JBL Live 300TWS: Full marks for sound quality

Given the number of earbuds and headphones I check out, it’s interesting that the JBL Live300TWS should stand out from among so many. And they do, for one strong reason — the sound quality. I found them sounding better than many that are priced higher, and was quite delighted with the listening experience — for the price.

The Live300 sit in a biggish case, which is still quite pocketable. The surface of the case is smooth as a seasoned pebble, though on touching they do feel distinctly plastic. All cases are mostly, but some feel more plasticky than others. I do have a small quarrel with the case because it’s not intuitive to open. You have to pull on the correct side on a small slit. If you’re not actually looking, you could end up trying to open it from the wrong side and it’s very slippery, so it often just runs away from your hands.

A little annoying

The case has a light around the USB-C port and while that’s a clever place to put it; it’s overly bright and when you put the buds away in a dark room, the light will blink really brightly until the buds get charged. If you like proper darkness while you sleep, this is annoying.

The buds themselves are on the large side and stick out from the ear quite a bit. With the default tips, I found the fit a little precarious, but this should be better with the correct tips. I did check with other users who found the fit perfect. You get extra tips to swap the default ones. If you want to use these to work out, caution is advised as they will fall out for some people. But light activity should be fine. They’re sweat-proof.

The buds begin to pair as soon as you take them out, and one really nice thing is the audio feedback you get when they tell you they’re connecting or when you’ve given a command. There’s a JBL app and it’s quite a good one with plenty of things you can control from there. There’s a customisable equaliser, options for letting in ambient sounds and talk-through (even though these buds don’t have active noise cancellation), options for choosing your virtual assistant (Alexa, Google, Siri, Bixby), and a dashboard to set what you want the taps and swipes on the buds to do. The on-buds controls I didn’t find too easy to use. Some didn’t work for me, such as the assistant triggers, and some just seem unpleasant because of the loud sound you’ll get when tapping something that’s so in your ears. But the app is much easier to use and to control the experience with.

Good volume

I tended to stop nit-picking when I heard the sound from these earbuds. There’s good volume and very pleasing clarity and separation. At the higher end, I found myself hearing some instruments, like symbols, in a unique way. I did turn down the high frequencies a little because I often felt they were too sharp, but the equaliser is so useful with its multi-level tuning that the sharpness was soon taken care of. At the same time, there’s a good rounded bass that doesn’t try too hard. The buds use a 5.6mm driver.

The battery takes about two hours to charge and cycles of charge altogether will see you through 20 hours — that’s about ok. There is support for speed charging. They do have wear-detection, and can be used one at a time with the right earbud leading.

Price: Available for approx ₹9,000 MRP is ₹11,999

Pros: Really good sound quality, feature-filled companion app, water resistance

Cons: Protrude from the ears a bit, can fall out, on-bud controls are iffy

COMMENT NOW