Affordable wireless earbuds with strong sound and weak controls
I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
The budget-friendly JLab JBuds Air Pro true wireless earphones deliver impressive audio performance that almost makes up for their cumbersome on-ear controls.
JLab’s latest budget-friendly true wireless earphones, the JBuds Air Pro, deliver respectable audio performance and offer a few different EQ presets for just $59. It's a shame, then, that a bad on-ear control layout holds them back from earning a higher rating and recommendation. For the gym, the $35.99 Tribit FlyBuds 3 work more reliably and are fully waterproof, earning them our Editors' Choice award for budget-friendly models. And if you want active noise cancellation, Anker's Soundcore Life P3 earphones offer a lot to like for a reasonable $79.99.
Available in black or white, the JBuds Air Pro earpieces are somewhat chunky. They fit securely, however, because of their design that includes thoughtful placement of easy-to-grip, rubber-like paneling. The earphones ship with three pairs of silicone eartips, as well as “cush fins,” which are simple silicone bands that wrap around the earpieces. You don't need the latter to ensure a secure fit, but you get several options to try.
Internally, 6mm dynamic drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz and an impedance of 16 ohms. The in-ears are compatible with Bluetooth 5.1 and support only the SBC Bluetooth codec. The lack of AptX or AAC support isn't ideal, but we can forgive those omissions at this price. Notably, the pair supports multipoint connectivity and each earbud can function independently.
The outside of each earpiece sports the JLab logo and functions as a capacitive control panel, but the on-ear controls are a bit of a mess. A single tap on the left earpiece increases the volume and a single tap on the right one lowers it. A double tap on the right earbud controls playback, while pressing and holding for one second (when you aren't on a call) skips forward a track. Oddly, you don't get an on-ear option to navigate to the previous track.
Single and double taps on the right earbud also answer and end phone calls. Pressing and holding on the right earbud rejects a call, but the same gesture on the left earpiece switches between the movie and music listening modes. Two taps on the left earpiece summon your device's voice assistant. Three taps on the left earbud cycles through the EQ modes—JLab Signature (the default), Bass Boost, and Balanced. And three taps on the right earpiece toggles the ambient Be Aware mode.
Got all that? This layout doesn't make much sense to us and, to make matters worse, the capacitive touch panels often don’t register taps accurately. That means you might accidentally summon your phone's voice assistant (with two taps) when you meant to switch EQ modes (three taps). Plenty of affordable true wireless in-ears don’t have such chaotic control layouts. Worse, you don't even get the option to customize the controls because JLabs doesn't offer a companion app (though we don't necessarily expect earbuds in this price range to include an app).
The IP55 rating means the JBuds Air Pro are resistant to dust and water. The dust ingress protection rating (the first 5) means they are nearly dustproof, but the water-resistance rating (the second 5) is less impressive. Essentially, the earpieces can withstand splashes and low-pressure jets from any direction, but won't survive a dunk in a pool or faucet pressure. The rating also doesn't extend to the charging case, so make sure to fully dry the earpieces before you dock them.
The charging case is just above average in size, with a flip-top lid and status LEDs on the front panel. JLab remains committed to the hardwired charging cable, which snaps into a recessed area on the bottom panel for tidy storage. We're not fans of the hardwired design—not only is it impossible to replace the cable, but the cable is also very short. Yes, the products in JLab's lineup are affordable, but adding a standalone cable to the box shouldn’t affect the price significantly. More importantly, a hardwired cable decreases the value—if it goes bad (and cables eventually do), you need to replace the whole case (or, more than likely, the whole product) rather than just switching out the cable.
JLab estimates that the earbuds can last roughly 9 hours on battery and that the case houses another 27 hours of charge. These are impressive numbers for in-ears at this price, but your results will vary based on your typical listening volume. It takes about 1.5 hours to recharge the buds and about 2 hours to charge the case.
You might enjoy the Bass Boost and Balanced sound modes, but we did the bulk of our audio testing with the earphones set to the default mode. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the JBuds Air Pro deliver a powerful low-frequency response that doesn’t distort at top volumes. At moderate levels, the lows still sound robust and, at least in default mode, balance relatively well with higher-frequency content. In Bass Boost mode, this track sounds wildly unbalanced wherein the lows overtake the mix.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the pair's sound signature. The drums on this track are absurd in the Bass Boost mode; it sounds almost as if you're inside a kick drum Thor is pounding with Mjolnir. In default mode, the lows don’t overpower the higher frequencies; the acoustic strum and higher-register percussive hits remain bright. The tape hiss in the background takes a step forward in the mix, too. Callahan’s baritone vocals get a healthy dose of low-mid richness, but that element mostly complements the high-mid crispness.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punch, though you might expect a bit more power here. Instead, it's the vinyl crackle and hiss in the background that get the most attention. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat also come across with serious depth and power—commendable performance for a pair of affordable in-ears. The vocals on this track sound clear and free of sibilance; importantly, the drum loop doesn't quite overpower them in the default mode. However, all bets are off when you switch to the Bass Boost mode.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get more low-frequency boosting than they need, even in default mode; the resulting sound isn't terrible, but strays far from accuracy. The higher-register brass, strings, and vocals maintain their place in the spotlight despite the lows taking a step forward in the mix, which helps maintain balance. Meanwhile, the Bass Boost mode transports the orchestra to places it should never go.
The mic sounds fine and we had little trouble understanding every word in a test recording on an iPhone, despite a faint signal and plenty of Bluetooth audio artifacts. Over a good connection, calls should sound clear enough. The Be Aware ambient listening mode is effective; it enables you to easily converse and hear your surroundings without removing the earpieces.
The JLab JBuds Air Pro’s capable drivers deliver solid bass depth and a robust audio experience for the price. But their on-ear control layout is annoying at best, and you can't adjust it because there's no companion app. Furthermore, the case relies on a hardwired cable and the pair supports only the basic SBC codec. While the JBuds Air Pro are perfectly fine for the price, we remain bigger fans of the aforementioned Tribit FlyBuds 3, as well as the sporty Jabra Elite 3 earphones ($79.99), which work with a useful companion app. If you want to spend even less, meanwhile, Skullcandy's $24.99 Dime in-ears cost about as little as you can expect to pay for a true wireless pair of decent quality, though their controls aren't much better than you get with the JBuds Air Pro.
The budget-friendly JLab JBuds Air Pro true wireless earphones deliver impressive audio performance that almost makes up for their cumbersome on-ear controls.
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I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
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