Jaybird X2 Review - A worthy successor to the Bluebuds X?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,366 words · ~6 min read
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I don't usually recommend a product as wholeheartedly as I did with the J-Bird
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Blueb Buds X. So, while I was actually
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disappointed with the follow-up model, the J-Bird
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X2, maybe it's because I went in with
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the wrong expectations.
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the link in the video description to learn more. So, it started with the
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package. The earphones are well presented and the accessory package
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includes the earphones themselves, a short charging cable, wire management
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clips, and I'll explain these better later, a few different sizes of their
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ear fins that keep the earphone in place in your ear, a few different sizes of
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both standard and comply foam ear tips,
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a very nice touch for improved comfort and fit if you don't mind regularly
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purchasing replacements, and a carrying case that annoyed me more than it
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probably should have. But who the hell
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was the person at J-Bird who thought that this, you know, press down just
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hard enough, but don't press too hard derpastic lid thing improved in any way
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the magnetic clamshell that came with the Blue Buds X. I wish I'd been in that
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meeting so I could personally explain that the square wheel is not an
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invention anyone needs and sometimes it's fine to just stick with what we
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know works. And while I was sitting there being annoyed by that, I observed
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also that unlike the previous version, the X2 lacks any included documentation,
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relying instead on a link to their site where you can view it online. And while
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I'm all for environmental preservation, a really basic quick start guide. Press
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the button for this long to enter pairing mode could have saved me a
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couple minutes of powering it on only to then power it back down again until I
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realized that you just need to hold it for longer when first powering it on to
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enter pairing mode. and that instruction would have fit on a single piece of
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paper just as well as a link to the site anyway. But with that out of the way,
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it's time to talk about wearing them. User reviews online seem to indicate
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that the X2s fit better or even much
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better than the Blue Buds X. For me, there was no noticeable difference. And
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frankly, I wonder if that was just firsttime users having their eyes opened
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to the joys of comply tips, which for the uninitiated can be rolled up before
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being inserted into the ear canal where they expand for a nice snug fit because
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the X2s are physically like even down to their weight. As far as I can tell,
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exactly the same thing. Okay, then Lionus, how about performance? Battery
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life very similar to last gen. JBird claims eight hours or more is doable
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with users online backing this up. For me, the use them for an hour or two per
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week and throw them in your gym bag between sessions use case yielded about
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6 and 1/2 hours of music time, which I am more than happy with. Remember that
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batteries discharge themselves while they're in storage. On the subject of
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sound quality, again, I would have to say
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they're very similar. User accounts vary across the internet, but from my
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sideby-side listening, the most noticeable difference was that the X2s
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pack a bit more punch in the low end. Not in an unpleasant, muddy way. And
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unless you're listening to them side by side, you're probably not going to pick up on any of that anyway. So then, what
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the hell did they change? Frankly, not
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much. While I'd love to say that, you know, it features innovations like the
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case has a battery bank in it and then the headphones charge wirelessly inside
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or like they're noticeably lighter or the Jenna voice assistant has been
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significantly amped up or the call quality, it does have a microphone, by
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the way, is is is way better or or they
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finally fixed that one freaking thing that really bugged me on the original.
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the way that you couldn't reverse the stereo channels when you're wearing them
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in the alternate over the ear mode, which by the way is what those little
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cable management clips are for, although usually I'm lazy and just tie them in a
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knot. Which I guess leads us to the
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conclusion where I have to ask what exactly was the point of this product?
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And the only conclusion I can draw is that it was an inexpensive marketing
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campaign for their expanded color range. Yes, it's available in more colors. And
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some other really small tweaks that could have been rolled out silently
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because if they'd approached someone like me or Marcus asking us to make a
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new video review of the new J-Bird earphones that uh you know, oh, more
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colors, we'd have probably told them to go take a hike. But if they tell us,
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hey, it's a completely new product. It's the X2. Well, here we are. People are
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re-reing the same product. But the good news here, at
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least, the takeaway for me is that anyone who wants great wireless
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earphones should be thankful for the J-Bird X2 because it means the Bluebuds
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X is cheaper now that it sits under this
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guys. Thanks for watching. If this video sucked, you guys know what to do. But if
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you're done watching all that stuff, doing all that stuff, watching all that,
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you're probably wondering what video to watch next. So, check out that little button in the top right corner to check
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out a video where I build, yes, my friends, CPU, motherboard, and 16 gigs
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of RAM capable of gaming, eight cores for about the price of the J-Bird
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X2s. Go watch it.