Why You Can Trust CNET Meet JBL's New Live 3 Earbuds With a Touch Display in the Charging Case
Due to ship this summer, the new JBL Live 3 series will come in three different styles: Beam, Buds and Flex. All of them feature a 1.45-inch LED touch display in their charging cases.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Last year JBL introduced its $250 Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which featured a "smart" charging case with a touch display. I thought the mini display was a bit of a gimmick, but it does act as a remote for your earbuds, which can be useful at times.
Now JBL is bringing that same tricked-out charging case to its three new Live 3 earbuds: the Live Buds 3, Live Beam 3 and Live Flex 3. Though they'll cost $200, which is pricey, that's $50 less than what the Tour Pro 2 buds cost. JBL announced at CES 2024 that they'll ship this summer.
Read more: Best of Show CES 2024
Here's a look at the three new models. As I said, they share the same case and have very similar features, including:
- IP55 water- and dust-resistance (they can withstand a sustained spray of water).
- Adaptive noise canceling.
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio.
- JBL Spatial Sound, six microphones (three in each bud).
- Multipoint Bluetooth pairing.
- Wireless charging.
- Support for the LDAC audio codec.
JBL Live Beam 3
The Live Beam 3 earbuds have a noise-isolating design and look similar to the Live Buds Pro 2, which I like a lot, especially when they go on sale for $100. The Live Beam 3 are essentially JBL's AirPods Pro 2 competitor and should eventually sell for closer to $150. Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn't give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it's around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They'll come in black or silver.
The JBL Live Beam 3. They'll come in black too.
JBL Live Buds 3
These are the successor to JBL's Live Free 2 earbuds, and they also have a noise-isolating design but are stick-free for folks who want buds that are shaped like buds. They have 10mm drivers and offer up to 12 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn't give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it's around nine hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They'll come in black or silver.
The JBL Live Buds 3 will also come in black.
JBL Live Flex 3
The Live Flex 3 earbuds have an open design and are targeted at folks who want a set of buds more like Apple's AirPods 3 (since they have an open design, their noise canceling won't be as good as what you get with the noise-isolating models). Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn't give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it's around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They'll come in black or silver.
The Live Flex 3 will also be available in silver.
When all the new models are released this summer, I'll let you know how they sound and how good their noise-canceling and voice-calling performance is.
