Only a handful of affordable noise-cancelling true wireless earphones are worth your attention, but you can add JBL’s Tune 230NC earbuds ($99.99) to that list. They deliver slightly better active noise cancellation (ANC) than you’d expect for the price, along with solid audio performance and a companion app that lets you customize their sound signature and controls. That said, they don’t particularly stand out compared with the $79.99 Anker Soundcore Life P3 and $129.99 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, both of which have an edge in terms of noise cancellation.
Secure Fit, Good Battery Life
Available in black, blue, or white, the Tune 230NC earpieces have a stem-style design. The in-canal fit is exceptionally secure, especially considering there are no additional ear fins or hooks. JBL includes three sets of eartips in small, medium, and large sizes.
Internally, 6mm drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz with a 16-ohm impedance. The earphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.2, but JBL doesn’t specify which codecs they support.
The on-ear controls are sensitive to touch, with audio prompts to confirm taps. A single tap on the right and left earpiece respectively controls playback and cycles through ANC modes (On, Off, and Ambient Aware). A double tap on the right ear skips forward a track and a triple tap skips backward. A double tap on the left earpiece enables TalkThru mode. For incoming or in-progress calls, a double tap answers or ends them and a long press mutes or unmutes your mic. When no call is in progress, a long press summons your device’s voice assistant.
An IPX4 water-resistance rating is more or less par for the course, and means the earpieces can withstand light splashes from any direction, so exposure to rain and sweat shouldn’t be a problem. Just don’t dunk them or place them under a running faucet for cleaning. The IPX4 rating doesn’t extend to the charging case, so you must fully dry the earpieces before docking them for charging. For $20 less, Jabra’s Elite 3 earphones offer a superior IP55 rating, but not noise cancellation.
The charging case is nondescript, but its black exterior can be a bit slippery; its flip-top lid reveals the charging docks. The front houses status LEDs, while a USB-C port for charging (via the included USB-C-to-USB-A cable) sits on the back.
JBL estimates that the earphones can last roughly 8 hours with ANC on, with an additional 24 hours in the case. If you turn ANC off, those numbers go up to 10 and 30 hours, respectively, but your results will vary based on your volume levels.
App Experience
JBL offers a single app, JBL Headphones (available for Android and iOS), that works with all of its headphones. When paired with the Tune 230NC, the app unlocks adjustable EQ. You can also switch between several Bluetooth modes. For example, you can choose one that is optimal for music playback and one that prioritizes low latency for gaming.
In addition, the app has on-screen switches for ANC and Ambient modes; adjustable settings for the on-ear controls; and a low-tech Find My Earbuds feature. When you turn it on, the earbuds emit a loud high-pitch noise, so make sure you don’t have one in your ear when you press this button.
You can also use the earphones with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but setting up this integration requires you to do so via those services’ respective apps.
Above-Average ANC
The earphones do a solid job of dialing back powerful low-frequency rumble like you hear on a plane. A recording of a busy restaurant we played at high volume proved trickier—they cut back the mids fairly well, but the higher frequencies made it past the ANC circuitry with ease.
Most other affordable pairs with ANC have the same difficulty, but the Anker Soundcore Life P3 and Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro perform better in this arena. Of course, far more expensive models, such as the $280 Sony WF-1000XM4 are vastly superior; they wipe out the lows and mids to a greater degree and are far more effective against highs. On the plus side, the ANC here doesn’t seem to affect the audio in any profound way, which isn’t always the case in this price range.
Ambient Aware and TalkThru modes worked well, but we didn’t find much of a difference between the two. You can hear voices loud and clear in both modes without removing the earpieces.
Adjustable Audio
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver a powerful low-frequency response. At top, unwise listening levels, the drivers pump out distortion-free bass. At more moderate levels, the sculpting in the highs matches the boosted lows.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the sound signature. The drums on this track get some serious extra bass thump—they don’t quite enter into unnaturally thunderous territory, but they approach it. The drivers also dial up the highs a bit, and as a result, the background tape hiss is more prominent. Callahan’s baritone vocals benefit from a pleasing combination of low-mid richness and high-mid crispness, while the acoustic strums sound bright and full of detail. The midrange sounds somewhat scooped out, however. Thankfully, the EQ can correct this to a degree.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives plenty of high-mid presence and its attack retains its punch. Again, we notice the background vinyl crackle and hiss a bit more, as the sculpting in the highs pushes it forward. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat come across with serious bass depth—if you’re looking for a subwoofer-like rumble in your ears, you get pretty close. Although the bass depth contends with the vocals at times, the earphones present them cleanly, with a little extra added sibilance.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get a bit more bass boosting than they need. As a result, the lower-register instrumentation takes a step forward in the mix. The higher-register brass, strings, and vocals, which remain the focus of the mix, sound bright and clear. The sound profile could benefit from additional midrange, and again, tinkering with the EQ can do wonders here.
We tested the built-in mic using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone and could easily understand every word we recorded. Bluetooth audio artifacts that sometimes fuzz up a mic signal are minimally present here, and, on a clear cell signal, those on the other end should have no trouble understanding you.
Not a Standout, But Solid
The affordable JBL Tune 230NC earphones offer good active noise cancellation and audio performance for under $100. We also like their secure fit and all the features available in their companion app. That said, our Editors’ Choice winners remain the Anker Soundcore Life P3 and the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, both of which offer a similar array of features and slightly more effective noise cancellation for a similar price. We also like Jabra’s Elite 3 earphones, which don’t have noise cancellation but come in a more workout-friendly design.
