Jaybird Tarah Review

8.5
8.5 score
[Editors rating (8.5)] = (WalkJogRun) score (8.5)/10


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Editor rating: 8.5 / 10
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For those who favor a wireless, and in-ear experience when it comes to headphones, the Jaybird Tarah is a great choice. The minimalist design and freedom from wires give you a comfortable, secure fit suitable for running and fitness.

Like most wireless earbuds, the battery life will get you around six hours of playback from a single charge. This should be enough to get you through your outdoor chores, training session, or video game level.

These earbuds are waterproof and sweatproof. A lot of active people enjoy this feature because they don’t have to be held back from enjoying music or exercise due to unfavorable weather conditions or a lot of sweat. They’re able to enjoy both, without worrying about the headset failing.

There are interchangeable flexible, soft ear gels that are included in the purchase of the Jaybird Tarah so that you may achieve the perfect fit for your ears. The quality of the sound is top-notch, but you can also tweak it to your personal preferences via that Jaybird MySound app.

Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros

iOS/Android compatible

Bluetooth

Wireless

Waterproof

Interchangeable tips

Cons

Expensive

Durability issues

Brand

An Australian entrepreneur by the name of Judd Armstrong was the man who founded Jaybird in 2006. Judd is also an athlete, and as such, he decided that he was disappointed in the headphone market. He made the decision to create headsets that could hold up against sweat, rain, and even submersion.

Before Judd officially started his company, he sold his prototypes online. When he was showered with positive feedback, he then took his company to the next level by making it official. In Salt Lake City, Utah, JayBirdGear LLC was born.

Judd was focused completely on ridding headphones of their wires. To him, any many others, wires do nothing except get in the way. They dangle, bounce around, and get tangled. The Jaybird Tarah is one of many of his creations. Some people prefer the wires, and for those of you who do, you can find them here.

Battery Life

Something that is important to shoppers when it comes to anything electronic is battery life. Nobody wants to have to spend any part of their day searching for a port to plug their electronics into. When you’re shopping for wireless earbuds, you can expect to find battery lives that range from six to eight hours on a full charge.

The Jaybird Tarah claims to have six-hour battery life. This should leave you plenty of time to get in a good workout, muscle through your lunch break, take phone calls, and make it home before needing a charge. It is also claimed that a ten-minute charge will grant you an extra hour of play time if you’re in a pinch.

While the battery life of the Jaybird Tarah lives up to its promise when its fresh out of the box, some consumers have reported that after a few uses, weeks, or months, the battery life is cut in half. For some, they stop holding a charge altogether.

If you’re looking for a longer battery life without sacrificing a wire-free experience, there are Bluetooth headphones that can get up to twenty-five hours of playback from one charge.

Waterproof

Waterproof earbuds are a novelty to those who produce a lot of sweat during their workouts and to those who work out whether it’s raining or shining. It’s hard to find wireless products that can stand up to the water thrown at them. Judd has been dedicated, since the beginning, to creating products that are truly waterproof. Because of his hard work, the Jaybird Tarah earbuds have an IP rating of IPX7.

An IP rating will tell you how well your product is protected from dust and moisture. IP stands for Ingress Protection and is used as the international standard. The Jaybird Tarah has an IP rating of IPX7, which means that it can be fully submerged in a meter of water for up to thirty minutes before sustaining any damage. Consumers have verified that the Jaybird Tarah is, in fact, waterproof to their satisfaction.

Whether you’re on the slopes, in the rain, or simply drenched in your own sweat, you can rest assured that your Jaybird Tarah headset will be protected. Your gear and clothes, on the other hand, may need some additional protection.

Fit

The Jaybird Tarah was designed with the active person in mind. The small buds fit comfortably inside of your ear to effectively provide you with great sound and a secure fit. If the stock buds don’t fit your ear correctly, there are three sizes of flexible, soft silicone ear gel replacements to help you achieve the perfect fit for your ear.

The design of the Jaybird Tarah is “in-ear headphones”. This is a design preferred by many people. However, there are some that still prefer to have “on-ear” or “over-ear” headphones. For those people looking for on, or over, ear headphones, you may find what you’re looking for here.

The “in-ear” design, along with the interchangeable bud gels, will allow you to enjoy your music, shows, video games, phones calls, etc without worrying about being distracted by an uncomfortable fit. They’ll also, with the right fit, be able to block out excessive external noise.

There have been reports from customers that claim these earbuds are not suitable for extreme sports such as snowboarding. These customers comment that the sound cuts in and out while they’re moving, and the battery life suffers because of the cold.

Custom Sound

Jaybird works hard on their sound every day. They’re always working to make sure you have the best listening experience possible. However, they’re aware that not everyone has the same taste. Not everyone hears the same. And not everyone listens to the same type of music.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were a way for you to customize the sound that’s coming out of your speakers? Your headset is already pre-programmed with premium sound quality, but when you connect it to the MySound app, you have the power (at your fingertips) to adjust the treble and bass so that the sound is exactly how you like it.

What’s more, you can save your settings to your earbuds. This way, you can have your music how you like it, no matter where you are or what compatible device you’re connected to. Your earbuds will remember what you like.

Controls

Before you begin: a “short” press is very brief. A “medium” press is held for one second. And a “long” press is held for four seconds.

To turn your Jaybird Tarah headset on, press, and hold, the button in the middle of the remote. You will hear it say “power on” and a white LED light will illuminate. To turn the headset off, press, and hold, the button in the middle until you hear “power off” and see a red LED light illuminate and then go out.

To turn the volume up, short press on the top “+” button. To play and/or pause your music, short press on the middle button. The turn the volume down, short press on the bottom “-” button.

To skip forward in your music, medium press the top button. To activate the voice command feature, medium press on the middle button. And to skip backward in your music, medium press on the bottom button.

When you want to switch between calls, short press on the middle button. To accept and/or end a call, double press on the middle button.

Bluetooth

Any Bluetooth-enabled device you have is compatible with the Jaybird Tarah. Even your Apple watches. Your headset comes ready to be paired to your devices. First, you’ll want to turn your headset on by pressing the middle button for four seconds until the white LED is lit and headset says it is ready to pair and prompts you to download the Jaybird MySound App.

On your compatible Bluetooth device, such as an Apple Watch, you’ll need to go into your Bluetooth menu, turn it on, and search for available devices. If you see “Jaybird Tarah” as an option on the list, select it. Once the connection has been made, the white LED on the headset will turn off. The headset will then say “connected”.

Jaybird MySound

The free app for Jaybird products, including the Jaybird Tarah, comes with many advantages. Not only can you customize your sound experience by adjusting the bass and treble settings, but you can save those settings to your earbuds so that they will be in effect no matter what device you’re connected to. But that’s not all!

The app has a feature that helps you discover new music and/or podcasts that you can listen to when you’re walking in the park, commuting to your job, hitting the gym, or powering through an intense video game level. Whatever it is you’re doing while you’re wearing your Jaybird Tarah’s, you can rest assured you’ll never be short on music options.

Spotify comes with the app. It is the free version, which means that the features are limited. You will be able to access playlists, share tracks with friends, find new music, and listen to Spotify radio. When in Shuffle Play mode, you can play any album, artist, or playlist you want.

The Jarbird MySound app is compatible with any devices that run iOS 11 or newer and Android 6.0 or newer.

Dependability

The one area that it seems the Jaybird Tarah is not excelling in is durability. While most everyone agrees that, fresh out of the box, this headset delivers beautiful, quality sound and has a lasting battery life, they also claim that it doesn’t last long.

According to some runners, when they went for a run it caused the sound to be disrupted; but when they were still, the sound was just fine. High-intensity workouts seem to be too much for the Jaybird Tarah to handle.

Consumers who are very active are also having issues with the buds falling out of their ears and not being comfortable. For a more secure fit, try this headset. Snowboarders say that the cold affects the life of their battery, and that, eventually, they stop charging at all.

Compatibility

When you pair two Bluetooth devices together, they read each other to determine whether or not they’re compatible. Bluetooth is the physical connection between the devices, but a Bluetooth “profile” is what determines whether or not two devices can pair. The Jaybird Tarah is compatible with Bluetooth devices that have HSP, HFP, and A2DP.

HSP stands for Handset Profile. HFP stands for Hands-free Profile, and A2DP stands for Advanced Audio Distribution Profile. The HSP is what makes it possible for the Bluetooth headset to communicate with a cell phone. The HFP is similar to the HSP and was originally meant to be able to control a cellular device from a hands-free unit in a car. And, the A2DP allows audio signals to be transmitted, with better quality than the encoding that is used for the HFP and HSP.

Bottom Line

To reiterate, the Jaybird Tarah is a wireless, in-ear headset that can be connected via Bluetooth to both Apple and Android devices (that are compatible). The Jaybird Tarah is also waterproof, which appeals to many active people. And, for those who don’t have cookie-cutter ears, there are interchangeable tips to help you achieve a secure and comfortable fit.

Due to the number of consumers claiming a short lifespan, some people may not believe that the cost of the Jaybird Tarah is worth the short time it lasts. Not all consumers have had a negative experience though, just some. Based on the reviews, it seems the people who have trouble with the headset are very active. If you’re into snowboarding or rigorous runs, maybe consider an alternative option.