JBL Tune 770NC headphones review

Something I’ve always enjoyed about JBL products is that, ultimately, you get what you pay for. Their $100 headsets feel like $100 headsets, and the same goes for their $300 offerings.

The JBL Tune 770NC headphones clock in at around $199 NZD, and they’re worth every penny.

These are in fact headphones

Let’s start with the standard stuff; JBL lists many promises on the packaging, like 70 hours of battery life, 5 minute charging for 3 hours of music, and the ability to grant wishes on alternate Wednesdays. Wait no, that’s a typo, I meant noise cancelling and adaptive ambient sound. Handy, that’s what I was going to wish for anyway.

70 hours of battery life seems like a stretch, but honestly I haven’t hit it. I’m a 2-3 hour commute a day playing music on full volume kinda guy, and they’ve lasted over 2 weeks, even after a day where I left them on and on my desk for several hours. Frankly, whether or not they last longer than that is borderline irrelevant to all but the most extreme use cases; transhemispheric flights and week-long treks in the jungle aside, you’ll be golden.

Obviously the JBL Tune 770NC comes with a 3.5mm audio cable too, so even if you’re out of battery you can plug in. I realise that most of us use our phones for music, most of which no longer have aux ports.Unfortunately, the Tune doesn’t come with a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter, but in fairness most of the phones do, so you should be covered. If not, hey, try that 5 minute charge; I haven’t been able to yet simply because the battery is lasting too long, but will update this review when and if I ever run the things down enough.

Speaking of running, I don’t so I wasn’t going to test how they felt between walking and running and skipping and so on. However, in the spirit of journalistic integrity, I did run for about 35 seconds while wearing them. They held on. They’re pretty comfortable over long periods, and they don’t creak and groan like a lot of headphones do.

But how are they

And on the topic of sound, which you’d think would be more important in a headphone review, they’re good. Not the strongest in the world, nor the loudest, but very good for the price. Even without active noise cancelling they muffle things nice, and with ANC on they are whisper quiet.

As with most smart headphones, there’s an app. I know right, just what you wanted, but hear me out when I say it’s not a bad one. Mostly it’s for changing sound modes, tweaking the noise cancellation, and disabling the Talk Thru or Voice Aware service, which will absolutely pick up someone coughing nearby and immediately pause your music. But on the plus side, it’s quite a small app, and it’s free, so the hassle is minimal. With any luck, you’ll only need to use it once or twice.

An unfortunate issue was that the headphones seem to think that rain is fingers. No, I’m not having a stroke. A couple of raindrops got on the touchpad, and the headset went bananas when I tried to swipe, activating all sorts of features and shenanigans that I frankly didn’t want at 8am on a Tuesday. This is also an issue with other touchpads, though, so not unique to JBL’s headphones. Still irritating; I know umbrellas are useless in Wellington, but there must be a happy alternative?

Well, there is. The JBL Tune 770NC are quite low profile for over-ear headphones, which means if you are also a 34-year-old who wears hoodies all the time, you can actually put your hood up over the headset. This is, in all honesty, a game changer. Normally you end up looking like you’ve got some kind of giant head, but with the Tunes you just look like you’ve got a slightly-too-large head. 

Innovative technology is incredible.

Final Thoughts

A standout feature is how flat they fold for storage and transport. Now I know what you’re thinking: “But Brian, all headphones do that now, this isn’t new?” Well firstly, it’s rude to interrupt. What would your mother say? Second, when was the last time you actually tried to fold headphones down? My everyday set of Sonys fold down, true, but it’s a bulk reduction of maybe 30%; they still don’t fit in a relatively full bag, so I end up wearing them anyway. The JBL Tune 770NC, on the other hand, actually feel flat, and slip into a bag like a thief in the night.

A weird thing to be excited about, to be sure, but a thing I am excited about nonetheless.

Overall the JBL Tune 770NC is a good pair of headphones, accurately priced and with decent features. You’re not getting audiophile levels of quality, but you’re also not spending $900 on them. As I say, you get what you pay for, and at the $200 price point you could do far worse.