Jays q-Seven Wireless Review

Jays is a Swedish company whose headphones adhere to distinctly Scandinavian design aesthetics: clean, functional and minimal.

The q-Seven is a wireless over-ear headphone with active noise cancellation, priced around $160 USD. This is a unique niche in the marketplace; premium noise cancelling over-ears start around $200, and low-end options run about $100. The q-Seven will be one of the few models priced in between. Let’s see how they do in the Jays q-Seven Wireless Review.

Jays q-Seven Wireless Review

In-the-Box

Along with the headphones, Jays provides a manual, 3.5mm cable, micro-USB charging cable, a suede carrying pouch and a Jays sticker. Everything is black, grey, and simple in true Jays fashion.

Design

The headphones are plastic but look classy. The headband has a leather (or maybe faux-leather) exterior. The earcups have an interesting design that makes them look like speaker cones. It’s a pleasant departure from typical designs.

There is a multi-purpose button and volume button on the right earcup, and a noise-cancelling button on the left earcup. Battery life is 30 hours on a single charge.

Controls

The multi-function button, stamped with the ‘power’ symbol, controls almost everything. Inexplicably missing from the control scheme is the ability to skip tracks. Triple taps instead redial the last call; a function I still find unnecessary. One tap is play/pause, two taps activates voice control.

The volume + / – button a single long button, with the two controls on each end. This can be confusing when reaching for it blindly, as it’s tough to discern which end you are pressing. There is a little braille dot on one end, but two separate buttons or perhaps a raised + and –  would’ve made it easier for my hands to distinguish.

I also failed to fully grasp the noise cancellation button. Press the button once, noise cancellation is activated, and a white LED comes on. To hear your surroundings, you press the button once more, but nothing changes to indicate HearThrough mode has been activated. No noise, and the LED stays the same. Then to exit HearThrough mode, you press the button again. I honestly could never tell when I was in HearThough mode or not. The sound didn’t change enough for me to notice.

Sound Quality

The only competitor I have on hand to test is the HD 4.5 from Sennheiser, which retails for $179. But the Jays is significantly better in terms of comfort and sound quality.

Jays q-Seven had more detail in the midrange and the high-end than the Sennheiser. The Sennheisers may have a touch more bass, but the difference is negligible. The Jays were also louder than the Sennheisers by 15-20%.

Overall the Jays sound well-balanced and detailed. I have no complaints about the sound quality for the price. If you need a more engaging sound, you’ll have to make the jump up to $200 and beyond.

Noise Cancellation

Interestingly, the sound quality was better with the noise cancellation activated. Low-end noises were blocked out the most; I could still hear higher-frequency sounds from the environment. Turning off the noise cancellation let a bit too much low frequency back in, and the sound became a little muddy.

Conclusion

The controls could be improved, but overall Jays provides a strong mid-level alternative to the active noise-canceling over-ears out there. They’re stylish, have good sound quality, and decent noise cancellation for a price well under the premium.

Pros- Swedish aesthetic, good sound quality, mid-range alternative to higher-end models

Cons- Dodgy controls

Get them on Jays website.

Jays q-Seven Wireless Review

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