JBL Reflect Aero TWS (Mint), Small

I want to love these, and there’s a lot to love, but unfortunately I’m still disappointed with this buy.

They have pretty good sound quality for the little things they are, and the mics are incredible. even when a big garbage truck rolls by, the people on the other end of the line can always hear me great. My issue though is with the thing wireless earbuds really need to have, a sure fit in your ear. They come with a range of swappable parts to help them fit in your ear, but sadly even the combination that fits best in my ear leaves me scrambling to catch them when they pop out due to a strong breeze, or I’m running, or my dog lunges for a stick and takes me with them.

Basically, I have to stay on guard whenever I have them in against them popping out of my ears. Great product otherwise. Just wish I could have figured this out in time to return them.

You’d think that with 3 different sizes of caps & wings, you’d easily find a fit that works, and while I found a comfortable combination with the left ear very quickly, I just couldn’t find anything that made the right earbud stay in. I’ve never had this problem before, but the middle size cap was too large while the small was too smal, and all the wings seemed to be actively pushing the earbud away from my ear. It would actually fall out of my ear onto the floor when I smiled or spoke. Maybe I got a defective pair? I have no idea how this could happen, since the left earbud fit absolutely perfectly and stayed in place even when I tried to shake it out.

If you can get them to fit, they’re great. The sound was good out of the box, a little crisp for my taste but easily adjusted with the JBL app. Pairing with two devices is a great feature and was straightforward once I figured out the instructions – they were IKEA-style instructions with just images instead of words, which was annoying at first. Noise cancellation was excellent without any of the oppressive white noise you can sometimes get. The hear-through mode worked really well but had way too much high end, making everything sound fake and grating. Audio performance was equal to the Beats Fit Pro, which are the same in-ear wing style but almost twice the price.

The plastic felt a little cheap and the touch buttons would still activate when they were in my hand. I wish the caps had been made of a different material, which might have made them stay in my ear better, but it was a smooth comfortable silicone the didn’t feel like it’d tear easily.

A good value and I recommend giving them a shot before springing for something more expensive – I’d have happily kept them if they’d just stayed in my ears!

I’ve been using JBL over-the-ear headphones for a while now. Most recently, the JBL Endurance Peak I, and before that the JBL Endurance Sprint. In general, they have great sound, and have generally worked pretty well over the years.

These are the first ear-bud style wireless headphones I’ve used (from JBL or elsewhere). At first, I was very impressed. The noise canceling is really pretty impressive, and the sound is amazing. My first clue that something was wrong was when I wore them during lunch, and they started to fall out of my ear as I chewed.

I experimented with different fin and earbud sizes. The lack of a manual made this a bit frustrating. The quick start guide shows that you insert the buds and rotate them forward to lock them in place. It doesn’t show how the fins are supposed to fit in your ear at all. Anyway, I just tried all the sizes. With all of them, if I look downward and shake my head (gently), after about 10 seconds they fall out.

Unsurprisingly, when I took them on a run, they fell out every 100m or so. Fortunately I was usually able to catch them. So, if you are looking for an excuse to take a break on your runs, these headphones for you. Mine are going back to Amazon.