PRODUCT REVIEW: JBL Tune 120 TWS True Wireless Earbuds

(Toe To Toes - Mastodon)

You have to give Apple a little credit and acknowledge the fact that when they enter a product space, it's not unusual for that space to start growing.  A lot.

One place where this is abundantly evident is the world of earbuds.  The original AirPods were all things to a lot of people, including myself.  The only reason why I'm not still using the original pair I bought is that I got one of the pairs with janky batteries and I was too lazy to do anything about it.

I love me some good earbuds, so I'm always game to try something new.  It just so happens that a pair of these JBL Tune 120s sort of fell into my lap a short while ago, so I thought I'd give them a spin and tell you what's what.

First, let's get the claims out of the way, and there's no better way to do that than checking out JBL's own website, which you can find here.

Picture of JLB True 120 TWS Earbuds. Image Credit: JBL

They're not ugly, are they?  They don't weigh much in their case either, which is nice.  The case is a bit larger than the oft-compared case from AirPods, but it does come with a handy charge indicator on the front to let you know how much juice that case still has left.  Yes indeed, this case has a battery inside of it to charge your buds up for you.  There was a time when this felt revolutionary, but it's rather table-stakes now.  JBL says that the case will get you 12 hours of listening time and the buds themselves will provide you four hours per charge themselves.  This...is where I'm going to stop comparing them to AirPods and start comparing them to a product that's a little more in line with their feature set, the Soundcore Liberty Neo buds.  Total listen time on the JBLs is 16 hours.  The Neos will get you 20.  (Really nice earbuds like the Liberty 2 Pros will get you over 30.). Battery life, then, isn't that awesome, but it's not horrible either.  It's just sort of average.  If I'm being honest though, this doesn't matter.

Audio quality on the JBL is comparable to other buds in this price bracket of ~$85, but it's hard to applaud these buds for that because of a much larger concern, and that's the fit within the ears.  The Tune 120s come with three sizes of flexible ear tips, but no earwigs whatsoever.  Worse, the ear tips are too soft, which means if you don't get a good fit within the ear, it can seriously compromise the audio quality.  Even worse, without the assistance of an earwig of some kind, these things are virtually impossible to keep in your ears.  I tried all three ear tip pieces.  The smaller ones couldn't keep a good seal.  The medium ones weren't large enough to hold them steady either.  The large ones kept a good seal and would hold the bud in place, but only if I really pushed them into my ears, which was sometimes uncomfortable.  Even then, it's like my ears were trying to expel them, and I would frequently have to push them back in.  But...this doesn't matter either.  Not one bit.

A large button rests on the side of each bud, but that design is poor.  It means that you cannot operate these buds with just one finger without pressing the bud further into your ear, which IS painful.  The button is solidly built.  Too solidly.  You have to pinch the bud between your thumb and middle finger and then use your index finger to press the button because it's mechanism is so solid.  Controls are standard fare between music control, call control, and summoning the virtual assistant.  That said, in order to perform some functions, a double tap is required.  This has to be done at just the right speed or the bud either ignores the command or simply double-executes the single tap command.

None of that is even remotely important though.

No, none of this has been in any way relevant to what you need to consider when bearing a purchase in mind.  Because all of this will be instantly overridden as soon as you pick the case for the JBL Tune 120s up and flip them open.  The only thing that will roar through your mind will be the word 'CHEAP'.

So.

Very.

Cheap.

The plastics used to make the case for the buds and the buds themselves feel thin and flimsy.  The hinge for the case is weak and floppy, and the case doesn't close with a satisfying snap.  The silicon (?) used for the ear tips is too thin as well.  Nothing about this product feels like it's worth the price, especially when you hold it up against other buds in this price range.  Worse, you can do better than these buds in every single respect for HALF THE PRICE with the Liberty Neos.  This is a real shame too, because if you can get past the cheapness of the materials and the struggle with the fit...and the price tag... these sound really good!  That's no real surprise, as JBL certainly knows how to make a good speaker!

...They just apparently don't know how to do anything else.