If you need to use a Bluetooth headset, but don’t like the clunky kinds that draw too much attention to yourself, the diminutive Jabra Stealth might be just want you’d want. The Jabra Stealth may be small, and quite affordable too, but it is not short on quality and features.
Weighting at less than 8 g, the Jabra Stealth is extremely light. It’s designed to be worn in your ear, and because it is so light, you’ll barely notice it being there. There’s little chance of the Jabra Stealth falling out of your ear due to its weight, but for extra security, you can opt to attach the plastic ear loops provided.
The Jabra Stealth is very comfortable to wear, again thanks to its barely noticeable weight. You can wear it in either ear. Three sizes of ear gels are provided. Two of them are designed with a hooked extension that rest against (what I think is called) the concha, doing away with the need for the ear loops that go around the ear. While they were not uncomfortable, I didn’t find any of the ear gels to fit my ears particularly well. Your mileage may very, I’m sure.
Some people may like to use the ear loops for the extra security against the Jabra Stealth falling off without being noticed. Two sizes are provided. The ear loops are made of hard plastic which did not look particularly comfortable to me.
Other accessories provided with the Jabra Stealth include a Micro USB cable for charging the headset, and a USB-car charger. Jabra did not include any standard wall adapter USB charger, although this should hardly be an inconvenience for anyone.
The diminutive Jabra Stealth measures only about 58 mm from head to toe, although the official specifications put it at somewhat longer (about 65 mm).
The outward side of the headset has a stealthily concealed button. The call button is basically where the “Jabra” word is printed. That is also the are used for NFC pairing. In the middle, there is an LED status indicator.
On the side, there is a single Voice Action button, which is used to initiate voice commands.
On the inward facing side of the Jabra Stealth, you’ll find a dedicated on-off slider switch. It’s a small little matter, but I like having a positional on-off switch from which you can physically see if the switch is on or off. At the bottom end of the headset, there is a Micro USB port concealed behind the port cover.
The Jabra Stealth’s battery charges in 2 hours, and is rated for 6 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time. To get 6 hours of talk time on such a tiny headset (and hence an even tinier battery) is quite impressive. Jabra attributes this to their groundbreaking use of microPOWER battery technology.
Setting up the Jabra Stealth is easy. Voice guidance helps you to setup pairing, and there’s NFC-enabled pairing available too. Once setup, the Jabra Stealth connects to your Bluetooth device instantly whenever it is switched on. Unlike the Jabra Motion which I reviewed recently, the Jabra Stealth will connect to only one Bluetooth device at any one time.
Voice call quality on the Jabra Stealth is really good. Jabra’s noise cancellation technology, which they call Noise Blackout, performs really well to remove background noises. The microphone picks up your voice clearly, and your callers hear your voice free from any distraction even when you’re calling from inside a car or other noisy environments.
At the same time, the speaker on the Jabra Stealth produces strong, robust audio, and with a healthy volume level, so you should have no trouble hearing your callers.
The Jabra Stealth also supports music streaming from your Bluetooth devices, so you can not only listen to music, but also listen to podcasts on your headset.
The companion Jabra Assist mobile software, available for both Android and iOS, provides features such as checking on battery status and determining the last location your headset was paired (in case you should leave it somewhere).
The Jabra Stealth retails for S$128 and is available from Apple premium resellers, Challenger stores, Harvey Norman and all other authorised Jabra resellers.
Conclusion
The Jabra Stealth is a great Bluetooth headset that’s small in size, comfortable to wear, and sports excellent sound quality.
Pros:
- Small, diminutive size
- Comfortable for long hours of use
- Long lasting battery life
- Good sound quality, excellent microphone with noise cancellation
Cons:
- Ear gels did not fit me very well