Jaybird was founded by Australian entrepreneur Judd Armstrong in 2006. An athlete himself, Armstrong was disappointed with the performance of headphones available at the time, and wanted to create a product for himself that would be sweat-resistant and non-restrictive for physical activity. Armstrong placed a few of his prototype products online for sale to recoup production cost. After receiving positive feedback from the public, he founded JayBirdGear LLC in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2006. The company's first Bluetooth headset, the JB100 Freedom, was launched in late 2007. In 2014, Jaybird entered the fitness wearable market with "Reign", an activity tracker wristband that measures data such as number of steps taken, calories burned, hours slept, heart rate variability, and other health related metrics. That same year, the company was listed for the first time amongst the 5 top selling premium headphones along with Beats, Bose, Sennheiser, and Sony, according to market research companyNPD Group. Jaybird's most recent iteration of its wireless Bluetooth headset is the "Vista" model which was released in 2019 on the 28th of August. On April 12, 2016, Logitech acquired the company for $50 million.
Jaybird's most recent wireless Bluetooth headset model, the Tarah Pro, features ear fins that wrap themselves around the surface of the ear in order to help secure the earbuds during physical activity. The cord connecting the earbuds can also be worn in 2 different ways: left dangling under the ears like most common headphones, or lifted off the user's neck and worn over their ears for more freedom of movement.
Reception
The company's "X2" headset model released in 2015 has been generally well-received and is included in many "Best Headphones" lists by technology and gadget publishers such as Engadget, TechCrunch, and PC Magazine. Tim Gideon, writing for PC Magazine, rated the headset 4 out of 5 stars, and praised it for its "high quality audio performance", and for being "ideal for athletes who need a very secure fit for intense training." Jeff Dunn from Business Insider included the X2 in his list of "best headphones for working out". Dunn commented, "For the best sound from an exercise-oriented headphone that isn’t outrageously overpriced, go with the Jaybird X2." Dunn warned however that finding the best fit for each individual user could take time to set up as the headset is shipped with rubber buds, foam ear buds, and fins of various sizes for the user to configure to their ear size. Jaybird's fitness tracker, "Reign", released in 2014, was met with mixed reviews. Many reviewers praised its ability to determine the optimal time for a user to exercise by tracking their heart rate variability, but criticized its companion mobile application. Slashgear reviewer Nate Swanner wrote, "Reign is just as good as anything else out there, and much better for workout enthusiasts than many. Start comparing platforms, though, and Reign has a lot of work ahead of it." In her critical review for PC Magazine, author Jill Duffy surmised: "The Jaybird Reign puts unique functionality into an all-day activity tracker and mobile app, but it ignores basic features that make fitness gadgets truly usable."
