Jaybird delivers on audio, but falls flat on comfort.

As someone who loves listening to music and podcasts anywhere I go, I was really excited to try these Jaybird headphones. I've never had the chance to try a pair from Jaybird before, but I'd heard good things. I've tested a lot of no name brands or cheaper end bluetooth headphones and many mid-range and most of the bluetooth headphones I own are good, but not amazing, usually due to sub-par audio or dull design. These Jaybird Freedom headphones were a welcome change from that, but I did find myself struggling with some other issues, and even now I'm conflicted about how I feel.

Let's start with one of the Jaybird Freedom bluetooth headphone's strongest categories: the overall aesthetic design. These headphones really do have a killer look. The white and gold colours were a great choice, and with the wings attached these headphones really do look stylish. Based on looks alone, they blow all my other headphones out of the water.

When it comes to the actual design choices that affect how you use the product, things aren't quite as good. These headphones look great, but in trying them on I quickly found them to be very frustrating to actually wear. Part of that is finding the right fit: they come with three sizes of earbud, in foam and in plastic, plus three sizes of the wings. So right away, trying to figure out which sizes of earbuds and wings, and which style of earbuds I found most comfortable, took several tries. The wing-design, which has small plastic 'wings' fitting into your ear to help hold the headphones in place, takes a lot of getting used to. The instructions for how to put them on are vague and it took multiple tries before I finally got them to sit in my ears the way they're meant to. Trying to use the headphones without the wings led to them falling out every single time, so even though they're apparently optional, I didn't find that to be the case.

Once I understood the design, they were comfortable to wear, but probably the poorest design decision in this entire product really ruined any chance I had of just putting them on and forgetting they were there. The controller, which lets you adjust the volume and pause your music, is located just below the right-side headphone. This means it's constantly dragging that side down, to the point where several times the right-side headphone fell right out. Why this controller was not centered is beyond me, but this decision really did hurt my enjoyment of the product. The left-side headphone fit great, and was extremely comfortable, but the right side never failed to annoy me.

Poor design choices aside, almost everything else about these headphones impressed me. The sound quality was absolutely superb, crystal clear. To add on to that, these headphones also pair with an app that allows you to further adjust your sound quality to better match the kind of experience you're looking for. It's extremely detailed, but I found that the default settings it suggested were just right for my music.

These headphones have multiple connectivity options, including connecting to a smartwatch, connecting to two devices at once, or being able to have two Jaybird headphones attach to one device. The quality of the bluetooth connection was always strong, and it connected extremely quickly every time with no disruptions.

Perhaps the only other negative with these headphones would be the battery life. I was able to get about 6 hours out of the battery, and a small charging clip that is included can be attached to double that. But the charging clip is small and very easy to lose, and to make matters worse you can't charge the headphones without it! Losing it would be way too easy, and if you do lose it, you have no choice but to buy another one.

Overall, I really do enjoy these headphones. The audio is fantastic, they're easy to use, and I love how they look. But at the same time, I enjoy them despite some glaring problems. They're not as comfortable as I'd like them to be, the battery life isn't enough for a long trip, and I cannot forgive the decision to slap a heavy controller onto one side of the headphones and not realise how that could ruin the listening experience. The positive aspects of these headphones outweigh the negatives for me, but at this price point, I really would expect better. When it comes to headphones, the two most important points are comfort and audio. The Jaybird delivers on audio, but falls flat on comfort, leaving it smack dab in the middle considering the 'luxury' price point.

SUMMARY
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Pros
+ Very stylish aesthetic
+ Superb audio quality and an app that allows further fine-tuning
+ Bluetooth syncs quickly, never skipped or caused any issues for me
+ Little touches make these headphones feel like a top-of-the-line product
+ Can be synced to multiple devices at once
+ Can connect to a smartwatch instead of your phone
+ Two pairs of these headphones can sync to once device
+ Comes with three different sizes of earbuds in foam and in plastic, as well as three sizes of the wings

Cons
- Battery life is 4-6 hours, double that if using the charging clip
- Charging clip is easy to lose and without it headphones cannot be charged
- Controller placed on the right ear is uncomfortable and weighs down that side of the headphones
- Finding the right fit with the earbuds and the wings is not easy, and even then the wings are sometimes frustrating to wear and fit properly
- Between the heavy controller and the wing-design, the right-side headphone fell out of my ear often, and was generally uncomfortable