JBL Live Buds 3 Boasts a Color Screen on the Case So You Can Leave the Phone in Your Pocket

Most charging cases only hold a charge and a pair of buds. JBL Live Buds 3, priced at $129.95 (was $200), add a 1.45-inch color touchscreen that turns the case into a control panel you can use with a laptop, tablet, TV, or phone without opening an app. Swipe to play, pause, or skip, raise or lower volume, flip between adaptive noise cancelling, Ambient Aware, and TalkThru, pick an equalizer preset, or set spatial sound for music, movies, or games. Incoming texts and call alerts can flash across the same display, battery levels for both buds and the case sit along the top, and you can load a photo from your phone as a lock wallpaper. A lanyard loop on the case makes it easier to keep that little screen within reach.

Stemless 4.6 gram buds fit comfortably in your ear and employ 10mm speakers tuned to offer JBL’s distinctive thumping bass over the 20Hz to 40kHz range. With LDAC compatibility on some Android phones, you can even enjoy higher resolution wireless audio streaming. Adaptive Noise Cancellation actually gets smarter as you move around, with four noise-sensing mics working in real-time whether you’re walking down the street or riding the train, and the JBL Headphones app allows you to run a quick fit check to ensure the cancelation is perfect for your ear shape. Ambient Aware adds a bit of street noise to help you stay focused, and TalkThru just mutes the music so you don’t have to take your bud out for a conversation.

You get six microphones on calls to reduce wind noise, and VoiceAware allows you to adjust how much of your own voice you hear so you don’t have to scream over a noisy corner. The multipoint function allows you to couple two devices at the same time, and Google transition makes it simple to transition from a tablet video to a phone call on Android (a useful tool), as well as Google Finder to help you find a missing bud. Wear detection pauses the music when you take one out. They’re also IP55 dust and water resistant, which covers your typical sweaty workout, but don’t imagine the case is watertight; keep it dry.

Battery life is approximately 10 hours with noise cancellation turned off, 8 with it turned on, and 7 while True Adaptive Noise Canceling is doing its best. Even so, you still have 30 hours in the case to top off your battery, for a total of 40 hours of use. Plug that case into USB-C for 10 minutes and you’ll get about 4 hours extra. A full charge takes approximately two hours, and the case also supports wireless Qi charging. Finally, Personi-Fi 3.0 in the app allows you to create a listening profile that is tailored to your hearing, and the app still handles deeper EQ work, gesture maps, and case shortcuts if you require more from the screen.