Sound docks and headphone are things one would usually associate JBL with. The company, however, in competition with the likes of Plantronics has launched a new pair of Bluetooth-enabled wireless earbuds, the JBL J46BT.

Wireless earbuds might not be the first choice for many headset users. But for those who are always on the move, and need to be on the phone, such as sales guys or businessmen, a pair of wireless headsets can do wonders. The J46BT seems to target just this demographic.

Design

The plain black, angled earbuds are planted at both ends of a matte black wire. A slim control panel closer to the right earbud - for better access - houses the power and volume buttons.

Throughout the review, I had it connected to a Google Nexus 5 smartphone. Given the fact that it’s Bluetooth-enabled, you can hook it up to your tablet, smartphone or laptop, basically any personal device of your choice that supports Bluetooth connectivity.

I tried the earbuds on first with some music playing on the device and used it to receive a couple of phone calls and it switches between tasks quite seamlessly.

Pairing the Bluetooth headset was a bit confusing though. The manual asks you to keep the power button pressed for about 2-3 seconds to turn the set on and “>5” seconds to hook up to a Bluetooth-enabled device. It took us twice as much time (about 10 seconds) to pair the headset with the smartphone. But once connected we had barely any hitches.

The volume levels on the earbuds were satisfying both indoors and outdoors. The custom earbuds were a bit too loose for me, but I could switch them with a larger one that came in the pack.

You get a slightly ugly black-and-orange carry case to carry the earbuds in if you want to. We just used them to store the extra earbuds and the charging cord. The charging cord is the most unusual we’ve seen so far. It ‘docks’ only with the right earbud enveloping it like a scythe. The other end can be plugged into an USB port when the device needs to be charged. We used a fully charged unit for more than a day with music and voice calls. Also, when the device is charging, it’s not possible to use it.

With great battery life and decent voice quality, the JBL J46BT is a promising Bluetooth headset if you can afford it.

₹5,990

[ Love – Good voice

quality, long

battery life

] Hate – A bit pricey

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