JayBird JB-200i-01 Bluetooth Stereo Headset for iPod (Black)

JayBird JB-200i-01 Bluetooth Stereo Headset for iPod (Black)JayBird JB-200i-01 Bluetooth Stereo Headset for iPod (Black)
From Jaybird, LLC
List Price: $159.99
Price: $147.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com

3 new or used available from $147.95

Average customer review:

Customer Reviews

Look No more tangled wires!4
My biggest frustration when I work out is wasting time untangling my iPhones headset wires, and when I run I don’t like the wires dangling around! I was wondering if anybody made a decent bluetooth headset, and found these. I like them so much I asked for Xmas the 3.5mm jack for my Mac’s “Creative speakers”. I would have given this product a full 5 stars but it does have drop outs if your passed 10feet, and esp. behind walls. But if its right next to you or if your with in 10ft it works flawlessly. I’ve had mine now for a month, and it takes some getting use to. The right ear piece there are 3 very small buttons. One to turn on and the other two adjusts the volume plus if you press and hold for about a second it shuffles the song fwd and backward. You just have to get the hang of it and you’ll be rockin no problem. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone that works out allot! I really haven’t used it so much for my iPhone to answer calls, but it works. Just ignore the pop up on the screen that says “This accessory is not made to work with the iphone”, because it does, again you just have to play with it and see for yourself.
Just pair the bluetooth up to your iPhone and it will sync right away!
The charger is stange and you have to fiddle alittle when you connect the left ear piece to it, just connect it until you see the red light flash on the right ear piece. You’ll get the hang of it and realize how cool this thing is. I like it very much and don’t regret the price I paid for it. A very good investment, best bluetooth headset I swear!

Read this review if you’re on the fence5
If you are like me, you’ve SCOURED the web for reviews of bluetooth headsets (in my case, primarily for working out). You’ve probably found some of the more common headsets like the Jaybird, the Motorokr S9, its update the HD (it think it’s called) and so on. You have probably wondered if the new S9 is more “sweat resistant” than it’s predecessor. Like me, you might have even vacilated between wired options and wireless, but you probably don’t want to be “that guy/gal” at the gym whose cord gets caught on the handle of the elliptical, thereby sending the MP3 hurtling across the room.

So, here’s what I’ve found and did. From what I can tell, the Motorokr S9 HD isn’t being touted as more sweat resistant than it used to be. I haven’t worn or heard it, but from the zillions of reviews I read, I would have expected it to sound better than the Jaybird. Folks seem pretty pleased with it. But the deal killer for me was that the design doesn’t allow you to exercise in all positions (i.e. like lying on a bench or on a mat) without it popping out of your ears…plus the worry I’d always have that I wasted $$ if indeed it broke due to getting too sweaty.

As for the wired options, I canned those pretty quickly for two reasons. The cord-getting-in-the-way issue and the fact that I’d need a second MP3 as I mostly use my iPhone and it’s a bit bulky to strap on for working out. The appeal of having the iPhone sit quietly on the sidelines while working out wirelessly was just to great to pass up.

So the Jaybird seemed like the best fit for me, but here were my concerns:

1) Bluetooth range. Many negative reviewers were really critical of short range connectivity. I figured this would just have to be a gamble. Enough other reviewers didn’t have an issue with this that I thought I’d at least give it a try…especially since I’d be working out mostly indoors (where there’s less of an issue).

2) Sound quality. I’d consider myself an apprecionado of good-sounding music, but not a sound snob. I have a reasonably high-end stereo setup at home because I like music to sound good, so I was worried that these might sound like the green transistor radio my parents got me when I was 5 years old. Again, this would have to be a gamble and one that seemed a fair bet since lots of folks seemed very pleased with the sound.

3) The price. This was easy to overcome. I’m worth it, right?

So I broke down and got the 200i at my local Target. Sorry Amazon…your site said “usually ships in 1-2 months”. I don’t think so. The quick answer is that I LOVE these headphones. If you can tolerate the long review, here are the few details I can offer:

Issue #1 – Bluetooth Range

Seems to be a non-issue for me. While it it sensitive (as published) to obstacles between the earpiece and the transmitter/MP3, indoors I could easily go 10-15 feet away with no interruption. Maybe not 30 feet, but definitely far enough for me to workout comfortably without interruption.

Issue #2 – Sound Quality

Totally fine for me. Maybe my expectations were just too low, but they sound totally fine. Certainly no comparison to my $2,000 speaker system at home, but I never expected that. They sound clear and the bass was fine. Not like those awesome sounding, gigantic, padded, bowl-over-the-ear headphones with the 1/4″ jack, but still totally fine.

Comfort

I really wasn’t too worried about this because I’ve used Jabra’s over-the-ear bluetooth earpiece and found it to be insanely comfortable, so I expected this to be fine…which it was. They are fery comfortable, not at all hard to get on, and easy to forget you’re wearing.

The behind-the-neck wire

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I couldn’t tell if this was a stiff wire that was supposed to hold the earpieces in a fixed position or what. Actually it’s just a plactic coated wire that’s plenty flexible. It doesn’t at all get in the way and I don’t notice it at all.

The buttons

Many reviews complained about the buttons being hard to press. I didn’t find this a problem at all. Again, maybe it was low expectations, but I can press all 3 buttons no problem with one hand. I do have to use my right thumb to brace the back of the earpiece while using a finger on my right hand to press the buttons, but that works totally fine. Also the buttons are easy to find as the raised bumps are prominent enough and spaced far enough that you don’t mistake one for another.

So, all told, these babies are a grand slam home run. Not nearly perfect, but then nothing out there is. Until I can buy those futuristic, wireless in-ear buds that Ryan Reynolds sported in the movie Definitely Maybe, these are the best combo available.

Just decide that you are worth it and go buy these. I sincerely doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Jaybird 200i with Iphone3
I purchased the JB 200i headset to use with my Iphone so I could listen to music while I worked out and occasionally in the car so I could talk on the phone while driving.
Unless you talk a lot on the phone while driving or expect a long call while driving, you are better off with the wired headset that comes with the Iphone for phone calls while driving. It’s quicker to put on and off and you will hear somebody through both sides of the headset vs only 1 side with the the Jaybird.

As for music side of things I would rate it at 3 out of 5.
Personally I wish for more bass ( I play a lot of electronic music but I don’t know what the standard is for stereo wireless streaming so it’s hard to know how good it could get?)
And I also like my music reasonably loud but cannot get the headset to a “loud” volume.
Using it with an IPhone means you have only 1 volume control on the JB 200i itself to contend with as the internal volume from the phone is disabled.
Range is probably around 10 feet and will dropout even closer if there is not a good line of sight from your right ear to the transmitter on the phone.
Playing music at full volume seems to get me in the range of 3 hours non stop music. I now recharge it after every use.

I used it with Skype and a macbook and it worked fine both as a headset and a stereo headphone…

Mounting it in the charger is finiky and a bit awkward. You must double check that the unit is in and charging. (Poor design in my opinion)
I’d be interested to hear from other Iphone users…

Apart from the volume and bass issues the unit works pretty well.

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