JBL, a part of Harman International Industries, has been on the acoustic market since 1946. Its product line includes both portable speakers and headphones in a variety of form factors. A couple of years ago, the company introduced the Reflect Mini BT headphones, recognized as the lightest of the wireless ones at Harman. Designed for sports, the Bluetooth headset quickly gained the love of users due to its smart ergonomics, quality construction and high autonomy.
Content:
Design and handling
The JBL Reflect Mini BT headphones are a wireless headset with sporty earbuds and a microphone. The name Reflect Mini BT is initially aimed at positioning the model in the sports segment, as in English, to reflect. Both headphones are connected by a rigid cable with a reflective strip, which allows drivers to distinguish the athlete in the dark.
The headset from JBL is available in four colors-blue, red, blue and black. The body of the remote and the headphones themselves are made of durable glossy plastic. The ear cup displays the company logo in reverse color, and inside the cup are 5.8-millimeter speakers, producing good sound quality.
The cable on the right side has a small remote with three buttons, an LED, and a Micro USB interface for charging the headphones. The two buttons on the remote control are for volume control only. The central button is for enabling/disabling the microphone, as well as switching tracks. Alas, the software part of the headset does not allow you to rewind tracks and return previous songs.
By the way, the LED on the remote control shows the current state of the headphones:
- blinking blue for every four seconds - working state;
- red diode - the battery is running out of power.
In general, thanks to comfortable ear cushions and ergonomic locks, the headphones will not fall out of your ears during intense strain and activity, and the presence of water protection class IPX4 allows you to run in the rain without fear of the headset performance. The device comes with two pairs of classic and sports ear cushions.
Sound and autonomy
Despite the wide range of reproduced frequencies (10-22 kHz), the headphones do not shine with a wide scene or high AFC values. The sound from the 5.8-mm loudspeakers is quite consistent with the stated price range without any skewing towards the middle or high frequencies.
Due to the fact that the headset is designed for sports, the developers first of all took into account the ergonomic components of the model (sports fixing, reflective stripe, light weight) and worked on the autonomy of headphones, forgetting a little about the sound quality.
For example, the built-in battery, according to the manufacturer, is enough for 8 hours of music playback. And, judging by user reviews, this figure is true. It takes 100 minutes to charge the battery, and the charger can be used as a charger smartphone charger, as well as an external portable battery or a USB-port of a computer.
Synchronization with your device is done via Bluetooth. Among the supported profiles are Hands free and Headset, so it is not possible to connect a headset to two devices at the same time. There are no gaps during synchronization, the quality of the connection is at a decent level.
As for the microphone, you can answer the call with it, but the microphone itself, built into the remote, poor quality and often have to bring it to your mouth to the interlocutors to hear you. In addition, the lack of noise cancellation system puts a cross on nice conversations and negotiations in a noisy gym.
Opinion of users
Almost all users of these headphones, judging by the reviews, talk about the high ergonomic indicators of the headset. Thanks to the locks and light weight, they do not fly off when you run, and eight hours of autonomy is quite enough for a week of use. Users note the good quality of synchronization with the smartphone and the absence of interruptions.
But, despite this, most owners of Reflect Mini BT are angry about the quality of sound and microphone. However, there were those who did not like the constantly flashing LED, which, alas, can not be turned off.
Competitors on the market
The market for budget sports headsets not so long ago was occupied by Chinese companies, as a result of which the model from JBL had quite worthy competitors. So, at a cost of almost two times lower headphones from Meizu and Xiaomi offer good functionality, coupled with a decent battery life. Yes, and the lack of support for Aptx profile does not allow the headset from JBL give a better sound.
So, if you need an unpretentious device for sports and you are willing to pay no attention to audio quality, Reflect Mini will be a good choice. If you need sound when jogging, the Sony MDR-XB50BS headphones are at your service. Not ready to spend a lot on wireless technology - the Chinese models are your choice!
|
Model Name |
JBL Reflect Mini BT |
Meizu EP51 |
Xiaomi Mi Sport Bluetooth Headset |
Huawei AM61 |
Sony MDR-XB50BS |
|
Earphone type |
Bluetooth headphone with microphone |
Bluetooth headphones with microphone |
Bluetooth headphones with microphone |
Bluetooth headphones with microphone |
Bluetooth headphone with microphone |
|
Connected and supported profiles |
Bluetooth, Hands free, Headset |
Bluetooth 4.0, AVRCP, Hands free, A2DP, Headset, AptX |
Bluetooth 4.1, AVRCP, A2DP, Hands free, Headset |
Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, Headset, AVRCP, Hands free, |
Bluetooth 4.0, AVRCP, Hands free, A2DP, Headset |
|
Frequency Range |
10 - 22000 Hz |
20 Hz - 20,000 Hz |
20 Hz - 20,000 Hz |
20 Hz - 20,000 Hz |
4 - 24000 Hz |
Advantages and disadvantages
Perhaps the main advantages of this sports headset are:
- good build quality and elaborate ergonomics;
- Light weight and comfortable to wear;
- The availability of sports and classic ear cushions;
- High battery life of eight hours;
- remote control and moisture protection.
The 7 Best JBL Wireless Headphones
However, despite such perfect value for money, the following drawbacks were still revealed while using the headphones:
- Quiet microphone with no noise cancellation;
- obsolete version of Bluetooth and a small number of supported profiles;
- annoying indicator light without the ability to turn it off.
Results
Undoubtedly, being on the market for about three years has made the JBL Reflect Mini BT one of the best models in its price range and class. But the invasion of Chinese models has not gone away. Many users prefer models from Xiaomi and Meizu, as at a lower price and good quality "Chinese" offer advanced functionality and modern technology. Are you willing to pay for a "JBL-classic" and be satisfied with mediocre sound or will you still go for the Chinese side of the force?
Topicals:
The 12 best headphones for music
, The 4 best Apple headphones
, The 5 best in-ear headphones
, The 5 best gaming headphones with a microphone
, 5 best JBL headphones
, 7 best wireless headphones JBL