Home Wireless Earbuds Jbl Wave Beam Vs. Jlab Go Air Pop

A Review By Comparison of the Jbl Wave Beam Vs. Jlab Go Air Pop

Last updated on Jun 7, 2023   7 minute read
Note: This page may contain affiliate links, we only earn from qualifying purchases!
JBL Wave Beam

JBL Wave Beam

See price on Amazon

Reasons why you might like the JBL Wave Beam

Overall Score 6.2 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating of IP54
  • Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)
  • Battery Life of 8 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 2 only
  • Has Ambient Sound Mode
VS
JLab Go Air Pop

JLab Go Air Pop

See price on Amazon

Reasons why you might like the JLab Go Air Pop

Overall Score 6 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating of IPX4
  • Battery Life of 8 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 2 only

A summary of the review by feature comparison

Category Features JBL Wave Beam JLab Go Air Pop
DESIGN ingress protection (ip) rating ip54 ipX4
weight 8.8g 7.4g
has no wires or cables
sweat resistance
has an earbud foam
has stereo speakers
SOUND QUALITY has active noise cancellation (noise control)
has passive noise reduction
driver unit size 8mm 6mm
lowest frequency 20hz 20hz
highest frequency 20,000hz 20,000hz
sound pressure level 100db/mw 103db/mw
POWER battery life 8hours 8hours
battery life of charging case 24hours 24hours
charge time 2hours 2.2hours
battery power 48mah 43mah
has a battery level indicator
CONNECTIVITY has usb type-c
bluetooth version v5.2 v5.1
maximum bluetooth range 10meters 10meters
has aac
MICROPHONE number of microphones 2only 2only
has a noise-canceling microphone
mic sensitivity -42dbv/pa
EXTRAS has ambient sound mode
has find earbuds feature
supports fast charging
has a mute function
control panel placed on a device
warranty period 2years
has voice prompts
travel bag is included
See price on Amazon See price on Amazon

A breakdown of the review per specifications

Design

Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating

JBL Wave Beam ip54
JLab Go Air Pop ipX4

Ingress protection ratings refer to the rating of protection offered by an enclosure, against solids and liquids. In the format of IPXX, 'X' represents a number The first value refers to protection against solids say dust, while the second refers to resistance against liquids (water).

Scoring IP54, the JBL Wave Beam's rating for solids indicates that ingress of dust is not totally prevented but dust does not enter in harmful quantities to interfere with the correct operation or impair safety, and of liquids that they can withstand low pressure spray similar to that of a shower head when tilted at 180° for 10 minutes.

In comparison to the JBL Wave Beam, JLab Go Air Pop have a rating of IPX4 meaning that no data available to specify a protection rating and that of liquids is that, they both have the same rating against liquids

Weight

JBL Wave Beam 8.8g
JLab Go Air Pop 7.4g

JBL Wave Beam have a weight of 8.8g . We consider a lower weight best for the reason that lighter devices are easier to carry.

JLab Go Air Pop, at 7.4g are lighter than the JBL Wave Beam with a difference -1.4g

Has No Wires Or Cables

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

For a device to be true wireless it should have no cables connecting any part of the device together, JBL Wave Beam are true wireless for this matter since they have no cables. This is a major difference since wireless earbuds have wires connecting the pair of earbuds together.

JLab Go Air Pop also is true wireless since it has no wires connecting the 2 earbuds together.

Sweat Resistance

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam have sweat resistance

JLab Go Air Pop's resistance to sweat makes both devices fit for use while doing sports such as long-distance running, marathons, training in workout bodysuits, etc

Has An Earbud Foam

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

An earbud foam is made to be ultracompact and lightweight, with almost no interference with earrings, spectacles, hats, or hairstyles. The JBL Wave Beam have an earbud foam to some it is more comfortable than the in-ear foam.

JLab Go Air Pop also have an earbud foam, which implies that by design they rest on the outer concha ridge of your ear, located in the center of your outer ear.

Has Stereo Speakers

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam have stereo speakers, what this means is that JBL Wave Beam's speakers deliver sound from independent channels on both left and right sides, creating a richer sound and a better listening experience.

The JLab Go Air Pop also have stereo speakers

JBL Wave Beam
See price on Amazon

Sound Quality

Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

Active noise cancellation utilises advanced kind of tech to actively cancel noise. How it works, it detects and analyzes the sound pattern of incoming noise and then generates a mirror signal to counter it. Simply put, it's like taking +1 (sound from your surrounding) and producing -1 (inverted noise) to make 0 which results in a reduced level of noise.

JBL Wave Beam have ANC allowing you to listen at lower levels of volume, good for your ears as you don't need to crank up the device volume to overcome background noise.

Has Passive Noise Reduction

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam sit tightly in place, creating an acoustic covering that reduces background sounds and also prevents the earbuds music from leaking out at the same.

Both of these devices have passive noise reduction this means that both reduce ambient noise instead of actively using ANC to cancel it out.

Driver Unit Size

JBL Wave Beam 8mm
JLab Go Air Pop 6mm

The JBL Wave Beam driver unit is 8mm in diameter, bigger drivers are more powerful, and can produce better bass. The driver unit is the component that produces sound in the earbuds, its size determines the sound made by the device.

JLab Go Air Pop driver unit is 6mm in diameter, which implies that they have a smaller driver unit than that of JBL Wave Beam by 2mm , many people have a misconception that driver units of a bigger size automatically produce better sound quality.

However, large drivers find it difficult to produce high frequencies so yes, larger drivers can generate louder sound, but this does not imply that they deliver better quality sound.

Lowest Frequency

JBL Wave Beam 20hz
JLab Go Air Pop 20hz

The JBL Wave Beam's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, low-frequency response measures if and how well an audio device produces low frequencies that can be heard, and if it alters the signal on its way through.

JLab Go Air Pop's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, this means that both devices make sound with equal bass

Highest Frequency

JBL Wave Beam 20,000hz
JLab Go Air Pop 20,000hz

The JBL Wave Beam's highest frequency is at 20,000Hz, high-frequency response shows how well an audio component generates high human frequencies and if it makes any adjustments to the signal while at it.

JLab Go Air Pop's highest frequency is at 20,000Hz, this implies that both devices generate equal treble

Sound Pressure Level

JBL Wave Beam 100db/mw
JLab Go Air Pop 103db/mw

SPL, is the level of pressure of sound, in decibels, dB, JBL Wave Beam's measurement is 100dB/mW. Devices with a higher sound pressure level are generally louder when supplied with any given audio source.

JLab Go Air Pop's sound pressure level measurement is 103dB/mW. How loud a device is can be taken differently by separate people, so we need to have a way of getting an objective measurement of sound level expressed in numerical terms.

Power

Battery Life

JBL Wave Beam 8hours
JLab Go Air Pop 8hours

The JBL Wave Beam's battery life is 8 hours, these last longer than 5 hours of listening which is considered average for a single charge. A device's battery life is commonly given by the manufacturer, and with longer battery life, you get to use it for longer and requires fewer chargings.

JLab Go Air Pop's battery life is equal to that of the JBL Wave Beam . Each time you recharge your earbuds, they get a little less playing time. The effect is not noticeable at first, but over a few years, your wireless earbuds will have shorter listening time.

Battery Life Of Charging Case

JBL Wave Beam 24hours
JLab Go Air Pop 24hours

This is given by the vendor, and the JBL Wave Beam's case has a charge of 24 hours. A charging case with more battery hours allows you to recharge your earbuds on the go many times before having to recharge the case itself.

JLab Go Air Pop's charging case has a battery life of 24 hours, equal to that of the JBL Wave Beam

Charge Time

JBL Wave Beam 2hours
JLab Go Air Pop 2.2hours

It requires 2 hours to fully charge the JBL Wave Beam's battery. It is highly adivsable to charge fully the battery before using the earbuds when they have been unused for extended periods.

JLab Go Air Pop takes 2.2 hours to fully charge the battery, more than that of JBL Wave Beam by 0.2 hours

Battery Power

JBL Wave Beam 48mah
JLab Go Air Pop 43mah

JBL Wave Beam's battery capacity is 48mAh, battery capacity, shows the amount of electrical energy that a battery can store.

JLab Go Air Pop's battery power is 43mAh. less than that of JBL Wave Beam by 5mAh

Has A Battery Level Indicator

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam have a battery level indicator, an indicator alerts you when the earbuds has a low battery. The battery indicator lights display the charging state of your device and case.

JLab Go Air Pop too have a battery level indicator, these enable you to determine the charging state of your earbuds, whether fully charged, or the battery is running low.

JBL Wave Beam
See price on Amazon

Connectivity

Has Usb Type-C

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam have USB TYPE-C, a standard connector for transmitting both data and power through a single cable.

JLab Go Air Pop too use USB TYPE-C. This USB-C plug is part and parcel of most current electronics.

Bluetooth Version

JBL Wave Beam v5.2
JLab Go Air Pop v5.1

JBL Wave Beam have Bluetooth version of 5.2, Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard that enables data movement between devices placed in close proximity, using short-wavelength, ultra-high frequency radio waves.

JLab Go Air Pop has a Bluetooth version of 5.1, older than that of JBL Wave Beam . Newer versions provide faster data transfers.

Maximum Bluetooth Range

JBL Wave Beam 10meters
JLab Go Air Pop 10meters

The JBL Wave Beam have a 10meters distance to connect via Bluetooth.

JLab Go Air Pop have a maximum range of 10meters, equal to that of the JBL Wave Beam

Has Aac

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JLab Go Air Pop support AAC, a codec used for Bluetooth audio. It supports 24-bit audio at 250kbps. Because it uses psychoacoustic modeling, it can provide better results than other codecs at the same bit rate.

Being the highest quality codec that any Bluetooth-supporting Apple product supports, the JLab Go Air Pop will work fine with your MacBook. If you intend on using these with Android you need to pay even closer attention to codec support for if they only have AAC they won't provide the best audio quality possible, ensure that they also support aptX HD, LDAC, or LHDC as well.

Microphone

Number Of Microphones

JBL Wave Beam 2only
JLab Go Air Pop 2only

JBL Wave Beam have 2 microphones.

JLab Go Air Pop microphones are 2, equal to that of the JBL Wave Beam . More microphones result in better sound quality and help the device to filter out background sounds.

Has A Noise-Canceling Microphone

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam have a noise-canceling type of microphone, these microphones are made to reduce background sounds from the desired sound.

Mic Sensitivity

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop -42dbv/pa

JLab Go Air Pop microphone sensitivity is measured at -42dBV/Pa. The amount of the analog or digital output signal from the microphone with its input stimulus is a measure of its sensitivity. It's the 'loudness' of the sound that the microphone can recognize.

JBL Wave Beam
See price on Amazon

Extras

Has Ambient Sound Mode

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam support ambient sound mode, which uses microphones to pass through ambient sound so that they can still be heard even while wearing the earbuds

Has Find Earbuds Feature

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

When misplaced in a room, or can't be found in your bag, the JBL Wave Beam support the find earbuds feature.

Supports Fast Charging

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam support fast charging. Commonly, technologies like Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, are used to lower the amount of time it takes to charge a device.

JLab Go Air Pop too support fast charging. This kind is similar to regular charging, just that the battery fills up much faster. Say, with Quick Charge 3.0, the battery can be charged to 50% in just thirty minutes.

Has A Mute Function

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

JBL Wave Beam have a mute function, they have the option to mute/unmute a conversation directly from the earbuds.

The JLab Go Air Pop also support the mute function. The mute function means that you are in position turn off the earbuds' microphone, but you can still hear the other party talk.

Control Panel Placed On A Device

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam, so you can access the volume control, pause, play, mute, etc whichever functions are supported on the earbuds.

The JLab Go Air Pop too have a control panel on them.

Warranty Period

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop 2years

The JLab Go Air Pop have a warranty period of 2 Years, the period of time that warrant free repair and adjustment services in case of a malfunction occurring under normal use following instruction manuals.

Has Voice Prompts

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam support voice prompts. Automatically receive information via audio messages, like if there is an issue with the connection.

JLab Go Air Pop too support voice prompts meaning the earbuds notifies you if the battery is low, and you need to recharge the earbuds.

Travel Bag Is Included

JBL Wave Beam
JLab Go Air Pop

The JBL Wave Beam come with their own special pouch. Carrying earphones without a case, or putting them in your bag without a cover can easily damage them.

JLab Go Air Pop also have a case included, which is useful for safe transportation.

Related Reviews