We’re back with another House of Marley headphone review, this time we check out a Bluetooth version of one of their popular on-ear models. Read our House of Marley Rebel BT review to see what we thought of these wireless on-ear headphones.
Specifications
The House of Marley Rebel BT on-ear headphones have the following features and specifications:
- Blended bio-plastic ear housings
- Bluetooth 4 with A2DP stereo audio
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery with up to 8 hours of continuous play
- Removable cable with mic, 1-button remote and gold plated plugs for a wired override
- 15Hz – 22kHz frequency response
- 40mm dynamic moving coil speaker drivers
What’s in the Box
- 1x House of Marley Rebel BT on-ear headphones
- 1x USB to Micro-USB charging cable
- 1x 3.5mm audio cable with one button remote
- 1x owner guide
Design
House of Marley prides itself in eco-conscious design, and the Rebel BT on-ear headphones are no exception, and even the packaging is pretty compact. The ear housings and headband are manufactured out of 70% bio-plastic. The headband is slim and the ear cups are angled slightly forward. Each ear cup has the House of Marley logo cut out towards the back.
The left ear cup houses the Micro-USB port for charging, while the right ear cup is where you’ll find the play/pause/call, volume/track control, and power button, as well as the 3.5mm AUX jack for use with non-Bluetooth devices or when the headphones are dead. The power and play/pause buttons are on the front of the ear cup (when wearing), with the volume and track control buttons on the back side. The inside of the cups are a soft leather-like material with small triangle cutouts on the inside which exposes the inside foam over the speaker drivers.
While the headband is adjustable for height, the ear cups are locked into place but the construction is flexible enough that they fit comfortably on the ears. The inside of the headband is lined with House of Marley’s Regrind silicone rubber, and has the word “MARLEY” embossed into them.
The Rebel BT headphones are available in black, grey, or navy.
Ease of Use
The House of Marley Rebel BT headphone are super easy to use. Simply hold down the power button until it starts flashing blue and then pair to your Bluetooth device of choice. The play/pause and volume/track control buttons are easily accessible and responsive. I found the easiest way to access the buttons was by using my thumb for volume/track control, my index finger for power, and my middle finger for play/pause/call control.
Sound
If you’ve read any of my previous headphone or ear bud reviews, one of my biggest complaints is when there isn’t enough bass. That’s definitely not an issue with these, and there’s definitely enough bass output from them. Of course I ran them through the gamut of EDM, hip hop, rock, and more — you thought I wouldn’t listen to a little Bob Marley on these? — and for the most part they sounded decent, but during the occasional song the bass had a tendency to slightly overpower the mids and highs, but not too much that it was overly noticeable.
Even though these aren’t noise cancelling or isolating, when listening to them at reasonable volumes it was difficult to hear anything going else on around you. Another nice thing about the House of Marley Rebel BT headphones is that the volume control on the headphones is independent of your device. While this gives you more volume control, when both the headphones and device are at maximum volume, there is a bit of distortion that starts to creep in.
Reception/Call Quality
Reception is very good on these headphones. I could walk at least 30 feet away from my phone before they started to very occasionally cut out. You definitely don’t need to worry about having to keep your phone in your pocket when using them.
As for call quality, I rarely answer calls while listening to headphones but for the purposes of testing the call quality was decent although the other party did notice a bit of ambient outside noise during the call.
Battery Life
House of Marley specifies an 8 hour battery life (while the packaging indicated 12 hours, the website specifies 8 hours) between charges and depending on volume levels we were able to get close to or just over that, and I’ll admit the volume was turned up quite a bit on these for maximum bass enjoyment. For the most part, these on-ear headphones should last you the better part of a day
Price/Value
At an MSRP of $69.99USD, these are definitely a value packed pair of wireless on-ear headphones. Even better, you can get them on Amazon for under $50 which really makes them a no brainer if you’re after a pair of wireless headphones with decent sound and heavier bass.
Wrap-up
If you’re looking for a pair of very affordable on-ear wireless headphones, you can’t go wrong with the House of Marley Rebel BT headphones.
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