Jaybird X4 (2018) vs Shure SE535

While the Shure SE535 makes for a fairly good In-Ear Monitor for people with a $360 budget, we weren't able to find enough data on the Jaybird X4 (2018) to come to any reliable conclusions.

In either case, we suggest that you look at some other options at the $360 and $60 budget ranges before committing to one of these.

If you'd nonetheless like to learn more about the Shure SE535 and Jaybird X4 (2018), however, we wrote a summary of what we know about them:

While the Shure SE535 wasn't able to make it to the very top of any roundups from sources that perform quality hands-on testing, it still got featured in a large number of them. Techradar, TrustedReviews, headphonesaddict.com, CNET, What Hi-Fi?, Head-fi, and inews.co.uk have all deemed it worthy of a place on their respective shortlists.

Taking a look at the Jaybird X4 (2018), we found it was well-received by reviewers from a couple of reliable sources that conduct their own hands-on testing, including Android Central, Gear Patrol, and iMore. It performed great in their In-Ear Monitor roundups - it managed to earn the "Jaybird dominates the workout earbuds market, and for good reason. Its latest offering in this space, the X4, features an IPX7 waterproof design, Comply foam ear tips that provide a secure fit, custom EQ profiles to tailor the sound to your preferences, and eight hours of play time between charges." title from Android Central, "Ranked 1 out of 10" from Gear Patrol, and "Ranked 1 out of 7" from iMore, which is a notable accomplishment.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. Techradar and headphonesaddict.com, for example, preferred the Shure SE535, while TrustedReviews rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the Shure SE535 got reviewed the highest by Techradar - it gave it a rating of 9, while the Jaybird X4 (2018) most impressed reviewers at Macworld, which gave it a score of 9.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other In-Ear Monitors on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by In-Ear Monitors being 7.7 out of 10, whereas the Shure SE535 and Jaybird X4 (2018) managed averages of 8.6 and 8.1 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Shure SE535 vs. Jaybird X4 (2018) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.