JBL Live Free NC+

JBL Live Free NC+

JBL Live Free NC+

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BEST RATING
Air Travel:
4.5
MUSIC: Poor5.8/10
CALLS: Good7.6/10
GAMING: Poor5.0/10
TV: Poor5.6/10
PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS: Very Good8.4/10
EXERCISE: Good7.7/10
AIR TRAVEL: Very Good8.3/10
NOISE REDUCTION: Good7.0/10
BUILD QUALITY: Very Good8.5/10
BATTERY: Good7.0/10

The JBL Live Free NC+ are a lower mid-range priced pair of stemless earbuds with a closed enclosure design, offering very good build quality and overall sound. They boast good comfort, mic quality, and active noise cancelling, making them suitable for calls and meetings as well as listening to music and audiobooks. Their earbud size is large, which may affect fit for some users. They support AAC codec for optimized audio with Apple devices, are sweatproof, and have a battery life of 5 hours with an additional 18 hours provided by the wireless charging case. They are a solid choice for exercise, air travel, and on-the-go use, but their soundstage is rated poorly, suggesting they may not be the best for immersive, spatial audio experiences. Keep in mind, they are not recommended for gaming or TV and video due to their likely latency issues. Give Feedback

this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.




Evaluation

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Pros
  • Very good overall sound quality
  • Good comfort and mic quality
  • Very good build and control scores
  • Active noise cancelling included
  • Sweatproof for exercise use
Cons
  • Poor soundstage and imaging
  • Limited gaming and TV performance
  • Not optimized for high-fidelity codecs
  • No detachable cable or low-latency feature

Ratings by Category

Air Travel:
4.5
This score evaluates the product for use on airplanes and other similar kinds of travel. It takes into account noise reduction and portability, including case shape, case size, and weight. It also incorporates the battery life of the product, long-haul comfort, noise reduction (both active and passive), and sound quality. We generally consider wireless products to be more suitable for air travel.
Podcasts & Audiobooks:
4.5
This score evaluates the product when used solely to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. It takes into account sound quality and sound signature, to be able to keep voices clear and intelligible. It also considers battery life, when available, and comfort.
Exercise:
4.3
This score evaluates the product when used for exercise and physical activity. It mainly takes into account comfort, whether or not the products are sweatproof and how secure are the earbuds or headphones while wearing them. We also consider products with wireless capabilities to be more suitable for this particular scenario
Calls:
4.2
This evaluates the product when used solely to make and receive calls. It takes into account how well the products are able to clearly reproduce the human voice, the quality of the integrated microphones and the battery life, when available, to be able to use them for longer sessions or conferences.
Battery Life:
4.0
The Battery Life rating is based on hours of typical, actual usage.
Portability:
3.0
The Portability score is based on an overall assessment that includes volume and maximum dimension of the product (and case, if relevant), and its weight. Special features like foldability for headphones are also taken into account.

Full Specs

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GENERAL

Price
$60
Brand
JBL
Release Date
March 1, 2021
Form Factor
Earbuds
Connectivity
Wireless

SOUND

Music Score
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5.9/10
Phone Calls Score
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7.6/10
Gaming Score
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5/10
TV and Video Score
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5.6/10
Exercise Score
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7.7/10

PERFORMANCE

Battery life
5 Hours
Wireless charging
Yes
Charging time
1.3 Hours
Bluetooth version
5.1
Case Battery Life
18

FEATURES

Active Noise Cancelling
Yes
Noise Reduction Score
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7/10
Virtual Surround
No
Android App
Yes
iOS App
Yes
Mic Quality
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7/10

BUILD AND DESIGN

Build Quality
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8.5/10
Comfort score
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7.6/10
Size
Large
Weight of single earbud
7 Grams
Microphone style
Integrated

Shopping

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JBL Live Free NC+

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Dig into reviews and images

HeadphoneCheck

Maike Paeßens | 2020
"JBL has added great-sounding, rock-solid all-rounders with a pleasant, warm sound character to their range. They are equipped with a high level of functionality that can be customised via the app. Some compromises have to be made with the active noise cancellation, which has a discreet effect, while the ambient mode and the Talkthru function proved to be powerful despite a perceptible background noise."

Comparison charts

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Why trust us

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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.

By the numbers

108
Earbuds and headphones evaluated
11,340
Earbuds and headphones stats compiled
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99,500
Recommendations made
14,925
Consumer hours saved

About the Earbuds or Headphones team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Earbuds and Headphones Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Luis Torres

Earbuds and Headphones Expert
Luis is a Mexico-based headphones expert. He’s been making headphone recommendations for five years and has close to 100 pairs in his personal collection.

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