Bose's noise-cancelling cans are some of the best wireless headphones, but come at a high cost. JBL's Tune 750BTNC, released today, offers a cheap alternative with bumping bass and active noise cancellation.
Priced at $129, the 750TNCs are considerably cheaper than the $399 Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, our favorite noise-cancelling headphones. But JBL's new pair doesn't skimp on features: it claims to pack powerful bass and 15 hours of battery life in addition to ANC.
The JBL 750TNC's 40mm drivers should provide a deep thump, while active noise cancellation lets wearers drown out noisy surroundings. It doesn't seem to support as many ANC levels as the Bose 700, but that's one of Bose's justifications for premium pricing.
With the JBL 750TNCs, you'll have hands-free access to voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. You'll also be able to switch between Bluetooth sources with a multi-point connection.
But the Tune 750BTCs only support Bluetooth 4.2, rather than the Bluetooth 5.0 standard that's become common for new wireless headphones. Bluetooth 5.0 offers preferable transfer speeds, further pairing distances and sucks up less battery.
JBL's choice to use Bluetooth 4.2 might explain the 750TNC's very average 15 hours of playback with noice cancellation turned on (it's 22 hours when ANC is off). By comparison, the Bose 700 should last 20 hours with ANC on.
As for the design, the Tune 750BTCs fall in step with JBL's fun, playful aesthetic. They're available in black, white, red and blue.
Whether JBL's cheaper take on ANC headphones will be worthwhile is to be determined. We'll have to put the Tune 750BTCs through our tests to find out.
