If you don’t particularly care about having the most premium pair of headphones on the market (or don’t care about spending several hundred dollars on them), the JLab JBuds Lux ANC headphones will get the job done. They have functional ANC, good comfort, great sound balance, and great battery life, all with a design that doesn’t feel budget-friendly.
At their regular selling price of around $50, these are about one ninth of the price of the latest Sony headphones, and one seventh of the price of the Bose QuietComfort headphones, which feel like premium analogs of these headphones.
With budget headphones, it’s nice to understand what you’re doing all of a sudden. In the case of these JLab headphones, ANC will reduce a good amount of environmental sound, from talking coworkers to loud fans, but it won’t completely silence the world around you. The app can lag somewhat (we had to exit it several times during testing when it froze), and the fit of these headphones may not be for everyone. For one of our testers, these headphones pressed against their head more than usual (though some users on Reddit called these the most comfortable headphones they’ve ever worn). Despite the fit, you’re likely to hear some creaking from time to time when you move your head around.
At $80, these are all cons that may not be ideal, but are fair for the price point. At the consistently selling prices of these headphones, which range from $50 to $55, it’s even easier to understand these shortcomings, especially when you consider how these headphones actually sound.
To be clear, you’ll probably need to play with the EQ to find your perfect settings – we found the first preset on the bass-heavy end. Once you do that, it’s impressive how well these headphones can balance a song. Every part of the horror! The disco rendition of “Northern Downpour” shines with lead guitar, bass and piano. For budget headphones, we might expect some wiggle room through these elements, but the JLab JBuds performed admirably. If we’re being picky, The Beatles’ “In My Life” came out sounding somewhat duller than expected, but not necessarily dirty.
Beyond the sound signature, these headphones have a fair amount of customization with apps, especially for their price point. You can adjust button commands on one of the three on-ear buttons, adjust ANC intensity with a slider in the app, and create your own custom EQ settings. Multipoint pairing is available, as well as spatial audio, music and movie modes.
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