With the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus removing the headphone jack and the ever delayed Apple EarPods, I think right now is a good time to review a pair of wireless headphones. These are the JayBird X3s. You may remember I made a video about the first generation of JayBirds, the BlueBuds X, a couple of years ago on this channel; well ever since I picked up the X2s and now these, the newest generation, the X3.
Design has remained pretty similar up until today. They’re smaller than before and they have spent a lot of time working on the way they fit in your ear. The winged tips help them stay in your ear while you’re doing active things have been curved and now they really stick in your ear and they are even more comfortable. Also, the ear tips are more angled than previous X2s and BlueBuds. But one of the largest changes on these new X3s is the battery and the way you charge them. On the previous pairs, the battery was incorporated in the left earbud and you plug it in using a microUSB cable directly to it. Now, the batteries are inside the in-line control and you use a clip that has a microUSB port on it to charge it up. This has made the controller larger than before. But in my opinion, it’s more comfortable than before and the buttons are somehow even easier to find and press down.
But the obvious downside is you have to carry an extra piece with you to charge this up. But thankfully, right out of the box, the clip is tied to the USB cable. And with an 8-hour battery life, you’ll most likely never need to charge them while you are out. And you’ll always know your charge status because when you turn them on, it tells you how much battery life you have left. And if you download the JayBird MySound application, you’ll have even more detailed information about the headphones and battery level.
But the MySound app is really where it’s at with these new X3s. They let you do a lot more than just see the battery level. They allow you to customize the sound profile of the headphones to make them sound the way you want them to. Plus they have profiles created with partnered athletes that you can listen to the music the way they do. And the great thing is, it’s not just a setting on the phone. When you change a profile, they actually update the firmware on the headphones themselves so no matter what device, app or music you’re listening to, the profile will be active until you change it back on the application.
Another big plus to this app is the ability to swap the left and right audio channels, which is a big deal for me. The previous X2 and BlueBuds didn’t have this feature and it was incredibly annoying for people who wear these around the back of the head like I do. I prefer this because I don’t feel the cable very much and it even has a more secure fit. But when you do wear it like that, the audio is swapped. So your left channels and your right ear and vice versa. It wasn’t a huge deal for listening to most music but when you’re watching videos in stereo audio, it became apparent really fast. Now, a simple toggle and the problem is fixed.
The biggest feature for these X3s is the price tag. These cost $130 for sweat-proof, water-resistant headphones that have an 8-hour battery life. If you have a pair of X2s, well the sound quality is pretty identical. But if you’re coming from BlueBuds, maybe it’s time for an upgrade. But nonetheless, these are definitely a good buy for the price and they are less likely to get lost unlike those EarPods.
