Busy hands | Disquiet mind

A strange thing happens, when you accidentally find yourself in possession of a piece of tech that is so well designed and built that it gathers a dedicated following.

Let's talk about the Jabra REVO Wireless headphones, from 2013, and long since discontinued. Reviews would describe them as bass-heavy (derogatory), and expensive for the features, but to me they were damn near perfect.

( Why I love these headphones )

Let me introduce you to my second pair. Hinges still intact, but ear cushions disintegrating. Here we return to the dedicated user base of these headphones, which is not limited to just me, because there are still third-parties selling replacement ear cushions on ebay, 12 years later. I've never actually replaced the ear cushions before, but it turned out to be really easy.

( Replacing ear cushions )

Before we snap the new cushions in place, there is another problem to look at. On bluetooth there is no audio in the left ear. ifixit says this is a known fault with the slightly newer Jabra MOVE headphones, but seeing as I have it here perhaps it is common across models. So let's take it apart.

( Partial disassembly )

After reassembling I am delighted to have the bluetooth on my headphones working fully again, even if I have no idea how it was fixed.

(But isn't the bluetooth version really old? Yes, it is. They don't work with my five year old computer. But they do still work with my phone, and my mp3 player. Which is good, because the newer bluetooth earplugs don't. I need to keep these tightly coupled devices working together for as long as possible.)

I now also have fuzzy ear cushions that won't shed little pieces of black fabric all over my face. A great success.

Jabra REVO headphones with replacement ear cushions
Photo by chebe