If you ran into the past couple of years, a pair of earbuds I would recommend to most were the Jaybird Vista. While they didn’t support ANC, they had a nice comfortable secure fit, buds/case were lightweight and personal EQ was impressive. When I seen Jaybird was making a successor with the Vista 2, I couldn’t wait to give them a listen. Are they as good as the original?
Style
At first glance the Jaybird Vista 2 look identical to its predecessor, but they are some subtle changes. The charging case is still about 3ins wide but is more rounded and has more of a hard plastic feel than rubber on the Vista. So, it doesn’t feel as boxy anymore and slides into the pocket easier. While it’s still compact and light it does feel a bit heavier. The case utilizes USB-C charging and has three LED lights to indicate battery percentage left. Also, the lanyard that was optional on the Vista is mandatory on the Vista 2. Overall, the cases feel better in quality with no slight creaking when opening and closing.
The earbuds themselves are still squarish and boxy but have been touched up a bit with the buttons have a nylon braided material showcasing the Jaybird insignia. It does make it easier to press and your finger not slipping as much. Vista 2’s earbuds are also outfitted with a IP68 rating which gives you drop, sweat, crush, and waterproofing. The case itself is rated IP54 and supports wireless charging. These are definitely geared towards athletes.
Features
Jaybird is touting an Earthproof audio experience with the Vista 2. One of the features to kick that off is SurroundSense & ANC. SurroundSense for a better idea is Ambient Sound you see on other earbuds. It houses some additional control such as filtering how much you want to hear and is also wind filtering.
Active Noise Cancelling on here doesn’t have as much control but can be turned on/off or you can jump between SurroundSense / ANC at the press of a button either on the earbuds or via the app.
On the battery side the earbuds hold a charge of 8 hours (6hrs w/ ANC or SS) while the case gives you an additional two charges totaling 24hrs. Over the time using these I have found the battery to be on par with the numbers and having to charge them so often.
Buttons are programmable via the app and can be customized ranging from Single Press, Double Press, Double Tap, or Holding. But realistically there is only four presets so you will most likely set them up the same on each side.
Sound
Like the Vistas before them, the Vista 2 utilize 6mm milled drivers which are set to present a balanced experience. Listening to various tracks I didn’t come across any distortion even at high levels. They provide a nice level of bass and experience that more so on Jaybird’s Signature EQ. On its Flat preset vocals are more present with the bass dialed down. The best way to experience these though is jumping creating your own personal sound profile. The addition of ANC helps gets submersibled in these more than the original ones.
Experience
Using these over the past few months it’s been a mixed bag of sorts. On the audio side they have sounded pleasant whether listening to music or watching some content on Netflix or YouTube. Audio also syncs up on point here. Also, they are a secure fit and never feel like they will come out thanks to the eargels. Issues I did find though was one earbud going out at times and having to take out my ear and putting back in the case. Another nuisance was updating these buds. This was more a problem with Android but doing it with iOS didn’t seem to be a problem.
Verdict
Jaybird has managed to bring some solid upgrades to the Vista 2 with features such as ANC, SurroundSense, wireless charging, and a rating IP68 making them a gem for fitness enthusiast. As I found them fine with iOS, they could work a bit better with Android. As for pricing they retail for $199.99 but have seen prices as low as $129.99 especially with Black Friday looming around.
