Smile Jamaica earphones from the House of Marley

One of the House of Marley products that are already available in the market today is the Smile Jamaica in-ear monitor. Check out our unboxing and review after the jump.

There’s a reason why we don’t see much of Bob Marley products in the market (here and abroad), it’s because of the gravity that comes along with carrying that name. The product’s quality as well as the brand behind it should be at the same echelon as the late reggae icon.

It’s also equally important that the products embody Bob Marley’s principles and ideologies and that is spreading the love and giving back to nature. The House of Marley and their products have this feel that is uniquely Rasta. And we’re not just talking about the color and design; we mean the entire thing from the materials used, to how it sounds and how the company consciously looks after our planet and the people in it. The Smile Jamaica earphone is no exception to that.

The Smile Jamaica comes in a colorful small box made with recycled materials. The well-designed box is filled with the product’s features and what the House of Marley stands for. Flipping the flap in the front will reveal the earphones and its carrying pouch which also made of sustainable material (Hemp and Fabric). The earphone also comes with additional two pairs of silicon ear buds.

As a testament to the brand’s commitment to bring durable and eco-friendly products, the materials used in this compact earphone are either recycled and/or sustainable but remains a high level of rigidity that can handle the usual wear and tear of daily use.

The base of the earphone that houses its 8mm moving driver and Neodymium magnet is made of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified Sapele and Beech wood. This means that the wood used in this earphone came from a forest that is being replenished. The steel ring that completes the monitor’s housing is made of recyclable aluminum. The strain relief on each of the earphone’s base as well as the one 3.5mm jack is made of recycled plastic.

The phone has a 52” woven fabric cord which in my opinion is more durable than rubber cord. Due to the nature of the cord, users are less likely to deal with untangling it after keeping. In addition, the fabric cord also lessens the static electricity, thus aiding the earphone to provide a much clearer sound. The braided cord terminates to a right-angled 3.5mm gold-plated audio jack.

The Smile Jamaica comes in four color variants, Curry (Yellow-tipped), Fire (Red-tipped), Lily (Pink-tipped) and Rasta (Blue-tipped). Besides the replaceable silicon tips, there’s also a slight difference in the coloring of the base, aluminum ring and strain relief for each variant.

The sound quality out of the Smile Jamaica earphone is just plain amazing. Thanks to its 8mm, 16-Ohms dynamic driver this earphone can provide an outstanding listening experience. Made with reggae in mind, this earphone has the best bass response I’ve heard from an earphone on the same price range. You’d only not hear the bass; you’d feel it thumping on your ear canals.

But reggae isn’t just about bass, there are actually more instruments on a reggae song than most song genres. That’s why, the House of Marley also paid the same amount of attention to the highs and mids as they did on the bass. The mids are clearly reproduced and are not attenuated and the Highs are crisp with no trace of sibilance. Unlike other bass-centered monitors, the Smile Jamaica’s bass output is punchy enough to deliver deep and full lows but isn’t too strong that it compromises the other sounds.

The Smile Jamaica also has a very decent soundstage so listeners can hear all the instruments but is a bit lacking on depth (space between instruments) which is typical for IEMs (In-ear Monitors). One of the advantages of being an in-ear monitor is that it can provide a very decent noise-isolation for a better listening experience and minimal sound leak.

Smile Jamaica specs:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20+KHz
8mm driver
3.5mm gold-plated connector
4-feet tangle-free, braided cord
3 silicone tips
FSC Certified Wood Housing
Aluminum Front Housing
Recycled Plastic Train-Relief
Cotton Carry Bag

Just to reiterate what I just said earlier, the Smile Jamaica IEM is the best earphones that I’ve used in its price bracket. The sound quality was so good that it can even rival that of those more pricey IEMs. With its superior sound reproduction, it’s almost illegal for these earphones to be sold with Php1,399USD 24INR 2,021EUR 23CNY 174 price tag. The only thing that I didn’t like about it is that it’s too colorful and that it doesn’t really suits me. But other than that, just pair the Smile Jamaica earphones to a decent PMP or any good sounding device and it will definitely give you a run for your money.

Disclosure: The folks from the House of Marley gave these earphones to the author for free. They also sent out another set of earphones as a token over the week-end. – Yuga