JBL Live Beam 3

JBL has for several years, in my opinion, offered the world's most affordable in-ear headphones with a couple of different models. For over a year now, it has been the JBL Live Pro 2 for £99.99 that has been the absolute best buy, all categories, when the price is weighed into the equation - and now that JBL Harman is returning with a new series of 2024 headphones, it is of course time for me to put them in the test bench.

First up is the JBL Live Beam 3, designed like the Live Pro 2 or Tour Pro 2 with the now iconic Airpods stem, which in this case houses microphones for the call audio and the headphones' active noise cancellation. The stem is covered by a chrome casing while the headphones themselves are covered by a sort of matte rubber surface and they look and feel expensive when I unpack them from the included charging case. As with the Tour Pro 2, the case that charges the headphones has been fitted with a two-inch (small?) OLED display that lets you set which EQ setting you want to use, which disc, song and artist you want to listen to, as well as the volume, answer calls and activate or deactivate the transparency mode. When it came to the Tour Pro 2, I described this display as a gimmick, but after using the headphones for a year and given that JBL has improved the display itself, the touch functionality and increased the number of settings that can be made directly on the charging case, I am prepared to change my mind.

I use in-ear headphones almost exclusively at the gym and not having to carry my phone in my shorts pocket and instead being able to carry with me the clearly lighter, clearly smaller, clearly more flexible little case that weighs 82 grams - to be able to control the headphones that are in the skull - is smooth and sensible. The fact that the inbuilt small screen does not affect the excellent battery life also makes the function itself easier to like than ever before. With active noise cancellation enabled, each charge lasts ten hours in these headphones with 32 hours in the case, and if you use them without ANC, they last 12 hours per charge with 36-37 hours of battery life in the box. That's the reference class, best in the whole product segment along with Jabra's top models.

The Live Beam 3 houses large drivers measuring ten millimetres and this, as in the case of the Technics AZ80 and Jabra Elite 10, means that the amount of bass boost used, or discernible from the natural depth via the larger drivers, is minimal. Instead, there's a very natural bottom end here, never sounding strained or boosted, but rather airy and snappy in a way that few headphones in this price range can even dream of competing with. On top of that, the character is that JBL warmth and playfulness that I always, always, always love. The midrange is warm and smooth without losing control while the treble is clearly high-resolution and crystal clear without ever becoming sharp. It doesn't matter if I'm playing Sting's "Seven Days" or "Kascade" by the prog gods of Animal as Leaders - the Live Beam 3 sounds just as good no matter what kind of music I crank up, and that's a versatility not many other headphones in this price range can boast.

Even the ANC is furiously good, here. The only headphone I've listened to that has more effective active noise cancellation is the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra, which costs £50 more and is instead worse in most respects than JBL's new one. All other in ear headphones that I have tested in recent years (36 pairs, to be exact) are trumped by the ANC in Live Beam 3, which in addition to this also impresses when it comes to the sound of conversation. My voice is perceived as richly natural by those I call while those I talk to always sound good, to my ears. The transparency mode is also very good and regarding all these important features, I have overall zero complaints.

Great design, great ergonomics, great battery life, great noise cancellation, great sound at an incredibly competitive price. There really is no in ear headphone on the market today for £180 that can compete with the whole offered by Live Beam 3. JBL is on top, again.