I used earphones with a smart charging case and I sort of see the point now
JBL Live Beam 3 | JBL Live Beam 3 review | JBL Live Beam 3 India price
JBL Live Beam 3 Smart Charging Case comes with a 1.45-inch LED screen. (Image Credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
Now, truly wireless earphones have almost become the base model when it comes to audio accessories for smartphone users. With the market becoming so crowded that even price is not much of a differentiator, JBL thinks it has found what could be the next interesting feature in this segment. And that seems to be why, the JBL Live Beam 3 touts a smart charging case that can control your earphones even without the phone.
What is the smart charging case in the JBL Live Beam 3?
Well, the concept is actually simple. The top cover of the charging case has a 1.45-inch touch display where you can control most aspects of your music listening, as well as switch songs. As you swipe through this small screen you get to control all aspects of your music from volume to equaliser presets as well as settings of the earphones itself like noise cancellation and playback modes. You can even change the screensavers here, if that gives you a kick. The screen makes the charging case a bit thicker and heavier than usual and that is a small cost to pay for the features this gives you.
JBL Live Beam 3
You can easily switch between ANC and Ambient Sound mode. (Image Credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
But how effective is the smart charging case concept?
The smart charging case is easy to use and there is no learning involved. In fact, it reminded me of some of the older phones, especially with the screen size. JBL has done a good thing by not cramming much into a screen and keeping it limited to one function, even as you get a line showing alerts on top of the screen. The screen also gives you access to message previews and notifications from the phone, which is again a good aspect. But if you are near the phone anyway, then this screen might not be needed. And if you are too far away, then this does not work.
JBL Live Beam 3
The Smart Charging case has no learning curve. (Image Credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
Now, my main use case these days with earphones is when I go for my evening walks. I have never carried a charging case on an evening walk, so this feature as such is not much useful for me. Where I found this useful was when I’m charging the phone a bit far away from where I’m sitting. Also, if you are the forgetful type you can initiate a bid to find your missing earphones from here itself. But the use cases are not strong enough for this to be reason I pick up a new truly wireless earphone. That will be a function of the audio quality, still.
How good is the audio playback on the JBL Live Beam 3?
I have always had good experiences with JBL earphones and the Live Beam 3 did not change that perception in anyway. To start with, the noise cancellation is effective and the moment you put on the earphones the constant whirring of the AC goes away immediately and you are immersed in your music.
Shreya Ghoshal’s Dheeme Dheeme came in a cool breeze in the sultry Delhi morning, the background music switching from right to left to give the effect of the wind. For Arijit’s Satranga, I moved the equaliser from vocal to bass and I could feel the change. But then I opened the JBL headphone app and made it a bit more bass-heavy using the equaliser and felt happy with myself.
JBL Live Beam 3
The screen also gives you access to message previews and notifications from the phone. (Image Credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
The app offers you adjustable equaliser and a host of other controls that help you finetune the output exactly as you want it. And for a top-of-the-line product, this is a much-needed feature. I loved the ability to test the earphone fit, the precision equaliser, video mode and sound profile presets. Also, you can update the charging case software from here.
On the flip side, I found the earphones to be a bit low on volume, and this is even after using the volume gain on the app. I felt this the most when I was listening to my favourite podcasts during the evening walks. Now, this might not exactly be a bad thing, but there is a possibility some users will struggle to enjoy everything they listen to. Also, while on calls, the earphones tend to shift to transparency mode and suddenly you are flooded with external noises too. I think this happens because the gesture to take the call and switch noise cancellation modes are similar.
At Rs 24,999, the JBL Live Beam 3 is a premium product, but a unique one that gives a whole new level of controls to the users. Whether users beam at this new prospect remains to be seen, but this is a good start for sure.
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