JBL
JBL E45BT: a Bluetooth headset as adolescent as its target
Aprox. 77€ - see price -
With its E45BT Bluetooth on-ear headset, JBL promises "the signature JBL sound directly in your ears" (promised, it does not take small departmental) packaged in a nice, comfortable, ergonomic and elegant gift package.
Our review
Ergonomics
Clear colors (black, white, blue or red), flexible headband covered with "mesh" fabric, on-ear pads and plastic ear cups with the contract shiny seal: no doubt, the JBL E45BT is a helmet resolutely dedicated to youth.
The E45BT has a very light weight and a construction that is both flexible and robust. On this frank and unadorned design are unclean finishes, evidenced by the assembly marks or the many visible screws.
Regarding the weight, therefore, the on-ear is absolutely not felt on the skull. Regarding the morphology on the other hand, its design presents an annoying tendency to press at the level of the tragus or the anthelix of the ear, it is according to, which according to the user can prove more or less annoying to the long. For example, we were able to wear this helmet for several hours (up to 6 hours in a row) without being unduly inconvenienced, by regularly repositioning the earbuds on the pavilions. The hoop is suitable for small and large cranial jigs, but they will still deplore that an additional notch is not available.
On board the right atrium are the control buttons, appearance and invoice just as juvenile, and not very different to the touch despite the growths supposed to indicate their role. The on / off switch never comes to a stop: it is destabilizing at first, and then we remember that there is a more serious fault and we say that we should survive this small change in his habits. Below are the three classic buttons to put the music in play / pause, change the volume and skip to the next / previous track. Note: navigation is not done by pressing the central button two / three times, but by long pressing the +/- button.
The last button activates the Bluetooth pairing. In this regard, note that the headset can connect to two sources simultaneously, an eminently practical function that we would like to see adopted by all Bluetooth devices. To switch from one to the other source, however, a dedicated control point: you must pause the first then launch the second, and vice versa (incoming calls have priority). The latency of rocker is great, between ten seconds and one minute. When a device is disconnected, you may have to reconnect to the rest.
If, as the name suggests, the E45BT is a Bluetooth headset, it does not leave wired users on the side of the road - unlike other manufacturers more and more. The cable, anti-tangle (its materials and its sheath are studied to tangle as little as possible in our pockets and our bags), is provided with a remote control and a microphone.
Autonomy surpasses the promise of 16 hours to tu quite naturally the twenty hours at 75% of the maximum volume. The hands-free kit, as too often with Bluetooth headsets, very poorly translates the voice of the user (in a deaf manner and interrupted by noisegate), in noisy as in calm environment.
Audio
The bass, clearly highlighted without being bloated either, lack sharpness. Although they are very round, a semblance of mastery still allows them not to hinder the rest of the spectrum. The lack of precision of the membranes is also found in the low mids: when the instrumentation becomes too rich, the membranes are quickly overwhelmed around 300-600 Hz and struggle to translate the details of the mix. The withdrawal of frequencies between 200 Hz and 1 kHz is not obvious: the low mids are present and enough to create a completely acceptable immersion; on the other hand, the contrast highlights the voices and the bass in a subtle way. The voices are very intelligible, mainly thanks to the boost between 1 and 2 kHz which, moreover, makes the guitar casseroles and the peaches of brass slightly aggressive. Lastly, the treble does not enjoy a great level of detail, but remains legible. No sibilance to report, but a slightly hissing side of the cymbals.
Despite the very rough rendering and the lack of reactivity of the membranes, we can see all the frequency ranges. The good separation of the channels also offers a good understanding of the stereophonic scene and ensures a fairly clear positioning of the different instruments and sound speakers. The distortion is below half a percent throughout the spectrum, at 94 dB SPL, barely noticeable even at high listening levels.
The latency induced by the Bluetooth link is around 150 ms, an average value. The audio / video lag is therefore large, but remains bearable for those who are not too sensitive to it. As always, we advise you to use software that can adjust this difference between image and sound, as much as possible, like VLC.
Conclusion
If the juvenile JBL E45BT is not free from defects, it still shows good potential thanks to qualities - multipoint connectivity, autonomy, complete controls, design - which are just waiting to be improved to become real assets.
Reviews
PERfect!
These are actually pretty good! The are ON-ear headphones so be sure, you know that before buying. They are suuuuper lightweight - couldn't believe it. They don't hurt the crown of my head even after a full day of wearing them. The sound is also very good. To me. People differ in sound preference but for me they are great. They also swivel so they are comfortable around the ears. Not too snug.
I like that they have the cord in case BT isn't an option (plane). I use them not every day for 8hrs straight but here and there and so far I had to charge them only once in a month. And that goes also very fast.
Overall, I can only recommend these if you're after light-weight, BT, rechargeable headphones with a great sound. Also, the BT has not cut out on me ONCE where headphones mentioned below all did!
I have tried:
BOSE quiet comfort, but the ANC pressure on my ear was just too overwhelming and uncomfortable. Cut out all surrounding noise though.
SONY h.ear: These I almost kept but then they just were too uncomfortable, wearing all day and the ears also got sweaty.
PANASONIC ErgoFit In-Ear Earbuds: Just plain aweful. The earpiece (and yes, I put in correctly) kept slipping out regarless of the size attachment.
PIONEER Wireless Headphone (SE-MS7BT-K): Too heavy and BT cut out in short distance away from my mac.
Hope this review helps some of you.
JBL wireless headphone review
I bought these headphones for my wife as she likes to listen to music during her workout. They were reasonably priced and seem to be well made. I researched several brands before deciding on these JBL headphones. Beats are the most popular but I did not want to pay more just for the brand name. These headphones are a great substitute with minimal differences in sound quality. I had no issues with the wireless connection to my wife's cell phone. She has used them multiple times and hasn't had any issues with sweat though they are not waterproof by any means. She stated that they are comfortable to wear during her workout and don't fall or slide off. I would definitely recommend these headphones.
Cost-effective replacement for Beats
I bought these to replace my Beats that got stolen. They're not as light weight, and the strap that sits on top of my head isn't as comfortable. However, the swivel earphones are genius! My ears stick out more than normal people's ears so these fit quite comfortably for longer compared to other earphones. They're wonderful quality. They are noise canceling, which helps me focus at work when I need to shut out the other office noises. They are a great price and I love the sound quality. I love that they can be bluetooth or wired. I would defnitely buy these again!
Left ear will stop working eventually.
Bought this headset in March 2018 and five months later the left ear stopped working and the whole headset won't charge all the way. The red light just diseappears (no more blue light).
fits larger heads, barely.
cons: when the battery reaches around 30% it interrupts music with a very annoying beep noise. battery life i decent except that I basically refuse to use them once they start beeping even if there is 30% more battery left. second con: the ear padding covers appear to be melting after about half a year of frequent usage. they're getting gooey and it doesn't wipe away. I'm afraid the fake leather is just going to deteriorate too fast.
other things to watch out for: they just barely fit my very large head. it still causes headphone-wearing fatigue after a few hours but not as bad as other major brands.
pros: sound is good for the price - lows are rich and highs are good enough. middle is very clear. not super bass-heavy, if that's what you're looking for, but it is rich sounding.
I looked for a long time for headphones that wouldn't break the bank and still fit my head, and these fulfill those requirements. for reference, one-size fits most hats never fit me. don't know the actual size though.
Really good sound quality. EDIT one year later: L speaker completely stopped responding. 100% disappointed.
Battery life is really good. I use them when commuting as well as when working at the office. (~ 5 full hours / day)
I appreciate a good isolation level and the one provided by this headset is nice.
Since I use glasses the fit is kinda harsh right where the temples rest since they are on-ear but I knew that before buying them so I'm ok with it. Besides that they provide an excellent fit for me.
Sound quality is good, however compared to my Sennheiser HD202 these are a little bit low on the mid range. The JBL performs really well on the low end and a little high on the high range which will be an issue when used for a long period of time (anyway I take breaks from the headphones from time to time because it's healthy for my ears so I workaround that (Bass: 8 Mid: 6 High: 6 would be my satisfaction level in a scale from 0-10)
EDIT one year later: Since I had given such a good one review for it I'm forced to tell my whole experience.
I'm careful when dealing with my devices: I never never dropped them, used them at a reasonable volume, always carried them within my backpack, etc. etc. I should also say I made exhaustive use of the headphones: work, commute, home, travel you name it. But I was really disappointed when yesterday, out of nowhere, the left speaker stopped working (via bluetooth & cable). I did some google search and found out that it was not a very often issue however there are some mentions of it. Long story short: I tried with another pair of crappy in-ear emergency headset and they worked so the issue was not the laptop nor phone, tried plugging in the cord on / off and nothing, charging (logically nothing to do with it) and also nothing. Cracked them open to see if the left speaker was properly wired and it was.
Got angry, smashed them several times against the floor and threw them into the garbage can.
I can surely say that JBL is a really good brand, I'm not here to blame them for it, but that's why I expected much MUCH more from the headset than only one year of service.
I would NOT recommend at all buying this headset from my personal experience.