Jaybird Bluebuds X – not sweat proof and not reliable

From my previous post about the sweat-proof Jaybird Bluebuds X Bluetooth Stereo Headphones you would have known that for the last 6 weeks I have been on my 4th (!!!) set of Jaybird Bluebuds. Sadly today, I must report the sudden death of the 4th set as well. RIP Jaybird Bluebuds. You will not be missed, considering that Jaybird markets those “high-end” sports-headsets with a life-time sweat proof guarantee and advertising makes them virtually indestructible.

I consider myself a moderate runner and use the Jaybird Bluebuds daily for a 5-8km run, and almost thought that the 4th set will eventually last, but it can not be pure coincidence that each set broke within weeks apart. Yes there is moderate sweat, but any other sport headphone I owned was perfectly fine. I had to now go back to my old trusty Sennheiser which have been through far worse and just work perfectly.

When packing up the headphones for the last exchange (this time I am going to ask for a store credit, as the retailer has really tried everything possible to assist) I noticed that one ear-piece (the one without the controls) showed noticeable “chipping” of the metallic paint – you can see the black discolouration in the image below – it is quite visible and quite strange. Somehow a large part of the paint just chipped off.

 

Despite my retailer, The Digital Experience, having done a fantastic job in assisting with the returns, at no point in time have they been able to receive feedback from the local distributor. I consider Jaybirds quality shocking and below average and strongly advise against the purchase of the Bluebuds X. Jaybird has yet to respond to any of the reported issues and the mere fact that they are quite keen to just swop headsets out is indication enough for me that their products are of poor quality and the company expected to deal with many returns.