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Hands-on review: JBL Reflect Aero earbuds
Thu, 15th Dec 2022
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Today, earphones are an integral part of our lives, especially during a sport session. Indeed, having the right equipment, such as comfortable sportswear and headphones, can change your motivation and make your run even more enjoyable.

To meet these needs, big brands continue to unveil new offerings, each more innovative than the last.

JBL has recently released its JBL Reflect Aero, true wireless Noise Cancelling active earbuds.

Overview

Available in black, teal, or white, the exercise-oriented JBL Reflect Aero earphones have outstanding noise cancellation and a superb IP68 rating, which means they can survive against dust and up to 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes.

The sound is bass-oriented,  and you can customize it to your liking via a comprehensive equalizer application.

What’s in the box?

  • JBL Reflect Aero earbuds
  • Three sizes of ear tips
  • Three sizes of POWERFINS enhancers
  • Type-C USB charging cable
  • Charging case
  • Warranty
  • Product Quick Start Guide

Features

Internally, dynamic 6.8mm drivers give you a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. In addition, the earbuds support Bluetooth 5.2 and are based on AAC and SBC codecs.

The IP68 rating means that you can easily clean them, and the rain and your sweat will not be a problem.

The sound is powerful and energetic, and you can, on the application, select between 5 preset settings; jazz, vocal, bass, club and studio.

Also, in addition to the noise cancellation mode, there is an Ambient Aware sound mode and a TalkThru mode, so you can set the sound the way you want it: if you wish to hear your surroundings or be in your bubble.

Also, you can control your earbuds using susceptible touch controls, so you can easily do what you want. For example, on the right earbud, you can select to pause or play the music, to skip it or skip it backwards. On the other earbud, you can choose the mode you want: ANC, Ambient or Talk through.

Battery

One crucial element in all electronic products is their battery life. So let me talk about this point.

The battery life will differ depending on how you use it and whether or not you activate the ANC (Active Noise Cancellation).

The maximum music play time with ANC off is about 8 hours, while with the ANC on, it is 7 hours. JBL is very strong on this point because it is rare to find headphones with such significant autonomy while having the ANC active.

In terms of playtime, the maximum is 24 hours.

All this is based on just 2 hours of charging (from the empty battery).

So, with the JBL Reflect Aero, you can easily stay connected and immersed in your sport or whatever you do with it.

Verdict

I find these headphones very well made. The sound is qualitative, and the waterproof feature makes them even more unique. 
There are ideal if you do a lot of sport or often go outside in tricky weather conditions. Otherwise, they can suit anybody who needs good comfortable earbuds.