"As long as calls are not a priority, the Jaybird Visa 2 earbuds are an athlete's best friend."
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Completely waterproof and dustproof
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Compact and secure fit
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Great sound quality
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Wireless charging
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Very poor call quality
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ANC struggles with wind noise
We were pretty impressed with Jaybirds Vista when it launched in 2019. As the company's third attempt at creating a premium, sport-friendly set of true wireless earbuds, the Vista for $ 150 (which debuted at $ 180) was virtually successful where the previous Jaybird Run and Run XT did not.
They sounded great and were compact and sturdy in design. But time is not waiting for anyone, and if you want to be the best running headphones or simply the best for any type of intense activity in 2021, you need more. Much more. Can Jaybird's new Vista 2 claim this award for $ 200? Let's find out.
What's new?
If you are familiar with the original Jaybird Vista and are wondering what will bring you an additional $ 50 investment, the following are new to Vista 2:
- Active noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency modes
- Longer battery life
- Wear sensors for music auto pause
- Better dust and water resistance
- AAC bluetooth codec support
- Wireless charging
- "Find my" function for each earphone and the charging case
What's in the box?
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In the box, which is almost entirely recyclable, you will find the Vista 2 earphones already in their charging case, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging, earplugs in three sizes (Jaybird calls them "Eargels") and some paper documentation.
design
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Sports-oriented earbuds are often bulky affairs, but Jaybird has stayed true to the pocket-friendly design of the Vista.
You know the phrase, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it," and that sums up Jaybird's approach to Vista 2. Put them side by side with the original Vista and you can see that much has been preserved. They have the same compact and ergonomic shape, the same eargel style with the integrated stabilizing fins and an almost identical charging case, although the new one has more rounded contours. However, Jaybird has eliminated the small indentation on the front edge of the lid, which makes opening the case difficult, especially with sweaty or wet fingers.
Sports and fitness-oriented earbuds are often bulky affairs with large ear hooks and even larger charging cases. It's great to see that Jaybird has stayed true to the design it created with the Vista.
Also retained (and improved) is the Vista's class-leading durability. Not only do the earbuds meet the MIL-STD-810 standard for environmental resistance, they now also have an IP68 rating for complete dust and water protection, while the charging case has its own IP54 rating. Keep in mind that the earbuds do not float and bluetooth signals do not carry well through water. Therefore, swimming with them is not recommended. For fun, I leave the earbuds on the bottom of a sink filled with water. When I ripped them out 30 minutes later, they seemed fine.
The contacts on the charging case are corrosion-resistant, so all you have to do is wipe off excess water and you're good to go. The case can now be charged wirelessly, which is especially useful if you have a phone that can wirelessly charge accessories like the Samsung Galaxy S21.
The most noticeable difference is the woven fabric that now covers the outer part of the earbuds. Jaybird calls it "WindDefense" fabric and, as the name suggests, is supposed to act as a windsock and prevent wind and other noises from disturbing the microphones.
Underneath this fabric is a physical button that can be used to trigger the usual actions like controlling playback, selecting tracks, etc., but now each earbud also has an embedded accelerometer for tap control.
Comfort, controls and connections
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Given the choice between in-hook earbuds like the Powerbeats Pro and earbuds with internal fins like the Vista 2, I'll be using the fins every time. It's true that when you put them on, they're a little less comfortable, but they're easier to put on and there's no hook to bother my glasses. Not to mention how much smaller they are!
You may not want to wear them for hours, but they are more than comfortable enough for a two-hour workout.
As for the fit, don't worry: the combination of the stabilizing ribs and the conical shape of the silicone earbuds make it very difficult to accidentally remove the Vista 2. If anything, they can be a little tricky to remove thanks to the incredible sealing of the eargels. You may not want to wear them for hours, but they are more than comfortable enough for a two-hour workout.
Under the fabric outside, the hidden buttons click with a satisfactory feel, and the free Jaybird app allows you to select specific functions for each click sequence on each earbud. When you include the three click types (single, double, click and hold) and the optional double tap gesture, that's eight options, more than enough to cover play, skip tracks, volume, ANC mode, and more. My only minor flaw is the volume control. It's only accessible via the click and hold gesture, which I find too imprecise for volume adjustments. You're probably better off using your phone's controls for this.
The double-tap gesture, which is mainly used to toggle between ANC and transparency (or "SurroundSense" as Jaybird likes to call it), is also reasonably responsive, although I've experienced a couple of times having to repeat it with a slower cadence.
The built-in wear sensors (new for Vista 2) let you automatically pause your music when you remove an earbud (and resume it when you put it back in). It can be turned on or off in the app and I found it to be very responsive to changes.
Fun to browse the different sound recipes that others have discovered and shared.
Jaybird claims that as a Class 2 Bluetooth device, the Vista 2 can be about 10 meters from a phone or tablet before it is disconnected. This is certainly true outdoors. Inside, it's closer to 20 feet depending on the obstacles between the earbuds and their source device.
And yes, you can use each earbud independently for music or phone calls if you need to.
Sound quality
While the Vista 2 is geared towards athletes who, let's face it, don't just sit around for critical listening sessions, the Vista 2 sounds great. Out of the box, the signature is balanced, if a little tame, but once you jump into the Jaybird app and start tweaking the EQ, these earbuds really shine.
Simply switching from the standard “flat” EQ to the Signature setting was enough to increase the overall dynamic range significantly, and it also helped bring out details in the mids and highs while delivering punchy bass.
Speaking of EQ, one of Jaybird's most interesting features is its social sound settings. Users can create their own custom EQ setting, name it, and share it with other Jaybird users. I suspect most people will find the handful of built-in EQ options sufficient, but it's fun to browse the various sound recipes that others have discovered and shared.
There is also a personal EQ function that creates settings based on the audible frequencies. In the end, I preferred the built-in settings, but it's a nice touch.
As you'd expect from exercise earbuds, there's plenty of deep bass on tap. And while this gets a little exuberant and sometimes dulls the midtones, these EQ settings can help fine tune how much boom you want to accompany your activity.
Noise cancellation and transparency
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The Jaybird Vista did a fine job of passive noise isolation thanks to those tight fitting eargels, but the Vista 2 takes it up again with the addition of ANC. It's not a massive change in the noise cone when you turn it on, but it is exactly what you need to reduce outside noise enough so that it no longer disturbs your concentration.
Jaybird's SurroundSense transparency mode lets you adjust how much sound to let in and how much effort to try to compensate for wind noise (low, medium, or high). When you're active (double-tapping one of the earbuds), you can have normal conversations with people around you or simply increase your awareness of traffic and other potential dangers. I really appreciate that you can decide whether to toggle between Off, ANC and Transparency or two of these modes with this double tap.
There is one downside, however, and it's a big one: wind noise isn't suppressed at all, and I'd even argue that it's more noticeable when the ANC is on than when it is off. Given that Jaybird specifically handled this with its WindDefense fabric, this is particularly disappointing.
Call quality
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As long as you are in a quiet indoor location or outdoors on a very quiet day, the call quality on the Jaybird Vista 2 is good enough for most types of calls.
But if there is even a slight breeze, that wind noise will completely erase your voice. Again, it's really weird considering the presence of this WindDefense fabric, not to mention the fact that these earbuds are entirely designed for outdoor living in every other way. If you're wondering why these earbuds only get 3.5 stars on our rating scale, this is the main reason.
Jaybird tells me it will keep updating its firmware to improve call quality, but there is a limit to what it can do since the microphone is placed on the Vista 2.
Find my earbuds
Most earbuds that have a "Find My" feature usually just give you the option to get the earbuds to emit a high-pitched howl so you can find them between the sofa cushions. Jaybird does this too, but goes a step further by showing you the location of each earbud and charging case on a map – something it can do since the case actually has its own bluetooth beacon.
The Jaybird app dutifully displayed the earbuds and case on a map, but I couldn't get it to force a tracking sound from the earbuds. Hopefully this will be fixed with a firmware update.
Battery life
The original Vista didn't boast particularly impressive battery life (six hours per earbud and 10 hours more in the charging case). The Vista 2 improves this significantly with eight hours per earbud and 16 hours in the case. The fast charging remains the same: five minutes gives you an additional hour of gaming time.
At a volume of 50% and the ANC switched on, the earphones knocked off after six hours. Turning ANC off should get you down to the stated 8 hour number, but I haven't tested this.
Our opinion
The only thing stopping the Jaybird Vista 2 from being the perfect workout earbuds is its terrible phone call quality. Otherwise, they absolutely hit it and offer the Powerbeats Pro some serious competition.
Is there a better alternative?
The Vista 2 hits a sweet spot in terms of equipment and price, without any direct competitors. For $ 150 is the JBL Reflect Mini NC gives you almost all of the features of Vista 2 and they have much better call quality. They don't have wireless charging, they don't last that long, and they're not as rugged as the Vista 2, but they give you a choice of voice assistants.
If you're a die-hard Apple fan and want to summon Siri hands-free, this is it Powerbeats Pro are still a very good choice, but their large ear hooks and lack of ANC or wireless charging make the regular $ 249 price tag seem unnecessarily high.
How long will they last?
With the Vista 2's incredible protection from water, dust, and other damage, it should last for years with regular use. Batteries are always the big unknown, but there's no reason to think the Jaybird Vista 2 will be better or worse than other brands. Jaybird supports the Vista 2 with a one year warranty.
Should you buy it?
Yes – that is, if you can put your terrible call quality behind you. When calls don't matter, the Jaybird Vista 2 are great sounding workout earbuds that are badass.
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