Sweat-resistant exercise earbuds have become a huge hit thanks to their convenient form-factor and increasingly better sound quality. The JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth Headphones promise to outperform their competition while convincing customers that paying a premium price is a smart decision.

Design and build quality

JayBird offers a lifetime warranty against sweat damage. The company seems confident that these exercise-oriented earbuds can survive even the sweatiest ears during the hottest summer months.

Our testing didn’t take place in summer, but we did our very best to sweat as much as our glands allowed us. Results were impressive.

Not only there was no sign of damage, but the sound didn’t change in any way. Even the micro USB port has a rubber cover over it to keep moisture away.

The overall construction seems durable and the plastic is thick. Our only complaint would have to be the slightly cheaper looking finish. Especially the black version with plastic chrome accents seems almost identical to just about any pair of $15 Bluetooth earbuds from China.

We believe that it’s what’s inside that truly counts, but we also can appreciate when gadgets are a pleasure to look at.

JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth Headphones are smaller than most Bluetooth headphones, but only average when compared to regular earbuds. This is not the best pair of earbuds if you are looking for something that will disappear into your ears.

BlueBuds X has the tendency to cause a slight irritation after a while. It takes just a simple adjustment for it to disappear, but it’s there and it can get annoying. Of course, everybody is different and this may not be a problem for many people.

The included ear wings do a very good job at keeping these earbuds stay securely in ears and prevent them from falling out even during fast sprints or other types of high-impact exercise.

It’s almost hard to believe that JayBird somehow managed to cram a battery capable of 8 hours of continuous playback time into these small Bluetooth earbuds. That’s plenty for a full day of listening or a week of exercise. Charging doesn’t take long and the included micro USB cable is short and sturdy, making it excellent for travel.

The cord that connects both ear buds together can be adjusted using the included shortening guides to any length. This prevents it from flapping around during exercise and enables for two different wearing styles.

You can either wear BlueBuds X in the traditional under-ear manner or select the more secure over-ear style. Just be careful not to lose the cable guides. When forcefully disconnected, those two small pieces will fly across the room and finding them could be almost impossible.

These earbuds also come with inline music playback controls with a microphone. Controls are very easy to operate and the microphone offers above average sound quality.

It should be clear by now that the overwhelming impression that we got from these Bluetooth earbuds is positive. They are not without a few issues, but all of them are fairly easy to look past.

Sound

Earlier Bluetooth headphones and earbuds suffered a great loss of audio quality due to high data compression. This is certainly not an issue with BlueBuds. SIGNAL PLUS technology ensures a skip-free listening experience with sound quality that is basically indistinguishable from wired headphones.

JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones are characterized with a well-balanced sound that doesn’t overly exaggerate any frequency range.

We were initially concerned by the apparent lack of bass but quickly managed to figure out what was going on. These earbuds are very sensitive when it comes to proper fit.

Changing ear tips to larger size instantly resulted in a massive improvement of sound quality and bass, in particular, became much more powerful.

We have several things that we always look for when testing sports-oriented headphones and earbuds for their sound quality. We generally prefer more mainstream sound too analytical and detailed one and we can definitely appreciate when headphones manage to remain friendly to all music genres.

JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth Headphones are one of few that deserve a perfect score. The sound reproduction is lively and exciting, mids are slightly more prominent, which makes for very immersive experience when listening to vocals, and soundstage on these is spacious and detailed. Every instrument can be clearly heard just like if you would stand in the front row of a medium-size concert hall.

It’s also worth noting that passive noise reduction is excellent and you don’t have to crank up your volume to fight the obnoxious gym music.

What is in the box?

These earbuds come with an impressive assortment of accessories. For a start, you get three different sizes of replaceable ear tips and ear wings. They are spaced apart to fit all ear sizes and their replacement is as easy as it can be.

The included flat USB cable is used for charging the earbuds. It’s very short, which makes it easily transportable in the included hard-shell case. Last but not least, you are receiving a pair of cable-shortening guides that you can use to adjust the length of the cable.

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