JBL Live Beam 3 in the test: How good is the little brother of the Tour Pro 3?

JBL has significantly redesigned the charging case in particular visually. Although the display with its 1.45 inches is about the same size as the Tour Pro 2, its case is smaller and lighter. You open it over the wide side like a jewelry box. This has the advantage that the earplugs are easier to remove. You also have the choice between four different colors. There should be something for every taste.

ANC is on board, JBL calls it “True Adaptive Noise Cancelling“. Four built-in microphones record the ambient volume in real time and adjust the attenuation immediately. This means you can completely block out the outside world or let certain noises through.

You can activate an adaptive mode via the app. The strength of the ANC automatically adapts to the volume of the ambient noise. This worked well in the test.

Surround sound simulation

The Live Beam 3 also enable surround sound simulation, which JBL calls “Room sound“. There are three basic settings: film, music and gaming. Ultimately, however, these are just simple ones DSP effectswhich add some echo, reverb and stereo widening to the signal. A real one 3D-Soundas Apple offers with Dolby Atmos support, for example, is not that.

Display im Ladecase

Undoubtedly the display is in that Smart Charging Case the most noticeable feature. This allows you to control a variety of settings directly on the charging case without opening the JBL app: quickly adjust the volume, activate the equalizer or switch the ANC.

This is basically a great thing because you don’t have to dig your smartphone out of your backpack. The software has now been improved. The display even shows a preview of the messages that arrive on the smartphone. Clever!

JBL Live Beam 3: Sound quality

The JBL Live Beam 3 largely performed well in the listening test balanced sound characterwith a rather gentle emphasis on the low frequencies. This gave the sound a round, pleasant foundation. The highs rose like a delicate breath, but overall remained rather reserved. Nevertheless, the in-ears managed to bring out fine details in the sound.

What was noticeable was that switching between normal mode and ANC operation produced hardly any differences in sound, which speaks for good integration of the ANC. With the ten-volume equalizer, the timbres in the app could be shaped as desired and the somewhat dull highs could be refreshed.

The in-ears already passively shielded the outside world well. The ANC mode, on the other hand, felt like a thick, velvet curtain was drawn over the noise, which was impressive. The transparency mode also delivered good performance, although it didn’t come close to that of top dog Apple.

In a direct comparison with the Tour Pro 2, the Live Beam 3 sounded very similar, perhaps a little less precise and a bit warmer.

Notes from the measurement laboratory

Balanced frequency response with slightly emphasized bass and somewhat quiet, but very far-reaching highs. Only minimal difference in sound between normal (red) and ANC operation (blue). Very low distortion playing (lower curves). Tone control: The Graphics EQ with ten bands and a sufficiently large control range of ±6 dB allows intuitive sound adjustments if necessary.

Perception of the environment through the headphones: The in-ears seal mechanically quite well (red); The naturally tuned transparency function simulates natural hearing through the in-ears very well (green). The ANC (blue) is convincing 20 dB noise reduction over a wide frequency range. Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC.

JBL Live Beam 3: Fazit

The JBL Live Beam 3: a well-rounded overall package that is fun. The sound was good, the ANC was even very good. The display in the charging case is a great help in everyday life. Whether on the go, in the office or doing sports: these in-ears can cope with most situations.