Jaybird Freedom Bluetooth Headphones

Bluetooth headphones are probably not what you would expect to see on a cycling blog, but I have used these quite a bit over the last four months almost exlusively while on the bike. There have been two primary uses:

The first is on the trainer while watching TV or DVDs. I use a very large industrial fan when training indoors and if I want to watch TV or a movie I have to crank the volume so loud that it can be heard throughout the house disturbing everyone else. This does not go over well during early morning or late night training sessions. I use e-motion rollers and a Computrainer so I need to move from station to station and I am seldom within 15 feet of the screen I am watching. A wired setup would probably work on the Computrainer but not on the rollers. I looked at several different solutions and decided a bluetooth transmitter/receiver would work best for me. I purchased a Sony HWS-BTA2W Bluetooth Tx/Rx .

I use the RCA outputs on the TV and bought a $7 RCA to mini-stereo cord at Best Buy. The RCA outputs go from the TV Out while the mini-stereo end goes in the Sony transmitter. This setup works well because I can switch from TV to DVD and hear whatever is coming through the TV speakers (you can mute the TV speakers and still listen via Bluetooth. It is then pretty simple to pair these with Bluetooth headphones.

The second use for the headphones is with my phone. As I get out of early base where I am doing lots of long steady work at 80% of ftp, I move into more intense intervals and I simply can't concentrate on a movie or TV show when I need to hit a number. When I am on the TT bike it is even more difficult. Since I have all of my music stored on my Droid cell phone I can pair the headphones with the phone and not mess with a separate mp3 player. This allows me to play my music and best of all take phone calls if I choose to do so. More on that later.

The Jaybird Freedom headphones are marketed for exercise. They are supposedly sweat resistance and to this point I have no reason to doubt that they are. After four months of almost daily use they have stood up very well. The headphones are not cheap at around $100 retail. They come in a really nice box and also with a clam shell storage case that is too small to store the phones and all of the extra parts.

Fit

The first big challenge with these headphones is getting the fit right. There are a couple of ways to wear them, the first being inside of the ear (like traditional earbuds) the second being over the ear. Jaybird provides several different (shark fins?) to get the inner ear fit right. As a cyclist I have not had much luck with over the ear headphones while wearing helmets and sunglasses so I opted for the inner ear fit.

As with the ear pieces, there are also several sizes of earbud covers so that you can customize the fit pretty well. The headphones are very heavy compared to traditional earbuds and I have never really sensed them "going away" while riding. They are always there and you know it, but they are not uncomfortable. I have been unsuccessful in wearing these under my helmet straps. I would like to do this because it would secure them if they popped out of my ears. The problem is that the connecting cable is a little to stiff requiring a large bend radius so they stick out like mouse ears and you can feel the tension pulling the headphones out of your ears. Securing the headphones is a concern. While in most conditions they sit in your ears pretty well, if you are really jamming you might work one of the ear pieces out (although I have never had both come out at the same time). Where I do get nervous is on high-speed descents. At 40 mph they catch a ton of wind and feel like they are going to be pulled from your ears.

Sound

 I am not a big audiophile so I am probably the worst judge of sound quality. To me Bluetooth audio seems to be inferior. Movies and music sound just a touch off. That being said, the quality of the sound for exercise is more than sufficient in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

Operation

The headphones have three buttons, two on the edge and one on the center of the right earpiece. The center button turns the headphones on, pairs them to bluetooth devices, plays and pauses music, allows you to answer and make phone calls. The two smaller buttons are volume up and down as well as next and previous song. The two small buttons are pretty easy to find and are very intuitive to work with. The center button is very difficult to use. The first challenge is that the button is very stiff so when you press it you end up pushing the earbud into your ear and still may not get the button to activate. If find the button very difficult to use while wearing the headphones. The button is not very intuitive either, play pause makes sense, but everything else requires holding the button down for X seconds and is very impractical to use while exercising.

Phone Calls

One thing that attracted me to the headphones was the idea that I could take calls while riding. In theory this works, but the execution is lacking. One thing that I do not like is that custom ringtones don't come through so unless you are looking at the phone you have no idea who is calling. I carry my phone in my jersey pocket so this is disappointing for me. Making calls......well, good luck. To this point I have been able to randomly call people from my address book and that is it. I can make calls by dialing with the phone itself, but not hands-free.  The mic for the headphones is bad. Even in an office environment it is very difficult for people to hear me. On the bike it is even more difficult as the wind noise overwhelms your voice so unless you plan on screaming it is best to stop and pull over to the side of the road.

Signal

The signal is passable and somewhat erratic. Sometimes I can wall into other rooms and the connection to the bluetooth device will remain. Other times if I simply turn my head a little I lose connection. The right headphone is the one with the receiver in it so you need to have your Bluetooth phone or other transmitter on your right side. I carry my phone in my right jersey pocket and this seems to work pretty well. The exception is when I look to my left at about 90 degrees. The manufacturer recommends placing the phone on your arm, but this not something I plan on doing.

Summary

Basically the headphones marginally perform the job that I need them to. I don't really like the headphones because of the bulk, poor button design and horrible microphone. That being said, every time I have gone on a ride they have worked.  You simply need to keep them charged and they are good for about 4-6 hours in my experience. I will continue to use these because I am not aware of anything better for cyclists, but as soon as I do find something better, these will no longer be used. There are too many issues with them relating to my specific use of the product.