I tested JBL's newest earbuds, and their best feature is also the most understated

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• JBL’s Live Beam 3 earbuds retail for $200 and deliver fantastic audio playback, reliable noise cancellation, and great battery life. 
• The earbuds should satisfy most users with their sound, build, and overall value. 
• However, the smart charging case is more gimmicky than it is functional. That may not be the case for you.

In many ways, JBL makes audio products for the general consumer, whether you’re shopping for a speaker or pair of headphones. From the products we’ve tested at ZDNET, the brand nearly always meets the mark. While the sound quality may not match that of Sony or Bose, you can always expect long battery life, audio that won’t offend anyone, and a price you can justify when buying a JBL product.

Also: The best earbuds you can buy right now

That brings us to the new JBL Live Beam 3. The earbuds retail for $200, $50 less than the brand’s more luxury Tour Pro 2 earbuds or Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, and I’ve been testing a pair over the past few weeks to see if they hold up to JBL’s standards. Spoiler alert: These earbuds sound fantastic, and I have no problem recommending them, even if some features are more gimmicky than practical.

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For starters, these earbuds are excellent companions for transit, workouts, or deep work for the average person. They offer three listening modes: active noise-canceling, ambient aware, and talk-through, and the overall sound quality is pleasant, clear, and neutral. 

Also: The best earbuds I’ve ever listened to are not by Bose or Sony

While I usually find ambient-aware modes on earbuds to be inconsistent and unreliable, JBL surprised me by juggling external noise and internal audio fairly well. However, while listening to Lola Young’s Conceited on high volume, the earbuds just barely missed the mark in delivering the clarity of every instrument. The Live Beam 3 earbuds’ playback has a slightly muddier quality at higher volumes, but at mid-level volume, it was very satisfying.

The noise cancellation mode is clear and cancels out a substantial amount of outside noise. While it didn’t cancel out all the sounds on my clanky subway rides to and from the office, I didn’t find myself upset by this. I find that too strong of noise cancellation in earbuds can compromise comfort, build pressure in the ear, and alienate you from all surroundings, proving dangerous if you’re listening in public.

 Also: The best noise-canceling earbuds of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

On the topic of comfort, the Live Beam 3 are easy to wear for hours on end. And you can do so thanks to another area where JBL excels: battery life. You’re getting 40 hours of battery life with these, easily enough for churning through a few workdays of music or plenty of long runs. They also have an IP55 rating, so you can get wet and sweat in them and not worry about destroying any of the tech within.

Amid all of its strengths, there are a few areas where JBL could improve the earbuds. The first is its case. JBL carries the “smart charging” design of the Tour Pro 2 earbuds case over to the Live Beam 3, so you get a built-in touchscreen. On it, you can swipe through the carousel of slides to check your earbuds’ battery life, locate lost buds, change volume, or pause, play, and skip songs. The touchscreen is responsive about 40% of the time. On every other occasion, I have to double-, triple-, or quadruple-tap the screen to wake it up and get a response. 

Also: My buying advice on the cheapest wireless earbuds Apple currently sells (and they’re not AirPods)

For these reasons, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend using the touchscreen to change songs or cancellation modes on a run or exercising. Instead, stick with the controls on the earbuds themselves or your phone, which are both more responsive than the screen. In fact, the only viable use cases I found with the touchscreen were to check on battery life and locate earbuds.

Another area where I’d like to see an upgrade is the earbuds build quality. While they’re comfortable to wear, the earbuds feel plasticky and light — a good thing only for users who prefer something that’s not a burden to wear. The matte finish also makes the earbuds more slippery, so keep that in mind if you’re always on the move.

Also: The best noise-canceling earbuds you can buy

Lastly, the spatial audio feature wasn’t terribly strong; when I turned it on to listen to a Moses Sumney album, all I could hear was louder volume, not so much music that followed the movements of my head. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

Even with some of the shortcomings of the JBL Live Beam 3, I’d still recommend them to anyone in the market for great earbuds with a rather fun charging case twist, especially if you can snag them at a discount. We’ve seen several JBL headphone models drop by tens and hundreds of dollars during major sales events, and the upcoming Amazon Prime Day may be your nearest best bet.