I wasn’t expecting much from these $69 budget earbuds — but they actually impressed me with their punchy sound

JLab reliably produces budget earbuds that actually sound good, such as the JLab JBuds Pods ANC. If you’re looking for a good pair of earbuds that costs less than $70, this is it. Sporting a premium design that makes the earbuds look pricier than they are, the JBuds Pods ANCs are also very comfortable.

The ANC is effective and doesn’t give you much to complain about, while their long battery life is the cherry on top of the cake. Even though the earbuds’ default out-of-the-box sound profile leaves a lot to be desired, it can be easily corrected via the app — and it makes the earbuds sound fantastic across most genres.

If the lack of aptX and LDAC support and no wear detection doesn’t put you off, these could be the best cheap wireless earbuds for you. For the complete breakdown, read my full JLab JBuds Pods ANC review.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A pair of wireless earbuds that don’t break the bank
• Who is it for? For anyone who wants good sound on a budget
• How much does it cost? $69 / £59
• What do we like? They’re comfortable, come with a user-friendly app for extensive EQ customization, ANC is effective, and battery life is great
• What don’t we like? The default sound profile is tinny and there’s no aptX or LDAC support

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Specs

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Price & availability

The JLab JBuds Pods ANC earbuds retail for $69 / £59 and are available in just one colorway: Black. If you want more colorful earbuds, it might be worth considering the JLab JBuds Mini ($49) but you’ll be missing out on ANC.

The JBuds Pods ANC are priced similarly to the likes of the EarFun Air 2 NC ($69) and the Soundpeats Air5 Pro ($79). The sub-$70 price tag also makes the JBuds Pods ANC a great budget alternative to the Apple AirPods Pro 2 ($249), the Sony WF-C710N ($119) and the Bose QuietComfort ($179). The JBuds Pods ANCs are good value for money because they have long battery life and they boast great sound quality.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Design & comfort

• Look pricier than they are
• Comfortable, drop-stem design
• IP55 sweat and splashproof

The JLab JBuds Pods ANC feature a drop-stem design, similar to the Apple AirPods Pro 2, the EarFun Air 2 NCs and the Soundpeats Air5 Pros. It’s nothing special and nothing we haven’t seen before, but I like the matte finish on the buds and the case. I think it lends the JBuds Pods ANC a premium edge and makes them look pricier than they actually are.

As for comfort, the JBuds Pods ANC fit snugly in my ears. Each earbud weighs 0.31oz, so slightly on the heavier side when compared to, say, the 0.16oz Air5 Pros. Still, the JBuds Pods ANC didn’t feel too heavy during my testing, and I comfortably wore them for five straight hours. I stuck with the default tip size, but if you have smaller or bigger ears, there are two extra pairs included in the box.

The JBuds Pods ANCs’ charging case feels premium too. Its plastic shell doesn’t feel fragile, which I found wasn’t the case with the likes of the Sony WF-C710N or the Bose QuietComfort. That’s a brownie point for JLab.

The JBuds Pods ANC also one-up the QuietComforts when it comes to durability, as they’re IP55 rated as opposed to the QuietComforts’ lower resistance rating of IPX4. The IP55 rating means the earbuds are resistant to low-pressure water jets from any direction and dust. They’re also sweatproof, so you can wear them while working out.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.4 with AAC and SBC
• No wear detection
• Google Fast Pair and multipoint connectivity

The JLab JBuds Pods ANC utilize Bluetooth 5.4 with support for AAC and SBC codes. Unfortunately, there’s no aptX or LDAC support which I’ve seen in similarly priced earbuds, like the EarFun Air 2 NC and the Soundpeats Air5 Pro. It’s worth grabbing either those or the EarFun Air Pro 4 ($89) if hi-res streaming codecs are important to you.

The JBuds Pods ANC can connect up to two smart devices simultaneously thanks to multipoint connectivity. The earbuds also feature Google Fast Pair, and my Google Pixel 7 Pro was quick to recognize the JBuds Pods ANC as soon as I took them out of their case. Within seconds, I was listening to music. I also found it easy to swap between watching YouTube videos on my MacBook Air M2 and listening to music on my phone.

But similar to the Air 2 NCs and the Air5 Pros, the JBuds Pods ANC don’t feature wear detection, so playback doesn’t pause when a bud is removed and doesn’t automatically resume when you put it back in your ear.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Controls & app

• Simple touch controls
• User-friendly app for EQ customization

Controlling the JLab JBuds Pods ANC is easy as pie. Like most other earbuds today, they don’t sport any physical controls, so everything is done via a combination of tapping and holding.

Alongside being able to adjust volume, play/pause, answer/reject calls, and cycle through EQ presets, you can also double-tap the left earbud to toggle Siri or Google Assistant. In my testing, the earbuds were responsive and registered all my commands quickly.

The JBuds Pods ANC are accompanied by the JLab app, available on iOS and Android, and it’s your one-stop shop for customizing all JLab gear. The app is easy to use with a straightforward interface. Here, you can customize the JBuds Pods ANCs’ touch controls, ANC level, and toggle spatial audio.

You can also customize the 10-band equalizer, and I highly recommend doing so. I found the JBuds Pods ANCs’ default sound profile (out of the box) tinny and lacking in depth and bass, so I customized the EQ to see if I could fix the problem — and I did. It’s very easy to do so and you can move it in tiny increments to really fine-tune the sound to your liking.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Sound quality

• Default sound profile is tinny
• But EQ customization massively improves it
• Can get overwhelmed by heavy songs

On the daily, I use my trusty Marshall Monitor IIIs to listen to music, but I challenged myself to forget about them for a few days and use only the JLab JBuds Pods ANC. Now, the Monitor IIIs are a class apart and it would be unfair to pit the JBuds Pods ANC against them, but even then I was impressed with what these budget buds are capable of.

To test the earbuds, I listened to a few genres — such as rock, indie, EDM, metal, etc. — on Qobuz, one of the best music streaming services. As I mentioned up top, I don’t think the JBuds Pods ANCs’ default EQ sounds good. It sounds tinny and lacks character so I highly recommend diving into the app’s EQ settings and fine-tuning the sound.

Once I’d done that, it completely transformed the earbuds. Bass sounded punchy with some warmth to it, and vocals sounded loud and clear. Green Day’s ‘One Eyed Bastard’ sounded detailed, with each guitar riff clear and not too distorted. This was also the case with ‘Vignette’ by Twenty One Pilots. The synth and bass worked together and harmonized well, and Tyler Joseph’s high notes never sounded piercing either.

Turning to softer songs, I listened to ‘Paris, Texas’ by Lana Del Rey and the JBuds Pods ANC made her vocals feel like a lullaby and almost ethereal. Every drop in octave was clear as was the subtle backing vocals.

The JBuds Pods ANCs boast great bass response too… within a limit, which I’ll discuss soon, but let’s talk about the positives first. The bassline in Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ was powerful and clear as I was able to hear every note plucked. It was punchy but never felt booming or ‘too much.’

One area the JBuds Pods ANCs struggle in is when there are a lot of instruments involved, as they get easily overwhelmed. I noticed this as soon as I put ‘Une vie à t'aimer’ from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an orchestral, power ballad with many percussion and string instruments.

The song started off fine but as soon as the electric guitars and drums kicked in, everything sounded muddled together and, overall, the song sounded unpleasant — and I never thought I’d say that about such a fantastic track. I also noticed this while listening to ‘Von Dutch’ by Charli xcx where the bass sounded booming and overpowering and I wanted to take the JBuds Pods ANCs out of my ears instantly.

Overall, though, the JBuds Pods ANC are great for most music and while they struggle with heavy tracks, it’s important to remember that they cost less than $70. For a pair of budget earbuds, they are not bad at all. But if you want a balanced sound profile, I’d recommend saving even more on the JLab Go Pods ANC ($36).

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: ANC

• ANC is good for the price
• Transparency mode works well

As the name suggests, the JLab JBuds Pods ANC feature hybrid active noise cancelation. Of course, at this price, I can’t expect it to be better than the Sony WF-C710Ns’ or the Bose QuietComforts’. But still, it’s effective enough to block out most sounds.

I first tested them indoors with music playing and ANC on, and I could hear the clickity clackity of my keyboard — but to be fair, I was using a loud keyboard (the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical). I swapped to a quieter keyboard, the Hexgears Immersion A3 TKL, and the JBuds Pods ANC blocked out the sound of its keys. I couldn’t hear my partner saying my name and she had to wave to grab my attention too.

Outdoors, I could still hear traffic even with ANC at its highest level but again, I’m not expecting budget earbuds to make me feel lonely with mindblowing ANC.

I do appreciate that there’s a “Be Aware” transparency mode, though, which can be toggled by holding the left earbud, and it ensures you’re aware of the sounds in your surroundings. I like that I don’t have to remove my earbuds every time I need to speak to a cashier at a grocery store.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Battery life

• Up to 56 hours with charging case
• Better than rivals
• Can be charged wirelessly

The JLab JBuds Pods ANCs’ battery life is fantastic. With ANC off, the earbuds can last up to 10 hours and the charging case provides an additional 46 hours, so 56 hours in total. This, of course, drops when using the earbuds with ANC on. You can then get 7 hours of playback time and an additional 24 hours with the charging case (31 total hours), which is still respectable.

To test these claims, I left the earbuds playing music at 50% volume with ANC on and they needed to go back into the case after just over 7 hours, which is accurate.

Compared to competing rivals, the JBuds Pods ANC boast longer battery life. For context, with ANC on, the EarFun Air 2 NCs have a 6-hour battery life and 27 hours with the charging case, while the Soundpeats Air5 Pros have a 7.5-hour battery life and 37.5 hours with the case. Heck, this is even better than the pricier Sony WF-C710Ns (30 hours) and the Bose QuietComforts (31.5 hours).

With ANC off, the Air 2 NCs can last up to 9 hours (40 hours with charging case) and, again, the WF-C710Ns fall short of the JBuds Pods ANCs with just 33.5 hours total with a charging case. If you want a pair of earbuds that don’t make you worry you’re going to run out of juice while out and about, I’d highly recommend the JBuds Pods ANCs.

The JBuds Pods ANC feature quick charging, and JLab says that charging the buds for 10 minutes yields 2 hours of playback time. Also, the case is compatible with wireless charging. I was able to use my Google Pixel 7 Pro’s Battery Share feature to charge the case as well as a wireless charging pad in the office.

JLab JBuds Pods ANC review: Verdict

If you want a pair of earbuds that sound great and don’t break the bank, then get the JLab JBuds Pods ANC. I found these earbuds very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, and I love that they look pricier than they actually are, thanks to the matte finish.

They also boast long battery life and come with a user-friendly companion app for EQ customization — and you’ll need it because they don’t sound great straight out of the box. With the EQ adjusted, though? The 11mm drivers do a fantastic job of making most genres sound lovely. However, it’s worth noting that the earbuds don’t have aptX or LDAC support and wear detection, if that has an impact on your purchasing decisions.

Overall, the JBuds Pods ANCs will keep you happy for a long time. They’re awesome for music and the long battery life will have you listening for hours and hours.