JBL Vibe Beam - True Wireless JBL Deep Bass Sound Earbuds, Bluetooth 5.2, Water & Dust Resistant, Hands-free call with VoiceAware, Up to 32 hours of battery life (Black)

Just got the JBL Vibe Beam and I’m really happy with them so far. The sound quality is awesome, the bass is deep and punchy, just how I like it. They fit really well and don’t fall out, even when I’m on the move.One thing to note: they don’t have active noise cancellation, so you’ll still hear some background noise. But honestly, the sound is so good that I don’t even mind. The battery life is solid too, I can go all day without needing to recharge.Overall, for the price and quality, I’d definitely recommend these. Great everyday earbuds!

This review is about the audio features of the JBL Vibe Beam earbuds.I'm an audio engineer so audio quality is very important to me. As such, I use wired connections as much as possible to maintain the integrity of the audio signal. However, many newer consumer-level products no longer have audio jacks, so I finally decided to invest in some wireless earbuds as a backup to the other earphones and headphones that I use. I didn't want to spend a lot of money as I didn't foresee myself using this product very much, and since this is my first foray into wireless audio earphones, if they were just ok or they broke after a while, then I wouldn't feel too bad about the little money that I spent. Also, I wanted to focus on finding wireless earbuds with excellent audio quality first as I already have an excellent high-end bluetooth earpiece for cell phone use, and I wouldn't be using this product as a bluetooth headset for my phone.After doing much research, I chose the JBL Vibe Beam's as they were at my price point, I'm familiar with JBL products, and I could reasonably expect that they were likely deliver the high audio quality that I've come to expect from JBL products. In my research, I read reviews that complained about the harshness of the high end with high frequency instruments like cymbals or the lack of bass, so I was a bit concerned.When I received and started listening to my JBL Vibe Beams I understood what people were talking about. However, to correct the issues, first, one must have a great fit of the earbuds in their ears. I'm fortunate, in that with the medium tips that were already installed on the Vibe Beams, they made a snug fit in my ears right out of the box. If you find that these earbuds do not fit well in your ears it might be worthwhile to invest in a separate set of variable sized earbud tips, or try tips from one of your other well-fitting earbuds, if you have them. Once the earbuds were seated properly in my ear, that took care of the poor bass issue. (I have not worn them long-term so I can't speak to them falling out of my ear, as others have mentioned, but they seem to stay in pretty well.)For the misaligned frequency response issue, fortunately, the JBL Headphone app that you can install on your cell phone includes a ten-band graphic equalizer that you can use to make adjustments to the frequency response of your earbuds. After listening to several of the reference tracks I use to check new audio equipment or my mixes against, I found that the only adjustments needed were carving out some of the upper midrange and making a very slight boost in the bottom end of the lower frequency spectrum. I've included a screenshot of my EQ curve which I based on the Bass preset in the JBL app. You can't tell as there is no dB scale on the side, but I needed to cut or boost by only 1-2 dB. I find that my new EQ curve gives a more balanced frequency response than what came out of the box, and matches up well against the reference speaker system and headphones that I use for my audio mixing and mastering work. I invite you to use my EQ curve as a starting point and adjust as sounds best to you.I also read reviews complaining about the apparent lack of volume of the Vibe Beams. I connected the JBL's to several different sources (phone, computer, TV, MP3 player, etc.) and I found that the overall maximum volume (with limiter off) is relatively lower than wired speaker versions. However, the input to the JBL's is relative to the maximum output of the source itself. I found that the loudest level I could get came from my iPhone and the lowest level output came from my MP3 player (which probably doesn't offer much output anyway being a tiny portable unit). As a comparison, I did a side-by-side test of the JBL's with my wife's AirPods (2nd gen). What I found was that the JBL's offered an almost identical audio output level as the AirPods with any of the sources I used so that confirmed that the output level of the JBL's has more to do with the source (and the source material as some songs are mastered at a lower volume than other songs) than with the earbuds themselves. During my test, I put the JBL's at their maximum volume output (one tap at a time on the left bud to raise the volume). Also, I noticed during my testing that the AirPods had a pleasing midrange sound perfect for listening to podcasts or watching video, but the JBL's excelled at full-range sound on the bottom and top ends of the frequency spectrum which made them sound much better over all and well-suited for music or listening to explosive action scenes in movies.And speaking of movies, the JBL app has a switchable audio/video mode. The video mode reduces the latency of the delivery of audio against picture, so there isn't a noticeable lip-sync issue with dialogue in a scene. However, there is a slight degradation in the audio quality of 'video' mode versus 'audio' mode, but you will have to make the determination if the change in audio quality is acceptable to you.As a side note, I included a picture of the inner side of the earbuds. The 'L' and 'R' designations on the earbuds are tiny as you can see, plus they are the same color as the earbuds themselves, so they are very hard to see. I wish JBL had made the L/R letters bigger or at least made them a different color so they would be easier to see.The pairing process was fairly easy with all my bluetooth-capable devices and the range was good, only dropping out after walking approximately 60-70 feet from the source. There was one momentary dropout during my listening but that could be due to my wife using her AirPods the same time as I was using the JBL's.I can't speak to the other features of the JBL Vibe Beams as I don't intend to use them, but as far as audio quality goes, with just a few minor tweaks, these bluetooth earbuds can go from sounding like a $50 pair of earbuds to a $500 pair of reference earphones.

So I will start by saying I am no audiophike, so keep that in mind when you read my thoughts on this.My previous earbuds were the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless earbuds. I used those pretty much almost daily for 4 years, which means I became accustomed to that sound profile. In the end the right earbud gave out and it was time for a replacement, which landed me here (after watching 2-3 hours of YouTube reviews).These things are equipped with way more pros than cons.1. The JBL Vibes connect to my phones Bluetooth much faster (I have a Google Pixel 8 Pro)2. They fit my ears better, whereas my old ones would fall out of my ears while I was chewing or leaning over. If I forced them in deeper the sound disappeared. It was a not so fun game of "stay put".3. The app for the JBL Vibes is easier to use and actually connects to your earbuds without a lot of jumping through hoops.4. The case is more compact so it's not so bulky in your pocket.So I'll start by saying my 4 star rating is a conflicted one. For the price these things are a solid 5/5, but as an overall I would give these more of a 4.3 out 5.When you first pair them and start using them you might immediately know why the app exists, it's to take advantage of the equalizer. To my ears they sounded tin-y and scratchy with the highs and mids coming in way too hard ( S sounds were so sharp it made music sound harsh and not enjoyable).So I opened up the Equalizer and put on some music from YouTube, selected the Jazz sound profile as my starting point then tweaked to what sounded good to me (see my attached screenshot). The other issue is, I can't blast these at full volume, they get uncomfortably loud, and the sound starts to distort, so I keep them just short of full blast and they sound great that way. There is a setting in the app to reduce the volume at max, but it's lower than I want it to be so I do not use that. The big key thing to do is get good clean bass out of the sound profile so you aren't listening to ear piercing highs.So now that I got the sound out of the way and like what I'm hearing, my next issue is that these are not the most comfortable. Don't get me wrong, they aren't so uncomfortable that I would return them, but there is slight discomfort at the top of my ear canal, where the hard plastic pushes against my cartilage.The battery life is pretty good and they charge quickly inside their case, which stays shut pretty well (I did a drop test onto carpeted floor and it stayed shut). My other one gripe at the moment is that putting the earbuds into the case in the dark is kind of tricky (say you are listening to music or a video while your SO is sleeping next to you, and now you want to go to sleep too, but it's dark). I find myself rotating the buds trying to position that lower piece back into the case at just the right angle.Would I recommend these to a friend just looking for a good reasonably priced option for earbuds? Yes, absolutely....would an audiophile agree with me, who knows.