The '80s are back—and they're wireless. JLab's Rewind Retro Wireless on-ear Bluetooth headphones pay more than a little homage to the foam-earpad headphones that came with the early '80s Sony Walkman cassette players. At $19.99, they're about as inexpensive at it gets in the wireless audio realm, so our audio expectations going in to this review were fairly modest. But maybe we were just remembering the original Walkman headphones, which had very weak bass response—the Rewind Wireless actually deliver a solid listening experience in comparison with other budget Bluetooth headphones we've tested. Anyone with a case of '80s nostalgia will be pleased.

Design

In an era of high-price luxury headphones, it's hard to fathom just how iconic and how much of a status symbol (at least at school) the Sony Walkman headphones were. Their three chief materials were plastic for the supra-aural (on-ear) earcups, metal for the not-terribly-comfortable headband, and foam for the slightly more comfortable earpads. JLab faithfully recreates these central basic design choices.

Added to the equation are tiny expanses of flat, linguini-like cabling running the short expanse between each ear enclosure and an entry point to the headband. Inside each earcup, a 36mm driver delivers the audio. The fit is secure, lightweight, and perhaps slightly more comfortable than the originals.

There are also on-ear controls. The outer panel of the right earpiece is a button that controls playback and call management (when tapped), track navigation (when held for longer), and voice assistance (when double tapped). There are no volume controls on the headphones.

For $20, you're not going to get much in the accessories department. JLab includes an extra set of black foam earpads—the orange pair is the default option (there's also an all-blue pair available), and a long micro USB charging cable, but that's it. The connection for the charging cable is located on the right ear enclosure's outer panel, hidden by the foam. The enclosures swivel slightly to adjust to your head, but this motion also allows for the cable to actually connect.

The mic offers so-so intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word we recorded, but the audio was fuzzy and the mic sounded distant. This is pretty much par for the course with inexpensive bluetooth headphone mics.

JLab claims the headphones get roughly 12 hours of battery life, but your results will vary with your volume levels.

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Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," it becomes clear immediately that the headphones pump out significantly more bass depth than the '80s originals did, and do so without distorting. At top, unwise listening levels, they deliver clean, full-sounding bass depth.

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Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track can sound overly thunderous on bass-heavy headphones, but here they sound somewhat modest—it's Callahan's baritone vocals that get the bulk of the bass presence, sounding rich and crisp simultaneously. So the headphones don't invent sub-bass presence when it's not in the mix, and most of the bass push is going to land a little higher on the frequency range, in the lows and low-mids. But there's a very crisp, bright sound happening here as well—the higher-register percussion, the acoustic guitar strums, and even the tape hiss all get some boosted presence, lending everything a very sculpted sound—rich and bright.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets the ideal high-mid presence needed to accentuate its sharp attack, while it also gets a solid boost in the lows and and low-mids, adding some heft to its presence. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with impressive presence for $20 headphones—there's no sense of serious subwoofer-like thunder here, but there's plenty of solid bass presence and implied rumble. These may not be ideal for bass fiends, but to say we're surprised by how much bass they push out is an understatement.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound quite sculpted—the higher register brass, strings, and vocals sound a little too bright and crisp. They don't need much help in that department to begin with, and the sculpting only increases their edge. The lower register instrumentation gets some boosting in the lows and low-mids that brings it forward in the mix significantly. Overall, this is a scooped sound signature with plenty of rich bass depth and sculpted highs, and less mid-range presence than many listeners will want.

Another holdover from the original Walkman design worth noting: These headphones leak a good amount of audio, so they're not the best choice for quiet rooms or the office.

Conclusions

JLab's Rewind Wireless Retro headphones are more than just an exercise in nostalgia. They simply sound very good for a $20 wireless pair, and the fact that exude '80s cool only sweetens the deal. Sure, the audio is sculpted, but there's bass and clarity here. If you like the look, but want a wired option, check out the similarly retro-inspired Aiaiai Tracks. If the price is right but the design is not for you, consider the on-ear Skullcandy Uproar Wireless Bluetooth, or the in-ear Jam Comfort Buds and JBL Reflect Mini BT. For $20, though, JLab pulls off a very cool-looking wireless tribute to the '80s that sounds better than it ever did back then.