The Jarv Joggerz PRO Sports Bluetooth 4.1 Headphones provide great sound but don’t seem to hold up well to regular use for workouts.

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Earbud style headphones just don’t work for me. I’ve tried countless tips and with and without “wings” and I just can’t find a pair that works for me. They either won’t stay in my ear or they start hurting within the first 15 minutes of wearing them.

This conundrum led me to wanting to try an over-the-ear style of headphone. After scouring Amazon’s seemingly-endless selection of Bluetooth headphones, I settled on the Jarv Joggerz PRO Sports Bluetooth 4.1 headphones.

Appearance

Right out of the package, I didn’t mind the style of these. The green highlights weren’t obnoxious and they weren’t overly bulky on my ears. At first I was in love with their ability to fold into themselves to make them easier to transport, but that love affair ended when trying to get them to fold “correctly” took too much time, thought and energy.

Sound

The couple audiophiles I know had petit mal seizures at the mere mention of Bluetooth headphones, so I knew that I wasn’t going to get top-of-the-line sound from any headphones I tried. I was very pleased with the sound from these headphones. I found it to be comparable to the wired headphones I’d used (I had an excellent pair from JVC and another from MEElectronics). The volume came across well with a nice mix of treble and bass and no tinny sound.

Function

Like any Bluetooth headphones worth their salt, these were very easy to set up. Press the multifunction button until it enters pairing mode, select in your phone’s Bluetooth settings and you’re good to go. The Jarv Joggerz remembered my iPhone the whole time I used them.

The battery meter (shown on my iPhone) was definitely a little off. After the first charge, I used these for almost two weeks of workouts without needing to charge. In my last days of using my pair, the battery meter showed half full, but 10 minutes into my workout, the low battery warnings started. Let me warn you now… these headphones have one of the most obnoxious low battery warnings I’ve encountered. They stopped my music about every 30-45 seconds and, in a voice louder than my music, announced “Battery Low.”

And how about now?

The marketing materials for these headphones say “Perfect for the active lifestyle,” but that apparently only applies if you’re some kind of X-Men who doesn’t sweat when being active.

To the Jarv Joggerz’ credit, the sweating didn’t affect the electronic parts of the headphones.

Let’s talk about the padded earpieces. They were quite comfortable (another marketing point from their materials). However, sweat soaks into whatever foam-type material makes them so darn comfortable. After the second workout, the earpieces started smelling like a high school boys’ locker room. I tried keeping them in a container of rice to try to absorb the moisture and odor, but the smell had become a permanent part of their being. Eventually, the smell became overpowering and I was convinced everyone around me could smell too.

The covering for the padding also began to separate and come apart pretty early on in owning them and the screws where the headphone arms bent rusted pretty badly:

After the padding starting digesting itself, the earpieces became less and less comfortable.

I ended up abandoning my Jarv Joggerz. They still work, but have been banished to a Ziploc bag, charged with the heinous crime of smelling “a Waffle House sink” (bonus points if you get the quote!).

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Drinks on the House

Top Shelf
Great sound, stayed on ears, comfortable, easy to set-up

Well
Came apart early on, absorbed sweat and ended up smelling like the underworld

Bartender’s Advice
Great headphones for everyday use or for more active people, provided they don’t sweat. If you can’t afford Botox of the sweat glands, you will want to look elsewhere for workout headphones.