Review: a-Jays Five

a-Jays Five are the latest in-ear headphones in the Jays line up. a-Jays have long been a popular choice amongst iPhone users, and with the Five, Jays are sharing the love to our Android and Windows Phone friends.

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The a-Jays Five come feature a flat, strong, tangle-free cord. The remote can be used with iPhone, Android or Windows Phones, there’s a different model for each device, so check before you order. Android users get a companion app to help map functions to each button.

I’m not usually a fan of in-ear headphones. I must have teeny tiny little ear canals, trying to insert most in-ear phones is normally as enjoyable trying to stuff a sleeping bag back into it’s holder. Not so the Fives, which ships with 5 sizes, including teeny-tiny. Of course, shoving them in your ear is only half the battle. I’ve given up on many expensive in-ear headphones after the damn things kept falling out of my ears. With the Fives, I’ve been able to keep them in for hours at a time.

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The in-ear rubber thingies do a great job of blocking the sound of traffic, co-workers, and other daily annoyances. As with all in-ear headphones, the majority of external sound comes from the cables rubbing against your clothes. To combat this, the a-Jays Five come with a little shirt clip that is definitely worth using. The clip also helps reduce some of the weight of the phones. Once clipped to your shirt, you should enjoy the sounds of your music and not much else.

As for sound quality, I was impressed. The a-Jays produce a deep bass sound without the muddiness of other, more famous headphones. You know who I mean. I’m no audiophile, but all my music sounded great, from the twangly crap to the doof doof stuff.

The remote functions micmic a standard set of iPhone headphones, with two major improvements. The first is the remote doesn’t get caught nearly as often on a collared shirt. The second is a better microphone, which uses the same noise reduction technology built in to the iPhone proper. I’m not sure if this works, I never make calls on my phone.

The packaging is quite nice. The Fives come in a small black box, containing a small plastic carrying case for the phones themselves. The packaging is not that important, obviously, but it does make gifting them a little nicer.

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Overall the A-Jays Five are the most comfortable in-ear headphones I’ve ever used, and I’ve used a few. In an office environment, I still prefer my trusty Urbanears Plattan, which are light enough to wear all day — and nothing says “please stop talking to me” like over-the-ear headphones. But for out and about, I’ve switched to the Fives as my main headphones.

The A-Jays Five are $120 RRP.