JBL’s Live Flex 3 Wireless EarBuds are on the case

We’re now officially awash in true wireless earbuds, so any new entrants to an already crowded field have to pack some pretty sparkly features if they’re going to stand out from the crowd. JBL’s latest, the Live Flex 3, adds a new wrinkle by squeezing a clever colour touchscreen onto their charging case. But is it enough to make the Live Flex 3 a standout set of ear-gear? Well, there’s plenty more.

The Live Flex 3 is an open fit along similar lines to Apple’s Airpods and sports a stem and bud design. The big change comes in the form of the charging case which is super compact and has a 1.45″ touchscreen that offers a bunch of nifty controls independent of your paired playback hardware.

The charging case is a good bit of practical design and feels very pocketable. In addition to the small touchscreen, it also has a manual pairing button and a corner hole for attaching a lanyard.

The buds sport a rounded stem that helps put their Mics closer to one’s gob (this translates into clear calls and digital assistants being far less confused). Their driver housings have a rounded organic shape and were a comfortable fit for my ears. That said, there were no silicone tips in the box which meant that the right-hand bud sometimes slipped out of my ear.

Tapping the charging case touchscreen sees the Live Flex 3 spring to life. The screen starts up with a slide to unlock the lock screen whose wallpaper can be customised using JBL’s smartphone app. Swiping through the options on the touchscreen gives you access to playback, volume, noise cancelling, spatial audio, and EQ controls. The controls on offer are fairly comprehensive, and using the touchscreen’s torch function I was able to find the bud that annoyingly kept falling out of my ear.

Being able to see the remaining battery life at a glance is super handy, as is being able to see the current time. While putting the Live Flex 3 through its paces I also found out that the case shows incoming calls, and allowed me to answer or reject incoming them. Alas, no caller ID info was displayed, but as I was wearing the buds, their case was in my pocket and not having to fumble around reaching for my phone was a definite bonus.

While it’s easy to be impressed with the capabilities of the charging case, the JBL companion app (iOS/Android) definitely rates a mention. Unlike the apps from a lot of other ear-gear makers, it’s packed with settings. These include a personalised audio test so you customise the sound to suit your specific hearing. The touch controls can be customised and there’s a 10-band equaliser and comprehensive controls for ANC and hear-through modes.

LDAC is also supported which is a real boon for listening to hi-res audio. The Live Flex 3 lasted for just over 8 hours of use, and by turning off ANC, I managed to extend that to just over 12 hours. Add to this the not inconsiderable fact that their case can supply three full charges, and the Live Flex 3 is an ideal travel companion. Last but not least, their case also supports wireless charging, which doubles its handiness.

In addition to their long-lived batteries, the Live Flex 3 also did a standout job of blocking out background noise thanks to its use of multiple microphones in each earbud as well as adaptive algorithms to tweak ANC levels in real-time, making them ideal for anyone doing air travel.

The Live Flex 3 packs 12mm dynamic drivers that deliver plenty of punch. This isn’t all that surprising given they’re tuned to the Harman (JBL’s parent company) Curve. The low end on offer is surprisingly solid and reasonably precise. Their overall clarity is good and they delivered clean highs and crisp (but warm vocals). All told, their sound has plenty of energy but feels clean, making the Live Flex 3 ideal for use in the gym or on a plane. Add in the EQ and custom audio profiles tailored to your hearing and there’s plenty of ear-pleasing audio goodness on offer with these buds.

Their charging case is a real highlight. Not only does it provide a single interface for using the buds across multiple devices, it also gives you a good level of tweaking with non-Android/iOS devices that can’t run the companion app. Excellent usability, a decent $299 sticker price and crucially, decent audio make the Live Flex 3 a winner.

https://www.jbl.co.nz/LIVEFLEX3.html