Reviews

21 Best Sounding True Wireless Earbuds (2020)

Jaybird Vista

Setup

I have version v1.1.6

The Jaybird app allows you to customize the EQ a bit – it’s one of the best I’ve seen. It even allows you to stay your own profiles. I’ve boosted a bit of the mids and highs to add more meat and air. It also helped in ridding some of the sibilances.

Sound

The Jaybird Vista is a neutral-ish and intimate sounding earphone. You won’t hear precision and speed in transients but beautiful tone. Sound is liquid-smooth and coherent – with a denser atmosphere. Imaging is quite fuzzy and details aren’t crisp. And the Vista doesn’t really sparkle or sound very open. But brass and woodwinds sound convincing and preserve their own unique timbre.

Overall, the Jaybird Vista is easy to listen to but doesn’t quite excel in the technicals. It’s not very dynamic, it doesn’t separate the music well, and it doesn’t have much extension in both directions. It prides itself in a monochrome, softer, heavier, cozier presentation. Although not the most detailed, it imparts music cohesively and with lifelike qualities.

Comparisons

  • Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro: The Jaybird is more forward sounding while the Soundcore prioritizes transient clarity and depth. The Jaybird is smoother, denser, and more forward but doesn’t have nearly the same palette as the Soundcore. Relatively, the Jaybird sounds like it just smoked some weed while the Soundcore gulped down 10 shots of espresso.
  • Jabra Elite 75t: The Jaybird is smoother and more organic sounding in comparison to the Jabra 75t. The Jabra is more precise, excited, and resolving.
  • Beats Powerbeats Pro: The Jaybird wins on tonal saturation and texture but the Beats wins on just about every other attribute. The Beats shape the music out much more densely and as a result, the music is more three-dimensional and tangible. The Jaybird sounds really, really flat in comparison. The Beats also has tighter and punchier bass.
  • Master & Dynamic MW07 GO: The Jaybird is closer to the tonality of the M&D but throws out a much larger sonic image. The M&D is far more nuanced, textural, and precise. Jaybird isn’t as neutral as the M&D. M&D is FAR better at delineation. With the Jaybird, everything is forward sounding. The M&D has more detailed but flatter bass while Jaybird is snappier with more slam. Jaybird is softer around the edges.
  • Soundcore Liberty Neo (Original): The Soundcore is actually more articulate and has more depth and color. It’s not as big or forward sounding but is more refined. The Jaybird sounds more in your face and heavy-handed and intimate.
  • Sony WF-1000XM3: The Sony has more scale, midrange clarity, and smoothness but the Jaybird sounds more organic and refined. The Sony has more brilliance and sounds more “glamoured” and soft. The Sony does have potential for more bass output from the app. Both are pretty close. I’ve found myself gravitating towards the Jaybird more due to more solidity and grip on the sound. The Sony gets a little too “dreamy” sounding sometimes while the Jaybird is more tonally variant and dynamic.

Side Notes

  • You might need to reload the app to activate the EQ settings. Most of the time you won’t have to.
  • There were a few times where I just couldn’t get it to pair to my Pixel 3 no matter what I did. It turned out I had to charge the case and re-pair with the rapid white lights.

Who should buy this?

If you enjoy more of a dense but neutral-warmish tone – and prefer to have all the musical information upfront. If you’ve ever listened to headphones with a tube amplifier, the bloom that you get with the Jaybird Vista is similar to some of those amps. It’s not meant to be precise and refined but seductive and musical.

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Jay Luong

Mr. Audio Bacon himself. An open-minded electrical engineer and software developer by trade. I have an obsession with the enjoyment of all things media - specifically in the realm of music and film. So much heart and soul (and money) go into the creation of this artistry. My aim is to find out which products get me closer to what the musicians and directors intended.

View Comments

  • Very nice article and I tend to agree with most if not all your assessments. I own most of these headphones and am a headphone addict. Clearly sound and headphones reviews are very subjective. I appreciate all your efforts here! Well done!

  • I think this is probably the best audio review comparison for a buyer that I've ever read. No. Not probably. Actually it is the best. That's because you've written the good AND the bad about every product. Never said one item is better absolutely. Explained what you liked and why, which is VERY important as I might like something that you don't. Though most importantly, you compared the items at the end with both the good and bad points in a comparative way. This grouping of descriptions and comparisons actually makes your ranking list not very useful and confusing, BUT! makes the whole review useful and informative and can help a person decide which product THEY would like. I still like my old Wf-1000x buds but was looking for something, probably by now, better. By reading your reviews I might actually rank the new Sony buds as number one (though I'd have to hear them of course). The beauty of your reviews is that I can actually get some idea of what I WOULD actually like and what to try first. Awesome writing and well thought out.

    • Thank you, Mark. It's interesting because some days, I don't mind having something further down the ranking list for the "unique" qualities it presents. It's sometimes about the mood or about the appreciation of a certain type of sound. Although I prefer a more natural sound, I sometimes still enjoy the "fantasy" that some of these headphones provide. It amazes me how much information is capture by the microphone - which I don't think even the performers or engineers knew about. I did perform this experiment for my own record keeping. Figured it'll give me a good reference point for things I hear in the future. Everyone enjoys music differently and I'm glad I was able to help.

  • Great review. I have settled on 3 sets of earbuds for my everyday use.

    1. Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro - For home use. I agree wholeheartedly about your remarks regarding these earbuds, and now Soundcore has added a 7 band EQ allowing you to custom eq them, so that's fantastic. Their relatively weak IPX rating and substandard call performance keeps them from being my "go to" phones, but when I am at home, these are the ones I pick up.

    2. Sony WF-1000XM3 - Although not as good sounding as the L2P, The sublime ANC of these buds makes these my default travel gear, edging out my Bose QC35ii over the ear cans. The sound isolation on these is actually better than my Bose. And the portability of them is self evident. No IPX rating makes them strictly for plane trips and similar use cases. Definitely a niche product, but once you travel with ANC, there's no going back.

    3. Soundcre Liberty Air 2 - These are my default "out and about" phones. The slight trade off in sound quality is more than offset by the smaller case, stronger water resistance and call quality. The soundcore app allows you to EQ them quite a bit, so I can get good sound even in environments that are not conducive to it.

    • I've bought a pair before. I don't think it's worth comparing to the ones up here. Not super great in my opinion

  • I have been looking for exactly such an analysis. I have been looking for a TWS for exactly the same purpose as yours except that call quality is a semi-important factor. I mostly use iFi xDSD for Bluetooth receiver with JVC FD0X or Sony MD855. Anyway, it would be interesting if you could rate Galaxy bud live that has an open design with a bass duct and 12mm driver. My interest in it for its call quality and I heard it is better than galaxy bud+. Thank you.

  • Thank you so much for your review man!!!! I tried many earbuds and the M&D MW07 GO is a clear win on sound quality in my opinion! So detailed, precise, layered, immersive and just beautiful sound in all genres. I can hear many new sounds in the same old songs and music that I listen over and over again. I have been a Bose fan for so long but M&D will be my new faith on sound quality. Thank you for such a professional and honest review!!! Appreciate it!!!

  • This is has become my go to reference source - the care and attention to detail that went into this is amazing; so, Thank You! I have always struggled with pure ranking lists and have been skeptical of kickback bias. I have been on a quest to find the highest call/mic quality without sacrificing my music preferences. This has served as a good cross-reference. I was generally happy with the Momentum TW's call-wise; however, was never a big fan of how music sounded through them (although I really wanted them to be good). That combined with the flaws ("volume min / volume min / volume min") drove me away. I am on the phone all day for work and like to listen to music in between. I'm currently using Jabra 75t's and they seem pretty good for both purposes - the extra bass doesn't bother me too much but heavier music tends to sound a little muddled to my liking.

    Has anyone else had good experiences with TWS with the right call quality / musicality balance? Always open to opinions and suggestions.

    Thanks!

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