Jaybird X4 vs Bose SoundSport Free Best Wireless Workout Headphones in 2024

Are you looking to pick up a pair of wireless workout headphones? There are a ton of different options out there to choose from, but a couple that rise to the top is the Jaybird X4 and Bose SoundSport Free workout headphones. Both Jaybird and Bose have established themselves as excellent and premier brands in the industry, so it’s naturally difficult to make a decision between the two. And that’s why we’re here!

Below, we’re going to pit the Jaybird X4 vs Bose SoundSport Free against each other and show you which one ultimately ends up coming out on top.

Jaybird X4 Vs Bose SoundSport Free Best Wireless Workout Headphones

1) Jaybird X4

Design

The Jaybird X4’s take on a more traditional workout headphone design. They’re not the small rechargeable earbuds with a charging case that have become extremely popular as of late. That said, these fit and stay in your ears via silicone tips, and there are wires that connect the two earbuds together.

They come in fairly dark colors, with one model being a black and metallic finish, and the other being a storm metallic and glacier finish.

There is an in-line remote, which you can use to adjust volume, skip songs, and even answer calls.

These were first and foremost designed to be workout headphones, so these have a “sport fit”, that keeps them comfortable while you’re out on a run or jog, or even at the gym! They don’t necessarily fit with every ear type though, as many online reviews say that they can’t get these to fit well. However, these are also sweat and fully waterproof with IPX7 protection. You’ll have no problem using these in any weather conditions.

The one downside to these is that the wires can get a little annoying, especially if you have used things like the AirPods before.

Sound Quality

Jaybird’s X4 comes with some premium sound quality, though we wouldn’t say that it’s a major improvement over the previous generations of the Jaybird X series. They still have been able to obtain great bass, as well as excellent mids and lows. That said, your music will sound excellent with the Jaybird X4’s.

One of the cool things about the Jaybird X4’s is that you can sort of determine the sound quality that you use with it. Through the app, you can actually customize the EQ to give you what Jaybird calls “uncompromising sound quality.” Additionally, it has some great loudness, so you can kind of determine yourself how nice these sound.

Battery

And now, we’re looking at the crux of these headphones — battery life. Battery life is a big issue when it comes to wireless headphones, as you want them to last a long time without charging. Unfortunately, compared to many headphones, the Jaybird X4’s don’t last too long — eight hours on a single charge, and then two hours to charge back up.

They will easily last during a run or jog, but if you use them beyond that, you’ll have to keep charging these bad boys daily. Unfortunately, current reviews say that after some use, the Jaybird X4’s can have trouble holding a charge period.

You can check out the Jaybird X4 wireless headphones yourself on Amazon.

2) Bose SoundSport Free

Design

Now, looking at the Bose SoundSport Free, these are a significantly different design than the Jaybird X4’s. These are wireless headphones through and through, that takes on a similar function/style to, say, Apple’s AirPods. They come with a Charging Case, so when you’re ready to use them, you pull both out of the case and insert them into your ears.

These are designed to be sport headphones, giving you total freedom of movement, whereas the Jaybird X4’s do not. They fit well and stay secure in the ear while you’re running, jogging, or working out at the gym. These actually come with some interchangeable ear tips to ensure that the Bose SoundSport Free wireless headphones will fit with every shape of ear, and stay comfortable!

As we mentioned, these come with a Charging Case, which makes it easy to travel around with them without losing them.

These are actually sweat and weather resistant with an IPX4 rating. They aren’t waterproof like the Jaybird X4’s, but they are resistant, which means you don’t have to worry about the occasional spill or even weather fluctuations like rain.

One of the things that we really like about the Bose SoundsSport Free wireless headphones is that they come with an app. These headphones are small, so you could easily lose track of them somewhere. With the app on your phone, and connected to the SoundSport Free, you can use the Find My Buds feature. That allows you to keep an eye on your wireless headphone investment all the time.

There are a lot of excellent things that the Bose Connect app can do. One of the cool and unique things that it can actually do — from the app — is track your heart rate via the headphones. This is able to give you some more accurate data when working out and wanting to make sure that your heart rate is elevated above a certain level.

Sound Quality

Bose has been in the audio and music industry for a really long time, and are considered to be a top-tier brands for all of your different audio needs. Bose is actually a brand that is often used among professional audio engineers for mixing and such. That said, these have excellent sound quality inside of them.

Even with how low profile these earbuds are, the Bose SoundSport Free’s have some excellent bass inside, as well as good lows and mid ranges. Sound quality is always extremely subjective, especially when it comes to the audiophiles out there; however, we can guarantee you that these sound great.

In addition to great sound quality, the SoundSport Free wireless headphones are perfect for calling, too. They actually have an integrated dual-microphone array located on the right earbud. The left earbud doesn’t have that, and because of that, call audio will only be heard in the right ear bud. Someone calls, and you can answer the phone — your music automatically pauses, but once you get off the phone, it automatically plays again. 

Battery life

Bose has equipped with the SoundSport Free wireless headphones with some excellent battery life. The wireless headphones themselves only come with a charge of a straight five hours of music playback; however, the charging case itself has another ten hours in it. It doesn’t take long to charge them via the charging case — in just a few minutes inside the charging case, these earbuds can be juiced back up to their full five hours.

And since the charging case can only hold ten hours inside, you’ll only be able to get two full charges out of it before needing to charge up the case again. With the earbuds fully charged in your first use, you’re actually getting fifteen hours of use out of these.

You can buy a pair of the Bose SoundSport Free headphones here.

Verdict on Jaybird X4 Vs Bose SoundSport

As you can see, both the Jaybird X4’s and the Bose SoundSport Free are good headphone brands, but because of current issues that the Jaybird X4’s are going through, we definitely think that the Bose SoundSport Free headphones come out on top. Not only that, but they come with almost double the battery life (with the charging case), which allows you to use them for longer without worry about having to charge them up at the end of the day.

Which one is your favorite pair?