by Are you searching for affordable vegan headphones? The Uplift 2 Wireless House of Marley headphones are made from eco-friendly plant-based materials, to give you maximum travel entertainment while making minimum impact on the environment.
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A great pair of headphones is an absolutely essential piece of travel gear.
But headphones are far more than just “gear”.
Your headphones will be the most faithful travel companion you’ve ever had. They provide companionship, entertainment, and connection to the outside world, no matter where you are.
As full-time travellers, we use ours every day to:
- Listen to podcasts on long train rides
- Watch movies on the plane
- Edit our travel videos
- Call home from busy cafes
- Play guided meditations at the hotel
- And of course, to listen to music!
With all these uses, travel headphones have to have versatile sound, be comfortable, stylish, and functional. They also need to be packable, practical, and budget-friendly.
(Traveller’s tip: Leave your $500 headphones at home or you’ll spend your whole trip worrying about having them stolen.)
Being mindful travellers, we never buy travel gear before checking that it is eco friendly and vegan, too!
The new House of Marley Uplift 2 wireless headphones tick all the essential boxes. As a bonus, they are the most eco friendly earbuds out there and look stylish, too.
Read on for our complete review of…
House of Marley Uplift 2 Wireless Vegan Headphones
What’s in the package?
- Bluetooth® Wireless
- Microphone and 3-Button Controls
- 10+ Hour Playtime
- Angled, ergonomic port with tangle-free braided cable
- IPX4 Sweat Resistant
- Three sets of ear gels and recycled PET stash bag
What We Love About These Vegan Headphones
Eco friendly headphones… FTW?!?
Though we love our electronic devices, we are also painfully aware how terrible they can be for the environment.
Huge props to House of Marley for taking a step in the right direction and designing sustainable headphones! They are wooden headphones made using FSC Certified wood, recyclable aluminum, and plant-based bioplastic. Their packaging and headphone pouches are made from recycled paper and plastic, too.
(Note: While the materials used in these headphones are vegan, no manufacturer can guarantee that the glue they use is free from animal parts. The glue industry is just to convoluted to be sure.)
Powered and powerful
We have to admit, when we first switched to wireless headphones, we kept forgetting to plug them in! Lucky for us, these House of Marley earbuds offer 10 hours of play time, which is enough to get you through all but the worst long-haul flights. Most busses and planes have USB charging at your seat too, so if you do forget to power up (as we have often done), it’s all good!
Design that just works (and looks great)
With wooden earbud housing and fabric casing for the wires, these headphones look better – and more natural – than your average black or white plastic pair. The natural materials also feel a whole lot nicer on your neck and hands.
Convenient for travel
Another great piece of the design is the sturdy metallic clasp which holds the wires in place. It also allows you to pause your music and let your headphones dangle from your neck without fear of losing them. This is amazingly convenient, especially at the airport or on the plane. When it’s time for a toilet break or the next meal, just let the headphones dangle instead of packing them away or losing them in your plane seat.
Adjust the clasp to help keep the battery housing in a comfortable spot on your neck.
(Don’t miss: Looking for an outstanding anti-theft travel daypack? Here’s our favourite) →
Carrying pouch keeps everything organized
When you finally take the headphones off, a small carrying pouch (made of woven recycled plastic) keeps everything together and organized, so you can easily find your headphones the next time you need them!
Environmental & Social Initiatives at House of Marley
Unlike most electronics manufacturers, House of Marley pays close attention to the materials used to create their products. While no headphones are “good” for the planet, at least House of Marley makes the most eco friendly headphones they can!
(Related: Read about House of Marley’s mindfully sourced materials) →
They also support support the environment by giving a percentage of each sale to OneTreePlanted.org, a non-profit dedicated to reforestation. So far, House of Marley has planted 50,000 trees.
What We Don’t Love About These House of Marley Earphones
We want more bass
While the mid and high-end tones are crisp and clear on the Uplift 2, we’d like a little more low end. The bass is a little weak, which is fine for podcasts or our mid-tempo indie rock, but not so great when we’re listening to hip-hop. Stephen reports that Taylor Swift sounds amazing on them, though, so good news for all you fans of slickly produced pop.
Ambient noise leaks through
The Uplift 2 earbuds sound best in a quiet setting. On the plane or in a crowded cafe, they’re not so great at blocking out ambient noise. This means you have to turn the volume up to be able to hear – especially when watching Netflix.
If you have the budget and you travel a lot, you might want to invest in noise cancelling headphones instead.
If you don’t have a big headphone budget, use the clever trick we learned on Lifehacker, and upgrade to a set of noise reduction earbuds like Comply Foam Tips.
Other House of Marley vegan headphones you might like
Active travellers might want to try the Voyage BT in-ear headphones, which are designed to stay put through workouts, runs, and other activities. They are also moisture-proof and noise-isolating.
We’re Keeping These in Our Carry-Ons
Since we live out of our carry-on suitcases, we are very picky about what travel gear we add to the mix. Stephen is definitely going to replace his old earbuds with the Uplift 2 Wireless headphones!
Overall, these eco heaphones bring together everything we need in a great set of travel headphones. We love the sustainable materials, the nature-focussed look, and the thoughtful design. For most uses, the sound is complex and satisfying (though a little more bass would be great).
If you’re looking for an affordable set of eco headphones to take with you on the road, we recommend the House of Marley Uplift 2 Wireless earbuds.
♥ Happy mindful adventures, Jane & Stephen
House of Marley gave us the Uplift 2 Wireless headphones for review, but as always, we’d only recommend products we think you’ll love! A couple of the links in this post are our personal affiliate links, which means, if you use them to buy something we get a small fee. It helps keep this blog afloat, so thanks in advance!
