FYI: we been supposed to have covered House Of Marley and their products. We met up w/ one of their cool product reps at their booth at CES and it was supposed to have been on from there. Due to being slightly overwhelmed /w products from CES and other events throughout the year this has been one of the many things put on the backburner.
Here we are damn-near at the end of July and we’re finally finishing up. Luckily enough, we met up them at CE Week in June and made sure not to wait any longer. Their Bluetooth headsets caught my attention w/ the Liberate XLBT. This being my 1st venture into House Of Marley products, I was curious to see what they were all about. We’ve been using them religiously from about 2 weeks now and its time to see how well they’ve been to me.
Design/Comfort
When it comes to House Of Marley, they definitely make sure to keep things environmentally-safe w/ the parts of their products. So don’t look for your usual metals & plastics here. Everything here is all green & eco-friendly, from the cups to box its packaged in.
For starters, you have a stainless steel headband w/ folding earcups both laced w/ leatherette padding. Moving on we have FSC (FSC)-certified wood on the exterior of the cups and 6 plastic buttons around the cups for volume/music control. And lastly, all of the cloth material on the headphones and carrying bag is called REWIND cloth (30% hemp, 30% organic cotton, and 40% recycled plastic bottles).
Overall, the Liberate XLBT headphones aren’t the lightest or the heaviest headphones on the market either BTW. For the most part, they are fine to wear but after a while I’d have to readjust them or take a break wearing them. The interior ear cups are a little small for my ears as they are not small and don’t fit entirely into them. Add this w/ the fact of wearing glasses and it can get uncomfortable after 4 or 5 hours of wearing them. This could be isolated to me and my ears but being a bit snug w/ the fit doesn’t help.
Battery Life
During my research on them, I was a little concerned when I didn’t see anything about battery life on these on the House Of Marley’s site. Atypically, that’s one of the 1st things you see in regards to Bluetooth headphones. Not sure if they forgot or what but whatever the case, no need to be alarmed at all. Throughout my testing, I got just under 20 hours on a single charge every time I used it wirelessly. Which is essentially among the top tier of the Bluetooth headphones on the market right now.
Sound
Inside of these cans lies 50mm dynamic-moving coil drivers & neodymium magnets for bass. The internals all make for great sound w/o any distortion. This applies to when listening plugged in or via Bluetooth. These are bass-heavy which is great for me and musical tastes but if you prefer your tunes more balanced and mellow, it can handle that as well. Throughout my testing, I rocked to several podcasts along w/ the latest from Miguel, Tyrese, and about 4 or 5 playlists varying from Hip-Hop to Soul to older Alternative to very little EDM.
The Liberate XLBT offers outstanding sound quality w/ parts made of eco-friendly parts.
TG 2 Cents
The Liberate XLBT: Great sound, great battery life, and a unique look to them. They’re not as comfortable as I’d like them to be for me but I’m not canceling them out as a recommendation. This may not be for those who rock pout for 6 or more hours at a time but for everyone else, this should be fine. Especially at the price point of most Bluetooth headphones. At the end of the day, the House Of Marley has won me over in regards to what they can offer in regards to sound. Definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of their products have to offer.
To Buy Or Not To Buy
It retails for $180 but you can get it cheaper at places like Amazon. It offers a great sound and is a bit cheaper than other Bluetooth headphones w/o sacrificing on the features side of things. If you require a wire-free Bluetooth experience w/o breaking the bank, look no further.
