I am planning to buy bluetooth headphone for running and gym. After reading a lot of reviews of different IEMs, I have selected two.
JayBird X2 and CrossBeats Raga. Both are Sweatproof and have noise cancellation for better sound quality.
JayBird X2 is available for around 3300/- at Aliexpress and CrossBeats is of 1900/- at Amazon.in. I am confused between these two because both have got good reviews.
Or is there any other vfm IEM available?
I have used both, I bought Jaybird X2 quite a while ago, and I don't know where you got'em for 3300, man. That cost me for
9,xxx/- with crazy discount(during christmas). While I got the xBeats for like 1,999/-.
Crossbeats is something that I bought like a month ago. My Jaybird is still alive. Just not with me anymore.
Before we start, just FYI, I am a basshead.
I tested both of them on
iPhone 6,
nexus 6P,
macbook pro(osx el capitan), on my desktop (
msi z87i's internal bluetooth) and desktop with bluetooth dongle. (Both desktops have windows 10).
Comparison :
1. Audio Quality:
Jaybird :
9.5/10. In one word, awesome. I have used a lot of different headphones/earphones before(will list out later). Jaybirds stack up as premium in audio quality emphasizing more on audio clarity.
xBeats Raga :
7.5/10. Its okay. The music is there, and the bass is there. As advertised. But, I got to hand it to you, in comparison, the audio comes out quite mixed. There seems no clear line between lows, mids or high. It's like its all there. Mashed up together into your ears.
2. Connectivity:
Jaybird:
6/10. Most of the people will criticize me over this opinion. I agree. but jaybirds loose their connectivity in many 'not ideal' environments. They tend to drop connection with stuff like a wall blocking your device, you covering the right earbud (or left is it? i sort of tend to forget this always). But under ideal conditions, these work perfectly. Never accidentally drop/disconnect at all.
xBeats:
5.5/10. Almost the same performance here. Same problems of dropping/disconnecting connections. Even its the same earbud i suppose(or left is it?). But these even react to your hand covering the bud. (REALLY!)
3. Comfort:
Jaybirds:
8/10. I will say these are very comfortable. Fit, yes. I guess its because of the added 'secure-fit' enhancement.
xBeats:
6.5/10. The fit, yes. But, this is where it gets uncomfortable. They have this hard chassis(?) the have the earbud coming out in an 'inward' direction inside your ear, but it is sort of annoying sometimes. This makes it hard for the bud to be "calibrated" once they're inside your ears. And that just intensifies when you're trying to press the buttons.
4.
Interface:
Jaybirds:
9/10. Simple. Accept/cut-off/Reject phone call, increase/decrease volume, play/pause music, next/previous tracks. Its all there.
xBeats:
8/10. Same interface. But using this interface gets sort of annoying when you try to interact. You spend 5-10 seconds initially to make them feel most comfortable in ears. And then pressing anyone one button just messes it up. I blame the hard design again, but still it is something the designers should consider. Though comes with a mute microphone.
5.
Battery life:
Jaybirds :
8/10. Because it is exactly as Jaybirds has advertised. ~8 Hours of playtime once fully charged, prompt before 15 minutes and charging time of 2 hours when fully drained. 8 months down the line and still work as promised.
xBeats :
7.5/10. Same. Just the prompt is sort of weird. Sometimes it lasts way longer than expected. And sometimes just dies of immediately.
Things that can be better:
Both: Battery indicator (visual/prompt based), more sturdy wires (It's good they're ribbon though), phone locator (comes with a lot of other BT devices lately)
Jaybird: The cost. To me it sort of felt expensive. But this is just my opinion.
xBeats: Audio quality, Comfort, Design.
Recommendations:
- I would recommend xBeats to someone who is on budget. But wants to experience wireless audio. Not the best out there, but surely bang for your buck.
-Jaybirds are absolutely great, so if you're willing to spend some good $$$ and want the best experience, no doubt. Go for it.
Other earpods/headphones I tried/own (whose quality was still considered to an extent) :
1. Sennheiser : cx 180, cx 3.0, momentum
2. Marshall : Major II, minor.
3. Skullcandy : Smokin' Buds 2(BT), Crushers, Hesh 2
