For those of you who are more conscious about being environmentally friendly, I think I have a product for you. These are the House Of Marley Uprise Bluetooth Sport Headphones, and they’ve been entirely made from recycled plastics. We’re currently combating the amount of plastic that ends up in our ocean, so Uprise seems quite fitting really.
The headphones themselves are actually made from a recycled wood fibre and recycled polypropylene composite. They’ve also got Marley’s Rewind up-cycled fabrics and Regrind recycled silicone. It gives the House Of Marley Uprise a sort of rustic type look. The materials here don’t look smooth, and almost look very dusty. They’re not, it’s just the style of materials used.
They come in three different colours being Teal which we were sent, there’s a brass option and also all black. All three do look good I must admit, and give off that beach-bum, surfer type vibe. They’re definitely a headphone for the summer.
Each part of the headphone is detachable meaning you can change the sizes of the ear buds as well as the rubber hanger that’s designed for the back of your ears, although you’re only treated to different sized buds in box.
The headphones are wireless, meaning they’ll connect to a Bluetooth device and work for up to eight hours. This seemed accurate enough during our testing. We managed to just about get a working day out of the headphones before having to recharge them. There’s no wired option here either, so if they die while you’re out, that’s it for your music listening. I would definitely have liked to have seen a larger battery life, especially for those having to commute an hour or two to and from work.
The cable has been braided with recycled fabrics which feel nice around the neck as they’re designed to hang around the back of your head. Around a quarter way down from the left earphone you’ll find a small control box with a play/pause button, and volume up and down.
Sound wise these headphones for the most part are okay. And I feel bad for saying that, because we’ve very much enjoyed House Of Marley products in the past, but the high frequencies really do suffer here. They’re very geared towards bass heavy music, and can produce some very nice thuds. But you do lose a lot of a detail in the higher frequencies. The bass line through Pulp’s Common People was very deep and present, but produced a very narrow soundstage throughout the track. The bass on NWA’s Express Yourself was so overpowering, you lost most of the vocals.
Other features of the House Of Marley Uprise headphones is an option to make wireless calls too as there is a microphone built into the control box, and they’re also IPX5 rating which gives you some water resistance from things like rain and sweat if you decide to take these to the gym. There’s even a small pouch to store these headphones in if you’re carrying them in a bag, and you guessed it, it’s made from recycled materials too.
I love the fact that House Of Marley are so environmentally conscious about the products they make and what they’re made from. They feel to me like a brand that really cares. They even plant trees in Canada, California and Indonesia for God’s sake every time a set of headphones is purchased. If you’re someone who’s ideals resonates with these, and you want a relatively inexpensive set of headphones for the gym or a quick commute, then you can’t really go wrong with HoM. For those of you who want a more refined soundstage and a bit more treble to your tracks, then I would look elsewhere. It’s a nice try from House of Marley, but I feel they have slightly missed the mark compared to some of their other products.
