A Familiar Name Enters the Budget ANC Earphone Arena: JBL Tune 230NC Review
The world of affordable true wireless earphones (TWS) is getting increasingly crowded, with brands vying for attention through compelling features and competitive pricing. Enter JBL, a name traditionally associated with premium audio, making a bold move into this segment with the JBL Tune 230NC. This headset boasts active noise cancellation (ANC), app support, and promises excellent battery life, all for a price that sits alongside strong competitors like the OnePlus Buds Z2 and Oppo Enco Air 2 Pro. But does the JBL Tune 230NC have enough to stand out in this competitive landscape? Let’s dive into the review and find out.
Design and Features: A Familiar Aesthetic with Modern Amenities
The JBL Tune 230NC follows the classic JBL design language, featuring an unmistakably bold logo on both the charging case and earpieces. This isn’t a revolutionary design, but it’s certainly not unattractive. The earpieces, equipped with stems housing the microphones, offer a comfortable fit for extended listening sessions. While not reaching premium territory, the overall aesthetic is functional and pleasingly solid.
The charging case is a compact and convenient companion, easily fitting into your pocket alongside other essentials. Three indicator lights provide a clear visual indication of the case’s battery level, and a USB Type-C port situated at the rear ensures a modern charging experience. The sales package includes a USB Type-A to Type-C cable and three different sizes of silicone ear tips for a customizable fit.
The earpieces themselves feature indicator lights for connectivity status, alongside touch-sensitive zones at the top of each stem. The Tune 230NC boasts an IPX4 rating for water resistance, ensuring peace of mind against splashes and sweat. Dual microphones are present on each earpiece, serving both ANC functionality and clear voice calls. However, a notable omission is the absence of wear detection, preventing the automatic play and pause features that many users find convenient.
JBL Headphones App: Customization and Control at Your Fingertips
The JBL Tune 230NC can be further fine-tuned using the JBL Headphones app, available on both Android and iOS platforms. The app serves as a central hub for controlling and personalizing your listening experience.
You can:
- Modify the touch controls: Customize the single and double tap actions for each earpiece to suit your preferences.
- Experiment with equalizer presets: Choose from a selection of pre-defined equalizers, or create your own custom sound profiles to match your musical tastes.
- Adjust ANC and ambient sound modes: Seamlessly toggle between noise cancellation, ambient sound, and standard listening.
- Monitor battery levels: Stay updated on the battery status of both the charging case and earpieces.
- Power off the earpieces: Control the power state of your headphones directly within the app.
While the app offers a comprehensive range of features, there are limitations when it comes to customization. The app’s control sets, designed for playback, ANC, and volume, cannot be individually adjusted within the set. This lack of granular control makes remembering the specific tap gestures for each set slightly challenging. The single-tap gesture, in particular, proved prone to accidental activation, sometimes even when simply removing or placing the earbuds in your ears.
Beyond the app’s customization options, the Tune 230NC also supports the native voice assistant on your smartphone, as well as Alexa (requiring an additional setup). The Find My Buds feature proved quite useful in locating misplaced earphones, emitting an audible signal that made them easy to track down.
Specifications and Performance: Balanced Sound and Functional ANC
The JBL Tune 230NC features 6mm dynamic drivers with a frequency response range of 20-20,000Hz, ensuring a wide range of audio frequencies can be reproduced. The headset utilizes Bluetooth 5.2 for a stable connection, supporting both SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs. Active noise cancellation and Google Fast Pair support are also part of the package, further enhancing the user experience.
The Tune 230NC delivers a balanced and comfortable sonic experience. Tracks like "Over Here" by Mk.gee showcase a pleasing blend of lows, mids, and highs. The synth elements in this track are presented with clarity and fullness, but without sounding overly aggressive or sharp, making it ideal for extended listening sessions.
The Tune 230NC’s audio performance also shines when it comes to soundstage. Listening to "With Arambol 2" by Astropilot revealed a well-defined and spacious soundstage, allowing for easy identification of the directional placements of various instruments throughout the track. The bass, while not overly aggressive, is refined and delivers a satisfying depth without ever feeling weak or inadequate.
While the Tune 230NC’s sound quality is commendable, bass enthusiasts might find the lack of powerful punch a slight disappointment, especially when comparing it to options such as the OnePlus Buds Z2. However, the Tune 230NC offers a clean, well-tuned sound that is well-suited for comfortable listening across various genres and tempos.
The Tune 230NC’s active noise cancellation is functional, especially when compared to other affordable TWS options. It effectively reduces background noise in indoor settings, making it easier to focus on your music. Outdoor environments pose a significant challenge, and the Tune 230NC’s ANC isn’t as effective in blocking out the cacophony of urban environments.
While it helps to make music more enjoyable in these environments, it does not completely eliminate ambient noise. Construction sounds, machinery hum, and wind are still perceptible, albeit at a slightly reduced volume. The ambient sound mode, unfortunately, suffers from an artificial quality and excessively amplifies wind noise, making it less desirable than simply removing the earphones for brief conversations.
Connectivity and call quality remain satisfactory on the Tune 230NC. The earphones maintain a stable connection at distances up to 4 meters from the source device. Indoors, calls remained clear and easy to understand, while increasing the volume produced acceptable results when moving outdoors.
Battery Life: An Endurance Champion
Battery life is a notable strength of the Tune 230NC. The earpieces offer an impressive runtime of approximately 6.5 hours with ANC enabled, at moderate volume levels. The charging case extends the overall battery life to around 26 hours with three additional charges. Fully charging the earpieces takes about two hours, and a quick 10-minute charge can provide two hours of listening time.
Verdict: A Solid Entry in a Competitive Market
JBL’s entry into the budget TWS market with the Tune 230NC is a welcome addition. While the ANC performance falls short of some higher-end options, the Tune 230NC compensates with balanced audio, a useful app, excellent battery life, and comfortable fit.
Despite its slightly higher price point within this category, the Tune 230NC presents itself as a worthy option for users seeking a reliable and enjoyable listening experience within a budget of around Rs. 6,000.
The competitive landscape in this segment is undeniably crowded. Options like the OnePlus Buds Z2 and even the slightly more affordable JBL Tune 130NC offer compelling alternatives. Ultimately, the decision is yours, but the Tune 230NC deserves a serious look if you’re seeking a well-rounded, budget-friendly TWS experience.
It’s a strong entry that, while perhaps not groundbreaking, will certainly contribute to JBL’s growing presence within this competitive market.
