I’m not usually one to tout products, but I got myself a pair of JayBird BlueBuds X Sport for the gym, and they’re pretty damn good, so I thought I’d pass on a good word. Whenever I’m on the treadmill, I like to listen to music. Not that it is necessarily in time with my running (you try sprinting along to True Widow…), but it drowns out the sound of my huffing and puffing and gasping for air, which is really off-putting (for me, and I guess it would be for others if anyone ever used the machine next to me – or maybe that’s why they don’t…) I also have to listen to music when I’m out on my bike, because I’m usually out for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the route), and I’ve learned that that’s really too long to be left alone with my thoughts. My mind can go to some very strange places in that time, and I’m tired of getting the sudden urge to swerve into oncoming traffic. So I have to have headphones when I’m working out.
I used to use my Beats, but they died a while back, and since then I’ve been relying on the BlackBerry ‘premium’ headset that came with my phone, which, although light and relatively comfortable, aren’t really up to the task. I still need to replace my Beats with a decent pair for work, but in the meantime I still needed something to use at the gym. And as I don’t like to turn down an opportunity to upgrade, I decided to go with wireless ones this time. The main reason for this is that I apparently flail my arms around a great deal when I’m running (rather like Phoebe in the Friends episode The One Where Phoebe Runs), judging by the number of times I managed to yank my earbuds out of my ears while jogging on the treadmill – either that or I managed to pull my phone off the little shelf in front of the display and then nearly stomp on it. I used to use the free armband that Lifetime Fitness gave me for joining, but I sweat right through that and didn’t want to risk shorting out my phone. Also, when I fall off my bike (which happens more often than I care to admit), it tends to be because it has slid out from under me due to me going round a corner too fast, and I have a tendency to land on my side, right where the armband is. At least with Bluetooth headphones I figure can just put my phone in my backpack and not worry about it (I don’t think I’ve ever managed to fall on my back yet, but I guess there’s time…).
[As an aside, yes, I have finally conceded defeat and now use my phone as my ‘music player’ at the gym. Mainly because I didn’t want to have to carry two devices with me. (“Take two bottles into the shower?? not me!”) I still have my (now discontinued) 160GB ‘classic’ iPod, and I’ll continue to use that for listening to music at work – at least until I can find a 160GB micro-SD card that I can slip into my BlackBerry Z10, replacing the existing 64GB one, or until my iPod finally dies – by which time I’m really hoping to find a non-Apple alternative – but for now, my wonderful Blackberry Z10 is my gym buddy (plus it has Endomondo on it…).]
I used to have a pair of wireless headphones back in the day for my Hewlett Packard Jornada, but they were kind of on-ear ones (with a nasty pinch point right at the top of where your ear joins your head) and had a hard band round the back of your head to connect the two ear pieces. They weren’t really that comfortable to wear sat at your desk, let alone jogging, so I never really used them. And then I traded in my Jornada for a BlackBerry smartphone anyway. Plus, performance was a bit patchy. It took forever to pair them, and then they’d just cut out every so often, which is really frigging annoying. I was a bit worried that these BlueBuds would be the same, but I saw some meathead (in his sleeveless t-shirt with armpits slit to the waist) using a pair at the gym, and he didn’t look like he put up with any nonsense, so I figured I’d give them a go.
Thankfully, wireless headphones have come on a great deal in the last 6 or 8 years. These buds are pretty small; they’re a bit bigger than regular earbuds, and probably stick out of my ear-hole half an inch, but they’re not at all intrusive, and considering they have batteries, a Bluetooth receiver, and a regular micro-USB port for the charger, that they are as small as they are is a major miracle of modern science. That said, it probably took me half an hour to get them to fit correctly. Not because they are awkward, but because they ship with three sets of tips, and three sizes of those weird ‘wing’ things, and you kind of have to try them all out to find the best fit. Plus, i think I have odd ears, as the medium tip fitted my left ear just fine, but I had to use a large tip in my right ear. Maybe that explains why I always tilt my head to the right when I’m listening to people – it’s not a sign of empathy, or attentiveness – I’m just trying to compensate for my lopsidedness…
Sound-wise, the BlueBuds are pretty good. The bass could be a bit better (although it’s actually pretty good once you get a tight fit), but the top-end is nice and clear, without being tinny. The wire connecting the two buds is pretty thin and light, and only loops down to upper-chest height (i.e., out of the way of my flailing arms and fishhook fingers). The cord also comes with a couple of plastic doo-dads that let you loop the cord so it barely hangs down at all (I did find that before tightening it thumped against my upper chest when I ran, which was distracting). I think it’s designed so that the wires can loop over your ears and then be tightened against the back of your head, but that leaves the inline remote lying against the back of your ear, which just feels weird. So I have the wire looped at the front, where it looks like a really loose chinstrap. The GF thinks I look like an idiot, but given that I’m usually drenched in sweat, red in the face, and gasping for air like an 80-a-day, 400lb asthmatic running up Mount Everest with a fridge strapped to his back, how I look is clearly not my highest concern.
So anyway, if you’re looking for a new pair of headphones for working out in (and you’re actually working out – not just walking on the treadmill in your designer tracksuit with your Beats cans on, admiring yourself in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and hoping others are doing the same) then give these a go. Especially if you’re working out near me in Katy Lifetime Fitness and can’t stand my heavy breathing any longer – it’s a kinder solution than just wishing for a speedy onset of the heart attack my family history suggests is inevitably heading my way…
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