A few years ago I got my first pair of true wireless headphones and I can’t go back. The cord to your phone or even just in between the headphones gets caught on things and flaps around when running. First world problems I know, but once you try true wireless headphones you can’t go back.

JLab have put everything they know into the Epic Sport ANC True Wireless Earbuds: Touch controls. Active Noise Cancellation. 70+ hours battery life. Wireless charging. Good sound. Secure fit. They come with premium features without a premium price.

Specs

First all the details:

• Active Noise Cancellation
• 70+ hours playtime (15 in earbuds, 55 in the case)
• Wireless charging
• JLab ANC app
• Low Latency movie mode
• Dual connect
• Wear detect
• IP66 water and dust resistance
• 8mm driver
• IP66 sweat resistance
• $129.95 CAD ($99 USD)
• Check price on Amazon
• Check price on JLab

What’s in the box?

The 2 headphones obviously come in the box. The fit is easy to customize with the 6 different sets of ear tips. Small, medium, and large Gel tips plus medium and large extra-long tips and 1 medium Cloud Foam set of tips.

The headphones themselves are a bit bigger than many tiny earbuds these days with a large hook that goes around the back of your ear. Combined with the ear tips, the hook keeps them in very snug when running or working out. Even the best earbuds without hooks work themselves out of your ears eventually but the hooks on these Epic Airs never come off.

The earbuds can both connect indepently to your phone with Dual Connect. You can listen to just the left or the right without the other. I like doing this out on the trails to be hear animals or other people but still get music. It’s nice at home as well to hear a book or music but still hear the kids. If you are just using one at a time, you’re essentially getting 15 hours more battery life using one headphone and then the other.

The IP66 water and dust resistance rating means you can sweat all over them or wear them in the rain no problem. The 6 rating for water protects up to powerful jets of water so you could probably wear them in the shower without damaging them, but I wouldn’t try that myself. The IP66 rating only covers the headphones and not the case.

Next up is the charging case. It holds 55 hours of charge so any time you throw the earbuds back into the case, they turn off and immediately start charging. The case has a built-in USB cord that always stays attached so you never need to look for one. Or just set the whole case on a wireless charger and charge future-like.

Sound and EQ

The sound on the Epic Air Sports is good. It’s not the best sound I’ve heard out of headphones for but $100 it’s quite good.

The 3 different sound profiles are Balanced, JLab Signature and Bass Boost and it’s easy to switch between them with the touch controls on the side. A triple tap on either side changes to the next EQ mode.

Balanced mode is equal low, mids and highs and works well for audiobooks and podcasts. I prefer much more bass in my music.

Bass Boost increases the bass and decreases the others. There’s not a huge amount of bass but it gets the job done. I found them enjoyable to listen too. Too much bass can be hard to listen to for long periods of time. A better seal with the different ear tips will give you more bass.

JLab Signature is my favourite. It’s got solid bass but the vocals are clear and loud. Mids are decreased but I found it a nice mix and don’t miss much in my metal, pop and rap music that I tend to listen to.

Active Noise Cancellation and Be Aware

There are 3 different listening modes: Be Aware, ANC On and ANC Off.

ANC stands for Active Noise Cancellation. ANC-off is just like a regular headphone. When your ears are plugged with the earbuds, there is some isolation that happens because the eartips block your ear. Everything is quieter than not having the headphones in.

Turning ANC on, the headphones try to cancel outside noises that are coming through. It definitely makes a difference. Voices are tough to cancel out and are quieter but still come through. The major difference is with car, plane or air conditioner noises that are static and don’t change much. It does a good job at blocking those out.

Keep in mind the noise cancellation isn’t going to be as good as a big pair of noise cancelling over-ear headphones that cover your entire ears. If you’re a regular flyer or working with big headphones then the Jabra 85h headphones are awesome. I wouldn’t run or work out in them though. The Epic Sports are far better at that.

Having ANC on will drop the battery life a bit. The headphones are listening and calculating when it’s on so the battery drops to about 50 hours with it on instead of 70. I try to leave it off to save the battery. 50 hours is still nothing to balk at.

Be Aware mode picks up outside noises and plays them through the headphones. It is great when you need to hear outside noises like traffic or kids but want some music. Voices and car noises can still come through. The only issue with the Be Aware is wind noise. When you’re moving quickly or there’s a breeze going over the headphones, it comes through as a bit of static noise. If I’m riding my bike in traffic I have hear through on so I get music but I usually leave it off so I don’t get the wind noise.

Touch Controls

Both earbuds have touch controls to adjust a bunch of different settings and the volume.

On the left headphone:

• single tap is volume down
• double tap is voice assistant
• press and hold 1 second is ANC on/off/be aware
• triple tap is EQ change

On the right headphone:

• single tap is volume up
• double tap is play/pause
• press and hold 1 second is track forward
• triple tap is EQ change again

The touch controls work well for the most part. I can get the right number of taps most of the time. On occasion it will read 1 tap instead of 2, or 2 taps instead of 3. I can usually get the right function 90% of the time.

For call controls, answering is a single tap on either side, and hanging up is a double.

With Dual Connect and sometimes listening with only one earbud, some headphones change their controls when they’re in solo mode. The Epic Sports stay the same controls when using 1 or both.

Battery life and Charging

The battery life might be the most impressive thing about the Epic Air Sport headphones. Between the case and the headphones, they have over 70 hours of juice, with 55 in the case and 15 in each earbud. With that kind of charge, you’ll forget to charge them.

With how much I use devices these days for video and music, it’s really, really nice to have a long battery life. You just don’t have to charge them much. It’s always a hassle when I’m heading out for a run and my headphones die. The first 15 minutes on the charger is a quick-charge and will give you 1 hour of battery life if you do totally run out. They fully charge in 3 hours.

With Dual Connect the headphones can be worn on their own as well, the left can be worn for 15 hours and then the right for 15. If you like to wear them like this, it’s like having another 15 hours of charge.

Battery drops when Active Noise Cancellation is one, since the electronics inside are running on overdrive cancelling out noise. JLab says about battery drops to about 50 hours total with ANC. Even this battery time is more than most headphones.

To charge, just plug in the USB cord that’s built into the bottom of the case. It makes the case less smooth but it snaps in well and is super handy. When out travelling, or even just at home, it can be a pain to go find the right USB cord to charge something. It’s already attached to the case on the Epic Air Sports. The case supports wireless charging too if you already have a base for something else.

Best Prices on the Epic Air Sport ANC Headphones

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JLab ANC App

JLab have an app specific for the Epic Air Sport headphones. It’s basic but works well. There are 5 options in the app: Noise Cancelling/Be Aware, Equalizer, Customize Controls, Updates and Auto Play/Pause Sensors.

Noise Cancelling turns the Noise Cancelling on and adjusts the amount. You can have it enabled a small amount or slide the control up to max. Like most noise cancelling it doesn’t do as much for voices but makes them sound farther away. It helps more for white noise like traffic or plane noise. There’s a slider for Be Aware as well so you can let more or less outside noise in.

The Equalizer adjusts your sound profile. It comes stock with JLab Signature, Bass Boost and Balanced and one custom slot. You can tweak them and save them or reset the profile if you’d like to go back to defaults.

Customize Controls lets you change the tap controls. I found 1 tap, 2 taps and press and hold easier to do consistently than the 3 taps so I mapped those things to the actions I wanted.

The last options are to do firmware updates which come out occasionally to fix problems and to enable/disable the play sensors. This will pause your music if you take a headphone out. I really like this feature and leave it enabled all the time.

Calls

The call quality has been great. I can easily hear the person on the other end and they can hear me with no problem. I had seen some issues with wind noise around online in other reviews but I couldn’t replicate the issue. I had a conversation with someone with my ear pointed to a fan on high with no issues. With my iPhone not able to go very loud I use headphones for phone calls all the time now and these work very well.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

If you want a secure fit and insane battery life, the JLab Epic Air Sport ANC headphones will be perfect for you. The app isn’t really necessary but it’s a nice touch if you want to adjust the controls. Everything else can be done right on the headphones themselves.

I had trouble using the touch controls sometimes, registering 2 taps instead of 3 but I rarely have to do 3 as that’s changing EQ and I like the Signature profile.

I often wear hats and sunglasses which can interfere with over the ear headphones but I had no issues with these. They sat in place well, didn’t come off and didn’t bump my sunglasses out of place either.

The behind-the-ear style isn’t for everyone but the insanely high battery life and noise cancellation all for $100 USD to makes the Epic Air Sport a very nice option for working out, travelling and wearing around the house.

Check price on Amazon

Check price on JLab.com

The post JLab Epic Air Sport ANC True Wireless Headphones Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The JLab Go Air Pop headphones are small, lightweight true wireless earbuds that have 8 hours charge in each headphone and 24 in the case. They charge with a built-in USB cord. They can connect independently to your phone, are sweat resistant and come with 3 sizes of silicone ear tips.

The earbuds are just 3.7 grams each plus the 27.5 gram charging case. The case easily slips in your pocket and the earbuds are very lightweight in your ears. It’s easy to lose the tiny earbuds so always put them back in the case!

Taking them out of the case for the first time, they quickly connect just clicking pair on my phone. The Bluetooth goes about 30 feet from the phone before losing a connection. I did have one run where my phone was at the bottom of my backpack behind me and it was cutting out on the left earbud. I haven’t had an issue any other run.

One of the best features of the Go Air Pops is the dual connect. Each earbud can connect independently to your phone so you can use only the left for a while and then only the right. I use this a lot at home to hear the kids or on the trail to hear other runners and animals. It also extends your battery life since you are using the 8 hours in the left and then the 8 hours in the right. This is one feature my favorite Jabra Elite Active 75t headphones are missing.

So what all do you get for $20?

What’s in the box?

There’s not a lot in the box.

• Charging Case with built-in USB cable
• 2 earbuds
• Small, Medium, Large Gel tips

It’s basically all you need. The built-in USB cable tucks into the bottom of the case and doesn’t come off so you won’t lose it. I thought this was gimmicky at first but the built-in cable makes it easier to find the cable every time. It works best on a laptop where it can just sit on the table beside but it can plug into any USB plug on computers or the wall.

The Gel tips fit well right out of the box. Medium worked best for my ears. It doesn’t come with any Cloud Foam tips but you can get the $10 Cloud Foam Mneumonic Universal earbud tips for a more secure fit if you like those.

Details

Basic specs for the Go Air Pop headphones:

• 6mm driver
• Dual connect
• IPX4 water and sweat resistance
• Touch controls
• 3 sets Gel tips
• 8 hours battery life each earbud, 24 in the case
• $40 CAD ($20 USD)

Fit

The fit isn’t perfect but it’s pretty dang good. The silicon ear tips and the earbuds themselves are shaped well and stay in for long periods of time. I can run without having to adjust them too many times.

What most earbuds miss, and these aren’t any different, is having a small bump to sit in the bottom of your ear, just above the lobe. Some earbuds have this bump and they stay in much better than others. That said, the Go Air Pops stay in very well without it.

The coating is a very smooth plastic. It’s very durable, as I’ve dropped them a bunch of times with no issues. They would stay in better if it were a grippier, rubbery coating like on the Jabra Elite Active 75t but those are also $200 earbuds.

JLab also have the the $10 Cloud Foam Mneumonic Universal earbud tips for a more snug fit if you like those better. Funny that the Cloud Foam tips are half the cost of the earbuds.

Battery Life and Charging Case

The charging case is well made with a magnetic lid. Like the earbuds, it has a smooth plastic on it. I’d rather something a little grippier but it works.

The earbuds and the case together get 32 hours battery life, 8 hours in each earbud and 24 in the case. It takes about 2 hours to charge the case, and 2.2 hours to charge each earbud fully in the case.

To charge, there is a USB cord attached right to the bottom of the charging case. It’s not a very long cord but can plug in anywhere. It can hang off a charger on the wall but works best off the side of a laptop or somewhere the cases isn’t dangling in the air.

Best Prices on the Go Air Pop Headphones

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Touch Controls

The touch controls work fairly well. They take a bit of getting used to exactly how long you need to press the multiple touches for. Sometimes they read 1 tap instead of 2, or 2 instead of 3. I’m getting about 90% of the taps right after getting used to the timing.

For the left touch control

• 1 tap turns volume down
• 2 taps starts the voice assistant (Siri or Google)
• Press and hold 1 second goes to the previous track
• 3 taps changes the EQ from Signature to Bass Boost to Balanced

For the right touch controls

• 1 tap turns volume up
• 2 taps plays/pauses
• press and hold 1 second goes to the next track
• 3 taps changes the EQ

The controls don’t change if you’re using 1 or both of the headphones.

Sound and EQ Modes

The Go Air Pop‘s sound impressively good for the price. They aren’t going to beat $200 headphones for sound but those also cost 10 times as much.

They don’t have any electronic noise cancellation but they do plug your ears and block out other noise. The better the seal with your ears, the better they block out noise. Music at a moderate level blocked out most sound around me.

The earbuds use JLabs EQ3 sound. They have preset equalizer profiles: Signature, Balanced, and Bass Boost. Three taps on either headphone changes the the EQ profile to the next one. For just $20 JLab doesn’t include an app to adjust the equalizer but it’s impressive that they can even pack in the EQ presets and touch controls.

The JLab Signature EQ present sounds the best in my opinion. The vocals are clear with decent bass. The mids are lowered a bit.

Balanced is a balanced combo of highs, mids, and lows. Good for books and podcasts. Music without much bass sounds ok with this one too.

Bass Boost is a fun mode for running. Highs and mids are lowered and the bass is boosted as the name implies. It’s a bit harder to hear vocals but you get a bit more the heavier bass.

Bass is good but not amazing for these tiny headphones. They certainly won’t vibrate your head like a Powerbeats Pro headphone. The bass you can get will depend on the seal you get with your ear and the tips. I’d prefer a bit more bass but realize that the tiny 6mm driver can only deliver so much.

Verdict: JLab Go Air Pop Earbuds

At $20 USD ($30 CAD) there is no reason not to get the Go Air Pop headphones. They are the best true wireless headphones we’ve tested at this price. There just aren’t many that are actually recommendable at that price. Yes, the sound isn’t amazing but if you’ll need to spend $100 or more to improve in that department. For ripping around town, or the trails, with music in one ear, the Go Air Pop headphones can’t be beat.

The post JLab Go Air Pop True Wireless Earbuds Review: Only $20! first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Truly wireless headphones with no cords to your phone and no cords between them have come a long way in the last couple years. Bose has entered the game as well as other big fitness sound players like Jaybird and JLab Audio. Jabra, a company with tons of experience in the business sound and headphone game has jumped into the fitness side. And their latest entry is probably the best truly wireless headphone you can get in 2018.

The Elite Active 65t truly wireless headphones are small and comfortable. They have good battery life, solid bluetooth connection and great sound. They’re easy to wear for hours at a time. Settings are easy to change through the phone app.

Let’s look at the specs.

Jabra Elite Active 65t Headphones Specs

• 5 hour battery life and 10 more in the case
• Solid phone app to change settings like HearThrough and equalizer
• Can pair with multiple devices
• Motion sensor for tracking steps
• IP56 sweat rating with 2 year warranty against sweat and dust
• Rubberized outer coating for grip on the earbuds
• Bluetooth 5

Elite Active 65t vs Jabra Elite 65t

A similar option to the Elite Active 65t‘s are the Elite 65t headphones. The newer Elite Active earbuds we’re reviewing here is a couple grams lighter. The Elite 65t is billed as the professional training option with it’s heart rate and VO2 max sensor. The Elite Active has the accelerometer for movement tracking, quick charges and is sweatproof. The heart rate monitor and VO2 max sensors mean the Elite 65t’s sell for about $30 more than the Elite Active.

Back to the Elite Active 65t.

Performance

There are a lot of pros to the Elite Active 65t‘s. The cons are few, nit picky problems experienced by other truly wireless headphones as well.Pros

• Good sound
• Comfortable to wear
• Tiny case
• Multiple silicon ear gels for different size ears
• Can use the right earbud by itself
• Jabra 3rd generation true wireless stability.
• Can opt for Google Assistant on Android and Alexa/Siri on iOS
• Rubberized feel on case and headphones

Cons

• Less battery life than larger headphones
• Still has plugged-ear feel
• Can’t use left earbud by itself
• Can’t use Google Assistant on iOS
• Only 6 equalizer presets

Sound and Connection

The sound from the 65t’s is very good. I have no issue with listening to it for long periods of time. It’s clear with plenty of bass. The sound profile can be changed in the app for more bass, more treble or both. There are 6 equalizer presets: Default (flat), Speech, Bass boost, Treble boost, Smooth and Energize. I find I’m on Bass boost most of the time since I listen to bassy tunes most of the time. If you are into different music, then you may prefer Smooth or Treble boost.The bluetooth connection has been very solid in testing over the last few months. Some headphones drop the connection periodically when the phone is further away or when the phone is just in your left pocket or backpack. Aside from the connection dropping when more than 40-50 feet away, it never drops.

The Phone App: HearThrough and changing settings

The phone app for iOS and Android gives you access to settings and listening profiles. The settings are separated into Preferences and then the listening profiles Commute, Focus and Active. You can set different settings for profiles. Changeable options are equalizer presets, HearThrough, Soundscapes and the activity tracker.

HearThrough plays sound from your surroundings through the headphones. It sounds similar to not having headphones in, even though earbuds are completely plugging your hears. When you want to hear for external sounds like traffic or kids this can be a great option. I found I couldn’t hear much if my music was loud but turned down sounds would come through. One option I’d like to see, hopefully in a firmware update, would be the option to turn up the volume on the HearThrough sounds.

Along with HearThrough, equalizer presets and white noise soundscapes can be changed within each listening mode. A bunch of different white and pink noise sounds allow you to drown out all other noise. This is great in the focus mode. There’s also an activity tracker that uses the accelerometer in the headphones. You can track your steps when the tracker is active. I’m not sure I’ll ever use this since the iPhone can do this anyways and I can’t enable the tracker without my phone. The slightly different more expensive Jabra Elite Sport headphones have a VO2 max and heart rate monitor built in. They would show in the app as well.

Case and Charging

The case is tiny, only slightly larger than an AirPod case. Compared to other headphone cases, it easily fits in your pocket. The buds slide into place and the case closes easily. It would be nice if they could magnet into place inside a bit more than they do. The earbuds hold 5 hours of a charge and the case holds another 10. I use them a lot and quickly run through the charge on the headphones but popping them back into the case turns the earbud off and charges them at the same time.  You don’t even realize they’re charging until the the 15 hours are gone and it’s time to charge again.

Charging is easy with a micro-usb cord into the bottom of the case. There’s a tiny led light above the usb port that displays red, yellow or green, depending on how much charge you have. A 15 minute quick charge gives you 1.5 hours of battery. The case has a slight rubberized grip to them which feels really good.

What could use a little work

None of these items are major issues. The 65t’s are very refined and use the latest tech so it’s hard to find fault with any of the features. These are my upgrade requests to take these headphones into absolutely stellar level of performance.

Less battery life than larger headphones  – Larger truly wireless headphones may have more battery life but the headphone and case are also larger. The Epic Air headphones from JLab have 10 hours in the headphone but are larger with an ear hook around the back and have a much larger case.

Still has plugged-ear feel – Most wireless headphones sit deep in your ear to seal out sounds and actually stay in. It creates a plugged-ear feel that makes breathing sound loud in your head. I’m not a fan of it but at this point almost every headphone does it.

Can’t use left earbud by itself – The phone connects to the right ear bud which then connects to the left earbud. This means you can use the right earbud by itself but not the left one. I use the earbuds by themselves quite a bit and would love to be able to use either.

Can’t use Google Assistant on iPhone – This might be a limitation of iOS but you can’t use Google Assistant on iOS app yet. Siri and Alexa are the only options. I use all Google Assistant and Google Home for my assistant needs at home.

Only 6 equalizer presets – The app only has 6 presets to choose from. Jaybirds app has a ton of different presets to choose from, even listing favourites from their athletes. It does let you adjust the equalizer to whatever you like to hear. There’s no way to save it though.

Final Thoughts on the Jabra Elite Active 65t Headphones

After testing a large set of headphones this year and using headphones almost on a daily basis for the last few years for workouts, running and work, the Jabra Elite Active 65t headphones are the best truly wireless set I’ve used so far and easily the best of 2018. There could be a few small improvements but my requests aren’t anything major. A few of them could just be addressed with firmware and app updates.

I highly recommend the Jabra Elite Active 65t headphones. 

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