Jaybird X2 review

Introduction The Jaybird X2 is a pair of wireless Bluetooth earphones designed for fitness enthusiasts. The headset is the successor to the company's Jaybird BlueBuds X. In reality, the two models aren't all that different, but that's not such a bad thing as the BlueBuds X is one of highest rated Bluetooth earphones around. The premise is simple; the X2 is a headset designed primarily to be worn while working out and as such has a very minimal footprint and try to get out of your way as much as possible. In that pursuit, they have all the electronics built within the speaker enclosures themselves, while also being sweat-resistant and designed not to pop out while you're running. Oh, and you can take calls on them easily. But you could have gotten all that from their website. Let's see what the headset is like in real life. Design The design of the X2 is nearly identical to that of the original BlueBuds X. It's a roughly two feet long thin flat cable with speakers on either end. Not the first product to use this design but before I get into anything else, let's just stop for a second and appreciate how the engineers managed to fit so much into such a small form factor. When you first try to put them on, you realize there is no marking for left and right speakers. It is because the earphones are designed to be worn both in an under-the-ear and an over-the-ear style and because the drivers are angled inwards, you have to switch them around when you move from one to the other position. Unfortunately, this results in an immediate problem, and that is the channels don't switch when you wear them upside down. It's only when you wear them in an under-ear style do you get the correct channel for each ear. It is not so much of a problem if you are listening to music, but using them for watching videos with stereo sound is downright confusing at times. The fancy retail carrying box fits all the bits and piece Once you figure out the left speaker from the right (the right one is the one with the controls near it), you then have to consider choosing between six different ear tips. Three of these are silicone, and the other three are Comply foam ear tips. For those not familiar with foam ear tips, you first have to squeeze them before inserting in your ears and once inside, the foam expands and takes the shape of your inner ear, which gives a tighter seal and is more comfortable on your ears. The foam ear tips also lack the annoying suction pump feeling of traditional silicone ear tips when you insert or remove them and are more comfortable. The problem is the foam can be damaged easily and isn't exactly sweat resistant, so for working out, it would be preferable to use the silicone ear tips. The other thing you have to consider putting on are the ear fins, which fit inside your outer ear and keep the earphones securely in place. In my testing, I found the Jaybird X2 to sit quite firmly in my ears, and I didn't have to worry about them popping out every few minutes. The last thing you would have to consider is the cord management clips. You get three with the earphones, of which one is spare. Even though the cable between the speakers is not long, you can still make it shorter by running it through the clips. It's important not to make it too short because, as I found out, it can severely restrict your sideways head movement and also makes it harder to use the controls. I found I could skip using these, and it was still fine. Coming to the earphones, they are made entirely out of plastic and come in a variety of colors. They are slightly longer than most earphones, as you can imagine, but not so long that they stick out too much from the side of your head (although you do feel them if you place your head sideways on a pillow while wearing them). The right speaker has a flap on the back with the microUSB port for charging, and also an LED status indicator. The fancy retail carrying box fits all the bits and piece Below the right speaker is the remote control. It has three buttons that can do various functions. The middle button is for power and also play/pause, and the other two are for volume or for skipping tracks. How the controls work isn't immediately apparent, and there is no user guide in the box either, which means you have to head over to the website for the...