I ran, cycled and worked out with the JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 — here’s my verdict

JLab has made some of the best workout headphones I’ve tested in recent years, especially for those on a tighter budget, and the Epic Sport ANC 3 continues that fine tradition by offering most of the features of top-tier buds for less than $100.

The ANC is a bit weak, and the design is not as sleek and comfortable as the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, which also have an earhook. But the JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 sound good, fit securely and offer impressively long battery life.

If you’re in the market for earhook sports headphones and don’t want to spend a huge amount, these are the buds to get. In my JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review I’ll cover my testing of the buds and explain why I think they’re great value for money.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Price and availability

The JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 cost $99.99 in the U.S. and £99.99 in the U.K., which is the same price as the JLab Epic Sport ANC 2. They are only available in black, which is a bit of a shame given the wide array of vibrant colors other JLab headphones come in.

They are considerably cheaper than many of the best workout headphones with earhooks, like the $249 Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, though JLab itself does have some more affordable options like the Go Sport+, which are just $30.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Design and comfort

• Secure fit from earhook
• High IP rating
• Large buds and case

The Epic Sport ANC 3 are large in-ear headphones with an earhook that secures them in place reliably. I’ve done a variety of workouts while wearing the headphones including long runs and strength sessions with jumping exercises, and the buds haven’t budged at all.

With an IP66 water resistance rating, the headphones will easily withstand sweat and rain during your workouts and other use, and they feel sturdily-built.

In the box, there are three sizes of gel ear tips. JLab also sells memory foam tips that will fit the Epic Sport ANC 3 headphones, which are more comfortable and create a more reliable seal in the ear canal.

There’s a see-through section on the plastic case showing off some of the internal components, which is a nice touch even if some of those components are the same color as earwax, which threw me at first.

They are larger and more noticeable on the ear than other earhook buds I’ve tested though, especially the sleek Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. Sometimes it took a bit of time to get a comfortable fit with the buds sitting right when I was also wearing glasses.

Once in place, the headphones were comfortable to wear for several hours at a time, and I didn’t feel any unwelcome pressure on the top of my ear where the hook sits.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.3
• Multipoint connectivity
• LDAC, SBC and AAC support

The Epic Sport ANC 3 offer multipoint connectivity through Bluetooth 5.3, connecting to two devices simultaneously. They switched between my laptop and phone easily, and I didn’t experience any dropouts even when my phone was in a thigh pocket during runs.

There’s support for hi-res audio through LDAC on Android and AAC on iOS, as well as JLab’s proprietary spatial audio. The buds offer Google Fast Pair for faster connectivity with Android devices.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Controls and app

• Touch panel controls
• Customization available in app

Each Epic Sport ANC 3 headphone has a touch panel on the outside that you can tap, hold and swipe to control music playback and volume. You also can switch the sound mode between ANC and Be Aware.

You can customize the controls on each bud though the partner app, with six customizable controls available on each bud.

When you switch between sound modes, you get a different audio alert depending on which mode you switch into. Otherwise, there are no audio cues to let you know your touches and swipes have registered.

I do like some kind of sound when using touch panel controls, because I never find them that reliable in registering my taps and swipes, especially during workouts when my fingers are sweaty or I’m not sure if I’ve actually hit the panel correctly.

Even better is just to have button controls, like on the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. Buttons are much more reliable to use than touch panels, especially if you’re wearing gloves during winter workouts.

In the app, you can also customize the EQ and adjust the level of noise cancellation or awareness you get in those modes, as well as switch the headphones between music and move modes. The latter mode ensures you don’t have any audio lag. You're also able to set a safe hearing decibel limit.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Fitness features

• Secure fit
• Be Aware mode
• Interval timer

The key sports features of the Epic Sport ANC 3 are the high IP rating and secure fit offered by the earhook, which should keep the buds reliably in place regardless of your favorite activity.

There is also an unusual extra feature in the app in the form of an interval timer you can set up with work and rest periods. When enabled, the headphones play a sound to let you know when the time is up.

This is a handy tool for HIIT workouts in the gym or interval runs, if you’re not using one of the best sports watches to guide you through intervals.

I found that while the Be Aware mode was useful for outdoor runs and bike rides, it let in a lot of wind noise as well as external sounds like traffic, which did impact on how enjoyable it was to use the buds to listen to music and podcasts.

There was also some wind noise on the run when using the ANC mode, and sometimes I preferred to turn both the ANC and Be Aware modes off entirely, especially when running on a track when the wind noise was the most noticeable.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Sound quality

• Collaboration with Knowles
• Spatial audio
• Bass-forward sound profile

The Epic Sport ANC 3 are made in collaboration with Knowles and have a Knowles balanced armature driver along with a 10mm dynamic driver.

This collaboration with Knowles also extends to a preset EQ using the Knowles Preferred Listening Response Curve, which I found to be the most balanced EQ setting and the one I did indeed prefer to use on the buds.

The sound quality on the headphones belies their sub-$100 price, with an energetic and powerful sound profile that’s very bass-forward. That proved to be useful for motivation during tough workouts.

I would say when using the JLab Signature EQ mode, the bass can be a little overwhelming — I actually stopped during a run to reduce the bass when Eminem’s Lose Yourself came on my running playlist because the lows were drowning out the vocals.

In the more balanced Knowles setting, the mids and highs are clearer without losing the power of the bass, and you can also customize the EQ to your liking with a custom mode. On tracks like Grimes' "Kill V. Maim," there is still punchy bass and drums while the vocals come through clearly.

On quieter tracks like "How Far I’ll Go" from Moana (since having kids, my running playlist seems increasingly full of Disney classics), the gentle guitar sparkles and there’s a warmth to the strings without them overwhelming the vocals.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: ANC and aware mode

• Ineffective ANC
• Be Aware mode

I’ve yet to come across sub-$100 headphones that offer a good level of ANC, and I still haven’t after testing the JLab Epic Sport ANC 3.

While the ANC does take the edge off the hum of trains when travelling, it’s far from the quiet delivered by buds like the Bose QC Earbuds or Apple AirPods Pro 2.

The Be Aware mode has its problems during outdoor runs, as I covered above. But it is useful in the office and other situations where you want more awareness, and you can hear people’s voices well when it’s turned on.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Call quality

• Clear calls
• Noise-cancelling microphones

The Epic Sport ANC 3 headphones have noise-cancelling microphones on-board to help make your voice clearer on calls and when I tried them out while outside on a busy and windy road, my friend was able to hear my voice clearly without the background noise coming through.

On my end, I could hear their voice over the sounds around me well, even when I broke into a jog. If you need to take calls during your runs, the Epic Sport ANC 3 will make that easy.

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Battery life

• 9-12 hours of battery life on buds
• 40 hours with the case (ANC enabled)

The Epic Sport line from JLab has always offered excellent battery life, and that’s certainly the case with the Epic Sport ANC 3. Even with ANC enabled the buds last 9 hours, with that time rising to 12 hours if you turn ANC off.

Those numbers rise further to 40 hours with ANC and 56 without it when you add in the case, which you can charge either with the integrated USB-C cable or via a USB-C port.

A quickcharge feature nets you 1 hour and 50 minutes of playback from 10 minutes of charging, so even if you find you’re short of battery just before a workout it won’t take long to have enough juice even for a longer session.

In my testing, I found the buds lived up to or even seemed on track to exceed the numbers listed by JLab. The battery life is better than other long-lasting earhook headphones, including the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, though it is slightly less than the 70 total hours you got from the JLab Epic Air Sport ANC (2nd gen).

JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 review: Verdict

The JLab Epic Sport 3 ANC offer great sound quality and most of the features you get from headphones that cost twice as much or more. They’re certainly among the best value headphones you can get for sports use and an easy set to recommend.

The mediocre ANC will be a turn-off for some, though, and if you do splash out on headphones like the Bose QC Earbuds or Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2, you’ll also get even better sound quality. Meanwhile, the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are more comfortable and have better controls.

You can also get impressive headphones for less, including the JBL Endurance Race 2, which use a wing rather than an ear hook to create a secure fit, but don’t sound as good as the JLab buds.

If you’re really on a budget then the JLab Go Sport+ are earhook buds that are just $30 — they don’t offer any ANC or as impressive sound quality as the Epic Sport ANC 3, but get the job done for workouts.

The JLab Epic Sport ANC 3 sit nicely in between those budget buds and high-end options, and if you do have $100 to spend on workout headphones, I’d spend it on these.