Verdict
The JLab Epic Lab Edition are a agio set of wireless TWS buds with a lot going for them . With multi - level Bluetooth , a wide natural selection of codecs , voguish expression , a well-fixed fit and farsighted barrage fire liveliness , there ’s plenteousness to wish . There ’s also quite a few drawback , let in a case with an awkward shape , a narrow soundstage and only middling ANC . If you ask the features they have , these are a solid option , but if you want the just sound caliber or ANC , you ’d be good to look elsewhere .
Pros
Cons
Introduction
So you desire to buy a twosome ofwireless earbuds – where do you start ? It ’s a amazingly unmanageable question to answer , in no small part due to the blazing kind of options on the market today .
From £ 20 up to £ 1,000 , there ’s an array of bud in all shapes and size from players big and modest , from alphabet soup Amazon vendors up to veteran veterans of the audio world . While some members of the public have antecedence and know what to attend for , there ’s even more who want nothing more than a brace of bud which does it all .
And if you are an iPhone user , the solvent then tends to beAirPods , but for Android users , the office is more complex . JLab does n’t seem to mean that it call for to be , offering a solution with its Epic Air Lab Edition bud , retail for an upper - mid / low - exchange premium price of £ 199.99 .
With hybrid threefold driver , supposedly potent fighting stochasticity cancellation , a companion app , spacial audio compatibility , IP55 rat splashproofing , wireless charging , multipoint Bluetooth and more , the buds do come with many of the mod - cons that are await for the Leontyne Price . As hinted before however , there is alotof competition , so do the Epic bud do enough to realize a place in your pocket and/or spike ?
Design
When it comes to the plan of wireless buds , there ’s a single constituent which almost matters more than the bud themselves , the instance . bud , for the most part , conform to a few standard shapes and radiation pattern in worldwide , and beyond the rum logo or colour pop it can be quite difficult to tell them aside . It ’s in the cases where we see a mountain of the differences , and with JLab that ’s particularly true .
Some of the society ’s endeavour from years past have been a little out there , include one option which had an plant USB transmission line . If there ’s one cardinal sin they have committed in the past , it is in being too large . The best case are simple , slim pick that fit well in a jean pocket .
While the Epic Air Lab Edition bud case might be slim , it is also long , quite foresightful , maybetoolong . Inside it houses a large battery , quad for the two buds and , funnily a USB - C dongle , which think of that it is well - have as a compromise , but these are bud meant for menswear pocket , not fair sex ’s slim jeans . If they really are for everyone , that ’s an important compass point to see .
Another bugbear is the lid , which slue back in steps as might be expected , but which also does n’t slide back far enough to allow the buds to be take away well . combine with the powerful magnets hold the buds in property , and the more or less tricky grip of the buds themselves , taking them out can become a cajolery . If you are walk down the road quickly , to get these out and put them in you ’ll demand to slow down or stop , thereby removing a large part of the convenience factor .
Size is also an issue for the USB - blow dongle , which is also strangely foresightful . It is by all odds convenient for connecting to a computer , however the credit card border the port is so long it makes any neighboring USB - C slots on the computer inconceivable to use . If you are working on a machine with limited USB - C port , it suddenly then becomes an annoying issue .
Beyond these grumbles , the instance is soberly constructed from metal with a non - slip base that sustain it secure from unintended coffee table dive . It feels hearty and agiotage , and depend office appropriate .
Coming to the buds themselves , they are the dot type , with no stick . They are a small large , but comfortable for the most part . JLab include a selection of different tips with the buds , including retentiveness froth for improved closing off , if that is your cupful of tea . There ’s no flashes of colour on the bud themselves , but again that is n’t an issue as it makes them entirely office appropriate .
Features
If there is one thing that JLab has become somewhat known for over the year , it has been an pressure on overeat each of its products full of feature article . Sometimes these oeuvre , sometimes they do n’t – any inclusion is only as strong as its execution .
And suitably for the price , the Epic Air Lab Edition buds fare with a tidy sum of feature included , set out with multi - point Bluetooth . This allows you to connect to at least two devices at the same time , allowing seamless playback on either without need to go through the kerfuffle of turn Bluetooth off and re - pairing . It ’s a quality of liveliness feature of speech which lick well , and which definitely adds time value .
Then there ’s the dedicated app , useable on both Android and iOS . This allows you select dissonance control mode , adjust an counterpoise with a phone number of presets , convert the spot dominance layout and more . A utile addition is the ability to localise decibel terminus ad quem for your music , to the recommend 85db or to 95db , which in turn helps to prevent damage to the ears and as a result build these an interesting option if you have teen .
On the whole the app works well if a little slowly on aniPhone 13 Pro , and is mostly worthwhile , even if it could use a picayune more gloss .
Wireless charging hold an appearance too , very convenient if you have made the leap and have charging pad in your home , while IP55 weather proof take these amercement for a run in the rain , if not a session in the pool .
In all , the Epic Air Lab Edition ca n’t really be faulted for extra features , there ’s a lot of them and save for the app , they are go through well enough that they are worthwhile to have .
Sound Quality
For all that design and features are utile , the Epic Air Lab Edition are an up - securities industry set of bud with a toll tag to rival – it is n’t enough that they see squeamish and are functional , they need to sound great too . That is n’t the only criterion however , as they come with active noise cancellation included and so their power to stuff out the outside needs to come under examination too .
Beginning with the active dissonance cancellation , this work well but within the context of these being in - ear TWS buds . That means that there is a cap on what can be achieve , if you want truly powerful noise isolation , you ’ll need to depend at over - ear headphones .
So , bearing in psyche these constitutional limitation , the Epic Air Lab Edition buds work fairly well for noise cancellation . They swim out most of the noise of a meddlesome street , so you ’ll still have sentience of your environment but wo n’t have the feeling of cocoon - similar quiet . As such , expectations are best adjusted consequently , if you need something to take all of the noise of a busy office or public transport , you ’d be best to face elsewhere .
And so it comes to the question of sound caliber , where interesting claims are made . There ’s Spatial Audio , Dual Drivers and Knowles Preferred Listening Response Curve tuning , to begin , a boatload of terms which need broken down a lilliputian .
Spatial Audio , as might be expected , works to meliorate the soundstage , the opinion of detachment and space between instruments . When done well it adds a lot to the ambience of running , particularly with the likes of orchestral euphony . Here , the JLabs have an unfortunately narrow soundstage , so even with suffer running the impression of distance and space is n’t in particular impressive , if not terrible .
threefold Drivers are pair up withLDACand claims of Hi - Res sound recording , all lofty claims as to lineament . In practice , they do n’t quite live up to the hope of the merchandising . Beyond the comparatively minute soundstage , music can feel a little crunchy , meaning that revealing detail in recordings is n’t the strongest suit of clothes of the JLabs .
That is n’t to say that they are n’t a good duo of buds , or even that they sound tough , but that they are advantageously beseem for a certain kind of music . If you are a bass fountainhead and need a thumping measure in everything you listen to , they ’ll do you well , with warm and energetic lower tones . dancing , EDM , punk and the similar are all well represented and sound honorable . Pop and authoritative do n’t process as well however .
Lastly , coming to the Knowles Preferred Listening Response Curve , this is a tuning bender which can be activated within the app , and proves to be a comparatively neutral profile , neither excelling or failing at anything in exceptional – not really desirable of the cellular inclusion .
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Should you buy it?
The JLab have a strong feature film circle , from waterproofing , to active randomness - cancellation and farseeing barrage fire life-time
There ’s mountain of wireless earphones that better the JLab for a little more , and as good time value options for less
Final Thoughts
As ever , with any product , the head is n’t “ is it ripe ” but rather “ is it veracious for me ? ”
The JLab Epic Lab Edition bud are an interesting test for the latter . They have waterproofing and good bass reproduction , so are therefore a potent fit for gymnasium - bunnies , however their case is too liberal to stuff in small sack . For commuters they propose inviolable battery life and decent dissonance cancellation , but their detail reproductive memory is a small muddy . For audiophiles , they have useful EQ tuning abilities and function well with certain genre , but are n’t the accomplished all - rounder they go down out to be .
This is n’t to say that the buds are n’t worthy of either care or money , that is n’t the case , but whether they do enough to raise themselves above the rival . For roughly £ 20 more you could get theSony WF-1000XM5with better audio lineament , or for the same cost there are theBose QuietComfort Earbuds IIwith the good noise cancelling on the market . There ’s more selection too , from Samsung , Apple , Beats , Google , JBL and others , each of which sporting an vantage , a USP where the JLab Epic Lab Edition bud have none .
So as it stands , these are usable , comfortable bud with near connectivity alternative , strong barrage fire life story , office - appropriate flavor and a range of utile feature . At £ 150 that would be enough to make them stand out , but at £ 199.99 they need something more to help them tolerate above the more seasoned competition .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every headphones we retrospect soundly over an extended period of time . We use industry standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always narrate you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to survey a production .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
Maximum battery life is 13 + hour on a exclusive charge and 56 in total . That drops to 9 + and 36 minute with ANC enabled .
