Hardware

The Jaybird Run don't look particularly distinctive, aside from a small logo on the outside. At this point, most companies seem to be settling on a similar style for fully wireless earbuds. They generally try to make them as small as possible -- a departure from the clunky Bluetooth headsets you might be used to. One unique element here is that the metal ring around the outer edges of the Run serves as the antenna, which should technically give it a leg up on reception over competitors with internal antennas. They're about as subtle as the earbuds from Her -- noticeable, but they don't call attention to themselves either.

The differences between wireless buds come down to the earpiece design. They need to stay in your ears reliably -- there's no cord to save them from falling on the ground, after all -- and ideally, they should be comfortable enough to wear for hours at a time. This is one area where the Jaybird Run excels: It features the "fin" typically found on the brand's headphones, which fits into the upper groove of your ear to hold them in place. Once you get them in, it's hard to notice you're wearing them.

Jaybird gives you four sets of silicone tips: small and large round options as well as two different oval-shaped tips. There are also three different types of fin accessories, along with a finless one if you have very small ears. And as you'd imagine, the Run earbuds are both sweatproof and water resistant. Jaybird says they feature a "double hydrophobic nano coating" to deal with sweat, which is much tougher on gadgets than plain water.

The Jaybird Run also comes with a chunky carrying case, which adds another eight hours to its advertised four-hour battery life. The case is too large to fit comfortably in your pocket, but it's easy to chuck into a messenger bag or backpack. It can also give the Run earbuds one hour of juice with just a five-minute charge. The case could use a more secure latch though. It popped open in my bag on several occasions, which made my iPhone automatically connect to them. That was particularly annoying when it was causing my phone to deprioritize my other devices.

In use

Setting up the Run earbuds was a cinch. Within 30 seconds of tearing open the packaging, I had them securely in my ears and paired with my iPhone 6S. I was lucky enough to have a perfect fit with the default buds. It was definitely the fastest setup period I've seen with any pair of wireless headphones, even my BeatsX.

The right Run earbud handles all the connectivity with your phone. You can choose to wear it by itself if you'd rather keep one ear open (which is how I typically walk around New York City). The left earbud automatically connects to the right one over Bluetooth when you turn it on, and the sound carries over without any interruption. Everything sounds a bit compressed when you're just using the right earbud, but the audio field expands seamlessly once you turn on the left bud.

You don't have many options for controlling the Run. Each earbud has just one button. Powering them on and off takes one long press, but you can also skip forward to the next track by double-clicking them. The buttons are easy enough to find, but they're difficult to press. Pushing them simply felt painful, since doing so also jams the Run deeper into your ear. Because of that, I avoided the buttons entirely while wearing the earbuds.