It's always nice when brands act on feedback. When we reviewed the original Blue Byrd wireless headphones back in 2019, we lamented the poorly designed neckband design and short battery life. Now Beyerdynamic has seemingly fixed both those issues with the second-generation Blue Byrds.
While they still have a neckband design, it doesn't appear floppy like the original and so should stay in place much better during exercise. Battery life has also been upped from a meager six hours on the originals to a much healthier 14 – which beats the number of hours a true wireless earbud can itself last. A full charge via USB-C takes 1 hour 40 minutes, and a quick 10-minute juice up will give you two hours of playtime.
Both of these features make them better suited to use during exercise, as does the IPX4 rating, which protects them from rain and moisture (though not full submersion in water).
But they're not all about the sweat – they're also designed for just straight-up listening. Bluetooth 5.2 comes as standard, giving you a 40m wireless indoor range from your music source. They also support the aptX Adaptive and AAC codecs, and can connect to two devices simultaneously.
The flat design promises to be comfortable even when lying down, which would make them ideal for sleeping, too. Worried about getting a secure fit? They come with five different sizes of eartips, which should suit ears of all shapes and sizes. And you can buy replacement parts – including ear tips – direct from Beyerdynamic.
Google Fast Pair lets them pair super quickly with Android devices, and they support the Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri voice assistants.
They can also adjust to your hearing. Undergo a two-minute listening test using the Beyerdynamic MIY app, and they'll adjust their settings to adapt to each individual listener's hearing.
The Blue Byrd (2nd Generation) are on sale now, for £110 / $129 / AU$199.
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