Meet JBL’s New Live 3 Earbuds With a Touch Display in the Charging Case

Last year JBL introduced its $250 Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which featured a “smart” charging case with a touch display. I thought the mini display was a bit of a gimmick, but it does act as a remote for your earbuds, which can be useful at times. 

Now JBL is bringing that same tricked-out charging case to its three new Live 3 earbuds: the Live Buds 3, Live Beam 3 and Live Flex 3. Though they’ll cost $200, which is pricey, that’s $50 less than what the Tour Pro 2 buds cost. JBL announced at CES 2024 that they’ll ship this summer.

Here’s a look at the three new models. As I said, they share the same case and have very similar features, including:

• IP55 water- and dust-resistance (they can withstand a sustained spray of water).
• Adaptive noise canceling.
• Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio.
• JBL Spatial Sound, six microphones (three in each bud).
• Multipoint Bluetooth pairing.
• Wireless charging.
• Support for the LDAC audio codec.

JBL Live Beam 3

The Live Beam 3 earbuds have a noise-isolating design and look similar to the Live Buds Pro 2, which I like a lot, especially when they go on sale for $100. The Live Beam 3 are essentially JBL’s AirPods Pro 2 competitor and should eventually sell for closer to $150.  Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.

The JBL Live Beam 3. They’ll come in black too.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

JBL Live Buds 3

These are the successor to JBL’s Live Free 2 earbuds, and they also have a noise-isolating design but are stick-free for folks who want buds that are shaped like buds. They have 10mm drivers and offer up to 12 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around nine hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.

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The JBL Live Buds 3 will also come in black.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

JBL Live Flex 3

The Live Flex 3 earbuds have an open design and are targeted at folks who want a set of buds more like Apple’s AirPods 3 (since they have an open design, their noise canceling won’t be as good as what you get with the noise-isolating models). Equipped with 10mm drivers, they offer up to 10 hours of battery life with ANC off (JBL didn’t give a number for ANC on, but I suspect it’s around seven hours). A 10-minute charge gives you four hours of battery life. They’ll come in black or silver.

The Live Flex 3 will also be available in silver.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

When all the new models are released this summer, I’ll let you know how they sound and how good their noise-canceling and voice-calling performance is.