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-beam-3-silver](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/4d465f9fc991b337727a6d792800f65e8c43e32b/hub/2024/01/04/af1bbc2f-6f13-44f3-a9c6-2fea01ceadc1/jbl-live-beam-3-silver.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
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.
![jbl-live-buds-3-silver](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/bfffe8802c199ed48acc89a7f7b9a377cc1de673/hub/2024/01/04/be9a9a75-e1c7-4005-9c3d-99022d2e2774/jbl-live-buds-3-silver.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Enlarge Image
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.
![jbl-live-flex-3-black](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/e9c645d8f415124e26f3118acce68ab4d33fcee0/hub/2024/01/04/eb8605e1-9c3c-442a-8b1a-a1156c61ee4c/jbl-live-flex-3-black.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
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.