Creative Sound Blaster Jam Headphones Review
The Creative Sound Blaster Jam Headphones was announced on the 22nd January 2015 and it is a Creative Online Store exclusive item and is retailing for S$69.
The Sound Blaster Jam is a lightweight (83g) Bluetooth 4.1 wireless headset that gives you wireless audio for your music, movies and games from your smartphone. It has built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) wireless connectivity for easy one-touch pairing with Android or Windows Phone devices.
It has a built-in microphone as well to answer calls from your phone. The microphone has built-in noise reduction and acoustic echo cancellation to allow you to listen to the other party clearer during a phone call.
The built-in battery gives you up to 12 hours of wireless playback or talktime.
For the price and build of the Jam Headphones, I am guessing it is targeted at the entry-level market. As a gadget guy, I find the plastic build a little cheap and the use of foam ear cushions suggest the same thing as well.
However, when I asked Li Xiang who is totally not into gadgets to try it, she said the design is streamline and she like it because it is no frills and lightweight.
Maybe Creative should come out with a red or pink color to target the females.
Note that the foam ear cushions will disintegrate over time and the foam ear cushion on the Jam Headphones is not replaceable.
*UPDATE* Creative got back to me saying the foam ear cushion replacement can be bought from Creative Online Store in the future.
All the controls are located on the right side of the headphones: volume Up/Down, one-touch bass button and multi-function button.
To start the Bluetooth pairing process, just press and hold the multi-function button.
The multi-function button also allows you to play/pause/resume music by just pressing it once. When a call comes in, pressing it once will answer the call and pressing it again, will end the call. To reject the incoming call, just press and hold.
As a bass lover, I like the bass of the Jam Headphones. However at maximum volume with bass enhancement, it seems that the bass will crack.
You can connect the Jam Headphones to a PC or Mac via the included USB cable for audio playback. When you do that, you can have access to the SBX Pro Studio suite of technologies by installing the Sound Blaster JAM Control Panel.
Note that when it is connected via USB, the microphone functionality will be disabled (might be because of a technical limitation?). That kinda sucks because you can’t use it for Skype calls.
Summary
Pros:
- Reasonably priced
- Good battery life
- Lightweight
Cons:
- Build of the headphones seems cheap
- Bass cracks at maximum volume
- When connected to PC/Mac via USB, microphone will be disabled
Despite some of the flaws mentioned in this post, I still think that the Creative Sound Blaster Jam Headphones is a good entry-level Bluetooth wireless headphones that is reasonably priced.
It is worth considering if you are looking for a Bluetooth headphones and on a tight budget.