Here are some product pictures for you to check out:
And now the review!
Comfort
The Jabra Revo is an on-ear headphone and is very comfortable for long periods of use. The earphones and the headband are cushioned, and the adjustments made to the headband size stay in place. I used these on two 12-13 hour flights between Chicago and Tokyo and was very happy with the fit and comfort of these headphones.
Performance
I really like the performance of the Jabra Revo. I used them to listen to movies such as Iron Man 2 and The Godfather, and heard details that I have not heard with other headphones. Music sounded great; bass was clear and higher range sounds were a pleasure to hear. I listened to hard rock, pop, jazz and classical, and was very happy with the sound performance. Airplane cabin noise was somewhat isolated, but since these are not noise cancellation headphones, I did not expect much assistance with that problem. The Jabra Revo performed on a par with the Beats Solos.
Features
The Revo is a folding headphone and has really well-built adjustment slides that stay put. Another really nice touch is the extra 3.5mm jack on the right headphone; competing products only have one jack on the left side, requiring a splitter if you want to share your sound. I normally sit with my daughter when we fly and we watch movies together; now I don’t need an extra splitter as the Jabra Revos support this feature. Simply plug in an extra 3.5mm jack cable to the right side and attach it to another headphone to share. Another nice touch is the fabric-covered cable that does not snag in storage, and the protective bag is well-done. These headphones occupy a smaller space when folded up than the Beats Solo, a very nice thing when space in your carryon bag is limited. The microphone onboard the cable worked well when used with an iPhone 5, but failed to work with my Samsung Galaxy S3. I also used these as a headset for my work-issued VOIP solution (think Skype but tied into my work phone system) and actually delivered better results than the headset that I was issued by my employer.
Jabra also has a sound app that delivers Dolby Digital Plus performance when paired with the Revo. To use this feature, you need to load a new music playing app and then import your music library, and I decided that this was too much work. The app loaded just fine; a QR code is provided in the box and you need to register it to activate it, but since I already have my music in Google Play Music on my cell phone, I opted not to test drive this feature.
Overall Evaluation
The Jabra Revo headphones are a good competitor to the Beats Solo. Sound quality is excellent and a match for the Solo. They are quite comfortable to use for long periods of time, fold up for easy storage and come with a nice bag that will easily fit into your purse or carryon bag. The styling is professional and attractive, and the fabric-coated cables are a nice touch. The built-in sharing capabilities and dedicated music playback app add to the equation. The Jabra Revo headphones are a worthy option and should be on your list; just don’t expect to use them to answer calls with an Android phone. At $199, they are a good value. I award the Jabra Revo a 5/5 Gold Award and recommend them if you are in the market for a premium set of on-ear headphones.
The Jabra Revo headphones are available at Amazon.com.
