a-JAYS Five Review

Jays have produced a stunning looking range of earphones. The latest to join the line up is the JAYS Five which comes in different versions to suit Apple products, Android and Windows. See what we think about them in our full a-JAYS Five review.

The reason that the JAYs Five comes in three versions is due to the 3 button controller. Each of the different operating systems catered for (ios, Android & Windows) use a different method of volume control, hence a different version for each. We’ve tested the a-JAYS Five for use with Android smartphones – we would expect that our comments will apply to all versions.

Packaging & Box Contents

Jays have really gone to town on the packaging of the a-JAYS Five. First impressions are very good as you explore the many layers of packaging – see the photos in the slideshow below to get an idea of what to expect. When you finally manage to find your way inside, you’ll find the earphones neatly stowed away inside a tough plastic case, 5 sets of silicone ear adaptors and a cable clip.

The earphones themselves are made from metal which then has a silicone coating – this forms the bend round into the cable in one single, flexible piece. The control unit with integrated microphone is very nicely finished, while looking very sleek and understated.

Thanks to the inclusion of 5 sets of silicone adaptors, you will get a good fit – which in this case, this is particularly important.

While great emphasis has been put on the attractiveness of the JAYS Five earphones, they have also tried to make these as tough as possible. All cable joins are covered in silicone and are flexible – I can’t see any amount of normal usage breaking them. The cable itself is a flat silicone type – very heavy duty…heavy being an appropriate word to use. While the cable is certainly tough, it weighs a lot – an awful lot more than most other earphones around.

This excess weight is very noticeable in use, you can feel it pulling the earphones down. While the good fit does help them stay in place – you are continually aware that they are there and require continual adjustment…unlike many other lighter earphones which you can easily forget that you’re wearing.

The cable clip puzzles us a little. While it is nicely designed, it seems a little impractical. Because of the flat cable, it really has to clip onto clothing horizontally – which means it can only really clip onto a shirt or tie. Those of us that don’t wear a shirt seem to have been forgotten about – which is a shame because they could really benefit from the clip due to the heavy cable. The other slightly puzzling aspect is that the cable clip doesn’t fit inside the earphones case – which means you have to store it separately to the earphones themselves…which makes no sense. It feels to me as though the clip has been added as a bit of an afterthought after the Jays realised that the cable was too heavy – it certainly doesn’t feel like its a part of the overall package.

Sound

The sound of the Jays Five earphones is generally very good. The lower mid range has been scooped out quite heavily with an emphasis placed on the upper mid range. This helps a lot of detail poke through, particularly in background effects – but it isn’t what you’d describe as natural sounding. The bass has a lot of depth and a lovely warmth. There is an overall lack of punch and snap – this is due to the scooping of the mid range frequencies and is a real shame.

While the sound is pretty good, its not all that – earphones in this price bracket really should have the mid range properly sorted, in short it is a little disappointing.

a-Jays Five Review Conclusion

We were really hoping for great things from the a-Jays Five earphones. The packaging and overall visual design is stunning – it seems though that this is where the majority of the focus was placed during their development. While the sound isn’t quite as good as it should be – it is still very nice, but not amazing. The sound could be forgiven if it wasn’t for the heavy cable – this for us really is a deal breaker. If the earphones feel like they are being pulled while sitting stationary at a desk & require constant adjustment, they aren’t usable in the real world. Its a real shame that Jays managed to mess this simple component up so badly…if the cable was lighter, I would be writing a very different review.

As it stands – we would recommend you look at earphones in the £30 price bracket instead as they sound better & are much, much lighter.
Alternatives: MediaDevil EB-01, Ei8htball EX811, SoundMagic E10.