Jaybird Bluebuds X Bluetooth Earbuds Review

by Ben on June 16, 2013, no comments

How many times have your earphone been ripped from your head because the wire’s been caught on something? Or the wire gets wound up in itself and you have to unplug it to straighten it out? Or you’re at the gym and catch the wire with a dumbbell/barbell or other miscellaneous gym equipment? At least a few times I bet.

Bluetooth technology has slowly been improving over the last few years, along with micronisation of electronic components. Thus, here we are in 2013 and wireless earbuds that produce solid sound without dying after a few hours are a reality. Introducing Jaybird’s Bluebuds X. I’m been using them for about a month now, here are my thoughts.

Bluebuds X

The good bits

No wires – I really cannot emphasize this enough, I have been ruined and will never be able to enjoy wired headphones again. At the gym this is just so useful, no more catching the wire on a barbell or cable. You don’t have to have your phone in your pocket and I’ve found that the range is good for close to 20 ft. Amazing. As a side note, they are also apparently sweat resistant and I haven’t had any sweat related issues with them yet so must be a valid feature.

Sound quality – Whilst Bluetooth does cause a loss of fidelity and volume compared with their wired counterparts, the Bluebuds provide decent bass and volume levels. In terms of volume alone, I like to be drown out outside/ambient noise and these definitely get loud enough for me. As a rough estimate, I’d say it’s about 80% of max volume of a comparable set of wired earbuds. BASS, feel the bass, it’s good, which is important for me too because I listen to a lot of bass heavey music. All this is affected by the seal around the ear canal not being the best, but I’ll cover that more in the cons

Bluetooth & battery life – I use my phone as my music player and the connection set up process was very painless. Once set up is done, the earbuds will connect with a second once you turn them on and I have only lost connection once (in about 100 hours of listening). The official line for battery life is 8 hrs, but I find I only get around 6 hours. This is most likely due to the loud volume I listen to my music at (close to max). But charging is relatively quick at 2 hours and you can just plug your microUSB charger straight in! Which is genius and super useful for me because I use microUSB for my phone (sorry iPhone users, you don’t get this benefit…)

The voice – There is a very pleasant female voice that gives you info about your headphones, like “power on” when you turn the headphones on and “battery low” when you have approx. 30 mins of battery life left. It sounds crazy but it’s like having your own Tinkerbell… And the “headphones connected” message is actually really useful, so you don’t blast your music out via the speaker instead on having it come through the headphones.

The not good bits

The wire – So they’re wireless in that they’re not connected to your device, but there is a wire connecting the left and right earbuds. The problem with it is that it’s made of this rubber that is pretty sticky/grippy. This is a problem because it sits on your neck/upper back and when you twist your head, sometimes it can pull the earbud out. Super annoying. But I got around this by shortening the wire and wearing them over the ear style (as opposed to having the wire go under my lobes). This is frustrating because it could be solved fairly easily by use of a different material.

The seal – Due to having a battery packed into the bud itself means they are quite hefty. Meaning, they may not suit everyone’s ear structure and can cause the you to lose the seal that is all-important for earbuds to block out noise, provide maximum sound quality and keep them secured in place. Personally, the seal is good enough, but I do notice they it could be better.

The price – At AUD$200 they were by no means cheap and I admit that I considered returning them because you can get some very decent wired earbuds for the same price. But the thought of going back to wires was too much to take. It’s a premium price but they have a number of features that may match your specific requirements.

Conclusion

My first set of Bluetooth earbuds and to be honest, they’ve changed my life. Great sound quality, reasonably secure and with no annoying wires getting caught on stuff. The sacrifice of volume for wireless-ness is easily worth it for the benefits you get. They are not perfect but they definitely offer a compelling feature set. If the price was $50 less, then I’d say that’s a fairer price point for what you get.

Wireless has really been one of those ‘oh I’m in the future’ type moments for me. Bluetooth is a developing standard and over time with miniaturisation of other components, I can’t see why sound quality and price won’t improve across the board. To end, a quote from Southland Tales:

“Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted”

The HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S4

by Ben on March 20, 2013, no comments

So the title is a purposefully deceiving, this is not going to your bog standard comparison between two super phones. Because let’s face it, statistically, you’re going to buy the Galaxy S4, simply because you’ll see more advertising than you can handle. What saddens me that it means people don’t end up knowing why they really bought that phone over others.

Samsung Galaxy S4

This same scenario happened last year, HTC released the One X and then Samsung released the Galaxy S3. The phones were basically the same and the whilst the One X was lauded for its crisp screen and the Galaxy S3 for its camera, the general consensus was that it comes down to a “subjective” call.

You could say the HTC One and Galaxy S4 are in a similar position again in 2013. This article on Engadget sums up my feelings about the situation completely. People’s ‘”subjective” calls are heavily influenced by the $12bn Samsung apparently spend on marketing the Galaxy.

Here’s an example. Among my friends, I am known as someone who knows stuff about technology, especially smartphones, as I work in the industry. A friend wanted to buy a new smartphone last year and asked me what phones they should look into and which one I recommended. I mentioned the One S or X, Galaxy S3 or the iPhone5 and I knew they’d be happy with either phone, considering the step up from their previous device. I specifically recommended the One X.

A week later they ended up buying the Galaxy S3 and when I asked what their reasoning was, they said “I don’t know”.

I knew why, I knew it was because it was the device everyone was talking about and buying, thanks to the Samsung’s massive marketing blitz. I remember seeing S3 on bus stops and buildings everywhere. The other major thing I noticed was that the people who were buying then had never really owned a high end smartphone before. And it was the phone that non-techies started to laud over their iPhone buddies claiming it was better. A strange phenomenon to witness indeed. These are the people that don’t read tech sites like engadget or gsmarena that offer (mostly) objective/fair reviews and opinions. But these are the masses and I think it’s unfortunate they’ll buy Galaxy S4′s without really knowing how outstanding a smartphone really can feel and be.

HTC One Black

I really like the HTC One and other devices HTC has made, their original HTC Hero was what got me into Android back in 2008 and they just design hardware that feel good in your hand. The HTC One was carved from a single piece of metal for goodness sake, they want this device to feel like the hundreds of dollars that it’s worth.

I liken the design ethos of the HTC One to a crafted watch, intricately designed at a micro level.

I’ve always liked battling for the underdog; I’ve supported Android since 2008 when it was a true underdog, an incomplete work well behind iOS. And now I feel like the HTC One is an underdog again, although this time one which is more accomplished and complete than its competitors. Which is OK for now, but I fear this phone is HTC’s last big shot at maintaining a place in the smartphone scene.

Financially, HTC need this phone to succeed so they can continue to invest in innovation. And I hope the HTC One can take a decent chunk of smartphone sales this year, it might just be the catalyst Samsung needs to finally pull their head out of the sand and invest in some proper industrial design.

Two Examples of Well Designed Apps (Android)

by Ben on February 21, 2013, no comments

An often quoted figure is the number in the world of mobile device markets is the number of apps available in a platforms app store. But there’s another often quoted saying along the lines of “quantity doesn’t equal quality”. Quantity of apps hasn’t been an issue for Android in recent years but the quality has.

Google, thankfully, has done a lot to try fix and improve this, the addition of design guidelines to accompany the standard developer SDK support is an example of this (the hiring of Matias Duarte being another). So the future looks bright and I want to highlight a couple of apps that have impressed me, each for different reasons.

Feedly

Feedly Feedly is a news reader and has good support for RSS feeds, especially Google Reader, which is why I started using it. It has always been a well designed app and the developers have kept it at the forefront with regular updates.

The lack of unnatural borders around UI elements is something that I really like and is dominant throughout this app.

White space is used as a more natural separation and white text is used on dark backgrounds to help focus your eyes. I’m no usability expert but I think the term to use here is good cognitive load management.

Adherence to Android app design guidelines is also well illustrated, with the back button (and app icon) in the top left with key actions in the top right. The overflow menu is simple but effective with white icons on a grey background. Yes, it’s an Android design pattern but I think Feedly has done enough to make it feel unique yet familiar.

I’m a big fan of a well chosen colour palette and I was delighted with the use of bright colours in the left menu. The headings are titles of your RSS feed categories and can either launch that category or display a list of RSS feeds within that category (can be launched individually). It’s the kind of functional flourish that I can’t get enough of.

7×7

7x7 7×7 is an app I came across a couple weeks ago and is one of those games that you start to play, intending to only have one go, then you realise an hour has flown by and you’re now late, for something.

The points I made above about feedly are applicable here too. There are no real borders to speak of, white space is used effectively and simple, concise icons all add up to an elegant look and feel.

For me the standout element is the use of attractive colours. Maybe I’m just like a bee and 7×7 is an electronic flower seducing me with it’s bright colours, I don’t know but I feel it really does make for a more relaxing, pleasant experience that feels modern.

It also helps that the game play is relatively simple to execute, touch a square pick it up and select an empty slot to place it down, whilst requiring an air of strategy and dash of luck from the random square placements.

The Future is Bright

The future of app design in Android is indeed looking bright (pun intended) and I’m noticing a lot more apps are looking beautiful whilst providing genuinely useful functionality. Really it’s a case of taking the time to understand the platform you’re building on and investing in some design expertise. A well designed app that delights the user will have them using the app over and over again, providing such benefits as increased customer retention and app usage.

Buy a Google Nexus 4? Maybe, Maybe Not…

by Ben on December 18, 2012, no comments

The Nexus 4 is proving to be quite the exclusive device. Thanks to some aggressive pricing, great hardware and lack of supply/demand forecasting on Google/LG’s part. I was lucky to pick one up but had to sign my life away (see my story below) and if you still think it’s the device for you, read on.

Options

So if you’re still trying to buy a Nexus 4, you have a couple options.

1. Hold out until you manage to squeeze an order through Google Play. Why? Because..

Nexus devices get the latest version of Android and no UI overlays.
It’s inexpensive and there’s no contract

2. Buy a Galaxy S3 or One X+.

Better camera, more storage
UI overlays e.g. Sense or Touchwiz UI might have features you prefer
You don’t have to wait for Google to sort there supply chain out

While the Nexus 4 does have leading edge hardware and software, it has its pros and cons. Pros being a pure Android experience the Nexus offers and latest features. Cons being the camera, which is a definite downgrade from the One X.

The thing I’ve realised that I like most about the Nexus 4 – Its exclusivity (albeit un-planned)

Nexus 4′s glassy back

My Story…

I was one of the many who were victim of Google’s Nexus 4 release day (still on-going) fiasco, unable to see that ‘Add to Cart’ text on the Google Play product page. My hunger for Mountain View’s latest gadget was not diminished though and some keen investigating led me discover a local retailer (Carphone Warehouse, UK) was displaying the phone as in stock.

With eager trepidation I carried myself to the closest store to discover they had but one in stock, the 16gb version no less. They were only selling them via contract but coincidentally I was also in need of one, being new to London and all. Turned out it was free on a £30/mnth for 24mnths, but that included (true) unlimited data and all the minutes/texts than I needed, so naturally I was rather chuffed.

Now I know one of the biggest appeals of the Nexus4 is the ridiculously low price point, making it an ideal phone for those not wanting to be bound for X number of months to a carrier. But as I mentioned earlier and you no doubt already know, it was pretty hard to come by (nigh on impossible) through Google Play.

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