Jaybird - Tarah Pro Wireless In-Ear Headphones - Black/Flash

I have been looking around and tried a few earbuds. These have become my favorite earbuds for work, commutes, working out, fishing, etc. Opening the box you have everything packaged neatly and it is exciting to open. I love the pouch and charging dongle. You can fit everything in side the ouch and it fits nice in the pocket, car dash/cup holder. The braided cord is great no snags or tangles. You do get a little bit of rubbing noise on the left side but it’s not a problem to me. The fit is terrific, secure, and for me great for all day fit. Downloaded the app and I was instantly impressed and sold on these. You can chose many sound EQ options but my favorite is the Personal EQ setting. It is I’ll guide you through LOW to HIGH frequency sounds and you simply adjust to the level you hear (or want to hear more) through each level and at the end you have a person EQ for your own ears. This makes listening to music very enjoyable. You can switch between personal EQ and user created or even genera created EQ’s with just a tape. So for you Podcast lovers out there there is a voice EQ that makes a pleasing difference. The battery life is great at around 14 hours of use all depending on the volume level you choose. I love doing my research and picking the best products with my money. So you will not and cannot go wrong with these wireless earbuds.

I’ve had these headphones for about a week and they are spectacular. 14 hours of battery life, Bluetooth 5.0, which makes it compatible with my iPhone X. It’s very comfortable thanks to the ear gels provided, which makes it a lot better than the old Jaybird x3’s I used to have. My little gripe about these headphones is the connection. I sometimes hear the audio cut in and out a few times when paired to my watch and my phone. Hopefully that will be taken cared of in a software update. But so far, I’m very impressed with these headphones.

These earbuds have exceeded my expectations in several ways, and are in my top list currently. Long story short, before diving into the rest of my review, if you're considering these, I don't think you'd be disappointed, and I recommend them. The box delivers a presentation you would expect from an item in this price and feature range: upon pulling the inner box out of the sleeve, you open a magnetic flap to reveal the earbuds displayed in a slick black backing and simple packaging that only focuses on the earbuds. All the accessories are hidden below in behind another flap, and a small quickstart list is printed on the left flap. The box contains the earbuds with preinstalled ear tips, 2 additional tips, a magnetic charger, a collar clip, a small carry bag, a quickstart guide, and a product manual. An additional item not in the box is the Jaybird App, which is not necessary to use the earbuds, but it's necessary to get the complete experience out of them, and I wouldn't recommend using them until you install and run the app. Kicking off the positives for this set is the fit options. These earbuds come with tips with wings connected which give a more secure fit when properly sized to your ear. The wings are soft enough that they don't hurt, and they are secure enough that I couldn't shake them out. Adding to the comfort and fit is the design of the cable and control box. The cable is a nice braided nylon covered wire that hangs comfortably behind your head without bother your skin, and the control box is really lightweight with raised buttons that are easy to identify visually and with your finger. The control box is slightly contoured, following a curve that rests naturally along the side of your head or neck, making the controls easy and comfortable to press, and they are just resistent enough that it doesn't cause discomfort when pressing them. One of the nicest features improving fit comfort is what Jaybird calls "Switch Fit", which allows you to wear the earbuds with the wire hanging below your ear, or wrapped over your ear. The guide helps walk through doing this, but the functionality is such that you can rotate each ear tip about 90 degrees on the housing, which allows the tip and wing to fit the same in the ear, but redirects the wire. By default they are set for the wire to hang from your ear, but I found I preferred them rotated to fit over the ear. This does a couple things: it tightens up the wire on your head, it secures the earbuds a bit more by wrapping the wire between your ear and head, and it raises the wire up off your neck and more to the base of your hairline. I found them most comfortable this way. To help find your fit, along with various other settings, Jaybird recommends using their app. I do too, as it's one of the strengths of these earbuds. While the quickstart guide is simple enough to get you going, the Jaybird app offers a complete tutorial to get them set up and fit for you, including fitting your audio preference. The app features full guides starting with the basics of controls, going through connecting and fitting, and even simple things like how to use the speed cinch and shirt clip. Many of these guides also include videos to help visually, like how to fit the earbuds and adjust them to your head. The most powerful feature of the app, though, is also what makes this set so versatile: the equalizer settings. Many less expensive earbuds come with built-in equalizer pre-sets to provide flat, bass-heavy, or more rounded listening experiences. This set comes more flat/neutral out of the box, and the app provides an enormous list of options submitted by the community. You can select any one of the submitted settings and try it out before applying it to your earbuds, which allows you to find a sound that fits your music or style. If that's not enough though, you can fully customize your own unique settings, and you can submit that to the community if you feel inclined. This allows you to change your listening preference based on your music or mood, and you can do it as much as you want. Selecting a setting loads the setting on the earbuds so you can listen with those settings without connecting to your phone or tablet. One of the biggest points of contention for me on wireless headphones and earbuds is advertised run time versus actual run time, so I like to put all my earbuds through the test to see just how accurate the claims are. The box for these advertises 14 hours and a fast charge, which is a really long run time that I don't think I will ever fully use, but I still wanted to prove it. I fully charged the earbuds and hooked them up to a test computer for some overnight playtime measuring. I set the volume up to a higher mid-level, reasonable for in-ear listening, but still loud enough I could hear them a bit while sitting on the desk, and started playback at 9:25pm. They played on a continous list with no delays or quiet time through a variety of songs, all around the same balanced volume level, and they continued until 1:53pm the next afternoon. That's 16hrs 28m of continuous, non-stop playback on a full charge, which is longer than other earbuds I have tested over $200! What's more impressive is that these manage that battery life with no obvious large battery or box. One final positive about these is the IPX7 rating. This is more than most sweatproof headphones that are typically IPX6 rated, since it covers immersion. The X means they haven't been tested against solid object entry, like dirt, but the 7 means they are protected from water immersion up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. While you're not likely to try using them snorkling, and I would recommend against that, this does provide more confidence in their ability to withstand sweat from a rigorous workout, or even accidentally dropping in a puddle, sink, or other small body of water you might happen by. These earbuds are not perfect, however, and though the cons I have are fairly minor in the scope of things, they are still worth mentioning for a complete decision. First of all, they can only connect to one device at a time. It's a bit disappointing because it would be great to pair them to my phone and computer at the same time, and be able to manage the equalizer settings without having to disconnect from a computer, but that's not the case. All the other sets I own offer this feature, and while it's not a dealbreaker for me, it's a pretty critical feature I'd like to see. Second, the equalizer settings are only able to be controller from the app on your phone or tablet; there is no application for Windows or Mac, which ties you to the mobile app. Having a computer app available would help overcome the issue with only being connected to one device at a time. Currently, it's really annoying if you're listening to music on your computer, or playing a game, and decide you want to switch up your listening experience, as you have to disconnect, connect to a mobile device, launch the app, adjust the equalizer settings, and then disconnect from that device, and reconnect to your computer. The third issue is a bit more minor, but deals with the sound quality. When you power them on, a voice prompt indicates the battery level and the connection status. The speakers crackle when it says the battery level, and the audio is not maxed out where I would expect any kind of distortion through the speakers. This could be an issue with the set I have, or could be an issue with the earbuds. It doesn't matter what equalizer setting I have applied either. You can cause distortion when applying an EQ setting that is too high in areas, but that's different, as you can always change back to avoid that, and this is a built-in prompt and feature, so it's a bit concerning. Again, though, I wouldn't consider this a dealbreaker. Just something worth noting. The last issue I have with these is the proprietary charger. The charger is a nice magnetic charger that makes it quick and easy to dock and charge, and it eliminates the need to keep track of a small rubber or silicone plug that protects a micro USB port to retain water proofing, but it also means that you can't charge these with just any cable. If you happen to leave your charger at home on a trip, you're out of luck. Thankfully the charger, all ear tips, and the earbuds can all fit in the included bag, but it does mean that you need to take special care of the charger, and keep track of it unless you feel like buying replacements. Everything considered, I have made this set my primary set, and am actually getting rid of several other "sport" earbud sets I have in favor of using these as my primary. Weigh the pros and cons for your own situation, but definitely consider these among your options when looking for a solid set of well performing earbuds. For the price, this pack is hard to beat.

The sound quality is absolutely out of this world. The noise isolation is great. The build quality is good. My only complaints are: The device will sporadically play a high pitched buzz when attempting to connect and the only remedy is a soft reset (connect to dock) because the buttons are unresponsive. The battery life is definitely not 14 hours. 10 hours might even be a stretch. Even at low to moderate volume, the device burns through its battery. I would estimate I get 8 hours to a charge. The surface finishes have started to tarnish after normal wear and tear (see photos). There seems to be no consistency to how long you need to press the middle button to boot up device. Sometimes it takes only a couple seconds, sometimes it takes as much as 7 or 8 seconds to boot up. The same goes for holding the buttons to skip forward or backward between songs.

I am a pretty active person and have used different wireless headphones over the years. My time with the Tarah Pro’s have shown these are the overall best ones I have owned! PROS: - The look of these are well done. The fabric cord on it give it a higher quality feel and the headphones and controls feel very sturdy and capable of intense use. - I know it’s small but the carrying case is great! It’s really convenient to have the charger and headphones all in a case together rather than dangling around in my backpack. - The App for these are a must have! The default sound profile is fine but being able to edit them with your custom profile or Jaybird’s profile take the sound to a new level! I am really impressed with how great these sound, the best sound quality I have had from earbuds. - Controls are really easy to use. Just three buttons and you can double tap them to skip songs and what not. - The versatility with how you can wear them is great. It comes with a small connector so the cord can be tight against your head and it also has two different styles which I will describe below. - Battery life is fanastic! 14 hours on a single charge is what I want because I like using them at work or the gym and I don’t want to constantly be recharging them. I can get two full days of work and fitness before having to charge them! FIT: - Fit is to important with any earbud headphones and it took me some adjusting with these but they work great. I had to switch the sized earbuds to the right one for me and after that they were nice and snug. It’s important to note these have two “styles” to them. The earbud can rotate where the cord runs underneath your ear or up and over the top of your ear. When using them while running, lifting weights, and playing sports I noticed that the “downward” design were more likely to make the earbuds feel like they were falling out and overall I noticed it more. However, the “upward” design worked flawlessly - they truly felt like I had true wireless earbuds as I did not notice the cord even and the earbuds never budged. So overall I’d say the downward style is best for easy use listening and the upward design is better for working out. CONS: - I really like how small and easy the charger is to use but at the same time it’s a proprietary cord that if I lost I’d have to buy a new one directly from Jaybird. A USB-C charger would have been nice from that perspective. - Maybe I have to tinker with the settings in the app but the sound for them turning off and on are quiet and I can’t always tell if I did it right or not. BOTTOM LINE: Although “true wireless” earbuds are more appealing these days - I don’t think any of them can come remotely close in terms of battery life, durability, and sound quality. These are an outstanding purchase if you are on the market for wireless earbuds to use for casual use or while being active.

I really loved these headphones, they were everything I wanted. A cool color, long battery life, they stayed in placed relatively well, sound was great as well. The issue is this, the silicone in the button housing started coming up. Which to me was odd, as I never used the buttons themselves for anything except to power on and power off the device. The warranty on these guys is great, I hit up Jaybird customer support and after exchanging a few emails and photos they sent me a replacement. Great! Well it would’ve been, but this pair started having the same issue just 1 month after I got them. Not customer support says it’s because I’m wearing cologne or body spray. However, I had to correct them. I do not use any sprays of any variety. I legit only use deodorant. So their reasoning for why this was happening fell flat. If the silicone had just popped up, I would’ve been more convinced to believe that maybe the sunscreen I wore would’ve maybe had an effect on the silicone. However the silicone was warped and misshapen, as if it over heated and caused this happen. Warranty, was still really good. I contacted them, and directly through chat they were able to help me. They were going to send me another pair, but asked them if I could get credit to another set of headphones. Since this is the second pair this happened with. They could not, but they said they well upgrade me to the Run XT for free and ship those out. So I’m getting a free pair of True Wireless Ear Buds. Let’s see how that goes. Sorry for any typos, I did this on my phone and I’m too lazy to go back and make sure it was perfect. Hope I got the point across though.

Too much money for what you get. After only 30 days, they basically broke. I assumed these were the best I could buy since they were designed to be used by athletes in just about any condition, but they proved me wrong. They sound great yes, but they just broke way too easily. The app is also glitchy as far as turning off the "turn-off when clipped together" feature, because these things unclasp easily and I just wanted to turn off that feature since it notifies you every time they're on and off (which is constantly). On top of that, they DO NOT last close to 14 hours straight even at half-way volume, so you're better off buying another set of way cheaper headphones like from Anker soundcore.

Pros: - Comfort is tied with my other #1 priority: sound quality--these excel in that area (as Jaybird is typically renowned to be)! In short, these are truly outstanding whether for workouts or not--capable of full-bodied, detailed, un-muddied musical reproduction with extensive sound signature customization options that go even further in the companion Jaybird app (if you want it) - I'm a believer--the fabric-wrapped cord really IS much more comfortable against the skin than the plastic/rubber/silicone wrapped wires I'm used to - Not quite true wireless, but so light it's easy to forget the connecting cable and even the control module are dangling between the earpieces - I have no way to verify Jaybird's 14 straight hours of battery life; but after leaving them on all night with my phone happily streaming away on a charging mat, they were still well above 40% charged the next morning - Integrated gel ear-tip/wings created a secure and very comfortable fit that nearly matched those of the Comply, foam-style tips I've used before (like on Jaybird's own X2) - Speed cinch disc does a good job of keeping the excess cord from really intruding on a run - Simple, hassle-free Bluetooth connection with a voice prompt that sounded about the most lifelike of any I've ever heard in a headphone - Take them out of your ears and let the magnetic backs of the earpieces connect to automatically pause your music--nice! Plus now they're connected around your neck and less likely to fall off if you need to move around or talk to others unimpeded - "Twist-fit" is a simple tweak but it takes the guess-work out of ear-fin placement for below or around-the-ear fit--just rotate the ear-fin until it stops and put it back in your ear in the new position - If you want to truly personalize the sound profile of your buds, the Jaybird app steps you through a 2-minute "hearing test" that adjusts frequency response (cuts and boosts) to your unique physiology...YMMV; I didn't really care for the results myself, but others might really dig the effect Cons: - Okay I get it--magnets are cool--but a proprietary and laughably short magnetic charging cable/dock is my #1 bone of contention with the Tarah Pro...when you finally DO burn through that mammoth 14 hour battery capacity, you better have the dock handy or you're COMPLETELY out of luck because NOTHING ELSE will charge these! - Okay, I get it--magnets are cool--but you can't just let the earpieces fall down around your neck and expect them to connect to each other. The magnetic backs are on the opposite sides of the eartips that are already facing inward--twisting the earpieces around so the backs touch ends up leaving a slightly uncomfortable, inward-curved control puck against your neck, and generally feeling/looking kind of awkward because the rest of the cable (especially anything beyond the cinch) remains in place...see the attached photo - The Tarah can maintain 2 Bluetooth connections simultaneously but the Tarah Pro cannot??? I don't need dual-connectivity that often, but it would be nice to use these with my laptop while still having the option to answer a phone call - The included coin-purse style carrying pouch is a nice touch but feels a bit 'meh' for a premium product, and is just a tad too small for my tastes--try to shove that maddeningly proprietary charging pigtail/dock in there along with the headphones and it was sometimes resistant to closing--the semi-rigid carrying case from the X2 was more protective and more spacious - Marketing materials touted the reflective threads in the fabric cord covering the cable; trust me, we found the effect WAY too subtle to be considered a "safety feature" so make sure you've got something else retro-reflective on if you run at night - The Jaybird app actually has some deep customization options for sound profiles, but the "Music" tab and its associated playlists will only work with Spotify to play ANYTHING from within the app itself - It could just be me, but I miss the cable clips from the older Jaybird model to get that totally streamlined, "completely-up-against-the-head" fit with the cord--the cable cinch ends up leaving a rat's-tail dangling back there that, while light and certainly not sticky due to the fabric covering, is still noticeable nonetheless - The flanged design of the Twist-Fit ear-fin/ear-tip is more secure than a typical silicone ear-tip for IEMs, but it's just not QUITE as secure or QUITE as comfortable as using Comply-style foam tips, especially after a sweaty workout - Even in the app, there is no option to use the built-in mic for hear-through; as moderately sound-isolating earbuds, you will simply need to be more wary of your surroundings Summary review: I came to Jaybird's latest premium offering after many happy years with a pair of their own X2s--themselves chosen at the time from a fairly crowded field for their well-regarded sound and build quality. In nearly every respect, I consider these a very, VERY worthy upgrade. Sound quality is exceptional as is in-ear comfort and the Twist-Fit gimmick is actually kind of handy for allowing me to easily adjust the ear-fins to accommodate an under- or over-the-ear fit depending on my mood. The extensive, and even kind of fun, customization options in the Jaybird app let me fine-tune the sound profile (and save as many different versions as I'd like) to match my mood or source material--but the nice part is that the Pros till sound great in their "flat" or non-enhanced state. The companion app also nails it by having a full user's/features guide and troubleshooting section right in the app so I don't have to log into some support website for those few times I need a memory jog on button taps, presses, or pairing difficulties. I can't speak to some of the things you'll need to take on faith--IPX7; okay, at the very least, I have some measure of assurance that I won't sweat these buds to death. 14 hour battery life--well, I can barely stay awake that long in a single day, much less listen to music in one sitting--so the likelihood that these will retain enough juice to last through a week's worth of workouts before I remember to throw them on the charger is probably pretty high. The magnetic backs (and music auto-pause upon "magnetizing") are a nice touch, I suppose. But in execution, they require a bit more effort to get resting on your neck just right than maybe they need to, especially with those curved controls--a more svelte but straight control box would have make this design choice/feature feel a little less awkward in practice. In the end, these seem to be well-crafted, exceptionally fine-sounding earbuds/IEMs that would be just as home in your ears as daily listeners as they would be during a workout. The omission of foam ear-tips in favor of the all-in-one silicone ear-fin/ear-tips is understandable, I guess, to provide for that Twist-Fit feature--which actually has its uses--so it's a somewhat forgivable compromise. Were it not for that dodgy, ULTRA-SHORT, magnetic and 100% proprietary charging cradle--which I'll admit looks cool and is super-easy to use--this would be an almost perfect, end-game set of workout phones. If you're familiar with Jaybird's ear-fin style and don't find the fit/feel objectionable (and there are those who do), I definitely think you'll like what the Tarah Pros have to offer.