JBL TUNE 235NC: Great sound and ANC at a affordable price

From the hand of an audio brand as well-known as JBL by Harman, come the JBL TUNE 235 NC , wireless headphones that bring to the table noise cancellation, the company’s signature sound and up to 40 hours of battery life. These are a slightly refreshed version of the 2021 JBL TUNE 230 NC and are shaping up to be the company’s new affordable option in the active noise canceling in-ear category. For less than 100 euros, the JBL TUNE 235 NC offer a balanced experience that shines for its price/quality ratio, today we will delve into them.

On the other hand, if the JBL TUNE 235 NC does not convince you, you may want to take a look at the JBL Tune 760NC , over-ear headphones also with JBL Pure Bass and active noise cancellation.

Design

Externally, the JBL TUNE 235 NC do not make any notable changes over their predecessors, they remain headphones with a stem-style design, which fits securely inside the ear without the need for hooks or any support. Naturally, JBL includes three sets of ear tips in small, medium, and large sizes, so you’re sure to find one that fits you.

In another order of ideas, the headphones have touch controls to perform different actions without having to take out the phone. A single tap on the right and left earbud respectively controls playback and cycles through ANC modes (on, off and ambient). A double tap on the right earbud advances one track forward and a triple tap skips backwards. A double tap on the left earbud enables transparency mode.

For incoming or ongoing calls, a double tap answers or ends them and a long press mutes or unmutes the microphone. When there is no call in progress, a long press wakes up the phone’s voice assistant.

JBL boasts of the water resistance of these headphones, but we must warn that it is not a big deal. They only have an IPX4 certificate, enough to resist sweat and rain, but not enough to be completely submerged. That degree of certification does not extend to the charging case, so we better dry them before storing them in it.

Speaking of the charging case, it is made of plastic and is quite simple, worse still, its exterior can be a little slippery. Be that as it may, it has a small cover that reveals the charging bases. The front houses an LED status light, while a USB-C port for charging is located on the back.

Sound and ANC

Internally, the JBL TUNE 235 NC have 6mm drivers that deliver a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with an impedance of 16 ohms . Likewise, the headphones support Bluetooth 5.2, but JBL does not specify the codecs. Leaving the technical specifications aside, the brand promises great fidelity with the characteristic JBL Pure Bass Sound in these headphones and that is what matters.

The other great advantage of these headphones is active noise cancellation , a function that allows us to concentrate on our music by drowning out external noises. If the ANC quality of the JBL TUNE 230 NC is anything to go by, then we can expect good performance in its price range. Let’s just hope that they have improved their effectiveness in counteracting noise in the bass range, since that was the Achilles heel of the original model.

Likewise, the JBL TUNE 235 NC have Ambient Aware and TalkThru to let the sound pass through when the need arises to pay attention to what is happening around us or to speak, all without having to remove the headphones.

App

The JBL TUNE 235 NC are compatible with the JBL Headphones mobile app , which allows us to personalize the experience through sound equalization options, as well as being able to change touch controls, activate/deactivate noise cancellation, adjust the ambient mode, find your headphones, and switch between Bluetooth modes. In this sense, there is a mode that prioritizes music and another with low latency that is ideal for games.

On an additional note, the JBL TUNE 235NC are compatible with the mobile voice assistant, so we can take advantage of them to activate Google Assistant or Alexa.

Battery

Finally, the headphones promise up to 10 hours of autonomy each and take only 2 hours to recharge. However, those 10 hours are the estimate without using active noise cancellation. If we decide to use the star function of the JBL TUNE 235NC, then 8 hours of use await us.

As expected, the charging case comes to the aid with a 750mAh battery, which can provide up to 3 additional charges for about 30 hours of use, resulting in a total of 40 hours if the headphones are already charged. With that in mind, the case charges via USB-C and that means only. Unfortunately, this model is left without the wireless charging of its higher-end siblings.

PROS:

• Good autonomy
• Active noise cancellation for an affordable price
• Compatible with JBL Headphones App
• 4 microphones for calls

CONS:

• No wireless charging

JBL TUNE 235NC Specifications