I've had the new Jaybird Vista wireless buds now for a few days and figured I would drop some thoughts, in case anyone else was looking at these...
Size (Buds & Case):
The Jaybird buds are on par, size wise to the AirPods, if not slightly smaller because they lack the stem...The PowerBeats Pro look huge in comparison to the other two. Same goes for the respective cases as well. The Jaybird buds and case are light enough, that you could actually put them on a key chain and hardly notice...The Jaybird case is using some strong magnets as well...Once in place, they aren't moving...
Battery Life:
Battery life is stated at 6 hours on the Jaybirds, with the case giving another 10, for a total of 16. After three days, using them for gym workouts and hiking, I would say this is about right. On one charge, I got about 6:20, on another 5:55. The PB's are rated at 9 hours plus up to 24 with the case. This accounts for the larger size of the PB's...nice big batteries...
Water Resistance
The Jaybirds are rated as IPX7, the PowerBeats Pro are IPX4...I believe that means the Jaybirds can be submersed in up to 1m of water, and the PB's are splash proof.
Controls
The Jaybirds have only one control button on both buds, and the functions are mirrored, although the Jaybird app allows a little customization. By default, a single tap plays/pauses/answers/ends calls. A long press powers them off. You can change this so long pressing raises the volume or lowers it. The PB's are a clear winner here though with their physical controls...But once I've set the volume, I hardly ever change it so it's not a big deal to me. If you do a lot of volume changing, the PB's might be better for you...
The one thing I miss from the PB's though, is the auto pause when you remove one. The Jaybirds don't have this feature, so when you take one out, the music keeps playing...
Fit
The Jaybirds locked right in for me, using the medium tips. Just press them in slightly, twist just a touch and I'm good to go. The PB's have the ear loop and I've gotten used to being able to put them in one handed, quickly. The sound isolation on the Jaybirds is better, because the seal is better. These are passive, so no active noise cancellation. Riding a bike, I would probably only wear one though, just so I can hear what's going on around me...I've had no long term ear fatigue or discomfort with either from wearing them...
Connection
Solid on the Jaybirds...Haven't dropped a connection yet or had any sync issues between the two buds. PB's are rock solid in this regard...
Sound
The Jaybirds have very good sound, to me. Nice, deep bass and good mids and highs. I'm no audiophile, so I won't comment much more. Plus, sound is a personal thing, from person to person. The app allows you to customize the sound using a bunch of EQ presets and a custom option where you can build an EQ setting to your own taste. The PB's have no EQ on their own but you can use the EQ settings on your phone if you like. I used the Jaybirds for a couple of phone calls, and everyone mentioned I sounded good. In an A/B test between the Jaybirds and PB's, two people said the PB's were better, but not by a huge amount, but they were better...
So, that's a quick summary...I started out with AirPods, but the idea of using them in the gym, didn't appeal to me, because the solid fit wasn't there, and their lack of water resistance, at least officially. I bought the PB's to be my outside the office, gym and active headphones. And they are excellent at that but...I think if the Jaybirds were available at the same time as the PowerBeats, I would have went with the Jaybirds and skipped the PB's...
Size (Buds & Case):
The Jaybird buds are on par, size wise to the AirPods, if not slightly smaller because they lack the stem...The PowerBeats Pro look huge in comparison to the other two. Same goes for the respective cases as well. The Jaybird buds and case are light enough, that you could actually put them on a key chain and hardly notice...The Jaybird case is using some strong magnets as well...Once in place, they aren't moving...
Battery Life:
Battery life is stated at 6 hours on the Jaybirds, with the case giving another 10, for a total of 16. After three days, using them for gym workouts and hiking, I would say this is about right. On one charge, I got about 6:20, on another 5:55. The PB's are rated at 9 hours plus up to 24 with the case. This accounts for the larger size of the PB's...nice big batteries...
Water Resistance
The Jaybirds are rated as IPX7, the PowerBeats Pro are IPX4...I believe that means the Jaybirds can be submersed in up to 1m of water, and the PB's are splash proof.
Controls
The Jaybirds have only one control button on both buds, and the functions are mirrored, although the Jaybird app allows a little customization. By default, a single tap plays/pauses/answers/ends calls. A long press powers them off. You can change this so long pressing raises the volume or lowers it. The PB's are a clear winner here though with their physical controls...But once I've set the volume, I hardly ever change it so it's not a big deal to me. If you do a lot of volume changing, the PB's might be better for you...
The one thing I miss from the PB's though, is the auto pause when you remove one. The Jaybirds don't have this feature, so when you take one out, the music keeps playing...
Fit
The Jaybirds locked right in for me, using the medium tips. Just press them in slightly, twist just a touch and I'm good to go. The PB's have the ear loop and I've gotten used to being able to put them in one handed, quickly. The sound isolation on the Jaybirds is better, because the seal is better. These are passive, so no active noise cancellation. Riding a bike, I would probably only wear one though, just so I can hear what's going on around me...I've had no long term ear fatigue or discomfort with either from wearing them...
Connection
Solid on the Jaybirds...Haven't dropped a connection yet or had any sync issues between the two buds. PB's are rock solid in this regard...
Sound
The Jaybirds have very good sound, to me. Nice, deep bass and good mids and highs. I'm no audiophile, so I won't comment much more. Plus, sound is a personal thing, from person to person. The app allows you to customize the sound using a bunch of EQ presets and a custom option where you can build an EQ setting to your own taste. The PB's have no EQ on their own but you can use the EQ settings on your phone if you like. I used the Jaybirds for a couple of phone calls, and everyone mentioned I sounded good. In an A/B test between the Jaybirds and PB's, two people said the PB's were better, but not by a huge amount, but they were better...
So, that's a quick summary...I started out with AirPods, but the idea of using them in the gym, didn't appeal to me, because the solid fit wasn't there, and their lack of water resistance, at least officially. I bought the PB's to be my outside the office, gym and active headphones. And they are excellent at that but...I think if the Jaybirds were available at the same time as the PowerBeats, I would have went with the Jaybirds and skipped the PB's...
Attachments
Last edited:
