Jays x-Five review: Astonishingly cheap

Rating:     4.1

It has been over a decade since Jays entered the market and unlike other brands with failed attempts, Jays have grown in leaps and bounds so much so that even those outside the audiophile community know about them. Very few brands can claim what they have achieved in the short time span and although the company is widely regarded as a premium brand; sometimes they do step out of this zone and launch products that are easier on the pocket.

The recently launched Jays x-Five is one such example. It is budget-friendly yet comes with all the attributes that are necessary to be called a Jays product. Having used these on-ear headphones for a few days, we can give you a fair assessment of this premium yet well-priced headphones.

Design, Build

To start off, the Jays x-Five comes in a premium packaging that absolutely betrays its price tag. Usually, you find headphones that are packaged this well to feature in the price range that’s north of Rs 10,000. However, the unboxing is as good of an experience as the audio quality.

Marketed as a pair of compact headphones, the Jays x-Five check all the right boxes when it comes to design and build. Dressed in all black, these headphones ooze substance and can be used in a professional as well as a casual environment such as a coffee shop or a gym.

The headphones are built entirely out of plastic and faux leather with the cushioning at the ear cups and the headband fitted with memory foam. These soft cushioning allows you to wear them for substantial amounts of time without experiencing any fatigue. This goes hand-in-hand with the 20-hour battery life on offer. Being on-ear headphones, they don’t encompass the entire ear but rather, sit on them comfortably and this is aided by the soft cushioning.

For connectivity, the Jays x-Five come with Bluetooth 4.1 as well as an auxiliary input for a wired connection. So, when your battery is down, you can easily attach the cable for an unfiltered wired experience. Buttons are located on the south side of the right ear cup. These include the standard options as well as an on/off/pairing button. Our only issue with these headphones was the button placement. Being close to each other, we found ourselves accidentally skipping tracks when we wanted to pause it. This is a bit irritating, but over time, you might get used to it.

The headphones can be folded inwards as well as flattened out. This makes it convenient for stowing away in a backpack when not in use.

Overall, apart from the button placement, we really loved the entire design and build of these headphones.

Performance

Pairing the Jays x-Five was a cinch. All you had to do was keep the on/off button pressed and head on to the Bluetooth settings on your source device and hit pair. That’s it. Loaded with 40mm drivers you get a warm and smooth sound signature here.

There is a lot to love with the audio quality and from the moment we fired them up, the vocals hit us in all the sweet spots. Rarely do you find headphones priced this attractively which offer a spacious yet immersive experience. Although the bass is good, it doesn’t have the thump that’s found in certain headphones. There is a balanced sound here which we found quite refreshing in contrast to the enhanced bass heard on some headphones that have been custom-tuned for this very purpose. With that being said, there was a lot of detail in the mids and the highs were well represented. Mind you, although the audio quality is great for this price point, these aren’t audiophile-grade headphones and they’re meant for casual, no-fuss listening.

Battery life here is the standout feature and Jays claims that on a single charge, you can get about 20 hours of continuous playback. During our testing, we found this claim to be more or less accurate and this included a healthy mix of audio playback, streaming videos as well as calls. These headphones are definitely one of the better ones out there in terms of battery life.

Verdict

Priced at Rs 3,999, the Jays x-Five are astonishingly cheap. You don’t really find headphones with such a good build and a matching performance at this price range. These aren’t audiophile-grade headphones and they’re not even trying to be. These headphones are designed for those who want a great set of premium headphones with exceptional battery life and are priced extremely attractively. So, if you are looking out for a no-nonsense pair of headphones with the added advantage of awesome sound, the Jays x-Five is a sure shot bet for you.