Jaybird Vista review: See how they fly

Should I buy the Jaybird Vista?

If you’re after a set of fitness-friendly true wireless earbuds and aren’t into the price demanded by the Beats PowerBeats Pro, the Jaybird Vista are more than just an adequate substitute for the meanwhile. They’re an alternative that’s almost sure to delight, not to mention an enormous improvement over Jaybird’s previous efforts. 

I don’t know if I can quite recommend them without caveat but I can certainly recommend them with a lot more enthusiasm than previous Jaybird earbuds. 

Price when reviewed

In Australia, the Jaybird VistaTotally Wireless Sport Headphones are priced at $299.

Jaybird Vista full review

Price

In Australia, you can buy the Jaybird Vista wireless sport headphones for $299 through the following:

• JB Hi-Fi

• Amazon

• Jaybird

Design & Build

With the original RUN earbuds, Jaybird struggled with the basics. Then, with the RUN XT, they nailed them. Now, the company has learned to truly thrive in the wireless audio space with the new Jaybird Vista. 

At a glance, the Vista earbuds are a sportier evolution of what Jaybird have done before. 

However, where earlier efforts came wrapped in blends of black, grey and silver, the Vista are positively colorful. Sure, there is technically a black color option available but why bother when Mineral Blue and Nimbus Gray are sitting right there? There's a real sense of character here that many other true wireless solutions lack.

Credit: Jaybird

From the moment you get your hands on them, you get a sense that they’re designed for real world conditions - not just to look pretty. To that end, the material design is a little less cheap plastic and a little more rubberized. In line with the RUN XT, the Jaybird Vista are both sweatproof and IPX7-rated for water resistance. The carry-case also comes with a little fabric loop that you can use to attach it to things.

The one flaw to the design here is that there’s no extended microphone on the earbuds themselves. While the Vista can answer phone calls, the results leave something to be desired - especially when compared to more-focused solutions like the Jabra 65ts.

The other area where these earbuds fall short somewhat is control. Though something of an improvement on the physical buttons found in the RUN and RUN XT, Jaybird’s Vista earbuds still ask you to poke at your ears when you want to pause or play music on short notice - which is often an awkward and uncomfortable experience.

Credit: Jaybird

Otherwise, the Jaybird Vista offers up a largely standard, fitness-flavored, true wireless earbuds experience. You charge them using the carry-case. You press the button inside the charger-case to enable Bluetooth pairing. You connect them to your Android or iOS device of choice and you’re good to go. 

Features & Sound Quality

The one wrinkle to this comes in the form of the MySound App. Though not entirely new, this software package bundles together the usual perks and then some. 

If you’re so inclined, the app makes it easy to mess around with things like EQ settings and customise the physical shortcut buttons on the Jaybird Vista to your liking. If you do happen to lose one of the earbuds, there’s also a nifty find-my-earbuds feature that helps you locate the last place they were connected.

Again, all of this is nice to have - even if it’s not quite game-changing. And it doesn’t hurt that the Jaybird Vista sound as good as they do. Though lacking in proper noise-cancelling tech, I found that these earbuds did a great job of passively cancelling out external noise. 

Credit: Jaybird

In addition, the drivers inside each earbuds could be rightfully called rippers. Fare like All Time Low’s “The Reckless and the Brave” popped with exactly the right kind of pop-punk energy. Same goes for My Chemical Romances’ “The Sharpest Lives”.

Even if they lack formal support for some of the higher-fidelity wireless audio codecs out there, the Jaybird Vista still sounds both pretty good and probably good enough for everyday usage. 

Battery Life

Though not quite category leading, the Jaybird Vista provide plenty of bang for your buck when it comes to battery life. 

Where the previous Jaybird Run XT offered 4 hours of usage on a single charge plus another 8 hours in the charger case, the Jaybird Vista offers up a tantalising but incremental improvement. 

Credit: Jaybird

This time around, you get 6 hours of usage at a time and 16 hours of usage in total. Though this doesn’t compete with best-in-class fare like Apple’s AirPods Pro, it’s probably going to be enough for most gym workouts. Add to that the fact that the Vista also feature fast charging that can net you an hour of usage from just five minutes of charging and you’re left with a sum total that’s far more than merely adequate. 

The Bottom Line

The Jaybird Vista aren’t just the best set of true wireless earbuds that the brand have brought to the market to date, they’re genuinely one of the best options on the market. 

They’re comfortable to wear, they sound great, offer plenty of battery life and come with just enough extra software goodness to stand out. 

The Vista don’t outpace the category’s finest but they certainly show how far Jaybird has come since 2018 and they hold their own in a way that many other true wireless earbuds don’t.

Credit: Jaybird

If the Jaybird Vista don't sound like your thing, check out our guide to the best true wireless earbuds here