How Open Is Too Open?

If open-ear audio were a house party, then most wireless headphones would be gazing in longingly at the jubilation, hands pressed to the window, glass fogged, a single tear trickling down their theoretical, closed-audio cheek.

That’s because it’s been mostly earbud-style form factors that have enjoyed the fruits of that ecosystem, like Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds, Nothing’s Ear Open, or the fantastic Soundpeats Clip1. Mostly. As overrepresented as the open-style wireless earbuds have been, the field may be opening up, and one of the newest invitations comes courtesy of JLab. Welcome to the party: JLabs’ $99 JBuds Open Headphones.

Why get open-back headphones?

Let me back up for a second. Open-back headphones are already a thing and have been for some time. In case you’re unfamiliar, they have a grille that lets sound pass through from the outside. That may seem like a weird choice on the surface if you’re thinking about noise cancellation, but that design brings some benefits. For one, it opens up the “soundstage,” which is shorthand in audio lingo for describing the set of characteristics for sound. That open-back design also makes the headphones more breathable and slightly lighter, though it does make them less appealing in loud environments, since you can hear your surroundings a bit.

While the JBuds Open Headphones come from that tree of headphone design, they take the idea of open-backed headphones a bit further. While most open-backed headphones have a grille providing a degree of separation between your ears and the outside world, the JBuds Open Headphones grille can be removed entirely by twisting the earcups off and pulling them out. Once that grille is removed, the headphones let you hear your surroundings a lot more than similar open-backed competitors.

Just like open-ear earbuds, the purpose of that openness varies, but mostly, it’s great for when you want to listen to something but also hear your surroundings. For me, that means when I’m doing something like riding a bike, which, in New York, requires a pretty high degree of awareness of your surroundings if you don’t fancy being pancaked by a box truck or a dude on a moped.

As someone who’s used quite a few pairs of open wireless earbuds at this point, I can say for certain that, if openness is what you want, then openness is what you’ll get with the JBuds Open Headphones. Having used the JBuds Open Headphones on the busy sidewalks of New York, I do find them susceptible to being drowned out by ambient noise even when the grille is attached—maybe even more so than other open-ear wireless earbuds that I’ve tested. On the subway, which is admittedly a tough test of any pair of wireless headphones or wireless earbuds, there were times when I couldn’t hear audio playback at all. Having also tested Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds and Soundpeats Clip1 underground, I’d much sooner spring for those if you find yourself in louder situations.

It’s hard to say why the JBuds feel so mutable, but my guess is that, unlike open-ear wireless earbuds, the speaker sits a little farther from your ear, making it easier for the sound to get lost in the mix. Regardless of the cause, I do find the Clip1 to be better suited for blocking out noise when you want them to, and that’s not even counting a new crop of open-ear buds that up the ante on noise cancellation, like the Shokz OpenFit Pro.

Using the JBuds Open Headphones without the grille, I’m able to hear almost as I would normally (maybe a little less since there is still some blockage), but when I’m listening to audio, I can block out a decent amount of noise or keep the volume down to hear some audio and some of my surroundings. Sure, you could use a pair of wireless headphones with a transparency mode to hear your surroundings, but open-ear feels and sounds so much more natural than that—it’s not using microphones to replicate the noise around you.

Because these are beefier headphones with bigger drivers, one added perk you’ll get with the JBuds Open Headphones over a pair of earbud-like competitors is a bigger soundstage. As nice as being able to hear your surroundings is, some open-ear competitors are a bit lacking in the sound department, in my personal opinion (especially low end). The JBuds Open Headphones don’t really share that issue, however. That’s most likely thanks to the dual coaxial 35mm and 12mm drivers, which are bigger and able to push more sound than smaller drivers inside wireless earbuds.

Listening across genres, I was pretty satisfied with the nuance of the sound, even the low end in songs like Daft Punk’s “Da Funk.” Songs in rock genres were also surprisingly rich, bringing arguably the most nuanced listening experience I’ve had in any open-ear audio product—mids and highs felt solidly represented and well-balanced. Is the sound groundbreaking in terms of headphones, generally speaking? No, not really. But that’s not really why you’d buy this particular pair of headphones. You’re buying them for the open design, which, as is the case with every open-ear audio product, has pros and cons.

Calling is pretty solid on these headphones, which is good to know since that is actually a downside of earbud counterparts like those made by Bose. In my experience, when using the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for calling, your voice can sound a little far off or difficult to hear for others—or at least that’s what people have reported to me. In a brief phone conversation, I was informed that while I sounded a little more distant compared to talking directly into the phone, my audio quality was still solid and audible. This should come as good news for anyone wanting an open-ear audio product since phone calls tend to be one of the biggest perks—conversations just feel so much more natural when your ear canals aren’t all blocked up.

The JBuds Open Headphones are also notably very light, especially with the grilles removed. Not only are they breathable, with plenty of open space between your ears and the speakers, but they’re also barely noticeable on your head. That’s critical when it comes to open-ear audio, since one of the biggest selling points is comfort over longer periods of use.

App, controls, and battery life

I wouldn’t call the JBuds Open Headphones feature-rich, but they do come with some perks thanks to the JLab companion app. Among those are fairly standard in-app features like an equalizer, listening modes for music or movies, and the ability to assign button controls. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, nor is there anything I haven’t covered in previous reviews of JLab products, but some of those features will be perks for some people. As is the case with most open-ear audio products nowadays, there is no noise cancellation, but that’s to be expected from this category.

I’m sorry to say that the lack of noise cancellation, while it usually equates to longer battery life, doesn’t have much of an effect in the JBuds Open Headphones’ case. JLab rates these headphones for 24 hours of battery life, which is all right, but still well below competitors like Bose and its QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) that get 30 hours of battery with ANC activated. Similarly, Nothing’s Headphone 1 get 35 hours with ANC activated.

Needless to say, that’s a little disappointing, though not a dealbreaker necessarily—at least not for me. In my testing, I found that estimate to be fairly accurate in my several hours of testing, though, so if you’re looking for headphones with a longer battery life for whatever reason, I don’t think these are the pick for you.

Other perks include physical buttons for volume and power, as well as surprisingly cushy earcups that make the headphones comfortable to wear for hours at a time. There’s also an included carrying case that isn’t bad. All that said, the build quality doesn’t feel particularly premium, but if you’re okay with forgiving that (especially because of the accessible price point), the JBuds Open Headphones feel like a solid deal.

Should you open up your wallet?

The impression that I’m left with after testing the JBuds Open Headphones is that this is a solid entrant into the space of open-ear audio products. The sound is better than I expected, they let in plenty of ambient noise, and they’re comfortable to wear over longer periods. That being said, I’m not entirely sold on the idea of open-ear headphones as opposed to open-ear wireless earbuds. I find that earbuds are a bit more efficient at blocking out noise when you want them to, and frankly, the form factor has a much lower footprint.

As light as the JBuds Open Headphones are, they’re still a big pair of over-ear cans, which are more of a pain in the ass to carry around and wear. While you do get nuanced sound out of the form factor, open-ear wireless earbuds are quickly catching up in that department, so I’m not sure if the sound quality justifies the form factor. That being said, if you prefer over-ear for whatever reason, and you still want an open-ear audio product, the JBuds Open Headphones should scratch the itch, and the $99 should do so at a price point that lots of people can stomach.