Jabra Move Wireless
Bluetooth headphones
are experiencing a sort of renaissance, with audio quality that's
improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. Suddenly, a $xxx pair
like the Jabra Move Wireless can hang with many wired pairs in the same
price range. The Move Wireless has a simple, classy design, and the
plush earpads remain comfortable over long listening periods. There's an
audio cable for optional wired listening, but the best aspect is the
audio performance: Bass lovers who want their low frequencies balanced
out with crisp highs will be pleased. In this price range, the Move
Wireless is an excellent option whether you're listening wirelessly or
through a cable, earning it our Editors' Choice.
Design
Available in black, blue, or red, the Move
Wireless has a simple, classy look to it. The supra-aural (on-ear)
design is comfortable, and the design accents are simple and spare, with
a Jabra logo above the earcups and some cool small writing that lets
you know the sound design is by Jabra, which is from Copenhagen. It's an
interesting design move to keep the earcups basically blank with a
matte finish except for tiny writing, which ends up look more like a
decorative border than anything else from any appreciable distance.
The earpads and underside of the headband are cushioned enough to
stay comfortable over long listening sessions. A linguini-style flat
cable connects the earcups to the headband itself, bending inward
gracefully when the headband is retracted and straightening out when the
headband is extended.
Controls on the left earcup include a Play/Pause/Answer Call/End Call
button flanked by two additional buttons that adjust volume or navigate
tracks depending on how long you hold them down. The volume controls
work together with your mobile device's volume level, not independently
of it. A Power/Bluetooth switch on the right earcup allows you to pair
the headphones or turn them off. A micro USB port next to the switch
works with the included charging cable.
The Move Wireless ships with a detachable 3.5mm audio cable and a
micro USB charging cable. There's no carrying pouch or case, but at
$xxx, this is a forgiveable omission. 
Jabra rates the battery life of the Move Wireless at roughly 8 hours,
with up to 288 hours of standby battery life. Your results on the
overall life per charge will depend on how loudly you play your
streaming music back. It takes about 1-2 hours to fully charge a dead
battery.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like
The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Move Wireless delivers some serious
thunder and doesn't distort even at top, unsafe listening levels. At
moderate volumes, the deep bass still commands the mix, but
leaves enough high-mid and high frequency presence to keep things
balanced.
On tracks with less-intense deep bass, like Bill Callahan's "Drover,"
the Move Wireless still packs a serious bass punch, with his baritone
vocals getting plenty of added richness in the low-mids and the drums
receiving an extra coat of low-end presence. The result would sound
muffled and unnatural if the Move Wireless didn't also bring lots of
high-mid and high frequency sculpting to the table. Callahan's vocals
get enough treble edge to remain clear and in the forefront of the mix,
and the guitar strumming has a bright, clean attack to it. This is a
sculpted, but balanced, sound.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum
loop's attack gets just the right amount of high-mid presence to sound
sharp and slice through the dense layers of this mix, while the sub-bass
synth hits get plenty of attention in both the high-mids and the deep
lows, providing plenty of extra thump while retaining the raspy top
notes. The bass presence here is strong, but it doesn't overwhelm the
balance of the mix, and leaves plenty of room for the vocals to float
clearly over everything.
Bass lovers will enjoy what the added presence does for orchestral
and jazz music. Classical tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary,
get a noticeable boost in the bass department, raising the presence of
lower register instrumentation from subtle to powerful. It isn't
quite overpowering, since the vocals and higher register strings and
brass still get plenty of sculpted high-mid and high frequency presence
to remain the focus of the mix, but purists will find this sound a bit
bass-heavy.
The $100 price range is not exactly filled with excellent
Bluetooth on-ear or over-ear headphone options, though we have several
models we like for far less or lots more. The Harman Kardon BT and the JBL Synchros S400BT both offer sculpted, but balanced, responses, but are much more expensive, while the Outdoor Technology DJ Slims
offers listenable, clean audio for a lower price. At $xxx, however, the
Jabra Move Wireless has no notable direct competition in the Bluetooth
realm. It combines a subtle, classy design with a powerful audio
performance, earning it our Editors' Choice.
