[Srini_fi]

I just got a Bose wireless soundsport. It sounds amazing. I just enjoy listening. the base, highs, lows all seem as perfect it can get on a bluetooth transmission .I rate an earphone by the quality of sound and ease of use. and Bose beats the Jaybird X3 in both the criteria - hands down. on the other hand the audio quality produced by Jaybird X3 is not close to Bose. and the new charging dongle sucks. and customizing your sound experience using a separate app makes it complicated and unnecessary. the only plus there is a better battery life. if you have the same criteria, just do Bose. you will be happy.

 

[serman005]

Glad you are enjoying the Bose. Have heard a lot of people like them. I've been checking out the Beyer Byron BT and BTA wirelelss IEM's, which I highly recommend. Nice detail and soundstage. Fun sound, Really Nice.

 

[Srini_fi]

Okay. Thanks for sharing . I did not know about Beyer Byron BT . just googled and they seem to have a great review about sound quality . also pose a reasonable price. I will get them next when my Bose starts to age .

 

[brumledb]

Can anyone compare the X3's to the ADV Sound EvoX?

 

[Rocko1]

I just got a Bose wireless soundsport. It sounds amazing. I just enjoy listening. the base, highs, lows all seem as perfect it can get on a bluetooth transmission .I rate an earphone by the quality of sound and ease of use. and Bose beats the Jaybird X3 in both the criteria - hands down. on the other hand the audio quality produced by Jaybird X3 is not close to Bose. and the new charging dongle sucks. and customizing your sound experience using a separate app makes it complicated and unnecessary. the only plus there is a better battery life. if you have the same criteria, just do Bose. you will be happy.

While the Bose sound good, their open design makes their application limited. The Bose are so open that using them at the gym on a train, subway anywhere with anything above a slight ambient noise will leak into the music. I understand the design-you want to be able to hear cars, outside environment when running, etc. but it's just too open for me. Also, the Bose remote buttons are tough to push. They are very comfortable. You don't even realize you are wearing them. They are a bit large, but again, very comfortable.

As for the Jaybird X3, yes, the charging dongle is horrible. The My Sound app is great through being able to fully adjust the headphones sound from 20-20khz and save these settings is brilliant. Very easy to use and adds quite a bit of value to the headphones. The Bose sound a little better compared to the flat setting of the X3, but the X3 adjusted to your taste, to me sound better. Also, the Jaybirds X3 sound isolation is great. It blocks out 90% of the outside noise.

So if you spend the majority of your time in noisy environments and want to block that out, get the X3. If you run on the street and/or want to be aware of the sounds of your environment, go with the Bose.

 

[Francisk]

I purchased the Jaybird X3 on January at Best Buy and was playing around with the My Sound app for 3 days because I was so unhappy with it's sound quality. I was trying my best to get the right EQ for the X3 for 3 days but unfortunately the best EQ in the world just cannot bring back those dead high frequencies on the X3. I was so disappointed with the sound quality. The high frequencies of the X3 just sounded harsh and artificial to my ears and micro details have suddenly disappeared all together from my music. I then went to a Bose outlet and compared my X3 with the Soundsport Wireless and immediately realized that there's no need to EQ a good IEM. A good IEM just sound good without any EQ. No amount of My App EQ can bring back those missing high frequencies on the X3. I of course immediately head back to Best Buy and returned the X3 and replaced it with the Bose Soundsport Wireless by paying the difference in price. The Bose Soundsport Wireless was indeed a good sounding Bluetooth IEM. Jaybird X3 almost made me give up on Bluetooth IEMs because I thought the bad sound quality of the X3 is caused by the Bluetooth connection.

 

[Rocko1]

I purchased the Jaybird X3 on January at Best Buy and was playing around with the My Sound app for 3 days because I was so unhappy with it's sound quality. I was trying my best to get the right EQ for the X3 for 3 days but unfortunately the best EQ in the world just cannot bring back those dead high frequencies on the X3. I was so disappointed with the sound quality. The high frequencies of the X3 just sounded harsh and artificial to my ears and micro details have suddenly disappeared all together from my music. I then went to a Bose outlet and compared my X3 with the Soundsport Wireless and immediately realized that there's no need to EQ a good IEM. A good IEM just sound good without any EQ. No amount of My App EQ can bring back those missing high frequencies on the X3. I of course immediately head back to Best Buy and returned the X3 and replaced it with the Bose Soundsport Wireless by paying the difference in price. The Bose Soundsport Wireless was indeed a good sounding Bluetooth IEM. Jaybird X3 almost made me give up on Bluetooth IEMs because I thought the bad sound quality of the X3 is caused by the Bluetooth connection.

To each his own. I have had/listened to plenty of bluetooh IEMs and the X3 are among the better options out there. Not perfect, but there are none that are.

How do you deal with the open design of the Bose? It lets so much noise in, that is a big downer for me.

 

[Francisk]

I have no issues at all with Bose's open design. If anything bother's me, it's definitely inferior sound quality of any IEM where details are lost. With the Bose Soundsport Wireless, the open design does not truncate any micro details in my music and the bottom end is nice, tight and punchy. I'm always on the move and I've been enjoying the detailed sound of the Soundsport Wireless everywhere I go, without being bothered by it's open design.

Well...like you said, to each his own...so my preference is definitely towards the Bose Soundsport Wireless and I don't have a habit of returning the things that I purchase unless I really don't like it. The Bose Soundsport Wireless is definitely not perfect either but it's definitely the best Bluetooth IEM I've heard so far for the asking price.

 

[Rocko1]

I have no issues at all with Bose's open design. If anything bother's me, it's definitely inferior sound quality of any IEM where details are lost. With the Bose Soundsport Wireless, the open design does not truncate any micro details in my music and the bottom end is nice, tight and punchy. I'm always on the move and I've been enjoying the detailed sound of the Soundsport Wireless everywhere I go, without being bothered by it's open design.

Well...like you said, to each his own...so my preference is definitely towards the Bose Soundsport Wireless and I don't have a habit of returning the things that I purchase unless I really don't like it. The Bose Soundsport Wireless is definitely not perfect either but it's definitely the best Bluetooth IEM I've heard so far for the asking price.

Gotcha. I am stuck. As I have both, like both for different reasons. The gym I go to daily is so loud the Bose just don't work as I can hear the music over the speakers, people talking, etc. I have to turn the music up almost to max to drown them out. I like the idea of great sound isolation of the X3 in this circumstance. I can also see the need to for the open design of the Bose. I would use them trail running, hiking, walking on the street. I guess it's both for now.

 

[rawrster]

I bought the X3 recently and unfortunately I had to return it. I'm not expecting world class sound quality so no complaints there especially at the $100 or so price range. The sound wasn't great either but that wasn't the reason for the return. The killer for me is that once I stepped outside the sound would keep cutting in and out every few seconds. If it wasn't for that I would have kept it.

The main use is the gym however I also like to use them that entire day so I don't have to bring multiple earphones. I was looking into the Bose as an alternative however the open design doesn't work for me. I did a search for all aptx capable devices and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an option that would do it for me.

 

[Francisk]

Gotcha. I am stuck. As I have both, like both for different reasons. The gym I go to daily is so loud the Bose just don't work as I can hear the music over the speakers, people talking, etc. I have to turn the music up almost to max to drown them out. I like the idea of great sound isolation of the X3 in this circumstance. I can also see the need to for the open design of the Bose. I would use them trail running, hiking, walking on the street. I guess it's both for now.

I guess you should keep both since you like both of the IEMs for different occasions

 

[Rocko1]

I bought the X3 recently and unfortunately I had to return it. I'm not expecting world class sound quality so no complaints there especially at the $100 or so price range. The sound wasn't great either but that wasn't the reason for the return. The killer for me is that once I stepped outside the sound would keep cutting in and out every few seconds. If it wasn't for that I would have kept it.

The main use is the gym however I also like to use them that entire day so I don't have to bring multiple earphones. I was looking into the Bose as an alternative however the open design doesn't work for me. I did a search for all aptx capable devices and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an option that would do it for me.

What device were you using with them? How far away did the drops occur at?

 

[rawrster]

What device were you using with them? How far away did the drops occur at?

Samsung S8+ and my phone was in my pocket. I live in NYC which may have had something to do with it however not to that extent. I did own the Jaybird X2 a few years ago and don't recall it being that bad. I did a ton of research afterwards and there's no one bluetooth earphone that would do it so I ended up with the Bose soundsport wireless. I'll use it primarily for the gym so I'll see how it goes. I have 2 weeks to make a decision on whether to keep it or not.

 

[Francisk]

Here's proof why the X3 is losing all the high details...X3 literally have nothing audible beyond 13kHz-14kHz: https://www.seeko.co.kr/zboard4/zboard.php?id=cool_review&no=534

 

[technobot]

I created an account on this site to add my somewhat anecdotal 2 cents to help anyone else weighing this kind of comparison.

I bought the Jaybird X3 earphones in July, they had been my faithful workout/run/walk companion until last week.

To reiterate what others have correctly stated: the X3 are noise-isolating earphones geared for indoor/outdoor physical activity. If you go with the X-fit style with the earphones a tight band around the back of your neck, they will be very difficult to dislodge. They are meant to be worn completely in the ear, which will be uncomfortable depending on your tastes. I found I could wear these for hours very comfortably, almost forgetting they were there. The charge lasts as advertised, about 8 hours.

Full disclosure: I am not an audiophile. However, the provided app gives even a novice the ability to create their own, or use another, sound profile. The earphones are intentionally flat out of the box, and I found the most popular sound profile sounded best all around, so simply used that. A user can switch the sound profile depending on the song for a better listening experience but I couldn't be bothered.

Perhaps it was my particular set, but the connection didn't seem particularly strong. Indoors was usually solid, in a mid-sized busy gym I had strong connection with my phone at one end of the gym while I worked out on the other side. In my 800 sq ft apartment, the earphones would only drop connection if I had two walls between the phone and the earphones. Overall, indoor performance was very good.

Outdoors was a mixed bag, and this may have been just my particular unit. While running or walking, I wear my phone in a money belt around the waist. There would be intermittent drops/pauses but good for the most part. However, in certain areas, like my main intersection (which can be very busy) the earphones would become borderline unusable. Walking out of/to the edge of this area would usually resolve any issues but overall, outdoors bluetooth performance was good, but could become unacceptable in certain cases.

The earphones charging light stopped working a week ago, and then a couple days after that, the unit stopped working altogether. I was in the middle of a workout and it seemed like bluetooth had dropped (the music cut out) but it turned out they were dead. Charging/attempted resets didn't help, they were dead.

I got the Bose Soundsport Wireless and it's been a great experience so far. They are larger, as pointed out, but you don't really notice it. The Jaybird's are still the lowest profile/most wearable earphones I have worn, but the Bose quickly grows on you (you don't really feel the extra weight from the larger earphones). Nothing beats the Jaybird X-fit in terms of secure fit, but if worn correctly, the Bose will stay in your ears even during activity.

In terms of sound, Bose's Active EQ makes it a very simple choice for a neophyte such as myself. They simply sound better in all cases for me because I don't have a do a thing. Jaybird's app is superior but a default user such as myself doesn't need it anyway.

Bluetooth performance is a night and day affair. Indoor connectivity is even stronger, with no drops so far. Outdoors is also fantastic, there has been 1 drop, and it was noticeable only because it happened. It was over in an instant.

Very glad I found the Bose, but Jaybird support has been good. I will edit the post if the replacement pair perform better/differently.