The Tune Beam 2 TWS earbuds are JBL’s successor to the Tune Beam. With bigger drivers, more mics, and a slimmed-down case, can the Tune Beam 2 compete in the highly competitive mid-range segment? That’s a tough question to answer. But I’ll break it down for you.
Priced at Rs 5,999, the Tune Beam 2 seems competitive on paper. With the entrance of the OnePlus Buds 4 into the market and their god-level ANC, the Tune Beam is already on the back foot.
Design, Case, Comfort, Connection and Pairing
The chunky case comes with three LEDs. Each earbud also features its own LED. It’s LED mania here, but I am not complaining. I say this because the build quality is superb. Sure, the case is a little slippery, but it gets the job done. It features a matte finish and a rounded shape, making it easily fit into your pocket without creating a noticeable bulge. The Buds come with a stalk-type design, albeit smaller than that of their competitors. They won’t slip out of the case if, by any chance, you decide to shake or throw it, so that’s one bonus. It comes with silicone tips and three ear-tip sizes in the case.
The earbuds themselves weigh 5.2 grams each. Lightweight and comfortable, I had no problem wearing them for extended periods of time. With an IP54 rating, I wasn’t worried about taking them out into the rain (definitely not in heavy rain, as I wouldn’t want to get soaked either).
The ergonomically designed earbuds provide a good seal, resulting in a decent amount of passive noise isolation. One downside is that the buds do not have an optical sensor. This means that there is a lack of Wear Detection, so you don’t get the ability to automatically pause the audio when you remove the buds from your ears.
Touch controls are integrated into the design and work just fine, unlike on the OnePlus Buds 4, which I recently reviewed.
Thanks to Bluetooth 5.3 support, the Tune Beam 2 earbuds connect seamlessly with any smartphone. Place the earbuds into the case, open it, and enter the pairing mode. The JBL Tune Beam 2 earbuds will appear on your smartphone almost immediately, and the connection will occur almost instantaneously. It also has Google Fast Pair support.
One last thing which I absolutely have to mention here. Unlike most other buds in this segment, the Tune Beam 2 supports dual-device connection. This allows you to connect to two devices simultaneously. And what’s even better is that the switch is almost seamless. All you have to do is tap and hold either of the buds (left or right) and it’ll switch between the devices. Furthermore, it’ll automatically switch to a call when you get it, and back to the audio on the other device when the call ends.
How’s the Sound Quality?
The earbuds feature 10mm dynamic drivers that cover a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. The company’s signature tune - Pure Bass Sound - is also present.
The low ends are boosting, there is a certain kick to the songs, and a wide soundstage suited for the classic pop songs you have on loop. What I don’t like is how bass-boosted these earbuds are. I had to adjust the settings to tone it down. The sound, on the whole, is clean, and there is a decent amount of instrument separation present. The earbuds can get loud, and thankfully, not screechy. Vocal clarity is good, and listening to podcasts is a pleasure.
Going from Miley Cyrus’ "Wrecking Ball" to Dave Brubeck’s "Take Five," I was impressed with the way the earbuds handled a range of different songs. It has this depth that is lacking from other, similarly priced, earbuds. No single section - low, mid, high, treble, or bass - shines, but they all work in tandem to provide a pleasurable listening experience.
The ANC is good, but not as good as the OnePlus Buds 4. It does a decent job of cutting out the traffic noises, but can’t drown out a noisy table neighbour at this cafe I’m sitting at.
Once you get into the nitty-gritty of the EQ (in the accompanying app), you can extract more value out of these earbuds.
Call quality was decent, but the person on the other side couldn’t hear me as clearly when I was walking home through a lot of traffic.
JBL claims around 10 hours of battery life with ANC on and an additional three charges from the case. That totals 40 hours of playback.
With a single charge, you can enjoy 12 hours of use (with ANC off) and 10 hours (with ANC on). Those numbers match up to JBL’s claims, and they are mighty impressive.
The Sheer Number of Features in The App
Yes, the accompanying app, JBL Headphones, is in a different league altogether. You can perform a wide range of tasks within the app. Let me list a few of them:
Checking the battery percentage of the individual earbuds and the case
Choose from audio and video mode
Change controls
Switch between ANC modes and even choose the strength of ANC.
Choose from 7 different equaliser presets.
Create and save your own equaliser that will then work across a number of devices your earbuds are connected.
Personi-Fi is there to take an audio test. It then alters the equaliser to your preferences.
Limit maximum volume
Listen to relaxing/ sleep sounds for a maximum of 60 minutes
‘Find the earbuds’
Power off the earbuds.
I listed just a few, but there are plenty more.
Verdict: Worthy competitors in the Rs 6,000 and under price segment?
Yes, the JBL Tune Beam 2 TWS earbuds have grown on me ever since I started using them. At a price of Rs 5,999, they are extremely competitive. The sound, out of the box, will surely surprise you (in a good way). These earbuds, in my opinion, rival those that are twice or thrice as costly.
The JBL Tune Beam 2 earbuds provide for a comfortable fit, good sound quality (across a variety of genres), a lot of customisation (just look at that app) and decent ANC.
They lack support for Hi-res audio codecs like LDAC and also don’t have the Wear Detection feature. Nonetheless, they are a solid upgrade over the original Tune Beam earbuds. I’d suggest you take a look at them. They are a solid winner.
