Jaybird RUN Review

The Jaybird RUNS are comfortable and offer great sound for its price tag. To sweeten the deal, these earbuds also offer upmarket features that are typically found on more expensive models.

Design

• Comfortable rubber earbuds
• Sweat and water resistance provides protection during exercise
• Not quite secure enough to use while running

• Read our full review of the Jaybird RUN's design

  The earbuds on the Jaybird RUNS are made out of a high quality plastic, with the logo clearly shown on the earbud. The rubber on the earbuds are comfy and don’t irritate your ears.

  Turning the earbuds on or off while they sit in your ears could be slightly uncomfortable. A more comfortable method I discovered was pressing the button to turn it on before you put them in your ears.

  The charging case is beautifully crafted. The design is something that resembles alien technology from the Halo video game. Pressing the button on the front lifts the lid, revealing the alien-looking innards which charge your earbuds. When you put your earbuds in and close the case, green lights flash to show that your earbuds are charging. If the battery is running low, a red light will show in the middle.

  

  Even though the charging case is small, it could be thinner. The Apple AirPods case measures is thinner, making it easier to fit in your pocket. In comparison, the RUN case is a lot rounder which could make it uncomfortable to fit into your pants. Some other reviews stated that the case was too big to fit into their pocket, but mine fit comfortably into Nudie skinny jeans.

  The earbuds are advertised as sweat proof, and they definitely lived up to the promise. After five sweaty gym sessions, the earbuds still looked and felt very clean. Of course, I'll still need to use some wet wipes soon to maintain general standards of cleanliness.

  When using the RUNs at the gym, they stayed in my ears most of the time. The exception was when I was running on the treadmill. Even though the earbuds have a rubber hook attached, big movements caused them to move around and loosen. This results in the audio cutting out a bit since the rubber is not secure in your ears. The conclusion so far is that wireless earbuds are not yet up to the task of staying in your ears whilst running, whereas earbuds with hooks that go around your ears are the most practical for running.

Performance

• Audio quality is solid for fitness headphones
• Built-in microphone works quite well
• 4-hour battery life is on-par with other fitness headphones

• Read our full review of the Jaybird RUN's performance

  The RUNS offer good sound quality, especially for its price tag. Compared to other headphones, the sound could be louder when you are selecting a lower or middle volume.

  The base isn't as well rounded or deep as Sennheiser or Bose, but it still packs a heavy punch.

  Calls had very clear quality, on both the receiving and microphone end which was surprising since the microphone is near your ear, compared to having it on a wire near your mouth with traditional headphones. A clear downside to the RUNs is that the audio only comes out of one earbud during calls.

  The RUNs offer a 4-hour play time with an additional 8 hours of playing time available with the charging case, bringing it to a total of 12 hours. I experienced a play time of 3 hours and 40 minutes, which I suspect was due to playing music louder than the average joe.

  Jaybird also boasts about a fast charge feature, which allows the user to gain one hour of play time with a five-minute charge. I thoroughly enjoyed this feature as it allowed me to listen to music all throughout the day at work and fit those critical charges in before a spontaneous run.

  As displayed below, the Jaybird RUNs sit in the middle of the pack for battery life with an advertised play time of 4 hours. Increasing it to 5-6 hours would make it more competitive in this space against its closest competitors. The Apple Airpods come out on top with the shortest charge time for its earbuds and 5 hours playtime putting it in second place behind the Bose Soundsports.

Features

• Pairing and battery notifications are helpful
• Pairing itself can be unreliable, especially in a tech-heavy environment
• Frequent disconnections were a pain

• Read our full review of the Jaybird RUN's features

  From first use, it is clear that Jaybird has put a lot of thought into the different scenarios people need. When you take the earbuds out of the charging case, both earbuds turn on and pair with your device. This is followed by the earbud voice announcing how much battery life is left. The voice also confirms whether your earbuds are paired to a device. In terms of knowing when your earbuds are paired and how much battery is left, the Jaybird RUNs score a 10/10.

  Knowing whether the earbuds are on or off is easy since a light flashes on the exterior of the earbud occasionally.

  Pairing the earbuds in the office or an environment with a lot of Bluetooth activity was a pain. The audio kept cutting in and out during the pairing process. However, once the earbuds paired, the connection stayed consistent most of the time.

  When you take the earbuds out of the charging case, they automatically connect to the device you last connected with. This was quite annoying at the start since I prefer to listen to music on my laptop once I reach the office. In addition, having your laptop and phone Bluetooth on creates interference and constantly cuts your audio in and out. To counter this, turn off the Bluetooth on your phone when reaching your desk. From there, your earbuds have no option but to default to your laptop. Alternatively, you can pair your earbuds to your desired device again by holding the power button down.

  I experienced a lot of disconnection from my earbuds when walking through the city or areas with a lot of telecommunications activity. Unfortunately this was a unique issue with Jaybird that I hadn't faced with other brands.

  The earbuds connect seamlessly with devices for the first time. Connecting it to my phone was painless. However when trying to connect the RUNs with my laptop, due to the Bluetooth interference in the office, it took around 10 minutes to get running.

  The Bluetooth range was very weak. I was only able to walk 10m in both my house and office before the audio would start cutting out.

Pricing and availability

Priced at $147 with Catch, the Jaybird RUNs are competitively priced under the Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds ($249) and the Bose Soundsport Wireless In-Ear Headphones ($229) with JB Hi-Fi. Serious fitness fanatics should consider the Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds, since they have a heart rate monitor and analyzer.

If sound quality is top priority for you then the Bose Soundsports are worth comparing against the Jaybird RUNs, even though the Bose headphones are corded.

Overall the Jaybird RUNs get the job done. They look and feel great, with impressive sound quality. If you're looking for a pair of true wireless earbuds to keep your music flowing from work to the gym, the Jaybird RUNs are a pair to seriously consider.

Ready to go true wireless? Get the Jaybird RUN Sport Headphones today from Catch

True wireless earbuds with great sound quality, that are sweat-proof and water resistant.

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_{Prices are accurate as of June 2018}

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