The JLab Go Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds fit securely, most of the time, and have a decent level of sweat, water and dust resistance, all ideal for general UK riding conditions. The sound quality is pretty good, too, for the money.
I spend a lot of my day with some kind of headphones or earphones connected, whether I'm at my desk, on the school run or tinkering with stuff around the house, and I certainly don't scrimp on the price, with most sets coming in at hundreds of pounds as I want my music and movies to sound as good as they possibly can.
Hence, I was a little sceptical about how the sound would be out of a set of buds costing just £29.99. It ain't bad, though.
> Buy now: JLab Go Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds for £27.99 from ebay
Straight out of the case they sound a bit tinny, but using the touch sensors found on the outer body of each bud you scroll through three equalizer settings: JLab Signature, Balanced and Bass Boost, the latter certainly giving a bit more oomph to tunes for those hard efforts or interval sessions without any noticeable distortion.
For this sort of money, I wasn't expecting any form of noise cancellation, which is good because there isn't any, but the buds do keep a decent amount of the outside noise out. If you are riding on the road, you can still hear your music, voices on the radio or podcasts without issues, but you are also not completely isolated from what is going on around you.
The buds can be worn independently, so you can just have one in while you are riding if you prefer.
Via the touch sensors you can also control volume and track selection, play, pause and so on. They're quite easy to use when walking or standing still but can be a bit of a faff when on the move as vibration from the road means you can quite often activate the wrong command.
You can answer phone calls on them too, and the microphone isn't bad as long as you stop riding, otherwise things are a bit wind disrupted.
When it comes to the fit, I found the JLabs very comfortable – barely noticeable, in fact. They come with three sizes of bud covers to dial in the fit to your ears.
As you can see from the pics, the Go Air Sports are designed to loop over your ears, and they do so securely, especially on turbo sessions or riding on the road; on some gravel trails they did vibrate out at times – and pushing them back in could activate the touch sensors – but the times it happened were few and far between.
The buds themselves are IP55 rated for both dust and water which is ideal for exercising, especially in terms of sweating on the turbo. Those ratings only count for the earbuds, though, not the case, so if you are carrying that in your pocket or rucksack, watch out for rain.
Battery life is impressive. You get eight hours for each bud per charge, and the charged case will provide another 24 hours. All you need to do is place the buds into the case to top them up, and the case comes with its own USB cable.
Comparing them with recently tested headphones, the JLabs are priced competitively.
For instance, the Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro True Wireless Earphones that Ed tested are £53.87.
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He was happy with the overall sound quality and ease of use, but with neither silicone ear sections nor the loop of the JLabs, they aren't that secure once you start sweating.
The set I generally use on the bike are Sony's WI C100 In-Ear Wireless Headphones, which cost around £35. They give a slightly better sound than the JLabs, for my liking, but while they stay put in the ears they aren't quite as comfortable, what with having the cable joining them hanging around your neck.
Conclusion
Overall, in terms of sound performance these are pretty good, offering deep enough base without any distortion, and clear vocals. The fit is ideal for cycling as for the majority of time they are secure and barely noticeable. The touch controls aren't the easiest to use on the move, but that isn't a problem restricted to the JLabs.
Verdict
Decent quality budget headphones with good sound and resistance to the elements
Make and model: jlab GO Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
JLab says, "Everyday sport true wireless with 32 hours playtime in our smallest package."
I rate these as a secure and comfortable set of earbuds with good sound quality.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
INCLUDES: GO Air Sport True Wireless Earbuds, Charging Case with Integrated Charging Cable, 3 Sets Gel Tips, JLab Two Year Warranty.
AUDIO
Speaker: Φ6mm Dynamic driver
Output: 103 +/- 3db
Microphone: MEMS -42dB+/-3dB
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
Impedance: 16Ω
BATTERY
Battery Life: 8+ hours in each earbud
Total Playtime: 32+ hours total
Standby: 60+ hours
Input Power: 40mA
Earbud Battery: 43mAh lithium polymer
Earbud Charge Time: 2.2 hours (in case)
Charging Case Battery: 350mAh lithium polymer rechargeable
Case Charge Time: 2 Hours
Charge Plug: Type-A
BLUETOOTH
Version: Bluetooth 5.1
Range: 30+ ft.
Protocols: HSP / HFP / A2DP /AVRCP
Codecs: SBC
GENERAL
Weight: 57.5g (earbuds + case), 6.2g per earbud, 45.1g charging case
IP Rating: IP55 (earbuds only)
Warranty: 2 year warranty
Rate the product for quality of construction:
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for value:
6/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Good sound quality and a secure fit.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Great fit while on the move.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Touch sensors aren't the easiest to use on the move.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
They are a better priced package than the Tronsmart earbuds recently tested, and stack up well against my similarly priced Sonys.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
They're a good choice for the money: the sound quality is good, and for exercising the fit is very good. The touch sensors take a bit of getting used to, but it is hardly a deal breaker.
Age: 44 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
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