's performance is unparalleled. They are masterfully designed and show a remarkable level of attention to all of the details that go into making an exceptional pair of 'phones; from their intuitive user interface to the extreme torture testing they go through before they are shipped. I realize Bluetooth headphones aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if you are looking for a top quality pair, the Revos are the best your money can buy.

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It's not just me, if you do a little digging around online, there are no shortage of glowing accolades about the Revo wireless. These cans have been praised by consumer audiophiles and professional sound engineers alike, and with good reason. Of all the headphones I've come across as a tech journalist, I keep coming back to the Revos as some of my all-time favorites, which is really saying something since I have a large noggin with big ears and I tend to prefer over-ear headphones for their comfort as well as for their inherent noise isolating design.

Comfort and Design

More than any other pair of on-ear headphones that I've tried, the Revos are the most comfy. Their light and airy cushions make it easy for me to forget I'm even wearing headphones. I kid you not, it actually happened once; I went looking for them only to find that I was wearing them. True story.

There are several criteria I use to judge the comfort of headphones: how tightly they clamp on to the head, how heavy they are, how the headband feels on top of the head, and how the cushions feel on the ears. The Revos pass all of these comfort tests with flying colors. They are lightweight with a generously padded headband and the earcups have great range of motion, with smoothly adjusting arms and gimbaled cups.

The Revos also feel exceptional good in one's hands, with a silky texture to the plastic and metal of the frame and a rubberized coating to the earcups. In terms of appearances the Revos I have on hand have a sleek, distinct look with black and grey/titanium with the tiniest hint of bright orange on the outer earcups. There are several other colors to choose from including an elegant white and silver model as well as a classy black and gold model.

The Revo have been subjected to some pretty extreme testing, and if ever a pair of headphones was ready to take the abuse of an active lifestyle, it is the Revo. As you'll see in the short video below, the Revo have been  subjected to cable testing (to 15 kg / 33 lbs), bend testing (10,000 times), fold testing (3,500 times) and drop testing (from 2 m, 6’6’’). That's an impressive amount  of wear and tear to go through and remain relatively unscathed.

The other unique feature of the Revos is the touch sensitive pad on the outside of the right earcup, which lets you control song selection and volume level, all with intuitive swipes and taps of your finger. Between the ability to fine tune your listening experience to such a precise degree and the slick touchscreen interface of the headset controls, the Revos are some of the most affordable luxury 'phones I know of!

Sound Specs

While the Revos are practically unrivaled when they are being used in conjunction with the Jabra audio app, the real question and the real test is how well these headphones perform independent of their fancy app. In my interaction with the Revos, I'd have to say that the base audio experience that they offer the listener is exceptional, on par with the best of the best Bluetooth headphones out there like the Parrot Zik or the House of Marley Liberate XLBT. While I still noted some occasional audio dropout, overall when you take into consideration the fact that they are Bluetooth headphones, the Revos offer exceptionally crispy and clear sound. When used with the accompanying Jabra app, it can be hard to tell the difference between the Bluetooth Revos and a good pair of wired on-ear 'phones.

Pros:

• Support for the AAC Bluetooth codec, which is what Apple utilizes for delivering superior, near lossless audio quality over their iOS devices.

• Incredibly tough and durable.

• Lightweight, weighing in at only 8.5 ounces.

• 12-hour playback time, and they function with the included audio cables even when they no longer have a charge.

• Collapsible for portability.

• Precisely adjustable arms and gimbaled earcups for maximum comfort.

• Some of the most comfortable on-ear headphones on the market.

• For anyone who scoffs at Bluetooth connectivity, the wireless Revos offer the best of both worlds with an option to plug directly into source via the included heavy-duty, braided audio cable.

Cons:

• There isn't an over-ear model.

• I still experienced the occasional sound gap or acoustic dropout that is sometimes an unfortunate trade off when adopting Bluetooth wireless technology. If however, you like the sound of these cans, but the idea of Bluetooth generally turns you off and is something you'd never use, be sure to check out the Bluetooth Revo's wired twin, the Revo 1.0.

• The fact that the music playback controls on the Revos rely on touch, make it impossible to control your audio in colder temperatures without removing your gloves or without having touchscreen-enabled gloves on. This is perhaps the Revo's biggest drawback for anyone in cold environments. In fact, the only point that keeps the Revo from having a full five-star rating is the fact that if you want to control audio playback in colder climates, the only way to do so other than with no gloves or touchscreen gloves, is by taking your iDevice out and doing so from there. It would be nice if the inline mic built into the accessory audio cable allowed for a single click to adjust volume and a double click to adjust song selection or to activate Siri, like so many other Bluetooth headphones already allow.

Verdict:

I can't say enough good things about the Jabra Revo Bluetooth headphones. Not only are the Revos best in (over-ear) class, they rival some of the top offerings overall, which include the audiophile-favorite, over-ear category of headphone. It will be interesting to see how they stack up in my end of the year round up of the best headphones of 2014. I expect they will do quite well so stay tuned for my year-end, holiday round up in November.

iPhone Life rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars