[In-Depth] Jaybird RUN Review, Don’t Believe The Negative Hype

We’ve got our hands on Jaybird’s take on truly wireless earbuds. Let’s see how these buds fare in our “Jaybird RUN Review” article.

[In-Depth] Jaybird RUN Review, Truly Wireless Earbuds

Jaybird RUN Review – Pairing

Pairing is made incredibly easy with Jaybird RUN. Upon opening the charging cradle the master bud (right)’s LED display blinks green meaning this is the bud to initiate the entire pairing process. The right earbud actually has a voice assistant that repeats “select Jaybird RUN from Bluetooth settings” or something to that effect until you finally turn Bluetooth on and pair the device. The slave earbud (left) automatically syncs to the right earbud and then you’re all set.

Jaybird RUN Review – Build & Design

Jaybird RUN earbuds are designed nicely. It’s as if the designers took the best feature from each TWS bud that came before it. The ear tips are small while the bottom portion of the earbud housings are angled to nestle themselves in bottom portion of the conch of your ear while top portion is angled outward with a Jaybird faceplate that acts as a multifunction button. I prefer this sort of design so that there isn’t an earbud wedged and pushing against your conch for hours. this fit wears on your ears after awhile. Lastly, there’s Jaybird’s signature sport fin which super secures the RUNs in your ears without any discomfort. Also, the ear tips and basic overall design creates a truly stellar sound barrier. I could barely hear my surroundings, and that’s without my music turned on. Cue the music and that’s literally all you’ll hear. Let me illustrate this for you. I was standing at the edge of the platform (behind the yellow line, of course) waiting for the train with my back turned towards the track. I didn’t hear the train arrive. I was suddenly notified by the swarms of people coming towards me.

Jaybird RUN Review – Functionality

Jaybird is an active lifestyle brand, so, of course, their truly wireless earbuds would follow suit and possess a sweat-proof and water resistant exterior. The faceplate, which acts as the multifunction, doesn’t have as many functions as I’d like, but this seems to be common among TWS earbuds. This button powers the buds on and off, it pauses and plays your music, and can skip forward a track, so your playlist better be fire. My other vice is that you have to press in on this button so after extended listening sessions pushing on the button can cause a slight ache.

Jaybird RUN earbuds have a battery life of 4 hours, which is pretty good, As I’ve seen worse. You can also achieve an additional 8 hours with the charging case. What’s really impressive is the 5-minute quick charge feature that’ll yield an hour of music playback – just enough time to juice you for a subway ride or workout session.

Jaybird RUN Review – Sound

Of all of the TWS buds I’ve tried, Jaybird RUNs deliver the best in sound. Hands down! The treble is punchy, the mids are smooth and rich, the highs are succinct and clear without becoming too tinny, while the bass is deep and accurate.

At times I felt like the buds could be louder. It’s not quiet, I just wish the volume could extend further, especially taking into account I’m currently listening in an office, which doesn’t compare to a seriously noisy subway ride.

Jaybird RUN Review – Companion App

A nifty feature is the ability to play only the right earbud if you wanted to use it more as a single earpiece for calls and such. The companion app indicates when you are paired to both or a single earbud as well as the battery life on each. The app is loaded with a bunch of different presents, like bass, extended listening, along with hearing profiles from various athletes. You can create your own hearing profile and even sample other users’ profiles. Oh, and in a Spotify-esque manner, the Jaybird team has arranged some suggested playlists you can also listen to.

The app is also equipped with a “Find My Buds” feature which is clutch. I misplace my standard buds all the time. This is essential.

Jaybird RUN Review – Connectivity

Don’t believe the negative hype. Jaybird RUN truly wireless earbuds can maintain a solid connection with ease. Many other reviewers complained about connectivity, stating that this was their primary gripe with Jaybird RUN. However, this was not the case for me. I walked around the office, into the crowded subway station surrounded by other passengers (and their electronic devices) and didn’t encounter any clipping. In fact, Jaybird RUN  maintained a solid connection and seal all the way home. I also wore the buds back to work and had another impressive experience. Jaybird suggests keeping your paired device on the right side of you since the master bud with the antenna is the right bud. My phone was either in my right hand, in my purse on the right side of me, or in my coat pocket on the right side of me. The only time the buds only cut out on me was when I was about 20 or so feet away from my phone (instead of 30 feet). It also cut out when I went downstairs to the basement, but that’s to be expected.

In regards to other reviews, I don’t doubt that other reviewers experienced issues with connectivity. However, I did notice they all received their units about a month or so prior to me leading me to believe my unit may have been tweaked based off of their comments.

Jaybird RUN Review – Overall Performance

Jaybird RUN truly wireless earbud are hands down the best sounding, fitting, functioning, and priced TWS buds on the market. Apple Airpods are probably the closest competitor as they are a bit cheaper and function pretty well, but the sound is okay. They reach about 5 hours of run time, but you probably need more because you spend much of your listening sessions praying the poor things don’t fly out of your ears. Jaybird RUN is definitely worth the $179.99 price tag. It’s robust and durable, has a sweat-resistant exterior, sounds amazing, fits securely in your ear, and retains a good connection.

If you want to snag a pair head over to Amazon for the lowest price.