With Apple removing the headphone jack, bluetooth headphones have become popular alternatives to using the required dongle. JLab has introduced their Flex Bluetooth Active Noise Canceling Headphones as an alternative to requiring a dongle or a lightning connector.
The JLab Flex possibly the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. They fit over the ear with a shape that is curved closer to the shape of the ear, rather than being circular. The padding is soft and comfortable, and I never felt like they were pressing in to hard against my head or my ears (a problem I often have with on ear and over the ear headphones). The aluminum construction of the headphones are sturdy, but never wear thanks to the padding on top and over the ears.
The JLab Flex connects easily to the iPhone or listening device via cable or bluetooth. Setting up the Flex with bluetooth is as simple as holding the power button until it’s ready to pair then just hitting it on the bluetooth menu on the phone. Once connected, the power button doubles as the play button and volume is easily located right behind it, to control everything from the headphones.
The JLab Flex are some of the best headphones I’ve ever listened to. While many bluetooth devices have sound degradation, there was none to my ears. I could easily listen to classical music and hear the strings perfectly, but also had great bass when listening to heavy metal music. Even my podcasts sounded great as I walked around listening to them.
I took the JLab Flex into the heart of New York City, and the noise canceling was able to handle any sounds around me. From the subways to Times Square, I was able to block out all the sounds and hear the music perfectly as I went around the city. Even without the noise canceling on, the construction of the headphones are so solid that many of the sounds were blocked out even when the noise canceling was turned off. The only environment that I didn’t get to try it out in was on an airplane to see how it blocked out engine sounds to listen to music or watch a movie.
The battery life of the JLab Flex is pretty great as well. According to JLab, the Flex lasts 30 hours on bluetooth and 10 hours with active noise canceling turned on. Using a cable instead of the bluetooth should make the battery last up to 60 hours. While I was not able to test all these conditions, the battery did last a very long time and never died while I was using it.
Without hyperbole, the JLab Flex are the best headphones I’ve listened to in a very long time. For anyone looking to get headphones to avoid the dongles, the JLab Flex is my top recommendation, and my headphones of choice for traveling and making my way through New York City from now on.
