Review of headphones for relaxation and privacy JLab Go Air Pop

JLab Go Air Pop are cheap true wireless earbuds with pleasant bassy sound, excellent comfort, and splendid passive isolation. But are they better than the competition?

Earbuds offer an enjoyable audio quality and a good set of features. That being said, they aren’t without faults. Their main competitors, like Skullcandy Dime and TOZO T10, have an edge.

Where do JLab Go Air Pop earbuds excel, and what are their main flaws? Should you pick them over the competition? Read our full review to make an educated decision.

Sound

Star Rating 3.0 Good

JLab Go Air Pop have a V-shaped sound signature with a large peak around 9kHz, adding brightness and shimmer to the mix.

It’s commendable to see companies striving to tune their products to sound balanced. The JLab Go Air Pro come very close to sounding natural, at least in the “Balanced” EQ mode.

Speaking of EQ modes, earbuds offer 3:

Bass Boost

JLab Signature

Balanced

Each adds or reduces bass quantity. Unfortunately, none of the EQ modes reduce the 9kHz peak.

Bass: Only good when in Balanced mode

As mentioned, the 3 EQ modes essentially only change the bass quantity.

The “Balanced” mode is the best if you want to hear some details in instruments like bass guitars.

However, many will happily trade control for fun and extra punch and pick the “JLab Signature” instead.

The mode adds warmth to your music, and dig deeper into the sub-bass, providing some rumble. Due to the pretty noticeable boost, you’ll lose some details.

Lastly, if there still isn’t enough bass for you, you can toggle the “Bass Boost” setting. Just be aware that this mode completely bloats the music, making the sound noticeably quieter.

Midrange: Well-balanced

For the most part, mid-frequencies are where they should be. There are no massive peaks in this range, making for a quite natural presentation.

However, if you use them in JLab Signature or Bass Boost mode, expect to hear some bass bloat. Thankfully, choosing the “Balanced” mode takes care of that problem.

On the other hand, you, unfortunately, can’t solve the 9-10kHz peak. This kind of tuning tends to add some clarity to the mix but makes the overall sound thin and overly bright in the process.

Interestingly, the vocals stay sibilance-free and fairly natural-sounding.

Treble: Bright and shimmery

Treble peaks between 8-10kHz can make the sound crispier when it actually isn’t. You can see many examples of such tuning in (mostly) consumer headphones.

JLab Go Air Pop have a peak at around 9.3kHz (the peak can deviate depending on the ear canal’s shape), which adds a similar effect.

In JLab’s defense, the end result isn’t a harsh mess as with headphones that have an 8kHz peak. However, everything sounds a tad too sharp and shimmery.

Combining loud treble and bass creates a V-shaped sound, making the midrange quieter in the process (evident from the sound comparison video above).

Of course, detail retrieval isn’t amazing, but decent enough for the price. You can distinctly hear cymbal hits, but they lack texture and air.

The soundstage is on a smaller side, offering an intimate listening experience.

Imaging is pretty accurate but not pinpoint sharp since a large portion of higher frequencies is missing.

Overall, JLab Go Air Pop sound good for the price but suffer from the lack of detail and that treble peak, which makes everything a bit shimmery.

On the other hand, they produce a pleasant warmth and bass, which many non-demanding users will enjoy.

While JLab Go Air Pop wireless earbuds are good for the price, you can get a much better sound for even less than $20. More on that later.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

JLab Go Air Pop are lightweight and tiny, with no sharp edges. As a result, they’re incredibly comfortable and surprisingly stable.

Cheap earbuds tend to cut some corners, even in design. JLab Go Air Pop are ergonomic and lightweight, probably due to the cheap materials, but it helps.

JLab Go Air Pop are so small and light I can barely feel them in my ears after a few minutes. Even people with smaller ears that usually have issues with earbuds will find them comfortable.

There are no sharp edges that would poke or cut into your ears, like with Skullcandy Dime, or other cheap TWS earbuds.

Note that while earbuds are small, they don’t sit as flush as 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini. Meaning you can’t use them under a helmet.

Moreover, JLab Go Air Pop offer a surprisingly stable fit. And that’s despite lacking ear wings, fins, or hooks.

Sure, stability isn’t rock solid, as the earbuds pop out of your ears after vigorously shaking your head. However, the fit will suffice for regular workouts and running.

Durability

Star Rating 3.0 Good

JLab Go Air Pop have an IPX4 rating, promising protection against sweat and light rain. However, their cheap plastic design doesn’t feel too durable.

While some budget earbuds surprise us with overall build quality (like Moondrop Chu), they’re mostly made of lower-tier materials. The latter is especially evident in the JLab Go Air Pop design.

The earbuds and the charging case feel very lightweight and hollow and are entirely made of cheap-feeling plastic.

On the positive side, earbuds are small and shouldn’t pop open if they fall on the floor. Just make sure your pet doesn’t chew them, as they’ll crack like candy.

Furthermore, they’re rated for an IPX4, meaning neither sweat nor light water splashes damage them.

The most concerning is the charging case. Opening and closing the hinge provides no resistance, and the plastic feels like it will crack on its first drop.

Furthermore, the charging cable is built into the case. It’s flat and thick, but if it breaks, you must replace the entire case instead of just the cable.

Nevertheless, as long as you take care and be gentle, you shouldn’t have any durability issues.

Also, JLab gets a slightly higher rating thanks to its 2-year warranty (most manufacturers only offer one year).

Battery

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

JLab Go Air Pop have a rather impressive battery life of 9 hours and 16 minutes on a single charge. The case holds another 24 hours and comes with a built-in charging cable.

Despite earbuds being small and very lightweight, they hide a pretty beefy battery. Instead of the advertised 8 hours, they lasted more than 9 hours in our test.

9 hours and 16 minutes, to be exact.

That puts JLab Go Air Pop in the above-average category, which is commendable for a cheap product. Their main competitor, Skullcandy Dime, only has 3.5 hours of listening time.

A small charging case should provide an extra 24 hours of juice. The cable is built-in, which is common for JLab true wireless earbuds.

On the one hand, that’s practical since you’ll never forget the charging cable. However, you’ll still need a charging brick or another device with a USB port. Also, the cable is very short, leaving the case in an awkward dangling position.

JLab doesn’t say anything about the fast-charging support or how long it takes for earbuds to charge.

Features

Star Rating 3.0 Good

JLab Go Air Pop features consist of touch controls, 3 EQ profiles (modes or presets), a built-in USB cable, and a decent microphone for phone calls.

Most JLab earbuds under $50 are very similar in the features department. They all have built-in cables and three EQ presets.

Speaking of the latter, you have to triple tap on the right earbud to switch between the profiles.

Earbuds use touch-sensitive controls that work quite reliably.

JLab Go Air Pop controls:

Play/pause/end call – double tap on the right bud

Song forward/reject call – press and hold on the right bud

Song backward/reject call – press and hold on the left bud

Volume controls up/answer call – single tap on the right bud

Volume controls down/answer call – single tap on the left bud

Voice assistant/end call – double tap on the left bud

Change EQ mode – triple tap on the right bud

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 4.0 Great

JLab Go Air Pop can passively isolate ambient noise quite well. They’re on par with earbuds that use foam tips, which is impressive.

Regarding stability, JLab Go Air Pop heavily rely on ear canal fit. They have to create a tight seal to keep them in place. Consequently, they also isolate from background noise well.

While tiny, earbuds create a tight seal without producing annoying in-ear pressure.

Comparing them to Sony WF-1000XM4, bulky earbuds with hybrid foam/silicone tips, they both isolate to the same degree.

That makes JLab Go Air Pop better than most earbuds I’ve tested. The only ones better are the buds with multi-flanged tips or extremely deep insertion (like Etymotic in-ear monitors).

What about sound leakage?

Fortunately, JLab buds excel in the sound leakage category, too. When I was testing them on my MiniDSP rig, I initially thought they aren’t playing. But they just let out very little noise.

That means you can easily blast your music out in public without fearing others might hear your playlist.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

JLab Go Air Pop offer a somewhat average Bluetooth range, no video lag on YouTube but a slight delay in mobile games, and a mono mode. No multipoint, though.

JLab Go Air Pop come with Bluetooth 5.1, ensuring a stable connection when keeping your audio transmitting device in the vicinity.

However, Bluetooth range is all about signal strength, not Bluetooth’s version. Unfortunately, the Go Air Pop’s range is only average at best.

In my regular indoor test, earbuds endured around 45 feet in distance (or 13.7 meters), with audio cutting off right after passing the second brick wall.

How is pairing?

The pairing process is always automatic, regardless of how many times you have already paired the earbuds.

You take the earbud out of the case and wait a few seconds to hear the “ready to pair” prompt.

Then search for devices on your gadget of choice, and earbuds should appear in the Bluetooth menu.

What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Use?

JLab Go Air Pop use SBC and AAC, the latter being a default Bluetooth codec on iOS and Android (even though it doesn’t work as optimally on the latter).

You can force your Android smartphone to use SBC in “Developer Options.” However, the phone will return to using AAC each time you re-pair the earbuds.

Is There an Audio Lag?

Watching videos on YouTube shows no audio delay, making a JLab Go Air Pop great for watching videos.

On the other hand, playing mobile games reveals a slight delay between what you hear and what’s happening on the screen.

But the lag won’t be that distracting unless you’re playing fast-paced competitive games.