Jaybird Vista 2 review: One size doesn’t fit all

Apart from match and luxury points, we discovered the unique Jaybird Vista made for a terrific pair of exercise earbuds. With the Vista 2, Jaybird has added a bevy of recent options, most notably lively noise-cancelling (ANC) and SurroundSense to manage environmental noise.

Let’s see if the Jaybird Vista 2 can take the crown within the health earbud market. Do the function upgrades stay as much as their lofty price ticket, or will persistent match points result in the clock hanging midnight on Jaybird’s place within the premium health earbud market?

Who should purchase the Jaybird Vista 2?

• Athletes ought to think about the Jaybird Vista 2 for his or her subsequent exercise earbuds. Whether or not you run, elevate, or bike, you’ll admire the safe and waterproof design.
• Techies will admire the power to customise every part from EQ, to the touch controls, to ambient sound settings.

Jaybird hasn’t strayed removed from the design of the unique Vista buds, with each the earbuds and case retaining the identical common dimension and form. In case you have small ears, the rounded, blocky construct of the earbuds might trigger some discomfort.

Three completely different types of ear tip attachments are included with the earbuds, with various lengths of wing ideas. Solely the wings range in dimension, whereas the precise ear ideas are the identical dimension on all three. Until you might have the precise proper dimension ear canal, this implies chances are you’ll not expertise a cushty match or tight seal. To make issues worse, since Jaybird is utilizing proprietary ear tip sleeves, it’s virtually inconceivable to seek out third-party ear ideas.

Every earbud contains a clickable button on the Jaybird emblem to manage playback and listening modes. It takes a good bit of drive to click on the button, which inadvertently jams the earbud deep into your ear canal, inflicting some ache and discomfort. You may customise the onboard controls by way of the Jaybird app, though there’s a little bit of a studying curve to the completely different management combos. The earbuds differentiate between a “press” (click on of the button) and a “faucet” (mild faucet on the Jaybird emblem with out truly urgent the button), and it’s straightforward to set off one as an alternative of the opposite unintentionally.

The earbuds have in-ear detection to routinely pause your music while you take an earbud out and resume while you place it again in your ear.

Try: The perfect true wi-fi earbuds

Like the unique Vista, the Vista 2 make for excellent exercise companions. Jaybird has positioned itself as a default earbud choice for athletes, and the Vista 2 fall proper in line. IP68 and MIL-STD-810G rankings imply the earbuds will face up to mud and deal with full submersion in water. The charging case can be IP54 rated and may resist mild splashes of water. The light-weight design and the wing ideas preserve the earbuds safe in your ear, even throughout essentially the most intense of exercises.

Jaybird makes among the best earbud companion apps in the marketplace (iOS and Android). Not solely can you employ it to put in the most recent firmware updates and test earbud battery life, however it additionally has a plethora of customization choices and added capabilities.

You may create a private EQ setting by taking a brief listening to take a look at that performs completely different take a look at tone frequencies. This received’t lead to essentially the most correct sound, however it may be a enjoyable experiment. In the event you’re extra severe about your audio, you’ll be able to select from lots of of different Jaybird customers’ EQ presets, or make your personal.

You can even modify lively noise-cancelling settings throughout the app or use the discover my buds function to trace down the final location you have been linked to the earbuds or charging case. Discover my buds will also be used to play a loud tone out of the earbuds, superb for while you’re looking for your earbuds between sofa cushions.

In comparison with different premium true wi-fi earbuds, noise-cancelling on the Jaybird Vista 2 is lower than stellar. The passive isolation efficiency is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Loads of background noise is blocked out if you will get match with the one-size-fits-all ear ideas. Nonetheless, any further noise discount from ANC is minimal to the purpose of being barely noticeable as you toggle from on to off.

Subsequent to a loud air con unit or on noisy transit, there’s some discount in low-mid frequencies by turning on lively noise-cancelling. ANC efficiency like this attenuates particular frequencies, although you’ll solely discover this in significantly noisy environments while you aren’t enjoying music. With music enjoying, it’s almost inconceivable to discern whether or not ANC is on or off.

See as an alternative: The perfect noise-cancelling true wi-fi earbuds

The Jaybird Vista 2 can even amplify ambient noise utilizing a function the corporate calls SurroundSense. SurroundSense primarily amplifies excessive frequencies and creates a refined “hiss,” particularly in case you have it turned all the way in which up within the app settings. This function is nice for runners and bikers who want to pay attention to their environment.

Outside adventurers will admire the adjustable wind filtering. With the onboard microphones, the earbuds can scale back annoying wind noises, and you’ll modify the power of this function from throughout the Jaybird app.

The Jaybird Vista 2 function Bluetooth 5.0 with SBC and AAC Bluetooth codec assist. Apple machine customers can reap the benefits of high-quality audio streaming and a dependable connection over AAC. However, AAC is usually unreliable on Android handsets, so Android customers might wish to drive SBC playback as an alternative. The earbuds don’t assist different high-end Bluetooth codecs reminiscent of aptX or LDAC.

Learn extra: Understanding Bluetooth codecs

On the plus aspect for Android customers, Google Quick Pair assist permits near-instant pairing to an Android machine. In the meantime, Apple customers must press the pairing button on the charging case and discover the earbuds of their Bluetooth settings to attach for the primary time.

Out of the field, the Jaybird Vista 2 have a consumer-friendly sound that most individuals will get pleasure from. With a barely accentuated low and high-frequency response, the earbuds intently comply with SoundGuys’ in-house curve. It’s additionally just about the identical sound because the first-gen Jaybird Vista.

The earbuds attenuate mid frequencies, lowering the loudness of vocals and devices reminiscent of pianos and guitars. InSave Your Tears by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, the singers’ voices are much less current than how they’d come throughout on studio headphones. You would possibly discover that vocal element is lacking out of your favourite tracks that you simply’ve heard one million occasions over; that’s simply the bass notes minorly masking the quieter midrange notes.

Jaybird states that the earbuds last as long as eight hours on a single cost. In SoundGuys’ testing of fixed 75dB (SPL) playback with lively noise-cancelling turned on, the earbuds solely lasted 5 hours, 20 minutes. Mileage might range relying on how loud you pay attention, whether or not you might have ANC or SurroundSense enabled, and the power of your Bluetooth connection.

The case offers an additional two prices to the earbuds. Quick charging will get you 60 minutes of playback from solely 5 minutes of charging, whereas a full earbud recharge can take as much as 120 minutes. The included USB-C cable powers up the charging case, or you’ll be able to cost it wirelessly on any Qi charging pad.

How good is the microphone on the Jaybird Vista 2?

The earbuds function two microphones to select up your voice. These microphones lie beneath a layer of what Jaybird calls its “WindDefense material” which cuts out undesirable gusts of air, one other function that outside lovers will admire. Nonetheless, the microphones nonetheless wrestle to separate the voice from background components, making calls tough in noisy environments. Take heed to the demo beneath and tell us what you assume:

At a beginning worth of $199, Jaybird is asking a fairly penny for the Vista 2. That worth places it in direct competitors with the very best true wi-fi earbuds in the marketplace. Nonetheless, we’ve seen these earbuds go for as little as $129.99 — a a lot simpler worth to abdomen.

Whereas the marketplace for the Vista 2 isn’t as giant because it may be for extra inexpensive exercise earbuds, Jaybird confidently targets a distinct segment of exercise lovers who want safe earbuds that may survive no matter life throws at them, in or out of the gymnasium. With the waterproofing, wing ideas, ANC, and SurroundSense, Jaybird meets most athletes’ wants.

Since just one precise ear tip dimension is included with the Vista 2, your expertise with the earbuds will probably come down as to whether or not you will get a correct and cozy match. Fortunately, Jaybird provides a 30-day money-back assure, so you’ll be able to return the Vista 2 in the event that they aren’t for you.

There are tons of true wi-fi earbud choices on the market, and lots of particularly goal athletes, so we advocate trying out a few of the options beneath earlier than making your buy choice.

Whereas the design and sound of the unique Jaybird Vista are just like the second era, there are some notable drawbacks. The unique Jaybird Vista ($149) lack ANC and SurroundSense, so that you don’t get any management over environmental noise. An IPX7 score protects the unique Jaybird Vista from water however means the earbuds are uncovered to mud particles. There’s additionally no auto play/pause performance or wi-fi charging.

If you’re in search of good exercise earbuds, you’ll probably be a lot better off with the Vista 2 slightly than selecting up the unique Vista.

The Bose Sport Earbuds ($179) are a terrific choice, which we discovered to be exceptionally snug. These earbuds are sturdy and sound nice. In the event you’re an outside fanatic that wants to pay attention to your environment, you must also take a look at the Sport Open Earbuds from Bose.

Whereas the Samsung Galaxy Buds Professional ($149.99) aren’t particularly focused on the health crowd, however the IPX7 waterproof score and safe match make it an acceptable gymnasium companion. In case you have a Samsung Galaxy machine you’ll love the seamless integration with these earbuds. Even non-Galaxy machine house owners can admire the great sound, nice ANC, and tons of customization on the Galaxy Wearable app.

The Jabra Elite 7 Energetic ($149.99) are one other nice pair of earbuds, and these have an IP57 score. The Elite 7 Energetic case lacks any sort of sturdiness score, however it’s straightforward to pocket and protects the earbuds effectively sufficient. Jabra’s earbuds increase the sub-bass only a twinge greater than the Vista 2, however you’ll be able to repair this within the cellular app if you happen to’d like.