Rocketfish RF-MAB2 High-Def Bluetooth Headphones Reviewed

I’m not normally one to pick up Rocketfish brand products unless I plan on using them in a disposable manner (such as UV lenses for my Rebel T3). However, I found myself in a pinch and looking for a replacement set of headphones to pair up to my Sony Tablet S since re-appropriating my Sennheiser MM400 headphones for my PlayStation Vita. However, the results from the Rocketfish RF-MAB2 High Definition Bluetooth Headphones were quite surprising.

Rocketfish, for those of you that don’t know, is the consumer products arm of Best Buy and its subsidiary, Futureshop, in Canada. Best Buy began introducing Rocketfish products in their retail stores a few years ago, selling home theatre accessories (such as A/V cables) at a lower cost than brand name products sold in the stores. They quickly expanded their product lines to include accessories for videogame consoles, mobile devices, photography and more. But, as with any other in-house or off-brand labels, I, like many other consumers, tend to be wary of such brands and the level of quality that they may or may not have. However, my experiences with Rocketfish’s BT Headphones make me think that the company’s lineup might deserve a second look.

The RF-MAB2 Bluetooth Headphones are a wraparound design that runs behind the ears instead of over the top of the head. They fit quite comfortably and, unlike many behind-the-head designs, aren’t terribly heavy, so you can wear them for extended durations and not have your ears get sore from supporting the weight. The triangular design of the cans might look a bit odd, but they do a good job of centering the drivers over your ears to provide excellent sound. Of course, this design also means that they won’t cancel out the noise around you, but if you’re in an environment (such as a workplace) that requires you to keep a heads up for incoming phone calls or people yelling at you over a cubicle wall, these will work just right.

The left can contains all of the required buttons: the power button, which also doubles as the call pickup button (if you have them paired to your cell phone), and play/pause button on the side. On the top are your volume buttons, with the forward/back buttons on the bottom. The buttons are easy to find by feel and are spaced far enough apart that you won’t have any trouble making sure you pressed the right one. While the majority of these buttons have excellent response time, the volume controls tend to lag a bit, taking up to half a second to enact adjustments.  Other than that, these headphones interacted wonderfully with all of the devices that I tested them against, including my Windows Phone 7 and PlayStation Vita.

The RF-MAB2 BT Headphones support A2DP (High Quality Bluetooth audio or Advanced Audio Distribution Profile as it’s termed), and provides excellent stereo sound from the devices I tested.  Like many other A2DP Bluetooth headphones that I’ve tried, there is a bit of delay from the time the unit you’re paired with transmits the sound, to the time that you hear it. So if you’re using it for gaming, expect there to be a bit of lag between what you’re seeing and hearing. It got a bit annoying when I was playing Uncharted: Golden Abyss as there is a lot of dialogue in the game, but this is a consistent problem with the format and I’ve yet to use a pair of Bluetooth headphones that haven’t experienced this problem, including my Sennheiser MM400 headphones which still retail for about $270 as opposed to $60 for the Rocketfish setup.

However, that’s where the comparison between the Sennheiser MM400 and the Rocketfish RF-MAB2 headsets really stops. With Sennheiser, you get premium comfort, audio, and noise cancellation, but you also pay a significant cost for them. Yet, for most gamers, the Rocketfish headset provides an excellent option for a low price point.  Up until recently, I had these paired to my PlayStation Vita and used them for my 6-7 hour gaming marathons and they held up spectacularly. They didn’t make my ears sore from prolonged use – which is important – and have even stood up to a decent amount of abuse in the bottom of my backpack, where most behind-the-head headsets have met their demise. With easily over 100 hours of use in the last month, these headphones have taken a beating and continued to perform optimally.

For those who are on a bit of a budget and are looking for an excellent set of headphones without paying top dollar, these headsets are for you.

The Rocketfish RF-MAB2 High-Definition Bluetooth Headphones receive a surprising 4.5/5.0