Under Armour and JBL team up again for new headphones

Under Armour is one of the leading brands in fitness apparel. So when they decided to join forces with JBL to bring a pair of fitness headphones to market it made sense. They initially announced two pairs of headphones, and we got a chance to check out the first dubbed the UA Headphones Wireless. However, we were left wondering what happened to the second pair when their target release date came and went this past spring. Now we know what happened. Say hello to the UA Sport Wireless and the UA Sport Wireless Heart Rate.

UA Sport Wireless Heart Rate

The Sport Wireless Heart Rate headphones are what we were expecting to hit shelves a few months ago. Just like the original UA Headphones that we reviewed, they have uniquely shaped earbuds with Twistlock technology that allows them to wedge themselves in your ear without falling out. It isn’t the most comfortable way to keep ‘buds in your ear, but it isn’t exactly uncomfortable. For exercise, it does what it’s meant to do which is keep them in your ears. But these also have an over-ear hook design to ensure that they won’t accidentally fall out of your ears. Then to top it all off there’s a built-in heart rate sensor for keeping track of just how hard you’re pushing yourself (or not). It has a 3-button mic and remote, Bluetooth 4.1, and a 5 hour battery life. The Sport Wireless Heart Rate cost $199 and can be purchased from the JBL website.

UA Sport Wireless

If you liked the original design and don’t think you’ll have much use for a heart rate sensor, UA and JBL are also releasing an updated version of the original headphones dubbed the UA Sport Wireless. This pair was fairly unexpected considering only the Heart Rate version was announced back with the originals, but that just means there’s more options to choose from which is always good. Because these won’t have to send heart rate data over Bluetooth which requires the use of Bluetooth v4.1, they only come with Bluetooth 4.0. On a related note, they also have an 8 hour battery life since there’s no heart rate sensor. These also have a 3-button remote and mic on the cable so you won’t be missing out on essential features like playback controls or voice calls. The UA Sport Wireless headphones can be yours for only $149 and can also be ordered now through the JBL website.

Both models are IPX5 certified so sweat shouldn’t be an issue. They also come with a free 12-month subscription to the pro version of the MapMyFitness app, so if you’re looking to take your training a little more seriously this is a good value.