JBL Vibe 100 TWS Review

You can find a suitable audio product from JBL in a variety of price ranges. Their wireless products are some of the most reliable on the market, while also being some of the most affordable. The Vibe 100 TWS is their most economical true wireless option sitting at $49.95. For a price so low, some might take that as a sign to stay away. Is that true for the Vibe 100?

What You Get

• 1 x JBL Vibe 100TWS headphones
• 1 x charging case
• 1 x USB Type-C charging cable
• 1 x 2 sizes of eartips
• 1 x Warranty / Warning (W / !)
• 1 x QSG / Safety Sheet (S / i)

Look and Feel

There’s nothing stylish about the Vibe 100, as the outter shell displays a very plain design. It’s interesting that the charging case has no top cover, but other than that you won’t find anything here out of the ordinary for true wireless. Thankfully the fit is comfortable and ergonamic, giving you good support for long listening time.

Design and Functionality

Inside of the Vibe 100 is an 8mm dynamic driver. It performs niceley and provides plenty of loudness for a true wireless earbud. You get many of the funtions you would with any pair of true wireless earbuds, but the Vibe 100 ditches the touch panel interface for push-in buttons. This makes the actions instantly responsive, showing very little delay. Controling playback and picking up calls is quick and easy, but if you’re looking for any additional features, you might be dissapointed.

Bluetooth

The Vibe 100 supports Bluetooth 5.0. It’s a stable connection with high bandwidth, and while I did notice some minor hiccups with channel imbalance, the connection never featured any dropouts.

Battery Life

A single charge should grant you five hours of playtime, with an extra 15 hours from the charging case, making for a 20 hour total battery life. It should last you a few days of commuting back and forth, and for the price it should be what you’re expecting.

Soundstage

You normally don’t get a very effective soundstage when dealing with these types of true wireless earbuds. JBL has been guilty of this kind of response for some of their products, and unfortunately, that’s the case for the Vibe 100 as well. The imaging happens completely within an interior headspace, and spatially the sound elements don’t appear very wide. Everything is mostly congealed to the middle, with some of the more hard-panned elements displaying proper positioning. It’s fine for hard-hitting genres that don’t require much articulation, but it’s still fairly limiting.

Low End

One of my favorite characteristics of JBL headphones is how well they control their low end. The bass on the Vibe 100 keeps with that notion by executing an enjoyable bass response that’s sure to satisfy many listeners. Its timbre has a great body and performs with punch and impact. This type of response is easy to get carried away with, but the Vibe 100 carefully avoids a boomy tonality that might affect the clarity of the frequencies. With the Vibe 100, JBL knows exactly how much power to give you, making for clear and colorful bass response.

Mids

I was expecting some recession here, especially considering the price, but on the Vibe 100, the midrange is surprisingly clear. What’s most shocking is that the timbre is very accurate, and leans toward a neutral tonality. You also get some slight emphasis from the upper-mids that really bring out some vocal performances, making them much crisper and transparent.

Highs

With the treble, the frequencies showcase a similar amount of accuracy as the mids, but with a much more flat timbre. You get some great clarity, but the detail it’s as pronounced, which works to its benefit in some ways. For instance, brightness is minimal without feeling hollow, and the highs are still able to show a bit of color.

Summary

For such an economical set of wireless earbuds, I’m mostly happy with the sound signature. The stage might be constricted, but the tone within that limiting range is still very engaging for this kind of product. Otheriwise, every other element is what you’d expect for $49.95. It’s a solid model for those who are on a budget and want something that works. In terms of sound quality, you might actually be getting mroe than what you paid for, which makes the Vibe 100 all the more worth it.

The JBL Vibe 100 is available at Audio46.