JBL Live 680NC Blue

I am a big fan of JBL products in general. Sound quality is always top-notch, and the branding/quality always feels high-end as well.

What stands out during the unboxing is that the headphones do not come with a charging cable (USB-C). However, you do get an aux-USB-C cable to connect the headphones to other media.

I am a man of average build, 1.78 meters tall. When I put the headphones on, I immediately felt that the ear cushions did not cover my entire ear. This felt quite strange at first.

Setting up the headphones was very simple. They were already 50% charged, and upon turning them on, they immediately went into Bluetooth mode. After that, I connected to the headphones via my phone and could listen to my music right away. I also had the JBL app, and I could see the headphones listed there immediately.

The quality is top-notch with this model as well. The headphone on your right ear features a touch button that allows you to pause and play music. What I did discover is that when adjusting your headphones, you can easily hit the button, causing your music to pause unintentionally.

I also had to look up whether the headphones are waterproof and how well. This is because I like to run with music, even in the rain. I had a very hard time finding this information. Not on the box or in the included booklets, or at least I didn't spot it right away. (Ultimately, I suspect the "umbrella" symbol at the bottom of the box.)

Furthermore, I find the only downside to be that when you go to the gym and lie on the bench, the headphones slide down. If you then adjust the headphones tighter, they pull your ears up a little.

I have been using the headset for a few weeks now and am very satisfied with it, but naturally, there are both pros and cons. Perhaps the first point isn't so much due to the headphones themselves, but I had hoped that on-ear headphones would be less bothersome on warm days. That probably won't be the case only with these headphones when temperatures exceed 30 degrees. Your ears can indeed breathe a little better than with closed shells, but due to the pressure of the headset—which isn't excessive, by the way—sweat forms quite quickly, and your ear also heats up fast enough because of the material.

Looking further at the headphones, they don't look particularly special, but simply have a sleek finish, except for the buttons. I am a fan of buttons, but these stand out to me a little bit in both a positive and negative sense. The positive aspect is that the buttons are easy to distinguish by touch and are well placed. What is less appealing is the feel of the buttons themselves and the sound produced by the volume control, for example, when changing the volume. Furthermore, it is certainly a plus that you have both touch and physical buttons, and the touch controls work fine as well. With somewhat sweaty hands, you sometimes have to give it an extra tap, but as long as you don't tap excessively hastily, everything goes smoothly.

Ultimately, of course, what it is mainly about is the sound, and you can really enjoy experimenting with that on these headphones. There are many features that allow me to switch between all the possibilities, which I think also provides a kind of extra listening pleasure. In any case, it has been made easy to quickly and simply create different profiles or use the 6 preset profiles.

Something that is a bit less clear is when you are using LDAC and when you aren't. When enabling some functions, you get a very clear notification that they are being disabled, but there are quite a few options, and exactly what that affects is sometimes a bit of a gamble. In a way, that isn't really such a big deal; with these headphones, it seems to me that the intention is mainly to make the music you listen to just a little more personal, rather than to actually experience studio quality. Small points worth mentioning, but I don't know if they are due to the product or usage. It seems to show stains easily and is a bit harder to clean; this also applies to the cushions.

I am a big fan of JBL products in general. Sound quality is always top-notch, and the branding/quality always feels high-end as well.

What stands out during the unboxing is that the headphones do not come with a charging cable (USB-C). However, you do get an aux-USB-C cable to connect the headphones to other media.

I am a man of average build, 1.78 meters tall. When I put the headphones on, I immediately felt that the ear cushions did not cover my entire ear. This felt quite strange at first.

Setting up the headphones was very simple. They were already 50% charged, and upon turning them on, they immediately went into Bluetooth mode. After that, I connected to the headphones via my phone and could listen to my music right away. I also had the JBL app, and I could see the headphones listed there immediately.

The quality is top-notch with this model as well. The headphone on your right ear features a touch button that allows you to pause and play music. What I did discover is that when adjusting your headphones, you can easily hit the button, causing your music to pause unintentionally.

I also had to look up whether the headphones are waterproof and how well. This is because I like to run with music, even in the rain. I had a very hard time finding this information. Not on the box or in the included booklets, or at least I didn't spot it right away. (Ultimately, I suspect the "umbrella" symbol at the bottom of the box.)

Furthermore, I find the only downside to be that when you go to the gym and lie on the bench, the headphones slide down. If you then adjust the headphones tighter, they pull your ears up a little.