JBL's new true wireless buds ditch Siri for Alexa and offer fast charging

(Image credit: JBL)

The JBL Live 300TWS true wireless earbuds have been announced at IFA 2019, ahead of a November release.

For £149 (around $185 / AU$270), the upcoming earbuds will be available in black, white, or blue colors, and bundle together a number of mid-range audio features expected at this price point. These include JBL's Urban Noise Control features like Ambient Aware, which records outside audio and plays it from the earbuds' drivers, and TalkThru, which drops the volume at a single button press to let you hear your surroundings better.

The Live 300TWS earbuds have a six-hour battery life, and 20 hours total charge including the charging case. IPX5 sweat and water resistance will also keep your hardware safe from sprays of water or rain – though not sadly a dunk in the pool.

New earbuds, same family

Available in blue, black, or white colouring

Available in blue, black, or white colouring (Image credit: JBL)

So how do these measure up to JBL's other offerings? For a small price increase (to £159, around $200 / AU$290) you can get the Under Armor Flash true wireless earbuds, also powered by JBL, which boost these specs to a total 25 hours listening time and IPX7 water resistance – with the Urban Noise Control functions added in too. However, you won't get the Live 300TWS's fast-charging feature, which will net you a whole hour of use from just 10 minutes plugged into the wall.

Unlike the UA Flash earbuds, which cater for Siri or Google Assistant, the Live 300TWS earbuds also make use of Alexa (in place of Siri). Other JBL earbuds at a similar price point – for similar performance – include the JBL Reflect Flow and JBL Tune 120TWS.

This isn't a big evolution by any means, but for those wanting the Live 300TWS's specific features – namely, fast-charging and Alexa support – over the different skills of other JBL earbuds, it will likely serve you fine.

The announcement is just one from a host of new JBL audio products at IFA 2019, including three new JBL soundbars, and a glowing JBL Pulse 4 light-speaker hybrid. Keep an eye out on TechRadar for our thoughts when we've had some hands on time with the products in question.

Henry St Leger

Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.

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