Jaybird Freedom F5 In-Ear Wireless Bluetooth Sports Headphones – Secure Sports Fit – Tough All-Metal Design – Blaze

Let me start off by saying this, I love music, I dont just like music, I love it. That said I have spent a lot of money trying to find a great of practical everday headphones that sound good. Unfortunately there is always something, usually something small, that prevents me from awarding any particular headphones with this award. Well this is it... I have found them. The JayBird Freedom's are remarkably small... especially for a pair of wireless earbuds. While you might not think of size as too big of a selling point it is actually a really big deal. This was a problem with the Jaybird BlueBuds X and the JayBird X2's. While both of them are very nice headphones and both sound amazing, they were not practical headphones to carry with you all day. Because they are larger they are much more conspicuous in your pockets, to myself and to others. The super small size of the Freedom's allows for them to be put in your pockets all day without even noticing them. Another problem that i found with other headphones that are not wireless is that they catch on stuff as you walk past and get in your way depending what you are doing unless you string them under your shirt which gets uncomfortable and just isnt practical which defeats the purpose.The sound quality is incredible, as can be expected from JayBird. They provide great bass, tony mids, and crisp highs.The MySound app is also very well designed and thought out. It looks good and has a very user friendly interface except for when you go to save your sound profile. While it is still relatively simple it is slightly more complicated than it should be, however that is only a minor con amidst the sea of pros about these headphones.My first thoughts on the battery being in the inline controller was that it would constantly be yanking the bud from my ears, however the controller is extremely light and i experienced no problems in this area except for when i had the charger pod thingamajig attached. While it is also very light it does start to pull the earbud from your ear if you are running or working out with it attached. I found that to fix this all i had to do was install the earfins. There is nothing wrong with the fins they are comfortable and easy to use so this is only a con to me because i personally prefer to leave them off. If you would use them anyway, which i would recommend for workouts or running, than it is not a big deal.I was very impressed with all of the little things that JayBird included with the Freedom's, although I would say they were definitely included in the price. They included six sets tips foam S,M, and L and the more common rubber S,M, and L. I personally prefer the foam eartips because they are more noise isolating than the rbber ones, and i find them more comfortable to wear over extended periods of time. They also include 3 sizes of earfins 2 cord management clips and a cord clip as well as a small bag to contain all of your stuff.Overall the Freedom's are an excellent choice of everyday headphones if you can cough up the $200 that the cost at the time of this review.

Well, I can keep it quite short and simple. I was really excited to receive and try out the headphones, but when they arrived and I had a chance to use them, I was almost immediately disappointed by the sound, the wearing comfort (running) and them not functioning anymore after four days.1. The soundThe most important part — I had good experience with a pair of Sennheiser over-ear headphones via Bluetooth, when I hadn’t expected much soundwise. It may be down to aptX being used on them, so the latency AND the sound of it was really stellar. So Bluetooth doesn't necessarily mean bad, I came to realise.I had high hopes the sound would be comparably great on the Jaybirds, being marketed as being no compromise in sound and portability (because they are so small and lightweight). But the first few hours I took them for bike rides and trying them indoors revealed there is much to be desired about that sound. To be honest, it sounded like the cheap wired 20$ ear pops you can get anywhere. No depth, not too big on the lower end (bass) and really muddy as if listening to 128kbit MP3s on the treble part. Because they are quite small and beautiful, I really wanted to like them, and their sound. I had a hard time telling myself it would be great. I am possibly a bit biased, having had the (wired) RHA T20i for quite a while until they repeatedly broke at the cable end.2. 'Snug fit' - wearability when runningI needed them mostly for riding my bike through the city and - most of all - for running on a regular basis. That requires sweat resistance as well as lightness and a real good fit, since I am obviously moving around a lot.It was a complete desaster. The rather heavy control element on the right side jumped up and down so heftily, especially when intensified through opposing wind that I was hardly able to finish my run without constantly popping the ear buds back into my ears. Even on normal usage (bike) I had them occasionally slipping out.Sound quality was unbearable bad and muddy when using the foam earpieces, so I left them apart right on the first test. I have to admit, I didn't have the chance to test the fit with the extra fins, so that might just be a good combination with the silicone ear pieces.Still, on my first rides and especially the run I had to see that the lightness of the ear buds contradicts the rather heavy (when swinging) control section - and I didn't even use the small power bank.3. DurabilityMy testing and wanting to like them came to a rash end when on the fourth day of having them, I simply wasn't able to power them on anymore. No, they had enough juice for running on for at least an hour. There was no way to get them running (sic!) again. I tried to charge them again (but no light indicating the charging, even on the headphones themselves), and sent them back after not succeeding.With a 200$ price tag I had expected a lot more - even apart from the malfunctioning after four days. For that kind of money, I especially had thought to get though not top-notch, but higher class sound that distinguishes the earphones from cheap wired ones. Wearing comfort was also far from likeable. I really wouldn't recommend buying them. Not yet out in your country, but still a recommendation: B&O Play H5, where price, sound and wearing comfort (foam pieces work really well, even soundwise) just met my expectations.

As far as sound goes they sound great. Some amount of basic customization is available with The Jaybird app and that is a plus.But it has 2 major design flaws in my opinion. It’s to do with the assortment of ear fins and plugs.1) While attaching the fin/plug assembly one has to choose the appropriate fin first and slide it over the metal housing of the ear speaker. Now there is no abutment towards the farther edge to prevent the fin from moving further out. So essentially the fin does not stay in the same place all the time.2) This I reckon, and by first hand experience found to be a major flaw-One chooses a snugly fitting ear plug for best result. It snaps into place and supposedly held there by a small groove. In my case- I used a snugly fitting ear plug. After a workout and some sweat, I tugged the cord to remove my ear phones. THE SILICONE EAR PLUG stayed in the ear canal. It required a visit to the doctor to have it removed! Since then I have switched to one size smaller ear plug which sometimes allows ambient noise through and occasionally fall out, but I rather live with this compromise.

I purchased these because I wanted bluetooth headphones to use while making dinner, and nothing else I've tried fits my little ears. Really not an intensive use. The sound is pretty good for the price range, but the battery life is not as advertised. I should've listened to the bad reviews. The ear buds themselves keep maybe 30-40 minutes of charge after fully charging. With the charging clip (which would be super annoying to use while working out), it adds maybe another 3-4 hours. I wasn't asking for much - comfortable bluetooth ear buds with ok sound, but these aren't it. They weren't even that comfortable - hurt my ears after an hour. What a bummer