JBL Live 670NC review: Rich sound with playing for 65 hours, although ANC is not too strong.

Summary

When the buds were introduced at CES 2024, the truly wireless Live series with smart charging case from JBL may have been the most talked about, but the Live 670NC on-ear headphones are equally worthy of attention due to their reasonable pricing and promise.

A crazily extensive feature set that, for the most part, performs really well is included with these on-ear headphones that cost $129! Adaptive active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio, multipoint technology, Personi-Fi 2.0 sound personalization, spatial audio, and a variety of customization options are all things that are being discussed here. Not to mention some of the most extensive playtime available in the aforementioned genre.

Other flaws in the design of the Live 670NC include the fact that it is quite uncomfortable and has a significant impact on the ANC. Should their acoustic qualities be considered more important than their shortcomings? In order to discover more, continue scrolling.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: PRICE & AVAILABILITY

Priced at $129, £119, or AU$199, the JBL Live 670NC is available for purchase. They have a more reasonable price point than the Sony WH-CH720N, which makes them more accessible to consumers.

It is possible to purchase them via the JBL website in addition to other online shops such as Amazon and Best Buy. Black, blue, sandstorm, and white are the four hues that may be selected from the available possibilities. Despite the fact that certain regions have fewer color possibilities than others,.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: DESIGN

Priced at $129, £119, or AU$199, the JBL Live 670NC is available for purchase. They have a more reasonable price point than the Sony WH-CH720N, which makes them more accessible to consumers.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: FEATURES

In the past, I had the Sony Headphones Connect app selected as the top companion app for the category. Now, that distinction is conferred on the JBL Headphones app due to the fact that it is both straightforward and packed with a multitude of features. To facilitate fast activation, everything is arranged in a logical manner and organized on a single page.

This is a list of everything that can be found inside the application: Auto Power Off, control customisation, Equalization, Low Volume Dynamic Equalization, Max Volume Limiter, Personal Sound Amplification, Smart Audio & Video, Sound Balance, Spatial Sound, VoiceAware, and voice assistance are some of the features that are included in the Ambient Sound Control (ANC/Ambient Aware/TalkThru) feature set. This does not take into account the many settings that are concealed within certain features.

The Live 670NC is compatible with a variety of digital wireless technologies. You have Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio, multipoint, which allows you to couple to two devices at the same time, and Google Fast Couple, which just requires one touch. The connection is reliable and can reach a distance of up to fifty feet.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: CONTROLS

In order to provide you with a variety of options for controlling the headphones, the Live 670NC wireless headphones are equipped with physical, touch, and voice controls. Every button may be pressed in response to a push. The spring-loaded toggle on the power slider provides a satisfying amount of feel while it is recoiling. The strong mic array that JBL offers exhibits great speech recognition when utilizing Google Assistant and Siri for voice commands that do not require touching the device.

A touch panel that allows for playback and call control is located on the right earcup. This touch panel takes many inputs, including single tap, multi-tap, and long hold. It is not up to standard in terms of performance and hardly recognizes double and triple taps because of this.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: SOUND QUALITY

It is recommended that you experiment with the sound characteristics of these headphones in order to get the best possible audio presentation. The headphones create a pleasing combination of lows, mids, and highs. In order to get superior results, I strongly suggest activating Personi-Fi, which is JBL’s sound profile maker.

The song “One More Time” by Daft Punk had a significant frequency response, which provided my ears with a punchy and detailed sound. Both the auto-tuned vocals and the minimalist bassline had a lot of kick to them, and the automatic tuning was really clear. Additionally, percussion instruments such as the shaker and hi-hats played a significant role in the music. In Justin Timberlake’s song “My Favorite Drug,” the funky bass and rhythmic hand claps were replicated quite effectively, and they inspired foot taps throughout the whole listening experience. I was really liking the effervescent feelings that were present in the song.

Compared to the default sound profile of JBL, my Personi-Fi profile was far better. On the majority of tunes, it alleviated the low end and brought attention to the vocals. Highs and lows were amplified when the Low Volume Dynamic Equalization was activated.

Bass, Club, Extreme Bass, Vocal, Studio, and Jazz are the six presets that may be achieved with the Equalization (EQ) option. There are half of these that are worth looking into. While the Club setting added more thump to modern music, the Jazz preset demonstrated superior low-frequency control compared to any of the presets that focused on bass, and the Studio preset provided the best balanced sound.

Sadly, this was my first experience with the JBL Spatial Audio mode, and it did not leave a favorable impression. Movie mode, music mode, and game mode are the three modes that may be selected. Each of them brought about a decline in sound quality. In the music mode, the vocals sounded quite hollow, and the bass was extremely inflated. There was a lack of brightness in the special effects while moving between the movie and game modes.

During the process of viewing videos, the latency mode known as Smart Audio & Video will enhance the quality of the audio or the lip synchronization. Performance on both ends was improved as a result.

Both Apple (AAC) and Android (SBC) handsets performed faultlessly when it came to streaming. The leading music streaming services did not have any hiccups while playing tracks. As a result of the platform’s compatibility with sophisticated audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio, users will get the most benefit from using Tidal.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: ANC

It is not always the case that on-ear headphones provide the very greatest noise isolation. One could believe that including active noise cancellation (ANC) into the mix would assist decrease background interference; nevertheless, the performance of the Live 670NC’s version does not meet quality requirements.

At maximum volume, regular ANC is able to block out seventy percent of the noises coming from the outside world. There is just a 5% increase in effectiveness when using adaptive ANC. The sounds of birds singing, vehicles driving down the street, and people conversing could be heard from a distance of several feet before me. My listening sessions on Spotify were marred by the high-frequency noises, which were quite loud and irritating.

Because JBL allows you to utilize ANC in wired mode, you can extend the life of your battery while still benefiting from some noise cancellation.

In addition to that, there is an option called Leakage Compensation that will “check your leakage status” in order to automatically alter the sound quality. All is good with it.

It is the dual-transparency mode that is exclusive to JBL that is the true reward. While Ambient Aware raises your situational awareness by recording incidental sounds at a high level, TalkThru reduces the volume to 10% so that you can hear conversations more clearly. When I was working in the same office as my wife, this proved to be really helpful.

Don’t put too much stock in the quality of the call. The responses I got from customers and friends were complicated and contradictory. During conversations that took place outside, there was a lot of wind and noise. The clarity of voice calls was improved inside; however, this was only the case when the speaker was in an exceptionally calm setting.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: BATTERY LIFE

The Live 670NC has a very long battery life. A full charge allows for up to 65 hours of usage and up to 50 hours of active noise cancellation playtime. In terms of their ANC duration, the Sony WH-CH720N is superior than the Sennheiser Accentum, while the Sennheiser Accentum is about equivalent to the Sony WH-CH720N. Even after a full week of testing, which consisted of five hours each day, I still had fifteen hours of listening time remaining. Battery life was reduced by about five hours as a result of the use of power-hungry multipoint and spatial audio. If this is something that bothers you, you should know that a simple charge that takes just five minutes may provide you four more hours of listening to music. This is quite close to matching the quick charging pace of the Sony WH-1000XM5, which promises to be able to play back three hours of audio from a charge that just takes three minutes.

JBL LIVE 670NC REVIEW: VERDICT

In a design that is both lightweight and robust, the Live 670NC combines a wide range of functionalities with a sound that is pleasing. The voices and instruments are distributed uniformly over the spectrum in order to achieve the desired tonal balance. Highly effective connection ensures that the headphones continue to perform at a high level. Having a battery life that can last for up to 65 hours is also incredible.

It is unfortunate that these headphones have a greater number of shortcomings than they have virtues. While ANC and spatial audio are advertised as big attractions, none of them really live up to the hoopla that surrounds them. After a time, the discomfort that was brought on by the strong clamp force that was placed on my skull became intolerable, and the quality of the calls might have been improved as well.

The fact that the Live 670NC headphones are reasonably priced is one of the reasons why you should consider purchasing them in the future. The addition of all of these capabilities, together with the alluring sound and extended playtimes, makes the purchase worthwhile; nevertheless, this is only the case if you are willing to accept the negatives.