JBL Tune 770NC Review – Wireless Headphones

The audio world is well aware of JBL, with producers and audiophiles alike recognizing their speakers and headphones. Now they’ve released an update to their Tune line of headphones, the Tune 770NC. This headphone looks to bundle up noise canceling and Bluetooth functionality with portability and good sound. This all comes in at the quite competitive price of $199. Let’s see what they were able to cook up. 

What you get:

• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Wired headphone cable
• Manual and Warranty Information

Design:

The Tune 770NC provides a lightweight headphone that you can wear for hours and hours. Weighing in at 232 grams, you can barely feel the weight of the headphone on your head. However, they get to this light weight by opting for a mostly plastic build. 

The ear pads and headband are crafted from synthetic leather, which clamp rather tightly on the head. I didn’t find the clamping force to be too tight, though. It keeps them secure on the head while you’re mobile. Plus, it helps to even further enhance the noise isolating capabilities of the headphone.

Another nice feature of the headphone is the folding mechanism. You can fold it down with the ear cups in normal position, or you can swivel the ear cups 90 degrees to store them flat. The 90 degree swivel also makes them able to be worn around the neck when not listening to music.

Overall, the build is what you can expect at the price point. JBL managed to take advantage of their materials to make a lightweight and compact design that’s comfortable to wear. The only nitpick I have in this department is that the ear cups are rather small for an over-ear headphone. That, combined with the clamping force, can bring some discomfort to the experience.

Functionality:

At $199, the Tune 770NC packs in a ton of features that can be controlled through the headphone directly or through the “JBL Headphones” app. The feature set includes active noise canceling, “Ambient Aware,” which turns off the noise canceling and passes through the sound around you so you can be aware of your surroundings, and “TalkThru,” which turns down the music and makes it so you can hear yourself talking to others without taking off the headphones. These features can be controlled through the app or by tapping the ANC button either once (to toggle ANC and Ambient Aware) or twice (to toggle TalkThru). Both features work quite nicely and are great for commuting or working in the office. 

The app also comes with an EQ, VoiceAware, which allows you to hear your own voice during phone calls, left/right sound balance, auto power off based on your playback activity, and other useful settings. There are also buttons directly built into the headphone that can be used for play/pause, song skip and reverse, volume control, and phone call control. 

Lastly, the battery life is rated at 70 hours when fully charged. However, that number goes down to 44 hours when both ANC and Bluetooth are turned on. Importantly, the Tune 770NC can charge up to 3 hours of battery life in just 5 minutes when charging via USB-C. It should also be noted that you can use these headphones with a supplied cable rather than opting for bluetooth. But this can actually cost you battery life, with JBL rating ANC use without Bluetooth at about 30 hours. 

So, it’s safe to say that for the price, JBL is packing in a lot of useful features with multiple ways to control them. The battery life is huge and vastly outperforms headphones competing in much higher price brackets. Plus, its quick charging capabilities are definitely useful for listeners who need to use these on the go. 

Sound Impressions:

Being a product from the Harman family of companies, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Tune 770NC follows the Harman curve. That is to say, ample bass, a somewhat recessed midrange, and an elevated top end. 

Using JBL’s “Pure Bass Sound” technology, the headphones perform quite well. Listening to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, the bass dug deep and made for a fun listening experience. While there isn’t as much detail as a higher end headphone would provide, the bass never feels muddy or underwhelming, and the mid-bass transition area is quite smooth.

The mids are where the tuning goes a little astray in my opinion. Listening to Brittany Howard’s new album “What Now,” vocals seemed to get a little bit lost in the track. This isn’t to say that the vocal is drowned out by the bass or treble, but this is definitely a V-shaped headphone. Vocals just lose a little bit of presence and detail compared to the other frequency ranges. 

However, things quickly turned back to positive with the treble. To my ears, the treble performance on the Tune 770NC was surprisingly great at resolving detail and filling out the top end of music. The hi-hat on Radiohead’s “Nude” came through with great clarity and overall, the top end sounded impressively refined.

Summary:

Listening back to the Tune 770NC, I am quite impressed with the performance JBL is offering at this price. The tuning is fun and engaging and the features being offered make this headphone a versatile choice for someone who wants a portable headphone that can do everything from customize sound to make phone calls. I think anyone who tries these cans will be properly impressed.  

JBL Tune 770NC are available at JBL.