When I was checking out the JBL Wave Beam 2 earbuds, I was pretty impressed with the buds given the price point. Now that I have been playing with the Tune Beam 2, I have been trying to work out how best to write this without repeating myself. So instead of doing that, I will cover what makes these buds better to justify twice the price.
What do the buds do well?
Like the Wave model, these are excellent-looking earbuds. They have a classic bud style that looks simple but beautiful. The case is also one where the stem slides into the case. I love these styles of cases, as they always feel like the earbuds will fit nice and snug, even if they can be a shit to clean.
Everything from the case to the earbuds themselves looks and feels premium. I love them.
Then of course they come with heaps of earbud tips and ANC (Active Noise Cancelling). These are super simple to use, and the ANC is fantastic.
The battery life here is a massive winner. With up to 10 hours of music playback with ANC on, these are a nice upgrade. Then the charging case promises about 36 hours of extra charge, though I found it closer to 30, as I had it in ANC mode all the time; that is an absolutely massive amount of battery on a single charge.
What do they do okay?
With three mics on each earbud, the mics sound quality is a significant upgrade from the Wave Beam 2, but it isn’t as good as the higher-end earbuds. It does a great job of decreasing a lot of the background sounds, but the louder and sharper sounds will still come through. They are good, and way too good for their price.
The quality of the sound is a massive upgrade from the Wave Beam 2. I was blasting it way too loud, and the tinniness isn’t anywhere near as bad as the Wave Beam 2. The sharpness of the sounds isn’t quite as good as with, say, the Live Beam 3, but you are paying a fraction of the price here.
Should you get them?
At under $120, these are easily worth it. Bouncing between the Wave Beam and the Tune Beam 2, if you can afford it, the upgrade to the Tune Beam 2 is well worth the money. But honestly, if the max budget is set, whichever you can afford under your budget is good value for money.
At the price, these are fantastic ear buds. They aren't the best ear buds around, but easily worth the price.
