JBL/Under Armor Sport Wireless Train review: Sound that has aged well
MSRP $200.00
“The sound quality of the Sport Wireless Train has stood the test of time”
Avg
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Simple controls
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IPX4 weatherproof rating
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Exceptional sound quality
Against
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Tight fit
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Average battery life
Engineering against time is a war that is waged endlessly, although the other side almost inevitably comes out unscathed. You need a special product to keep your watch from running out, and in the fast-paced world of wearable audio, these products are getting harder and harder to come by.
Take the JBL/Under Armor Wireless Sport Train headphones, which retailed for $200 when they launched in 2018, but have since dropped to $130. Sure, they seemed solid at the time, but how can they hold their own against the relentless might of 2020? Let’s see.
Out of the box
The packaging of the Wireless Train is a dark shade of black, which matches the headphones themselves. After sliding off the initial cover, you’re met with a rectangular tote bag with the familiar Under Armor logo across the front. The headphones, as well as a charging cable, an auxiliary audio cable and a quick guide await inside.
Nick Woodard/Digital Trends
Running the wireless train for the first time is a little weird, at least if you’re like me and stubbornly refuse to read the fine print before trying out your new pair of headphones. The power button is a switch that must be held in place for two seconds before turning on. From there, however, the headphones automatically enter pairing mode, allowing you to follow the standard pairing procedure of your mobile device via Bluetooth settings.
I’m not thrilled that the Wireless Train only supports Bluetooth 4.1 technology, as that means connectivity and range aren’t up to par with devices that support the newer, better Bluetooth 5 standard. This leads to an important caveat about the wireless train: at the time of this review, they are already two years old. In the time of technology, that’s about a century. After reviewing the Adidas RPT-01, I went in search of the closest comparison I could find. The Wireless Train was the clear answer due to its price and design, and unfortunately for these headphones, they’ll be judged by modern standards instead of at the top in 2018.
That’s not to say the Wireless Train can’t still be a capable headphone – it can. But compared to a relatively new product, it’s going to be an uphill battle for these JBL cans.
To shape
For a slightly older product, the Wireless Train has a pretty modern design for an on-ear, sports-focused headphone. In fact, there aren’t many differences between these headphones and the newer Adidas, aside from aesthetic choices like the shape of the earcups and the logo displayed on each pair of headphones.
Nick Woodard/Digital Trends
One key difference here is weight. Adidas came in at 209 grams, while the Wireless Train tipped the scales at 240 grams. It’s not too noticeable because each pair of headphones distributes the weight well. But if you’re trying to keep your headphones as light as possible, this is definitely something to look out for.
One unfortunate similarity between these headphones: the inevitable tightness that comes with on-ear headphones that are meant to stay in place during intense workouts. If I were to wear them for a quick trip to the gym, I could probably withstand the pressure on my skull with no problem. But when you wear them for long periods of time, as I did for testing purposes, the Wireless Train is almost headache-inducing because of how much it presses on your head. I experienced the same feeling with Adidas — it’s a universally uncomfortable feeling.
The ear cushions on the Wireless Train are made of what JBL calls “breathable UA material” and are washable, which is crucial for headphones that will inevitably get sweaty. The button controls on the headphones next to those pads are easy to use, giving you control over volume and switching tracks between repeats. I work out at home these days for obvious reasons, but I had no problem using these buttons to execute commands while on the go.
The button controls on the headphones next to those pads are easy to use, giving you control over volume and switching tracks between repeats.
Features
The Wireless Train is really starting to show its age in this category. They have the same IPX4 weather resistance rating as Adidas, which is honestly the minimum protection these headphones should be equipped with. Even so, it’s an adequate rating for the world’s gym rats, as it protects against sweat and splashes.
Nick Woodard/Digital Trends
The Wireless Train, however, has a maximum of 16 hours of playback per charge. Adidas, meanwhile, will give you up to 40 hours of battery life before they need to be recharged. Maybe 16 hours of battery life for headphones two years ago was solid. But through the lens of 2020, it’s far from acceptable when comparable models offer more than twice the battery life.
Despite the battery-related shortcomings, I appreciated the multi-function TalkThru button built into the Wireless Train. Essentially, pressing the Under Armor logo on the right earcup will lower the volume of your music and draw in the surrounding sounds, allowing you to have quick conversations without removing the headphones when needed.
To be clear, these are not active noise canceling headphones and at best have decent passive noise isolation. Even then it proved to be a valuable feature for me. Unless you’ve been in this situation before, you can’t understand how nice it is to not have to take off and put your headphones back on your head after a few seconds of talking to a passer-by while walking. It’s a damn near impossible maneuver to pull off while holding the reins of a small pack of dogs, and it’s a maneuver I luckily didn’t have to struggle with with the wireless train.
Pressing the Under Armor logo on the right earcup will lower the volume of your music and draw in the surrounding sounds.
Sound quality
Let’s put aside the Wireless Train’s largely outdated features for a moment and consider what is still one of the more important aspects of the headset, or at least what it should be — how do they actually sound?
Nick Woodard/Digital Trends
Based on my extensive listening to both pairs of headphones, I feel the Wireless Train has a clear edge over the Adidas in terms of sound. The RPT-01 excelled with bass-heavy songs, but otherwise sounded average when trying more balanced genres. The included app and equalizer helped to alleviate the problem somewhat, but regardless, it was difficult to solve.
The Wireless Train may not have gone as deep into the low end as Adidas was capable of, but they still had solid, refined bass. More importantly, they simply filled out the rest of the frequency spectrum better. The Wireless Train has 40mm drivers with a frequency range of 16-20,000Hz, and they proved to be exactly as capable as those specs might suggest.
Songs like Dierks Bentley Burning Man or Red Hot Chili Peppers By the way suggested that the wireless train was able to avoid mud or narrow. There are better-sounding headphones out there—many, in fact—but for practice, these were more than enough.
I caught my breath long enough between several training sessions to make a few calls with the wireless train. While they didn’t necessarily set out to knock this part of the experience out of the park, they did quite well in terms of maintaining an acceptable amount of clarity on both sides of the call. It could have been better, but as I discovered in recent tests of other cans, it could have been far worse.
Our opinion
The UA Sport Wireless Train are well past their prime in terms of features. That said, the sound quality of these cans has stood the test of time and that could earn them an occasional spot in the lineup as battle-tested veterans.
Are there better alternatives?
I preferred the sound of the wireless train, but there’s no doubt that the Adidas RPT-01 had a superior feature set, with battery life being the highlight. For quality headphones outside of the sports category, the $200 Razer Opus are a personal favorite for their mix of price, features, and sound quality.
How long will it last?
With a one-year warranty and a seemingly protective carrying case, I don’t think you need to worry about these headphones banging after just a few workouts. Keep them charged and they should be everyday gym equipment.
Should you buy them?
Not at their $200 retail price. The Adidas RPT-01 costs $30 less than that and qualifies as a better value buy for the money. But at the current lower price of $130, I’d consider the UA Sport Wireless Train for their exceptional sound quality — if you can live with features that are decidedly outdated.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn