Jaybird Vista Review

After finding a new favorite podcast (thanks for the psyche Enormocast), and creating our very own Elevation Running Playlist, I recently started listening to things again during big, uphill runs. One thing I was not psyched on was my wired headphone set up so I decided it was time to upgrade to wireless. Jaybird is a company very visible in the running world and had launched their new Vistas, small, light, simple and bomber. I knew a friend who swore by them so I got on board. When my pair arrived, I downloaded the app, fired them up, and immediately understood that here was a great new toy. I admit to loving the discovery of something I didn’t even know I needed. Especially when that something works perfectly for so many things I do.

I travel a lot, so besides wanting good headphones for listening to podcasts and music, I also use them as earplugs in airplanes, huts, and in countries where silence is hard to find (i.e., the barking dog countries).

Jaybird Vistas do all this.

They are undoubtedly the most comfortable earbuds I’ve used thanks to being customizable with several different size ear gel pieces that come included. These earbuds easily pop in and fit super snug for sport, or left looser and in just one side for when I need to also hear what’s around me. When tight, they completely seal and dampen sound. Pull them out a bit with the ear hook still in place and they result in a more typical headphone experience.

Jaybird Vista User Experience

The Jaybird app is one of the first things you’ll love. During the set-up process, which the earbuds do for you by simply connecting to your phone’s app, you have the option to customize your sound preference or choose from profiles to fit the type of music you’re listening to. Once set up, open the case, pull them out, and they’re on and connected.

Some of the features I appreciate about Jaybird:

• Playlists: The app has a huge selection of Spotify playlists that are actually good. It’s turning out to be like having a big list of friend’s suggestions.
• Button customization: You can customize more than the sound, even each earbud’s button can be dialed in to volume control, forward and back tracks, Google Assistant, or just on/off.
• Battery Life: I haven’t even dented the battery life. Jaybird says that when fully charged, you’ll get 6 hours of listening time. Put them in the rechargeable case, which is also a charging pack, and you get 1 hour more in just 5 minutes. Or, keep them fully charged from the case and get a total of 16 hours. Pro Tip: if you use one earbud at a time, you get 2 times 16 hours, or 32 hours of listening time. Seems plenty.
• Fully water and sweat proof.
• Earthproof: I didn’t know what this meant either, but it turns out to be a good thing… they’re basically unbreakable.
• Phone headset. 
• The whole set up, earbuds & charging case, is so small that I just take it along for so much of what I do; running, climbing, travel etc… if I use them great, if not, great. They are always along for the ride.

In summary, they are a very high end piece of tech gear that does what I need perfectly. Their quality gives me confidence that they’ll be around for a long time as part of my go to mountain athlete kit.

The whole package is totally unique and incredibly well done. For athletes in particular, Jaybird gets it.

Visit Jaybird for all the info.

By Dan Patitucci

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Gear Review Disclaimer: At ALPSinsight, product reviews are a result of either finding gear we love and wanting to support it, or working with brands we partner with and believing in the gear enough to want to heap praise in support of what works well. If we don’t like something, we just don’t review it. We do not publish sponsored posts but do get some product for free with the agreement that we truly must like it enough to review it.

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