JBL Live Beam 3

These mid-range JBL earbuds stand out from the crowd

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How many features can you pack into a pair of true wireless earbuds? All of them, if you’re JBL.

For earbuds in the mid-level price range, the JBL Live Beam 3 have a bucketload of features with a surprising amount of customisation that we don’t see even in more premium models. They are a friendly, easy-going pair to live with, too. That’s not these JBLs’ biggest selling point, however. It’s the smart display case that stands out.

Smarter than the average case

JBL introduced the first smart case – a charging case with an interactive touchscreen display – with last year’s flagship Tour Pro 2, and it has now brought it to a more affordable price point.

The Live Beam 3 buds come with a more streamlined, smaller charging case than its flagship sibling. While still relatively chunky, the Beam 3’s case fits more easily in the palm of your hand. It’s easy to carry and chuck into a bag or a (large) pocket, and overall it’s a more appealing design and size.

The smart case lets you access volume and playback controls, different sound and active noise-cancelling modes and various other options more readily than firing up the JBL Headphones app on a smartphone. The 1.45in display is crisp, colourful and bright with good contrast, and some neat customisation options.

While the JBL buds have touch controls that let you switch between noise modes, control playback or change volume, they allow you to use only two of these three main controls on the buds, not all three at once. So one of those options would have to be relegated to the app or your phone; and this is where the case does come in handy, as you can change the volume, skip a track or switch to transparency mode with a quick tap on the case, which is responsive enough.