Due to ship this summer, the new JBL Live 3 series will come in three different styles: Beam, Buds and Flex. All of them feature a 1.45-inch LED touch display in their charging cases.
Last year JBL introduced its $250 Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which featured a “smart” charging case with a touch display. I thought the mini display was a bit of a gimmick, but it does act as a remote for your earbuds, which can be useful at times.
Now JBL is bringing that same tricked-out charging case to its three new Live 3 earbuds: the Live Buds 3, Live Beam 3 and Live Flex 3. Though they’ll cost $200, which is pricey, that’s $50 less than what the Tour Pro 2 buds cost. JBL announced at CES 2024 that they’ll ship this summer.
Here’s a look at the three new models. As I said, they share the same case and have very similar features, including:
- IP55 water- and dust-resistance (they can withstand a sustained spray of water).
- Adaptive noise canceling.
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio.
- JBL Spatial Sound, six microphones (three in each bud).
- Multipoint Bluetooth pairing.
- Wireless charging.
- Support for the LDAC audio codec.
JBL Live Beam 3
The Live Beam 3 earbuds have a noise-isolating design and look similar to the Live Buds Pro 2, which I like a lot, especially when they go on sale for $100. The Live Beam 3 are essentially JBL’s AirPods Pro 2 competitor and should eventually sell for closer to $150. Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.
JBL Live Buds 3
These are the successor to JBL’s Live Free 2 earbuds, and they also have a noise-isolating design but are stick-free for folks who want buds that are shaped like buds. They have 10mm drivers and offer up to 12 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around nine hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.
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JBL Live Flex 3
The Live Flex 3 earbuds have an open design and are targeted at folks who want a set of buds more like Apple’s AirPods 3 (since they have an open design, their noise canceling won’t be as good as what you get with the noise-isolating models). Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.
When all the new models are released this summer, I’ll let you know how they sound and how good their noise-canceling and voice-calling performance is.
