I’ve been using my Apple earbuds with my Nexus 5 for the last 6 or so months, but was always a little bit frustrated how the remote couldn’t play, pause, skip songs or adjust volume. I set out looking for an Android specific pair, but still wanted something well designed. Here are my thoughts on the a-JAYS Five for Android.
My criteria for these headphones were to find the best sounding, designed, with Android remote functionality for under $150. Surprisingly, this wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Then I stumbled on the a-JAYS Five.
The first thing I noticed was the attention to detail on both product photography, and the materials for the box itself.
A simple pull tab opens the box.
Then the main compartment slides out.
Inside are the headphone case, silicon tips, and a clip to attach to your shirt.
I always like it when the presentation is well thought out.
The headphones are nicely wrapped around the case, and the other accessories are packaged in foam.
My main attraction to these headphones was the flat, tangle free cable.
The overall simplicity of the design was also a big factor in why I picked them up. The 3 button remote works as expected, but JAYS also has an android app that allows you to map the buttons to different apps on your device. This is particularly handy, because double tapping the middle button doesn’t skip songs on Rdio, where it does on the primary music app.
For the price, the sound quality on these is ok. Since I’m used to earbuds, the extra detail found in music because of the rubber isolation was pretty satisfying. The bottom end is very apparent, but I’m thinking that’s primarily because I’m not used to headphones sealing out all the outside noise.
Another great thing to note is the 90 degree connector. I really don’t understand why this isn’t a standard on all headphones.
One problem though – my right headphone fell out of my ear 3 times on the 10 minute walk to work this morning. I’m using the standard size silicon tips which seemed to fit me better than the size below and the size above. Looking at some other reviews online, this seems to be a recurring problem. The cable is noticeably heavier than a standard round cable, so I think the side to side swaying motion when walking has a tendency to loosen them in your ears. Maybe they expect everyone to use the shirt clip.
Overall, these are pretty meh. The design features are nice, but the ergonomics kill the whole deal for me. I’ll keep looking.
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