So I've spent the last week or so being tortured by these Jabra Halo bluetooth headphones that I bought. I believe they are the model that I saw in Hong Kong & regretted passing up on.... I got them from Future Shop during a sale.
I like the PSPgo Bluetooth headphone remote, but I really want to be free from wires altogether, and I also want the ease of over-the-head headphones. There are very few of those that are bluetooth, and fewer still that aren't HUGE.
The Jabra Halo bluetooth headphones were at times very nice but other times frustrating as hell. There are some really good things about them, and I really REALLY want to like them. But the problems are just too much.
The good - they are so comfortable.... the outside band is a soft vinyl, while the inside and earphones are a really nice soft velvet. They are fairly stiff, and shaped with the earphones slanting "outward" to try to mimic the ear shape.
They fold up, making them a bit more compact. It's also how they turn off apparently.
The sound is pretty good. It's better than I thought it would be, and it's actually a bit better sound quality than the PSPgo bluetooth remote. The Jabra halo control placement is good, though instead of having touch volume controls, they should have made those tactile buttons; a volume rocker button.
The bad - I had connection problems nearly right away... it paired with my PSPgo fine at first, but none of the controls on the headphones worked. And I kept having to re-pair it every time I turned off & on my PSPgo. So I was thinking, "these are not going to work out... damn I really like them too....." and was determined to return them.
Then yesterday I re-paired them for the upteenth time and adjust the bluetooth profile on the PSPgo first to HSP (mono headset profile)-- that was pretty bad sound quality, but the volume and play/pause buttons finally worked! So then I switched it to AVRCP and the sound quality went back to stereo yet the headphone controls kept working. Success, I hoped. Maybe I'll keep them after all!
But then I kept having problems where the PSPgo and the headphones kept thinking they were paired, but no sound was coming out of them. One time I even got the controls to work, but there was no sound. What the...????
Also all the removing and adding of the Jabra bluetooth profile kept causing my PSPgo to freeze on a "please wait..." screen.
So I've decided that I just can't win this one.... I'll be taking them back tomorrow. Sucks, I really like them & just want them to work. I don't think it's a bad unit, from all the reviews I've read it seems like pairing is a consistant problem, which is odd considering Jabra is all ABOUT bluetooth-- you'd think they'd know how to do it RIGHT.
But that's another sad thing I've noticed about bluetooth... there are NO good bluetooth headphones that stand out in the field. Every model I've come across has poor reviews. I have no idea why bluetooth headphones are so hard to create.
later
don
6 comments:
Now you're ready for the Games
haha... stylin'!
later
don
I've had the Halo for about 4 months and so far I love it. I have two comments, the volume control is a little odd and hard to use and the 'felt' material inside the headband is coming off because i have a shaved head and the stubble is wearing it away. Jabra has offered to replace the headset, so I shouldn't complain.
I would love the Jabra Halo if I didn't have so much problem with pairing them to my 2 BT devices.
I get the feeling that the Halo has been discontinued, as they've disappeared from my local stores... I hope Jabra is coming out with an improved version.
later
don
Bluetooth is a two way street, don't blame jabra as it might just be the other devices fault..
True. It is a 2-way street. But when there's a problem with the Jabra headphones pairing with 2 different devices (PSPgo and netbook) then it's likely Jabra. especially considering that it's easier to pair the 2 devices with the PSPgo BT remote.
So yeah, I can blame Jabra.
later
don
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