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The Jaybird Vista Wireless Earbuds combine a military spec rugged waterproof design, high quality sound and customizable equalizer with 6 hrs of battery time (extended by another 10hrs from the charging case). They are lightweight and comfortable and very difficult to make fall out accidentally.

In Depth Review

I get through a lot of earbuds when I’m out on trails running or hiking. Most last about 6 months before the inevitable amount of sweat and rain ( and sometimes tears) take their toll and they break. Jaybird are a company that have been building earbuds and headphones for runners and outdoor athletes since 2006 and the focus on the custom needs when outdoors really shows in this product.

Build Quality – Earthproof

The Vistas are MIL-STD810G and IPX7 rated. This means they match a military rating for rugged build quality and are dustproof, shock resistant, drop proof . An IPX7 rating means that the item has been tested to a depth of 1m of water for 30 mins and still works. This is way more than simply being caught out in the rain and means they will survive pretty much anything you can do to them by accident.

Bluetooth Connectivity

If you have used bluetooth headphones or earbuds before you may be familiar with the lag you get from the moment you turn on an item to when it finally synchs with your device each time. One of the biggest suprises I had testing these earbuds was how quickly they turned on and synched with my phone. I actually cant take them from the case and put them in my ears quick enough to beat the Vistas. This is the first time I’ve ever had earbuds that don’t have any cranky connectivity, sometimes having to turn bluetooth, the phone or the unit off or on again to get them to work.

Range wise I would say these continue to work well up to about 30ft from your phone or music player. This range is decreased if something solid is in the way.

Set Up

The set up for the Jaybird Vistas are very straightforward and this is the first time I’ve used an app that also walks me through step by step with the set up process. The first time you open the case you simply press and hold a small button inside the case to start the synch process then look for the Jaybird earbuds on your bluetooth scanned devices.

Jaybird App

After that I downloaded the Jaybird App which is available for I phone or Android. The app walks you through a few quick options and also allows you to set a custom EQ tailored to your personal hearing. It also has a ‘find my earbuds’ function so you can use your phone to locate them when you cant remember wher you put them.

Custom EQ

We all have different music tastes and as we get older (ahem…..I’m now an ancient 43 our hearing changes so its great that the app allows you to customize your hearing experience. It does a series of small tests at various frequencies and you set the level for each at the point that you can just about hear the tone they give you. After about 7 of these quick tests its all done ans the earbuds have created a custom EQ setting just for you. There are also some quick grab default settings for various music types as well.

The Case

There is no fiddling round with a USB cable to try and charge the Vistas. They fit neatly into a small plastic rugged case that comes with them with a small lanyard. They attach to the case for charging via small magnets which means they sort of ‘jump’ into the slots they need to be in and start charging straight away. Putting them in or out of the case is also the easiest way to turn them on and off. The case itself also incorporates its own rechargeable battery so it charges the case up and the earbuds when you have it connected to the USB charger cable that comes with it.

Battery Time

I found that the charging time was very quick and even a 5 min charge put about an hour of battery power in them. The case stores up about another 10 hours of battery charge for the earbuds so even if you don’t have access to a power socket you can still put charge into these earbuds to extend the battery from 6hrs to about 16 hrs. This makes them super useful in airports or long journeys where getting hold of a power socket can be difficult.

Music and Calls

The Vista earbuds have a built in microphone so you can take calls with them. They also have a single earbud mode to save power when you want to be able to listen out to whats going on around you but still listen to music or take calls.

Controls on the Buds

If your phone is in your pocket you dint have to get it out to change track. a single quick, double quick or long press of the button on either earbud controls ‘next track’ functionality and answering calls as well as turning them earbuds on and off.

The earbuds will also turn themselves off if they aren’t used for 15 minutes which is a great feature to help save battery life.

Comfort

The earbuds only weigh 6 grams (a fifth of an ounce) so they are very comfortable when worn. There are three gel sleeve options in different sizes so you can experiment with which size suits your ear the best. They come with the medium size 2 on already and I found they were actually best for me. Even with vigorous sport and trail running I couldn’t shake them out of my ears by accident.

I Haven’t Even Talked About the Sound Quality Yet

I expected the sound quality to be good given the price. What surprised me was just how good they were. I would say these are not just the best earbuds I’ve ever used for sound quality but they beat many of the large over the ear headphones I’ve tested too. The sound is crisp even at top volume and the bass is outstanding given how small they are.

Gripes

I had the limited edition Earthproof Green edition which is no longer available. If I had one small gripe its that I’m terrified of dropping them when I’m outdoors and losing them because they are so small but the ‘find my earbuds’ function on the app gives me some peace of mind. I would also love it if you could adjust the volume on the earbuds so you don’t have to get the phone out.

Closest Contender

Bose probably come closest with their Soundsport Free for sound quality, features and price, but they are bulkier, have less battery time and less waterproof rating than the Jaybird Vistas.

Verdict

The Jaybird Vista Wireless Earbuds combine a military spec rugged waterproof design, high quality sound and customizable equalizer with 6 hrs of battery time (extended by another 10hrs from the charging case). They are lightweight and comfortable and very difficult to make fall out accidentally.

With their guarantee and EARTHPROOF design these could be the last pair of earbuds you ever need to buy.

Specs and Features

Audio

• Type: In-ear style
• Noise-isolation: Passive
• Impedance: 23 Ohm +-15% at 1KHz
• Speaker sensitivity: 103.5 +-1.5dB at 1KHz
• Output 12 mW RMS (with level limit)
• Total Harmonic Distortion <3% (1KHz, 1mW)
• Audio Format: 16-bit Stereo
• Codec: Bluetooth SBC Implementation
• Response Bandwidth 20Hz – 20kHz
• Driver size: 6 mm

Battery

• Play Time: 6 Hrs* + 10 Hrs in the case
• Charging time: 2 Hrs
• Quick charge: 5 min = 1 hour playtime
• Charging: Via charge case with USB connector
• Input power: DC 5V 1A
• Type: Lithium Ion
• Battery voltage: 3.6V
• Energy Voltage in Watt Hrs Per Battery: 0.19 Wh

Dimensions

• Case Width: 74mm
• Case Height: 36.5mm
• Case Depth: 24mm
• Earbud Width: 22mm
• Earbud Height: 24mm
• Earbud Depth: 18mm
• Weight with medium eargel: 6g

Bluetooth

• Bluetooth version: 5.0
• Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
• Profiles: Handsfree , Headset , A2DP , AVCRP , SPP
• Wireless Range: Class 2 standard range 10m/33ft

About Jaybird

Our journey to creating the perfect wireless sport headphones began with a need—a need to feel free.  As passionate runners, riders, athletes, and adventurers, we’ve always been driven to perfect our craft by exploring new territory, pushing our limits and eliminating gear that holds us back.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from thousands of hours of training, trails, races and runs, it’s that wires get in the way. They catch on trees, they stick to your body when you sweat, they wear out, and they get tangled in your pocket or pack. We wanted to feel as free as possible in the outdoors, and our goal became to create headphones that we could forget we were wearing.  

we released the first ever athlete-driven wireless buds in 2006 and have been innovating on the concept ever since.

Working with professional runners and endurance athletes, and studying thousands of different ear scans, we came up with an ultra-comfortable, ultra-secure design that uses interchangeable components to offer a customizable fit for nearly any ear size. We then improved the durability, sweat- and weather-resistance to ensure our buds can survive high-intensity training, unexpected weather and the rigors of day-in, day-out use. And then we tackled sound.