JBL E65BTNC Review - Review 2022

Information technology wasn't long ago that in that location were virtually no Bluetooth headphones with decent noise cancellation. Bose has an border with the excellent QuietComfort 35 II, but some alternatives have started to appear. Few of them, nonetheless, toll as niggling as the $199.95 JBL E65BTNC. For the price, you get bass-forward, powerful Bluetooth audio. Yous likewise get some pretty decent noise cancellation—when music isn't playing. When yous turn the ANC on and play music, nevertheless, the circuitry has a noticeable impact on audio performance. For $200 this is a forgivable sin, simply it makes the E65BTNC an option only for those willing to cede some overall performance for a toll that is far lower than the leaders in the category.

Design

Bachelor in blackness, blue, or gray-and-white, the headphones characteristic memory foam circumaural (over-the-ear) earcups lined with soft, leather-patina fabric. The headband isn't as cushioned as it could exist, but all the same manages to be comfortable over long listening sessions—it's lined with fabric and emblazoned with the JBL logo upward top. Fifty-fifty though the earcups hinge and fold downward flat, there'southward no included pouch to identify them in, which seems like an oversight for the price.

On the correct earcup'southward outer panel, there's a ability switch, as well every bit plus/minus buttons for volume (these piece of work in conjunction with your mobile device's master volume levels) and a key multifunction button that handles playback, call management, and summons voice control on your phone. The plus/minus buttons besides control track navigation when they're held downwards instead of tapped; we're not fans of combining these two controls on the same push, as information technology makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to skip a runway accidentally.

JBL E65BTNC inline There's also a connection for the included, cloth-lined 3.5mm audio cable on the right earcup's outer console. Most this jack, there's a button that activates Bluetooth pairing mode (though the headphones go into pairing mode when powered upwardly for the first fourth dimension and automatically re-pair with your device when powered up again). Pairing is a quick and simple process, and y'all can pair ii devices at in one case—and so yous tin can take calls on your telephone but use a tablet as your sound source, for instance. The Bluetooth button also turns the noise cancellation circuitry on or off when held for ii seconds.

An orange micro USB charging cable of generous length is also included. Information technology connects to the left earcup's outer panel. It has an inline mic and a single-button remote control at roughly chin level that handles playback, track navigation, and call management.

The born Bluetooth mic offers better than average intelligibility. Using the Vocalisation Memos app on an iPhone 6s, nosotros could understand every discussion nosotros recorded, with no obvious sound artifacts, though the mic does audio slightly far away. The inline mic on the cable offers superb intelligibility—total clarity, and even some bass response.

JBL estimates the E65BTNC'south battery life to be roughly fifteen hours (with Bluetooth playback and dissonance cancellation), 30 hours (for wired playback with noise cancellation activated), or 24 hours (Bluetooth playback only). Obviously, there'southward a broad range of possibilities here, and so your results tin can vary dramatically. One important notation, however—while connecting the cable immediately kills any Bluetooth connectedness, it doesn't automatically ability the headphones down. This is so y'all tin can use the racket cancellation if you desire to, but manifestly, it tin can also be a pretty easy way to drain the battery if you thought y'all were in passive listening mode. Audio operation betwixt active wired and passive wired modes doesn't vary dramatically.

Operation

For $200, the active noise counterfoil here is pretty solid. It's not close to the best available—that honor yet belongs to Bose'due south QuietComfort series—but for a combo Bluetooth-noise-canceling pair, you get noise cancellation on par with some more than expensive competitors. That said, like many dissonance-canceling headphones that try to compete with Bose, the headphones produce a very faint high frequency hiss—it's non unpleasant, it'southward more like tape hiss, but it is audible.

Different many competitors, JBL as well opted not to include an app that controls and tweaks the noise counterfoil. For many, this might seem like a limitation, but it'southward worth noting that plenty of the apps that control ANC for their respective headphones don't necessarily ameliorate the noise cancellation itself. JBL keeps it uncomplicated, and despite the slight hiss, information technology eliminates a wide swath of ambient sound, and even a picayune office churr, making the headphones ideal for public transportation, travel, or the office.

That's the skilful news regarding the noise cancellation. The bad news is that information technology affects the audio in a noticeable way. We did the bulk of our audio testing with the ANC off. When ANC is engaged, you lot tin can expect less deep bass and some pinched, sculpted loftier frequency response. It's not awful, merely the sound is noticeably better with the ANC off.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife'southward "Silent Shout," the headphones deliver a powerful low frequency response that will appeal to fans of large bass. The highs are well represented here so that things remain somewhat balanced, but this is definitely a bass-forward sound signature.

Pecker Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives united states a better sense of the sound signature. The drums on this rail sound round, total, and powerful through the E65BTNC, but they manage to avoid becoming overly thunderous. Callahan's baritone vocals become an extra helping of low and low-mid frequency richness, but the loftier-mids and highs are also quite nowadays, lending the vocals some treble border and some brightness to the attack of the guitar strums.

Yet, turn the ANC on, and the music sounds like it's running through a filter—Callahan's vocals and the highs sound sculpted and limited in spots, while the sub-bass response is cut tremendously. For $200 nosotros can't really expect fireworks, but major degradation of audio performance is non a problem you'll observe in higher-quality options.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West'due south "No Church building in the Wild," the kick pulsate loop gets enough of loftier-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain its punchiness and cut through the layers of the mix as a prominent force. The loop also gets some added depression frequency heft, beefing upwards the sustain somewhat, while the sub-bass synth hits are delivered with gusto. The lows aren't boosted to insane levels, but the deep lows tin definitely be heard. The vocals on this track do good from the well-baked high-mid and high frequency presence, though there is some added sibilance.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel Co-ordinate to the Other Mary, have a crisp, bright presence that is just slightly enhanced with added bass depth—the higher register contumely, strings, and vocals own the spotlight here. When there'due south the occasional sub-bass sound, it'southward pushed forward slightly in the mix, merely the bass response is far more noticeable on pop music than orchestral tracks.

Conclusions

Sonically, JBL'S E65BTNC headphones deliver a solid listening experience with rich bass that tin can dig downwardly for subwoofer-like lows and match it with clear, bright loftier frequency presence. The racket cancellation, when no audio is playing, is also solid for the price. But the bummer is what the noise cancellation does to audio—it scoops out some of the bass response and messes with the highs when it's engaged and music is playing. If the headphones were more expensive, that would be a big problem, but at $200, we tin put it this mode: This is a great-sounding, bass-forrad pair of headphones with decent noise cancellation at a reasonable price. Other strong performers in the noise-canceling wireless realm include the Sony WH-1000XM2 and Libratone Q Suit On-Ear, every bit well equally the aforementioned Bose QuietComfort 35 II and the AKG N60 NC Wireless—merely they're all more expensive, as quality wireless audio and racket counterfoil don't come cheap.

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