Jabra Steel Bluetooth Headset Headphones Review

The Jabra Steel, despite its name, is a mono headset made of black plastic. Its boom microphone has ridges on it to give it some textural detail while the yellow ear-tips add a splash of color. It also has a thin plastic ear-hook that you can add or take off for additional stability. If you want something with a more casual design for day-to-day use, check out the Mpow EM12 Wireless Earphone Bluetooth Headset.

The Jabra Steel isn't the most comfortable headset. While it's mostly made of plastic, the silicone ear-tips feel cheap and stiff, which can hurt the ear quite quickly. It does come with a couple of other ear-tips but they don't have different sizes. If you want a mono headset that's quite a bit more comfortable, check out the Plantronics Voyager Legend Bluetooth Headset.

This headset has disappointing controls. It has two push buttons as well as voice control. The top button handles everything call-related such as answering, rejecting, redialing, and battery levels while the side button activates voice assistant and mutes/unmutes the microphone. There's also voice prompts for most of the controls.

The Jabra Steel is very portable. Although the boom microphone is a little bulky, you should still be able to fit this headset into most pockets.

This headset doesn't have a carrying case.

Jabra Steel has a satisfactory build quality. It's mostly made of plastic, except the ear-tips which are made of silicone. The ear-hooks are really thin, though, and they feel like they can easily break or snap. This headset is rated IP54 for dust and water resistance and Jabra advertises this headset as resistant to dust, dirt, grime, and water but we don't currently test for this. The TaoTronics TT-BH041 Bluetooth Headset is a more premium-feeling alternative, though be aware of the fact that it's far bulkier due to its on-ear headband design.

This headset feels stable in the ear. It comes with two stability fins, one for each ear, which is nice if you're constantly walking about during your phone calls. lt also comes with ear-hooks, but they're very thin and can easily come off the ear with a shake. If you're looking for a more stable mono headset, check out the Jabra Talk 45 Bluetooth Headset.

• Jabra Steel headset
• 1x regular sleeve
• 2x sleeves with stability fins
• 2x ear-hooks
• 2x microphone windscreens
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Manual

The Jabra Steel has an excited v-shaped sound profile. If you're talking on the phone, voices sound sharp and shrill while if you're listening to your favorite tunes, the overemphasized high-bass and low-mid create a cluttered, muddy sound. For a Bluetooth headset with a more balanced sound, check out the Plantronics Voyager 3200 Bluetooth Headset.

The frequency response consistency of these headphones is very good. If you achieve a proper fit with the included tips, you should experience similar bass and treble response every time you use it.

The Jabra Steel has bad bass accuracy. The low-bass is almost completely underemphasized, resulting in a lack of thump and rumble while the underemphasized mid-bass also lacks body and punch. The high-bass, in comparison, is overemphasized and makes mixes muddy and boomy. While this sound isn't suited for music, most people won't notice the bass if you're listening to someone talk on the other line.

The mid-range accuracy of the Jabra Steel is disappointing. There's a lot of overemphasis in the low-mids which clutters the mix. There's also just a touch of overemphasis in the mid-mids that makes harmonics here sound boxy. However, the high-mid is where most vocal frequencies are found and it's also a touch more overemphasized, resulting in slightly honky or harsh speech.

The treble accuracy of this headset is poor. The low-treble, where vocals lay, is overemphasized and makes speech sound harsh and painful. The mid-treble is also overemphasized and makes sibilants such as S and T sounds sharp and piercing.

The peaks and dips performance of this headset is poor. There's a huge peak between the high-bass and low-mid, suggesting a very muddy sound that can further push vocals to the back of the mix. The sharp peak between the low and mid-treble also further sharpens voices, which can even be painful for the listener.

The Jabra Steel is a mono headset and has no stereo imaging.

Like with most in-ears, the passive soundstage of this headset is poor. This is because properly activating the resonances of the pinna (the outer ear) is one of the important factors in creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage. Since in-ears and earbuds completely bypass the pinna, their soundstage tends to be perceived as small and located inside the listener's head. That being said, it feels more open because its earbud tip doesn't create a 'plunger'-like seal.

This headset doesn't have any virtual soundstage features.

The weighted harmonic distortion of the Jabra Steel is disappointing. There's distortion present across the range which can affect phone calls. However, it likely won't be noticeable for most people.

Note: We were unable to reach 100dB volume while testing this headset. Therefore, the '100 dB' score was tested with the headset at max volume and the '90 dB' score was set 10dB lower.

These are the settings used to test this headset. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.

The Jabra Steel doesn't isolate almost any noise and this is likely by design so that you can hear your own voice as you speak. At the same time, the earbud also doesn't go that deeply into the ear canal and doesn't create a 'plunger-like' seal that can block sound.

The leakage performance of this headset is excellent. There's very low leakage overall except for a bit of leakage in the treble range. If you're taking calls in an office setting, your audio shouldn't be noticeable to others around you unless you have your audio at a high volume.

This headset has a boom mic with an attachable windscreen.

The boom microphone has a decent recording quality. Voices sound clear and natural but are a bit thin. You should have no problem being understood by whoever is on the other end.

The noise handling performance of the microphone is only alright. Although the boom microphone sits close to your mouth, it has trouble separating your voice from background noise, especially in loud settings like a train station. If you want a Bluetooth headset with much better noise handling, check out the Plantronics Voyager 5200 Bluetooth Headset.

The Jabra Steel has a disappointing battery performance. While its 6.3-hour battery life seems mediocre for headphones, it should be more than enough for your workday. Unlike listening to music, it's likely that you'll take breaks between phone calls, and when you do, this headset goes into standby mode when not in use, helping save battery life.

This headset has a poor companion app. The Jabra Assist app allows you to change the settings for readout notifications such as when you get a text message but that's about it; it doesn't even display your battery level.

This headset has excellent Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair this headset with up to two different devices or connect it to an NFC-enabled device. It has high latency on PC, iOS, and Android while streaming YouTube videos. However, other apps seem to compensate for this differently, so your mileage may vary.

The Jabra Steel is a Bluetooth-only headset.

The Jabra Steel is a Bluetooth-only headset that can't be used wired. It comes with a micro-USB cable for charging.

The Jabra Steel is a Bluetooth-only headset and isn't compatible with PS4. It should work with any Bluetooth-enabled PC, however.

The Jabra Steel is Bluetooth-only and isn't compatible with Xbox One.

The Jabra Steel doesn't come with a base or dock.