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With wireless headphones becoming a more and more affordable proposition, there’s a rising tide of diversity and creativity being pumped into the sector.
Freed from the traditional physical constraints of cords, earbud design is free to evolve in new directions and diverge into new spaces. Jabra’s Halo Smart represents one such development.
Pitched as a pair of wireless sports headphones for businessmen, they favour function over form. The Halo Smart feel nice to the touch and there’s an aesthetic elegance to be found here – even if the red colour scheme lacks subtlety. It features a plastic ring-like design that can be tucked over or under your collar and boasts an impressive 17 hours of battery life.
The frame sits on your shoulders lightly and the earbuds themselves make for a snug fit. On the whole, the Halo Smart feels secure – but not intrusively so. Rather than hang loosely, the earbuds can magnetically snap to the frame of the Halo Smart or to one another. Though a little sporty for my own tastes, there’s a distinct sense of cleanness and simplicity on display.
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Made of a semi-flexible plastic, the frame can stretch to fit most neck sizes. There are two sets of buttons at your disposal. Three on the right for connecting the Halo Smart to other devices and modifying the volume. Meanwhile the single button on the left wing allows you to activate Siri or Google Now when desired.
The buttons themselves are responsive but sometimes are a little too sensitive – I accidentally turned the headphones off with relative infrequency.
Regardless of how much I was or wasn’t won over by the design (your mileage may vary), it’s hard to dismiss the Halo Smart’s battery life entirely. As far as wireless headphones go, 17 hours is a long time and given most will utilize the headset in combination with a smartphone, it feels like it’s got a solid use-case behind it.
In terms of their integration with Jabra’s growing suite of applications that connect to their headsets. Pairing the Halo Smart with your smartphone via the app enables the Halo Smart to read your messages, keep track of your battery life and, should you ever lose the headphones, find them using geolocation.
Audio quality is good for the most part. When directly compared to my own JBL headphones, sound felt clearer and more encompassing. Unfortunately, I did find the Bluetooth connection between my phone and the Halo Smart didn’t fare as well as I expected it to. Sometimes I could listen to whole albums without issue. Other times I found the connection would drop out even when my phone was no further than in my pocket.
While your mileage with the design-side of things may vary, the battery life, audio-quality and price point of the Halo Smart make it a compelling proposition. At $129.99, they offer up a versatile experience that’s easy to recommend – even if feels a tad too conspicuous for business purposes.
