Jabra Halo Smart

Very happy with this product – I own a couple of sets of wireless ear pieces, however I bought these ones too wear at work as they were the only ones that really offered a decent battery life more than six hours. I find a single charge lasts me two full days which is excellent and exactly what I was after. I also like the part that goes around your neck, I put it on in the morning and it stays on all day. After an hour or so you will not even realise you are wearing it.  Show details

Solid for the price – These headphones have excellent battery life for the price. Audio is solid if you can get a decent seal from the earbuds although they could be a bit louder. My only criticisms are that sometimes the audio is a bit distorted while moving and the removable cushioning may come lose (And easily be lost) preventing a proper seal.  Show details

Great sound quality – The Jabra Halo Smart is a sturdily built neck-band style headphone that performs very well as a headset for making cell phone calls, offers good battery life, and decent sound for music if you get a tight seal. Neckband vibrates when a call comes in. You may not get a secure, tight seal from any of the included ear tips, which leads to a poor fit and a reduction in sound quality.  Show details

Have 17 hour battery life – I had it for few months and I believe its battery life is the best feature in Jabra Halo Smart. But, it's quite large though! The GPS tracking feature is not really accurate so don't loose it like I did. In general, the performance was good and it worth its price.  Show details

Good, but has some usability problems – Sound: The sound quality is good. I compared these with a standard pair of Samsung headphones that come with their mobile phones and these were noticeably better. There is a slight hiss that is present whenever the headset is expecting sound. For example if you don't have any music playing they are silent, but switching to another app or task will… Read more

result in a 5 second hiss. It isn't audible when actually listening to music as it masks the hiss.

Microphone: I was expecting a lot from the microphone but I have had some problems. When talking to people through the headset they say that there is way too much background noise and can hardly hear me. One person said they could hear someone ordering food a few meters away from me clearer than my own voice. Apparently it sounds like the mic is pointing outwards. Sometimes when calling people I will have to disconnect the headset and talk using the regular phone microphone so they can hear me.

Comfort: I have found the neck band to be comfortable. I run sometimes with these headphones and just tighten the angle of the band so it hugs my neck. The size of the buds are a little too large for me when trying to sleep with them in. It depends how you sleep of course but be aware that when sleeping on your side they will push in more than some other headphones.

Battery: Battery life is really good. Much better than a lot of other similar styled bluetooth headphones. Charges really quick as well which is nice. Battery indicator has full, medium and low, and will say fully charged until 50%. Why not have readouts in 10% increments? Or Full, High, Medium, Low in 25% increments. The app will display the charge as a progress bar, so if I need to know the battery level I will connect the headset to my phone.

Buttons: The siri/assistant button works well. I wear these in the car sometimes with one ear in and its nice to be able to just press a button and ask for directions, text messages etc. The buttons to change song and volume are shared. This is a big mistake as users have to push the volume key down for a few seconds to skip a song. When running or driving or busy, it is hard to stop, hold the button down for a while, then skip song, then take your hand off the headset. Jabra should leave the volume keys alone and use the play pause button to change music; Double tap to skip (much easier than hold and wait), triple tap to skip back. One more problem with the buttons: double tap will try and call the previously called contact. Be prepared to leave a lot of awkward missed calls as that is what happens to me regularly.

Ear Tips: This is more of a personal experience as everyone's ears are different. They don't fit my ears so I bought some cheap ones off ebay for $5. These work well and clip on fine. I have never had buds not fit in my ears so I feel like it is to do with the material. They are quite stiff so just fall or slide out by themselves.

Sounds/Voice: The status voice is at a different volume than the music level, so be prepared to be frightened when connecting/disconnecting and during the low battery reminder. Not sure if this is something Jabra could have avoided though as devices will have their own set volumes that may not be available to the headset.

Connection: Connection is very good. I can go into my kitchen on the floor below my room and still listen to music clearly. No problems here!

Conclusion:

Overall I am happy with these headphones and use them everyday. There are a lot of problems that I outlined, but they still sound great, fit well (thanks to eBay ear tips), comfortable, and have excellent battery life, and this is what is most important to me. The problems are more just many (mainly personal) little reminders that they could be better. I paid $69 Australian Dollars for a new pair and would recommend at that price for anyone wanting bluetooth headphones, mainly because the battery life is so good and the sound is decent.

Average – For the price you pay, the sound and battery quality is pretty good. Plays music, last for hours, can use to answer calls and activate google now. Quality wise is average, it says you can bend it to suit your neck. After less than 4 months my right ear bud stopped working, and shuts down by itself. Had to send back to claim warranty. … Read more

Earbuds provided does not have variety of sizes so you might not find one that suits your ear. And if it falls off, you'd have to pay a hefty price just to have the rubber piece replace. Unlike Logitech who generously send me three whole packets for free when the rubber buds fell off.

So much to like about Jabra Halo Smart – I became envious of my wife's wireless earphones, so I researched lots of different brands to find something for me. Although not my first preference, the Jabra Halo smart earphones ticked almost all the boxes I wanted. Incredible battery life, light weight, good sound, good for calls, stylish, reliable and not ridiculously expensive. after… Read more

watching and reading lots of reviews, I decided they were worth the risk. I was happy to sacrifice a little bit of sound quality by spending $100 instead of $250 or more. And I will be less upset when they pack it in, or when the next great models come out from some of my favourite brands (with better battery life, and the crisp, clear sound that I really like). At least I'm now wireless, and I wonder why it took me so long to make the change.

It's only been a few days, but so far I'm very happy with these earphones. The sound is pretty good, but i don't think it will satisfy audiophiles, bass lovers, or those who want super loud music. For me, they're fine, until I can afford the ones I really want! I leave them paired to my iPad and iPhone all the time - they only disconnect when I leave them behind. I simply restart the headphones again, and they quickly reconnect to both devices (and a voice prompt tells me so).

To be honest, I feel like wearing these things all day, with the magnetically attached earbuds hanging down, ready for when I need them. I don't do it because I'm at work, and don't want to draw attention to them.

I love the fact that taking the earphones out and snapping them magnetically together, stops the music or phone call. Pulling them apart will answer a phone call. My only real gripe is that they don't come with a case, nor is it easy to find one that suits it. I've ended up using an old cd case, about 15cm square. I pulled out the plastic sleeves and it's almost a perfect fit.

If you do buy them, I strongly recommend that you try all the ear tips. Getting the right fit makes a huge difference to the sound and the comfort. It also stops them from falling out too easily.

UPDATE: Ive been using them for a few weeks now, and overall they are great. However, be prepared for occasional glitches. Sometimes they take a few seconds to start playing music smoothly. Not a big deal for me. Sometimes the controls stop working, and I have to do a shut down and restart.It hasn't been a major problem yet, but some might find it annoying. The other issue I've noticed is that the neckband sometimes twists around, mainly when doing active stuff where you are turning or twisting etc. It can be annoying, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

I still think these earphones are excellent value, and provide a decent listening experience.

Decent but problematic – I got these pair of headphones when it was on special at JB and the first pair connected for about 3hrs and it automatically disconnected. I thought it was low on battery so I charged it till full. Tried to connect it and it wouldn't connect. Restarted it and my phone. Still wouldn't connect. Went back to JB and the bald guy was kind enough to… Read more

replace it. The second pair worked very well. It worked perfectly for nearly a month and then there were skips and disconnections even though my phone was in my pants pocket and the headset was on my neck. There was a software update and had it updated but it didn't seem to fix any of the problems I was experiencing. It's weird. Sometimes it happens all day and sometimes it doesn't happen at all.

The good:

Battery life. It can last a good 12hrs. I know it said 15hrs of music time but I was able to get 12hrs at the most. Also the charging time from empty to full is less than 2hrs.

Sweat and light drizzle resistant.

The Ok:

The sound is decent but it's not mind blowing or terrible.

The bad:

As said above. Also if you have a big neck then it can be quite uncomfortable and it doesn't sit well on clothing.

Great product, great price – Bought the Jabra Halo Smart headset after my previous behind-neck headset (SONY SBH80) started to overheat. I had a good run from the Sony, so these replacements had a lot to live up to. Firstly, I'll talk about the things I liked/loved. Then I'll mention the few quirks I've had to get used to. I have had this set for over a month now. Like… Read more

the light-weight of the entire device, and the earpieces. As the battery is stored in the bulbous 'behind-the-neck' part, the earpieces don't feel heavy in my ears, even after wearing for 3 hours straight. The earpieces have a short tail that makes them easy to grab when inserting/removing from the ear.

Love the battery life! The Sony set that I had could stumble through an entire workday before needing a charge. I recently forgot to charge this Jabra unit overnight, and with solid use the next day as well it lasted 2 workdays! Impressed.

Love the button placement. While I did like the Sony set having volume and skip controls on separate sides, the buttons were simply too small and difficult to feel. The Jabra set has multi-function buttons on the right side, however the buttons have a nice bulk and a clicky feel. I definitely know when I've pressed a button, also aided by a small nib under the main button (making it super simple to know which button you're pressing). Don't think, just press!

Like the voice feedback in the earpiece when connection and button events happen. On my Sony set, the device would simply buzz if I went out of range, and most times I would think it was a text message coming through. With the Jabra, the message of 'No device connected' is brilliant (and other notifications).

Should have put this first, but love the sound quality. Not too bassy, or too lean, but when I hear something I want to hear, I can push volume to max and leave the world behind! Sound output is much better than the more expensive Sony set I had. A note on this: I used a non-standard set of silicon buds on mine--softer silicon than the standard Jabra buds--so that may have positively affected the sound quality (I have found softer silicon to have better bass response in my ears, and I can wear them all day with no discomfort).

Don't like the charge port. Even with the supplied USB cable, the lift-up flap on the Jabra doesn't fold back far enough. It's a pain getting the micro-USB connector into it's slot on the device. The charge function could also have done with a quick 'buzz-buzz' from the device once it starts charging. I always charge devices from a power-brick, so I must find and check the indicator light every time I charge (to check the brick is supplying power properly).

Overall, v happy with this device. Comfy to wear all day, and almost half the price of the equivalent Sony product. Final kudos to Jabra for the magnetic earpieces--not only do they magnetically connect to one another, but when they drop down to my chest and connect, the music is paused! That is just good design.

Make the move to bluetooth headphones – The Jabra Halo Smart bluetooth headphones pack a punch when it comes to value for money and reliability. I am a very active person and very busy during the day. I was given these headphones as a Christmas present for when I go for long runs but I have worked out that these headphones go above and beyond using them for exercise. They have given me… Read more

the ability to multi task anywhere and anytime. For example: they are perfect for hands free phone calls when driving, I listen to podcasts or music while I am working or cooking and the bluetooth distance range allows me to be at the other end of my house from my phone/laptop and still have a great connection.

They are incredibly comfortable and I often have them draped around my neck throughout the day as they are not bulky and have a very modern, simplistic look about them. The battery on them is out of this world and I have, on a few occasions, forgotten to turn them off and the next day they still have plenty of battery. Recharging them is also a breeze and takes hardly any time at all.

I don't often write product reviews but this is a product I am have been so so pleased with that I wanted to share my positive experience in the hope that this helps others make an informed decision. For the average $129 they cost, they are well and truly worth it!

great wireless bluetooth and affordable price – Good price, light weight and easy to use. the price on jb hi-fi is only $129(Nov 2016), that was not the expensive one, never use wireless bluetooth so just search online look which is the best. But after use this, i think this is a great one for me, i use this for listen music and talk on phone when i do washing or cleaning. Water resistant, noise control... all good.