I’ve been well and truly won over by open-earbuds. I know that when I’m out on a walk, working out or commuting, I can rely on them to stay aware of my surroundings and enjoy my music at the same time. So when I tested the JLab Epic Open Sport and realized how comfortable and secure they felt, I was ready to hail them as some of the best running headphones around… but the sound quality couldn’t win me over entirely.
While there’s only one color option, the rest of the design is very sleek. They offer the choice of touch or button controls and have Custom EQ settings too. The multipoint connection is great for when you’re fielding calls on the computer and listening to music on your phone.
But the environmental noise canceling on the microphones when taking calls is pretty much non-existent and the sound quality of the music varies heavily depending on what genre you listen to. And if your music of choice is anything other than upbeat workout music, you’ll be disappointed.
You can find out more about how I got on with the earbuds in my full JLab Epic Open Sport review.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Specs
Price |
|
Charging case dimensions |
3 x 2.65 x 1.05 inches |
Charging case weight |
1.75 ounces |
Earbud dimensions |
1.8 x 1.6 x 0.75 inches |
Earbud weight |
0.59 ounces |
Color |
Black |
Total battery life |
30 hours |
Wireless charging |
Yes |
Multipoint |
Yes |
Waterproof rating |
IP55 |
Bluetooth |
Bluetooth 5.4 |
Bluetooth codec |
SBC, AAC, LDAC |
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Price & availability
- More expensive than usual for JLab
- 2-year warranty
- Only one color option
The JLab Epic Open Sport open-earbuds are available for purchase at Amazon U.S. for $114 and at Amazon U.K. for £99. They are a little more expensive than the rest of JLab’s usual budget range, but they still don’t cost as much as premium brands like Bose or Beats. Within the price, you also get a two-year warranty on the buds.
These buds are only available in a Black colorway with silver accents, but if you wanted a little more color choice, you could take a look at the JLab Go Air Sport earbuds. These aren’t open-ear, but are a fraction of the price of the Epic Open Sport at just $30, and offer six color choices.
The EarFun Clip open-earbuds ($89) are an ideal choice for open earbuds with great sound quality and are cheaper than the JLab Epic Open Sport. Or the Soundcore Aeroclip open-earbuds also offer extreme comfort with great sound customization, but are just a little more expensive at $129.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Design & controls
- Secure for working out
- IP55
- Touch sensitive and button controls
The JLab Epic Open Sport earbuds look sleek. Since they are black with silver accents, they always complement what I wear from my workout gear to my more put-together outfits when I’m out and about. I would like to see some other color options, though, since the rest of the JLabs range, like the JLabs Go Pods ANC or the JLabs JBuds Sport ANC 4, come in a range of vibrant colors.
The case for the earbuds measures 3 x 2.65 x 1.05 inches, so they’re a little bulkier than earbuds I would normally go for. That being said, I could still fit them into my jacket pocket to go for a run (with a bit of a squeeze). Despite the size, the plastic case is light as a feather, weighing just 1.75 ounces, although it feels a little flimsy and scratches easily.
The buds themselves are extremely sturdy though, and have a flexible ear hook with a silicone cover to ensure they stay in place and don’t slip around. The hook can be pinched to make it tighter around the ear. They weigh 0.59 ounces, so I didn’t feel them much when I was moving around. That being said, after wearing them for a few hours I noticed they were becoming uncomfortable around the back of my ears.
The earbuds rest at the entrance of the ear after hooking around the top This places the 14.2mm speakers directly over the ear canal, but as with all open earbuds causes sound leakage (although nothing major).
The buds have an IP rating of IP55, so they’re dust and sweat resistant, and can cope with rain, so no need to worry if you’re caught out by the weather when running or on your way home from the gym.
The JLab Epic Open Sport earbuds have both touch and button controls. I love that you get the option between the two: buttons leave less room for error when active, but you can also have effortless touch controls if that’s what you prefer. These controls can be customized in the JLab App.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Ambient awareness & microphone performance
- Great for ambient awareness
- Environmental noise canceling isn’t great
- Tinny on incoming calls
The beauty of open-earbuds is that you can stay aware of your surroundings while listening to music, and the JLab Epic Open Sports do a great job of letting in ambient sound. I was able to maintain conversations while still listening to my music, and I didn’t need to turn the volume down when I was out for a run in a busy area.
One of my favorite times to use open-earbuds is when I’m commuting on the train and need to listen out for announcements about train times and delays. The Epic Open Sports let me enjoy my music while staying aware of any changes that affect my journey.
There is an environmental noise-canceling microphone on each earbud, so I tested them out by calling my mom. Despite the earbuds supposedly canceling noise, my mom could still hear the typing of my keyboard in the background, but she said my voice was clear. From my perspective, my mom’s voice was tinny and sounded a little high-pitched.
But I know that call quality on open-earbuds can be great, as when I tested the Soundcore Aeroclips, they even decreased wind buffeting.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.4
- 30 foot range
- Multipoint connection
The JLab Epic Open Sport earbuds use Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. With this, there is a connection range of 30 feet, so I was able to walk around and get some chores done without having my phone glued to my side. The buds are also Google Fast Pair enabled, allowing Bluetooth connection on Android devices with a single tap.
The buds have multipoint connection so I was able to connect to my laptop and phone and switch seamlessly between the two without having to disconnect.
These earbuds can use SBC, AAC, and LDAC audio codecs, so are able to cope with Hi-Res streaming if you have a compatible device.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Sound quality & app
- Custom EQ in app
- App is jumpy
- Sound quality is dependent on genre
The sound quality of the JLab Epic Open Sport open-earbuds can be great, at least with the right settings tweaked in the companion app. The JLab App allows you to make quick alterations to the sound profile of the buds via a custom EQ.
In the app, there are two presets, JLab Signature and Balanced, and the option to create a custom EQ. I started off by testing out JLab Signature, as this is the default sound. I was immediately impressed by how well balanced the bass and mids sounded, and the profile complemented most of my audio testing songs. For instance, ‘Banquet’ by Bloc Party felt full and well-rounded, with sharp vocals. However, with stripped-back songs, like ‘All Your’n’ by Tyler Childers, the sound was flat and entirely lacked depth. This profile seems better suited to songs with higher levels of production.
I then tested out the Balance EQ preset with ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ by Sam Fender. On this preset the music sounded muted and the punchiness of this song was completely lost. That being said, the vocals were prominent but sounded flat, and almost empty.
Using the 'Custom EQ' section of the app I was able to create a preset to boost the bass performance and test the drivers. For this test I listened to ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ by The Stone Roses, a song with a heavy reliance on bass to carry it through. There was no distortion to the track from increasing the bass, so I was impressed there, but the rest of the instruments fell flat. No matter how much I played with the mids and highs, the drums were lost whenever the bass was turned up. There are better options if you want bass as the Earfun Clip open-earbuds were able to enhance the bass performance.
The custom EQ settings are hard to use in the JLabs App, as the sliders are very jumpy and often don't register my commands precisely. I didn’t have this issue when using the Soundcore app while testing the Soundcore Aeroclips, and also has a lot more choice of presets.
As well as the two music presets, there is a movie mode button in the app. I used this setting to listen to a podcast and found that the speech was far more pronounced than in music mode. It also works well for enhancing the sound of speech when watching YouTube videos.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Battery life
- 30 hours battery life
- Wireless charging
- Quick charge only gives 1 hour of battery
The JLab Epic Open Sport earbuds have a total rated battery life of 30 hours — 7 hours in the buds and an extra 23 hours with the charging case. I let the buds play for 4 hours at a moderate volume and they had 50% battery remaining.
The case has wireless charging, which is useful if you don’t have a USB-C cable on hand. There is a quick charge option but 10 minutes only gives an hour of battery. So if you wanted to take them out for something longer than a short run you’d need to wait a while for them to charge up. The EarFun Clip earbuds that I recently tested were able to get two and a half hours of battery with just a 10-minute charge, and they are cheaper at $89.
JLab Epic Open Sport review: Verdict
While I wanted to love the JLab Epic Open Sport open-earbuds, there are some glaring issues preventing that from happening. That's not to say these are bad earbuds by any means: the comfortable and secure fit, not to mention the IP55 rating, make them great for working out. Meanwhile, the choice of touch or button controls suit these equally to die-hard fans in one camp or the other. The multipoint connection makes them great for flicking between work calls and music on your laptop and phone. And the option of custom EQ settings in the JLab app helped to enhance certain genres of music.
Unfortunately, the unpredictable sound quality couldn’t win me over entirely. These buds are definitely more suited to upbeat music, as opposed to stripped-back acoustic tunes, which isn’t great for everyday listening when I enjoy a variety of genres. But if you like listening to upbeat music while you work out this won’t be an issue. For a more consistent music experience, I would recommend the EarFun Clips.
The environmental noise cancelling for calls isn’t very good and the person on the other end of the call could hear all of my paper rustling and typing. And it may be material, but having only one color option really limits the look of these earbuds when compared to the options in the rest of JLabs’ audio range.
With that said though, these are buds I would definitely reach for again when going out on a run or getting a quick yoga session in. I just won’t be reaching them for long-term wear on a daily basis.
