Review JBL Live Pro 2 Of 2023: The Best AirPods And AirPods Pro Alternative

JBL is well known for its mid-range audio equipment, which occasionally compete favorably with solutions costing twice as much. The JBL Live Pro 2 earbuds are no exception, which is fantastic news.

The JBL Live Pro 2 are the likable company’s most recent true wireless earbuds and the JBL Live Pro+’s replacements. Adaptive noise cancellation, multi-device pairing, and additional customization choices are among the notable improvements in this.

These earphones are excellent all-arounders and can definitely stake a claim to a slot in our list of the best true wireless earbuds, which we’ll be adding soon. The sound is strong, crystal clear, and bassy here because of the 11mm dynamic drivers. But the app also has an EQ and a number of presets that let you adjust how these earbuds sound. The companion app typically has a pleasant user interface and lots of customization possibilities. It’s amazing how many businesses get this wrong; fortunately, JBL doesn’t.

DESIGN JBL LIVE PRO 2

The Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 and Nothing Ear (1) buds, as well as the Apple AirPods line of true wireless earbuds, have similar looks to the JBL Live Pro 2’s stem-like appearance.

Yet it doesn’t mean they don’t have a unique appearance. JBL offers a unique, more angular interpretation of the design. The stem’s outside side has a high gloss finish, and the body of the buds is composed of matte plastic. Although we think the polished finish gives the buds a more upscale vibe, not everyone will appreciate it.

Although these earbuds have an IPX5 certification, which indicates they are sweat- and water-resistant but not completely waterproof, you shouldn’t submerge them in the tub and hope for the best. Although while the AirPods Pro 2 only claim a “splash-proof” IPX4 classification, this degree of waterproofing is still extremely strong compared to certain other earbuds. However, it falls short of competitors like the Jabra Elite 7 Active, which has an IP57 rating.

There are three sizes of eartips available in the package, and we were content with the smallest one. Because they only weigh 4.8g apiece, they were quite light and really pleasant to wear. They also stayed in place for hours.

The app has a function called “Check My Best Fit” that might help you find the perfect fit. In order to make sure you have a proper seal in each ear and get the most out of ANC, this plays a little music clip. While other buds include a similar option for evaluating fit, the one offered here had us using the buds right away.

Given that the JBL Live Pro 2 are secure and have an IPX5 rating, even though they aren’t expressly promoted for fitness, we chose to test them in a variety of situations. They didn’t move during a yoga session or a short, 30-minute jog. Although they may not be the best for rigorous exercise (heavy perspiration may compromise the seal they form in your ear canal), they performed admirably in our tests.

The 48.4g JBL Live Pro 2 charging case is pocket-sized and lightweight. It features a clamshell lid and a rounded, pillbox-like shape, which is again very typical for modern true wireless earbuds. As the buds are charging, magnets keep them in place, and tiny Lights on the front show you roughly how much battery life is left.

Features of JBL Live Pro 2

The Live Pro 2 case’s battery life is 30 hours in addition to the 10 hours in the earbuds, giving you a total battery life of 40 hours. The battery life of these true wireless earbuds may not be the finest we’ve seen to date, but it’s clearly competitive at this level.

Comparatively, the Bose QuietComfort have just 6 hours in the buds and 12 hours in the case, the higher-end Sony XM4s have 8 hours in each bud but only 16 in the case, and the most recent Apple AirPods Pro 2 have 6 hours in the buds and an additional 30 hours in the case.

However, some mid-range models do match the JBL Live Pro 2’s specifications, such as the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus, which offers 9 hours of battery life in the earbuds and 41 hours in the case, and the outstanding Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0, which offers 10 hours of battery life in the earbuds and an additional 70 hours from the robust case.

The accompanying app is one of the JBL Live Pro 2’s most user-friendly features. It’s amazing how many audio tech companies produce high-quality headphones just to let their customers down with a subpar software. Nothing like that exists here.

Getting your phone to pair with it is really easy. In a matter of seconds, Bluetooth synchronized, and less than a minute later, the app was linked. The top of the app has buds with levels that display your current battery level precisely. Next, there are sections for ANC, Equalizer, Learning and Changing Gestures, and VoiceAware, which lets you choose how much of your voice is heard during calls.

A fit test, the find my buds function, power saving mode, and settings for the voice assistant and audio prompts are all included here. The fact that there are so many things included and they are presented in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming is fantastic.

A capacitive touch panel included in the stem of each of the buds allows for gesture control. For instance, by tapping and holding the left stem, you may activate Siri and turn on or off noise cancellation. All of these may be altered, at least in part. Although you may choose which movements are given precedence on each bud, you cannot choose which gestures do what.

As usual, it took some getting used to these motions, and while they were generally responsive, there were moments when we detected a tiny delay—albeit for only a few seconds. While managing music, this wasn’t a significant concern, but we did miss a call when the earbuds weren’t quick to respond.

Sound quality in JBL Live Pro 2

The main attraction here is noise cancellation. In fact, especially at less than £150/$150, we’d suggest that some of the best noise-canceling earbuds are available. You would need to spend a lot of money—more than £200/$200—to obtain a noticeably better ANC experience.

In a variety of settings, noise cancellation was possible. Noises were muffled on a tube ride with rowdy people and a noisy train. Not quite, but distinctly. In an office setting with occasional voices and background noises, the quiet was nearly unnerving. These headphones are a terrific option whether you commute frequently, work in an office, or just want the quiet serenity and full immersion of outstanding ANC.

The good news is that you can modify a few ANC parameters here. Hence, you may enable ANC in the app and then modify it. You may turn adaptive ANC on and off, which causes the ANC level to change depending on the degree of background noise. This worked very well when we entered a calmer area after leaving a busy tube station. Leakage Compensation, Ear Canal Compensation, and an Ear Canal Test are also available in this location, all of which enhance the amazing noise-cancelling experience.

Another option is called Ambient Aware, which effectively turns off ANC so that you can still hear well but still hear most sounds around you. Another option is TalkThru, which is similar to Ambient Aware but turns the sound level back down, making it perfect for office workers if you need to hold a conversation while wearing the earbuds.

For the price, these earbuds deliver outstanding sound quality. When the volume is turned up loud, there is an excellent balance throughout the whole spectrum and a reasonably wide soundstage as well. Vocals are often clear, and they handle bass astonishingly well. Although there was some rich detail there, it wasn’t as good as the finest in class headphones, like the Apple AirPods Pro 2.

You may choose between presets in the Equalizer, such as Jazz, Vocal, and Bass, and observe how the curve alters as you choose each. Bass was our favorite instrument; playing Where is My Mind by the Pixies and switching from vocal to bass gave us a delicious punch of strength even if we couldn’t tell the difference between some of these.

The defaults should provide you sufficient control for the majority of users. Nevertheless, you may also alter these settings yourself by just dragging and dropping points, storing the outcomes, and creating your own preset for any of the 10 bands, which span 32Hz to 16kHz. There is plenty of area for these; we experimented with six without reaching a limit.

Even while we were impressed with the sound quality offered here, we believe audiophiles may need more, notably greater clarity and detail, as well as a wider soundstage and a richer sound. But, the majority of people will be content with these earbuds, particularly because you can customize the sound and create your own presets.

It was a solid call, but not a spectacular call. We would have like for the microphone to do a better job of separating our voices from the background noise. We were still reasonably well heard, but the finest headphones available, especially the Sony XM4s, have crisper calls. Calls occasionally dropped in and out due to network concerns, however they were not regular.

VALUE OF JBL LIVE PRO 2

In practically every respect, the JBL Live Pro 2 truly wireless earphones surpass expectations. It is ideal for commuting in loud situations and has excellent noise reduction that is also adjustable. Although call quality might be improved, most people won’t notice it until they make a lot of calls frequently. The sound is fantastic. The EQ tweaking is great.

Many competing earbuds in this price range provide essential features like a somewhat longer battery life and a more simplistic appearance. Yet you would have to spend almost twice as much money to acquire superior noise-canceling headphones that are a significant improvement above these JBLs.