Stream Hootie & the Blowfish's Let Her Cry and the different guitars present themselves to each ear in a relatively expansive, open soundstage too. Vocals are relatively well handled through the mids, and the bass weight is sensibly handled, although I admit that the timing here lacks a modicum of cohesion. Okay, the treble needs refinement and dynamically they're a little flat (stream Tinie Tempah's Frisky and the foreboding intro is ever-present, rather than building and brooding), but I maintain that JLab’s Go Air Pop are a pleasant listen overall, especially for this money. It can even stand toe to toe with the more expensive Sony WF-C500 – which it actually beats for battery life and design, if not audio quality. What you should know is that JLab’s solution beats anything in its price range for sound, hands down. Which firm had the bigger budget to perhaps run that name by a focus group? Correct.Īny meaningful sound comparison between these $20 in-ears and class-leading products from the likes of Sony, Apple or Sennheiser is more than a little unfair – and there are no current class-leaders at $20 because there simply isn't much serious competition at that price. The name hardly screams audio excellence anyway – ‘air’ and ‘pop’ are not words we’d recommend using in the same sentence as 6mm drivers and Bluetooth connectivity – but remember, Sony once released a limited-edition ‘silent white’ colourway for the WH-1000XM4 and silence doesn't suggest great-sounding cans either. If you were hoping JLab just nailed sonic brilliance for the princely sum of $20, you will have to think again – you’re getting SBC vanilla Bluetooth delivered at rock-bottom prices, not aptX HD, LDAC or hifalutin higher-res codecs. These earbuds are very capable of playing music and really, it is churlish to expect too much more. But since it's attached, you'll never forget it! (Image credit: TechRadar) JLab Go Air Pop review: sound quality The JLab Go Air Pop's charging cable is slightly strange. Across the course of my time with these little units, they never misunderstand my index finger’s morse code once, either. There's a mic in each earbud for call-handling, and don’t for a second think that no app means no EQ profiles – triple tap either earpiece and you’ll hear the soothing voice say “balanced’, “bass boost” or “JLab signature”. Hold your finger on either earpiece for over a second and it’ll skip forward or back a track. Double tap the left one for Siri or Google, double tap the right to play or pause your music. I have knocked several premium pairs of earbuds for not offering what is such a natural thing to want from your headphones ( AirPods Pro, I'm looking at you), but here, a simple tap of either earpiece sends the volume up (right) or down (left) a notch. Oh, and on-device volume control? Big check. Functioning without issue might seem the bare minimum, but JLab is beating competition much higher up the food chain just by passing these rudimentary tests. These are small and incremental checks in favor of the JLabs, but they do add up. Upon placing the buds back into your ears following charging, they pair instantly to their last-known device too, calmly announcing “Bluetooth connected, battery full”. The earbuds are also sweat-resistant but even more importantly, you’re getting eight hours from the earbuds and a whopping 32 hours from the entire proposition when you include the case – and having spent a week with them, I can confirm that the claim is genuine. Go Air Pop's charging cable actually snaps into the underside of the box (Image credit: TechRadar) JLab Go Air Pop: featuresįirst off, these Bluetooth 5.1 earbuds connected to my phone at the first time of asking, and as basic a statement as it may seem, the fact that a product powers up simply, shows up in the Bluetooth menu of my phone and pairs – without the 15 minutes of head scratching, a third read of the Quick Start Guide and a full factory reset – already puts them streets ahead of certain buds we’ve tested at up to 10 times the price. Did someone on JLab’s payroll sell their soul to the devil in a Faustian, Robert Johnson-style pact? Hope not. The truth is that JLab has fashioned a unique pair of new earbuds that do this for $20 (£20) and I'm still not sure how. The race to shrink reliable connectivity, decent stamina and on-device controls into ever-more amenable price-points, while still somehow turning a profit, never ends. Remember, JLab is a known audio brand, founded in 2005 and respected among the audio press.Ĭompetition and profit margins at JLab’s ultra-affordable end of the market are brutal. JLab Go Air Pop True Wireless Earbuds (Teal) at Best Buy for $24.99Īt $20, £20 or five cents under $50 in Australia, saying JLab's latest true wireless earbuds are aggressively priced is quite the understatement.JLab's earbuds and charging case will absolutely survive your commute unscathed.
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