JBL Endurance Race 2 review: good value sports buds

The JBL Endurance Race 2 aim to offer the features of the best workout headphones at a more affordable price, and for the most part they succeed. While the sound quality and ANC aren’t as impressive as on more expensive buds, the sound is good for the price, and the fit and battery life of the Endurance 2 are excellent.

I used them for all my workouts over several weeks, running most days as well as cycling and doing strength and yoga sessions. I’ve also used the JBL Endurance Race 2 outside of training as my main headphones, and have few gripes to report.

Unless you’re set on getting the best possible sound quality and ANC, the JBL Endurance Race 2 are worth checking out as a reliable set of sports-focused headphones that cost considerably less than many rivals.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: price and availability

The JBL Endurance Race 2 launched in March 2025 and cost $79.95 in the U.S. and £69.99 in the U.K., which is the same price as the original Endurance Race earbuds. In the U.K. the price has already dropped to £59.99 in many places, so they will be buds to look out for in sales.

It’s an excellent price for sports earbuds with the feature-set you get on the Endurance Race 2, but more expensive options like the Bose QC Earbuds, Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 and Jabra Elite 8 Active do offer more impressive sound quality and ANC.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: design and comfort

• Comfortable and secure fit
• Large case
• High IP rating

The Endurance Race 2 buds are quite large and stick quite a long way out from the ear, but the silicone wing they come with still ensures the fit is secure during all types of workouts in my experience.

You have to twist the buds into place to get the best fit, and once there they didn’t move at all even during long runs or HIIT sessions. I often find wings can irritate my ear if I use them over extended periods, but that wasn’t the case with the Endurance Race 2, so top marks on fit all round.

If you’re not planning to use the buds for sports you can use a wingless silicone cover instead, and they come with three sizes of ear tip.

The earbuds have an IP68 rating, making them both water-resistant and dustproof so you can be sure they’ll stand up to your sweatiest workouts and runs in the rain, but they are not suitable for swimming.

Although lightweight, the carry case is large. I preferred to put it in a coat pocket or backpack rather than my trouser pocket. It’s not easy to take with you on runs as a result, and the IPX2 rating on the case is a little low, even if it will be fine for most workouts.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.3
• Multipoint connectivity

Pairing with my iPhone, laptop and Garmin Fenix 8 watch was easy with the Endurance Race 2, and they switched between my laptop and phone seamlessly. They allow for multipoint connectivity with two devices — to add a second device once you have one paired you tap then hold the left earbud to re-enter pairing mode.

The buds offer Fast Pair by Google and Swift Pair by Microsoft to allow for one-touch pairing with Android devices and Microsoft computers, though I wasn’t able to test this out with the devices I had available.

I didn’t experience any dropouts during my runs and other workouts with the headphones either and was able to leave my phone at the side of a room when doing strength training.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: controls and app

• Touch panel controls
• Customizable sports modes

Each Endurance Race 2 earbuds has a touch panel on the outside and you can customize what controls each has in the partner app, with options for tap, double tap, triple tap and tap and hold

Rather than allowing you to customize each individual gesture, they are grouped into ambient sound controls, volume controls and playback controls.

For example, on the left bud I have ambient sound controls so I can switch between ANC and ambient aware modes, and on the right I have playback controls to play/pause/skip music.

Grouping the controls has the unfortunate result that you can’t control playback, ambient mode and volume all at once, which you can on other earbuds.

I’m not a huge fan of touch controls for sports use, much preferring physical buttons which are more reliable to use with sweaty fingers, and the touch panels on the Endurance Race 2 buds were also pretty useless for winter runs when I was wearing gloves.

Outside of workouts the panels are easy to use though, and you get a beep to signal that your touch has registered.

In the app you can also customize the EQ on the buds and listen to relaxing sounds like rain falling, and there are dedicated customizable sports modes you can use to set up things like the amount of ambient noise you want to hear during outdoor runs.

These sports modes are a good idea, but it would be more convenient if you could assign a control on the buds to turn on the one you use most, rather than having to open the app to fire up running mode every time.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: fitness features

• Reliable fit
• Poor ambient mode

The Endurance Race 2 are focused on sports use and deliver well on the most important front for this, which is their reliable and comfortable fit. In all my workouts in the buds I never had to adjust the fit, and the wing is one of the more comfortable ones I’ve tried.

I was less impressed by the ambient and ANC modes during outdoor workouts though. I found the ambient mode doesn’t let in enough sound to hear passing cars well, and also doesn’t filter out wind, so wind is mostly what you hear when it’s engaged.

The ANC is good for blocking out most of the sound of a treadmill or exercise bike when training indoors, but when walking or running outdoors you do hear the thumping of your footfalls.

This is a common problem with in-ear buds that seal the ear canal, but it’s something that I don’t notice as much with buds like the Bose QC Earbuds and Apple AirPods Pro 2.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: sound quality

• Lacking a little clarity
• Not as loud as other buds

The sound quality on the Endurance Race 2 buds is good for their price, but it does lack clarity in the upper ranges, and I had to ramp up the bass in the partner app to get enough power on that front.

I also found that the buds were simply not loud enough at times during outdoor workouts, which is not a common problem I’ve come across with in-ear buds. Putting them into the outdoor run mode did increase their volume, but even then it was hard to hear my audio clearly at times.

When listening to Beach House’s Once Twice Melody I noticed a lack of depth to the sound compared with headphones like the Bose QC Earbuds, and when I ramped up the volume at the end of hard workouts I found that the sound on a track like LINKIN PARK’s The Emptiness Machine felt a little compressed and you lost some detail in the upper ranges.

The sound is still good though, and I couldn’t name buds at the same price that outperform the JBL Endurance Race 2 on this front. I’d have no problems using them as my everyday buds as well as for workouts, but those with stricter sound quality standards will notice an upgrade with more expensive headphones, especially those that support spatial audio.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: ANC and ambient modes

• Customizable ANC and ambient settings
• Weak ANC

While the sound quality on the JBL Endurance Race 2 is a small step down on the best wireless earbuds, the ANC is a big downgrade. While it takes the edge off sounds like trains and traffic, it’s nothing like the near-silence you get from the AirPods Pro 2 or Bose buds, and in the gym you’ll still be more aware of other users than you might want to be.

Similarly, the ambient mode underperforms, not letting in enough sound. You can’t hold a conversation with someone easily with either Ambient or TalkThru modes enabled, and when outdoors you don’t hear the sound of traffic as clearly as I’d like when walking or running by busy roads.

You can customize the level of ANC and ambient noise in the sports modes in the app, but I didn’t feel this made a huge difference to either.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: call quality

• Clear enough for calls
• Voice sounds a little hollow

There are two mics on each earbud used to ensure clear calls, which I tested with calls indoors in a quiet environment and outside by a busy road.

I could hear my colleague clearly and they said my voice was also clear, though a little hollow, and the background noise from traffic didn’t come through too loudly.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: battery life

• 10 hours ANC, 12 hours ANC off
• Up to 48 hours total with case

The battery life of the Endurance Race 2 buds is impressive, with the headphones themselves lasting 10 hours on a charge with the ANC enabled, and 12 hours if you turn it off.

Talk time is 6.5 hours with ANC on and seven hours when off, and the case can bring the total battery life up to 48 hours of music playback if you’re not using ANC.

You can also get four hours of playback from just 10 minutes of charging in a pinch, and JBL says the buds recharge from empty in two hours.

All of these numbers stack up well against the competition, though the large size of both the buds and case no doubt help with making space for the bigger battery.

JBL Endurance Race 2 review: verdict

If ANC is not a big priority for you, the Endurance Race 2 headphones are certainly worth checking out as affordable buds you can wear for both workouts and general use. The fit is excellent, as is the battery life, and the sound quality is pretty good too.

Other great options under $100 include the JLab Epic Sport ANC 3, which have an earhook design to offer an even more secure fit, and the Beats Solo Buds, which don’t have ANC or wings to secure the fit, but do have great sound quality with spatial audio.

If you’re happy to pay more to upgrade the sound and ANC I’d look at the Bose QC Earbuds in particular — some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds — as great crossover lifestyle/workout headphones, as well as the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 as excellent sports buds.

I’d say the sound quality on the Endurance Race 2 will satisfy most-comers though, and the impressive array of features you get on the buds for $79 makes them a top option for sports use in particular.