I loved the Jabra Sport headphones that I reviewed a few months ago.  They were light, stayed on great, and overall a winner.  But even before the new JayBird Freedom Sprint ($130) arrived in the mail, I KNEW the Jabra would be hitting the curb.  It’s hard to say goodbye to a loved one…but here it is “Goodbye Jabra.”  (JayBird, Jabra…both J’s…too confusing.  From here on Jabra = old earphones).

The marketing gurus at JayBird are spouting out how the Freedom Sprint is 40% smaller than their original Freedom headphones and how it still holds a 4.5 hour charge (compared to 6 hours).  They say junk like how these buds emphasis “sub-base” which keeps you pumped when working out.  They spout how the calls are cleaner.  Blah, blah, blah…if you want to know more about that stuff, then go to their site: http://www.jaybirdgear.com/

What important is do they look cool and do I look cool wearing them!!!  And damn skippy, that is fo-shur!

But really, the JayBirds are wicked cool.  I’ve been wearing them for about three weeks now and they have solved all the issues I had with my old earphones, but have added one new one.  First, the battery last forever.  With my old earphones, I’d start getting battery warnings after about two hours.  With the JayBirds, I’ve gone through two 2.5 hour workouts without needing a recharge (total 5 hours) and they were still running strong.  That’s huge.  I often forget to charge them…so that one day of buffer means a ton.

Second, the calls are truly clearer.  They aren’t perfect.  I’ve been told that I sound like I’m in tunnel.  But that’s way better than what people used to say about my old earphones– that I was in a hurricane.

Third, the ear-pieces don’t come loose.  It took a while, but my old earphones’ ear-piece (the interchangeable rubber part) started to fall off.  Luckily, I never lost one, but had I…I’d have been really pissed.  JayBirds simple won’t come loose…the design is too good.

Finally, they are of an in-ear design, and thus do a great job of filtering out the world.  Just today, I was working out about 50 yards from the college marching band and I could barely hear them.  If I moved just a bit further away, their rat-tat-rat disappeared completely.  Now that’s serious black-out!  Alas, this great improvement is also my new complaint.  The in-ear design does cause some discomfort after a couple of hours.  But it’s the price you pay for great performance.

There’s one more thing.  They are a hefty $129.00, even on Amazon.  You can get the old model (40% larger) for $88.86 on Amazon and those Jabra’s are only $69.99 now.  Personally, I’d cough up the $129.00 for the superior product.  If you’re one of those people who lose their sunglasses every month, then get some cheapy wired buds.  If not, then get JayBird.  You’ll be glad you did.