But design shouldn’t be the one space of innovation these pair of earphones have witnessed. JBL has additionally launched the Lossless Digital Audio Codec (LDAC) assist in its TWS lineup for the primary time. The flagship earphones additionally characteristic energetic noise cancellation (ANC), True Adaptive Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio assist. Further, it additionally comes with an IP55 score for mud and splash resistance. The official worth of the JBL Live Beam 3 is Rs. 24,999, however the JBL web site has listed it at Rs. 13,999.
Interestingly, the design has additionally acquired blended reactions, with some calling it a gimmick and others discovering it to be useful. But that’s not the one facet the place JBL has to excel. The TWS has additionally managed to get the eye of audiophiles with the inclusion of LDAC. So, are these options actually value it? Let’s get all the way down to the brass tacks.
JBL Live Beam 3 Design and Features: Packs a Punch
- Charging case weight – 72g
- Colours – Black, Blue, and Silver
- Protection – IP55 (earbuds)
The JBL Live Beam 3 comes with an in-ear kind issue and a curved stem. The earbuds have a matte end which seems to be and feels premium. The again of the stem is the one a part of the earbuds which has a shiny end across the JBL branding. The field comes with 4 sizes of silicone ear ideas, and I used to be capable of finding those that match me snugly. The earbuds are pretty light-weight at 5g per earbud and I didn’t really feel the load even after extended utilization of a number of hours at a stretch.
JBL Live Beam 3 design
Coming to the case, you get a soapbox-style front-open case with a shimmery end. However, regardless of that, it doesn’t entice any fingerprint smudges, to my shock. My evaluation unit arrived within the Blue color choice, nonetheless, there are alternatives for Black and Silver as nicely. At 72g, the case is kind of heavy and it’ll want a while to get used to it. It can be thicker than the standard TWS at 30.25mm, and it’ll barely stick out whenever you stash it in your pocket. This is one thing I’m nonetheless not very snug with after three weeks of utilization.
The earbuds include gesture controls and also you solely must faucet the stem to set off the command. There are single-tap, double-tap, and tap-and-hold controls, which may be configured utilizing the companion app. Notably, you possibly can solely select controls in teams together with ambient sound management, quantity management, and playback management. There aren’t any choices to decide on particular features with particular actions.
Addressing the elephant within the room, the JBL Live Beam 3 comes with a 1.45-inch contact display screen show. The show options a number of settings for the earbuds comparable to playback controls, quantity setting, ANC, spatial sound, equaliser, and extra. The sliding gesture shouldn’t be very touch-sensitive, and typically it takes a few tries to get the place you need to. This may be barely irritating since all of the setting choices are organized in a horizontally-scrolling view.
Now, the setting choices you get on the show are the identical that you simply get throughout the companion app, so there’s a case to be made for duplication of options as an alternative of providing a novel use case. However, in my expertise, the show is kind of helpful. The most typical utilization for me was utilizing the case to mess around with the equaliser and ANC since I had one other app opened on my smartphone. It saved me these treasured swipes to travel between the 2 apps.
But it goes a lot past that. I’ve the behavior of connecting my TWS with my sensible TV when I’m binge-watching a present late at night time. The case allowed me to make use of the equaliser and spatial audio with out a fear. Even when paired with my work laptop computer, I by no means needed to fear about putting in the JBL Portable app for PC to make use of the complete vary of options, which could have required me to get admin permission first. In brief, if you’re somebody who would favor a distant management to your earphones which isn’t hooked up to some other gadget, you will discover it helpful in the long term. Definitely, not a celebration trick for me.
JBL Live Beam 3: App and Specifications
- Driver – 10mm dynamic drivers
- Companion app – JBL Headphones
- Gesture controls – Yes
The JBL Live Beam 3 earphones are suitable with the JBL Headphones app on each Android and iOS smartphones. It is the principle hub for all of the sound mode customisation settings. After pairing the TWS, you will notice the battery share of particular person earbuds in addition to the sensible charging case. Underneath, there are three sections — General, Audio, and Others.
JBL Headphones app
The General part incorporates Ambient Sound Control that permits you to activate and change between ANC, Ambient Aware (transparency mode), and Talk Thru modes. The Talk Thru mode is an enhanced transparency mode which might detect when the consumer is talking and routinely pauses any media taking part in. You may even discover the customisation settings choice for the charging case show. This helps you to change wallpapers, choose the characteristic shortcuts to point out, and even change the brightness.
A few attention-grabbing options are Check My Best Fit and Smart Talk. The former checks for any audio leaks and suggests in case the consumer wants a distinct silicone tip for a greater listening expertise. The latter is a part of the Talk Thru characteristic that permits you to set the sensitivity of the speech detection. The choices are 5 seconds, 15 seconds, and 20 seconds. The consumer should communicate that many seconds constantly for the Talk Thru mode to kick in. This is a cool addition for individuals who usually communicate in fast sentences however don’t want their media playback to be affected. Additionally, this part additionally lets you choose the gestures for the earbuds.
The Audio part options High-Resolution Audio mode which basically activates the LDAC assist, the equaliser, spatial audio modes, and Personi-Fi. The latter is a great characteristic that conducts a full sound profile take a look at to search out your optimum listening to ranges and alter the sound output to match that. In my expertise, the bass and mids felt punchier after turning on this characteristic.
Apart from this, additionally, you will discover choices for left and proper sound stability, a max quantity limiter, and a Private Call Mode that permits you to take out one earbud and use it as a microphone. Finally, the Others part has choices to search out the earbuds, energy saving mode and allows you to play stress-free sounds.
Coming to the specs, the JBL Live Beam 3 options 10mm dynamic drivers, comes with JBL’s Spatial Sound know-how, and helps AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs. The earbuds assist Bluetooth 5.3 whereas the charging case helps Bluetooth 5.1. It additionally helps Bluetooth multipoint connectivity and has an IP55 score for mud and splash resistance. Each earbud is backed by a 68mAh battery, whereas the charging case packs a 680mAh battery.
JBL Live Beam 3: Performance and Battery Life
- Audio codecs – AAC, SBC, and LDAC
- Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.3 (earbuds); Bluetooth 5.1 (charging case)
- Battery – 68mAh (earbuds); 680mAh (charging case)
The JBL Live Beam 3 comes with three ANC modes. In my expertise, the noise discount is above common however not the most effective on the market. If you are indoors, it is possible for you to to close out the sound of the AC, the ceiling fan or the TV within the subsequent room for many elements, however a few of it nonetheless seeps in. When you are outdoor, the efficiency feels a bit iffy. The earphones will block many of the loud car noises and sound of individuals within the neighborhood, however you’ll nonetheless hear a few of it as low muffled noise. If you are after extra highly effective ANC earphones, you possibly can search for the Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless (evaluation).
JBL Live Beam 3 earbuds design
Coming to sound high quality, it’s tough to not be impressed with what JBL Live Beam 3 affords. The Harman fine-tuning is clear and like most JBL merchandise, it leans bass-heavy. Whether I used to be listening to punchy beats in Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us or having fun with the guitar strumming in Hotel California by The Eagles, the listening expertise was chic. I additionally explored vocal-heavy songs comparable to Bust Your Windows by Jazmine Sullivan and Houdini by Eminem. While I might have most popular the upper pitches to come out a bit extra, there was not rather a lot to complain about.
However, this was the efficiency over commonplace music streaming on Spotify and YouTube Music. I additionally explored the LDAC codec with lossless music from Tidal and the expertise is de facto noticeable. One good instance is Swimming Pools (Drank) by Kendrick Lamar. You can hear the instrument separation between the lows and highs in addition to the long-lasting voice panning between the ears that permits you to really feel the complete soundstage.
But, I might add that regardless of the spectacular efficiency, these are TWS in the long run and so they won’t be able to match the capabilities of a wired headphone in the identical worth section. But if you happen to’re not a severe audiophile, this doesn’t apply to you anyway.
I’m typically not a fan of the microphone high quality on TWS. The voice usually sounds synthetic and there may be all the time a concern of ambient noises being picked over your voice. JBL comes with a celebration trick the place it helps you to use one of many earbuds as a microphone (basically audio output stops in that earbud) by unplugging it from the ear and holding it in entrance of your face. That works however, the efficiency is nothing value writing dwelling about. In indoor settings, you may be audible when on a name or in a gathering, however the efficiency is subpar in out of doors settings.
Finally, I discovered the battery efficiency of the JBL Live Beam 3 to be spectacular. The firm claims 12 hours of playback time with ANC off and 10 hours with ANC on. In my expertise, I used to be constantly in a position to get between seven to eight hours of playtime with ANC and upwards of 9 hours with out ANC. The sound degree was constantly stored between 50 to 60 %. The charging time from zero to 100 within the case takes roughly about two hours. Notably, the charging case helps fast cost and wi-fi charging as nicely.
JBL Live Beam 3: Verdict
After utilizing the JBL Live Beam 3 for nearly a month, I really feel the distinctive promoting proposition (USP) of the gadget is choices. For the worth of Rs. 14,999, you are not getting essentially the most highly effective ANC out there or essentially the most balanced audio profile.
JBL Live Beam 3
However, what you do get is versatility. With the charging case show, you should use and customise the audio expertise of the earphones even when reaching the cellular app is perhaps tough. You may optimise it for spatial audio, Personi-Fi audio, or set it up for LDAC codec. You may use the equaliser’s six presets to search out the optimum audio zone or create your personal.
JBL has thrown every little thing on the earphones bar the kitchen sink. What that has achieved is create a flexible gadget that may let a big subset of customers create their very own means of customising the audio expertise and the utilization of the gadget.
However, if you happen to’re somebody who has a robust desire for the ANC, sound profile, or the thickness of the charging case, this is probably not your best option for you.
