Sometimes I am convinced JLab conjures up its prices from a corporate time machine. How else can you make perfectly decent wireless earbuds for less money than I would pay for a meal for two at Olive Garden? Or the new ANC 3 headphones, which have almost all of the same features as the AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED recommends) and cost $59.99?
There simply isn’t another pair of earbuds at this price that has excellent dust and water resistance, good noise cancellation, and high-quality sound. If you need a little more quiet than other cheap headphones can provide, whether you’re working out or working on Zoom at home, this is a great, easy-to-use pair that you won’t be afraid of losing.
Favorable date
The plastic-like pillbox charging case that comes with the JBuds ANC 3 is probably the biggest clue that these headphones cost significantly less than AirPods, Jabras, or other much more expensive headphones. However, one of the things that sets JLab apart from the competition is that the charging cable is often integrated into the design of the charging case. With the ANC 3, a slim little USB-C cable fits perfectly into the bottom of the case, so you never have to remember a cable in an emergency.
Open the clamshell case and you’ll find two black earbuds that are ergonomically designed to fit in your ears without the elephant nose design of AirPods and others. These aren’t as small as the Jbuds Mini, which we actually recommend to people who often struggle to fit even the smallest earbuds into their ear canals, but they’re not too far off. I have incredibly average ears and the earbuds fit my ears perfectly with the medium sized silicone ear tips (they also come with smaller and larger ear tips depending on your ears).
They’re light, comfortable, and sturdy enough to stay put during my runs at the gym or during my bi-weekly weight-lifting sessions (during which my earbuds often slip out when I’m lying on my back on the bench).
The ANC 3’s have an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance, and that gave me a lot of confidence in taking them with them. I wore them in the shower, took them on muddy trails with my dog, and rinsed them off when they got gross on my hands. It’s nice to be able to treat a digital device like this, especially one that’s so affordable.
Sound on
Inside the earbuds are 10mm dynamic drivers that compete well with the vast majority of earbuds on the market, offering powerful bass and relatively crisp and clear mid and high response. If you’ve heard other, cheaper JLab headphones, these are a bit clearer and sound better.
They sound good in a wide variety of environments and with a wide variety of materials. I enjoyed using the headphones to listen to both Netflix episodes and my classic rock workout playlist. They have a really good balance at lower volumes, meaning you don’t need to turn them up very high to get good bass on your repeats.
Even classics like Eddy Arnold’s Cowpoke sound fantastic in these earbuds, with the acoustic guitar hiding on the left side and the vocal harmonies on the right, and Arnold’s rich baritone in the middle of the mix. Everything fits perfectly in the mix, as if you were listening to it through headphones that would have actually cost hundreds of dollars a few years ago.
JLab also offers features that would have cost you as much, too, with an app that lets you control equalizer settings, noise cancellation, and transparency mode (which pumps in sound from the outside world so you don’t have to take out the headphones). for a short conversation).
Battery life in my testing is a solid nine hours with ANC off and around six hours with ANC on (depending on volume and what you’re listening to). The call (and zoom) quality is also good. Controlling the headphones is easy, even on the go: Push buttons on the outside of each headphone let you play or pause music, change songs, and toggle noise cancellation settings.