Looking for affordable over-ear wireless headphones? This House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review is the right place to be.
These are some of the best cheap headphones you can buy because they look cool, sound good and they’re made from sustainable materials. What more could you ask for at this price?
House of Marley are a budget audio brand that makes everything from headphones and speakers to turntables, they build all of their products using eco-friendly materials like bamboo and recyclable aluminium.
In this House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review, I’ll go through everything you need to know about these over-ear headphones from the design, build quality and battery life to the sound performance.
House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review: price and availability
You can buy the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 now on Amazon for $50 in the US, £50 in the UK and AU$77 in Australia. Take a look at the widgets on this page to see more up to date pricing and the best deals on the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2.
House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review: design, build quality and battery
Designed to sit on top of your ears, the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 feel lightweight and comfortable to wear, with soft ear cushions, an easily adjustable headband and aluminium ear cups. Because these headphones don’t surround your ears, they do feel looser than others that do, but some people will find that more comfortable anyway - I know I do.
The best part is these headphones are made from sustainable materials like FSC certified wood, recyclable aluminium and their own Rewind fabric which is crafted from organic cotton, recycled plastics and reclaimed hemp.
Available to buy in 5 different colourways, including Signature Black, Denim Blue, Copper, Silver and Rasta, you’ll be able to match the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 to your own personal style. Extra touches of House of Marley’s unique style feature here too, like the wood on the ear cups and the fabric cover on the headband.
You can fold them up to carry them around with you more easily, although they don’t come with a case or pouch to put them in. They’re also not waterproof so you’ll have to be careful if you have them out in the rain.
To control the music, there are a few different controls on the earcups. You can skip through tracks, pause or play the music and adjust the volume. You’ll also be able to answer incoming phone calls. Because these use physical buttons, as opposed to touch controls, they are very responsive. I did find that I sometimes accidentally skipped a track when I went to turn the volume up, though.
The House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 offer 12 hours of music from the battery, which is okay but I have definitely seen better, even at this price. If you do run out of juice then all is not lost because you can keep listening to your music using the 3.5mm audio cable included in the box. If your phone has a headphone jack that is, if not you'll need an adaptor.
When you go to charge them up again it’ll take about 3.5 hours using the Mini USB port which is quite a long time considering how little battery life you get.
House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review: performance
The House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 sound good, not amazing, but good. Packing 40mm drivers, you get a balanced sound that doesn’t overemphasise any part of the track. Vocals come out very clearly and there’s plenty in the way of bass performance, even if it won’t knock you sideways.
The music sounds full and rich, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave them a listen. Granted you won’t get the level of detail that you would from a pair of headphones that cost twice the price, but then you don’t expect them to be able to do that anyway.
Because the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 headphones sit over your ears, they don’t isolate noise very well at all. Using them out and about, a lot of outside sounds are able to get through which can be annoying, especially on a particularly noisy commute.
These don't have any noise-cancelling technology built-in, if that's a must-have for you then take a look at the best noise-cancelling headphones for more options.
You can make calls hands-free thanks to the built-in microphone. When I made a few calls, the person on the other end thought I was a little quiet but they could still hear everything I was saying.
Because these connect using Bluetooth 4.2, not the most up to date Bluetooth v5, you can’t expect a completely reliable connection all the time. I did find that if I wandered a little too far away from my phone and into another room, the connection would break up.
House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review: verdict
To sum things up, the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 on-ear headphones are affordable, good-looking and made from sustainable materials, with a comfy fit and decent sound. You’ll be able to take calls through them and control your music using the buttons as well.
Considering their price tag, the House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 headphones perform quite well, they aren’t perfect but casual listeners won’t have any problems with them at all. The only real downside is the battery life, 12 hours isn’t very much for a pair of headphones in 2021, but at least you do get the option to keep listening through a wired connection if you get caught short.
The House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 are excellent value for money and would make a great gift.
House of Marley Positive Vibrations 2 review: also consider
If noise-cancelling is a must-have feature and you don’t mind spending a little more, then take a look at the JBL Tune 660NC. They have detailed, punchy sound and fantastic noise-cancelling to match.
Another cheap pair of headphones to consider is the Skullcandy Hesh ANC, especially if you care about long-lasting battery life - you’ll get about 22 hours of music from these! They are noise-cancelling headphones that sit around your ears, keeping noise out and your music in.
