JBL Live 650btnc Wireless Over-Ear Noise-cancelling Headphones - Black

these are great! the sound is good, and since they are JBL, the bass is pretty strong too. the noice canceling is a great feature. the gym I go to plays pretty loud music, yet when I put on my headphones I do not hear anything from that anymore! They fit perfect around the ear and I like that they are over ear headphones. one thing I do want to say regarding this is that, since they are over ear headphones, your ears will become sweaty most likely, especially if you are working out. (but then again, any over ear headphones have this issue so this is not really JBL specific) other than that, I can not say anything "bad" about these!

Awesome product

I bought this item a week ago and I love it. Great product for the price thereof. It is the first over-ear NC headphone I’ve bought and it is awesome. Great sound that makes me enjoy music like never before. No interferences with Bluetooth connection. My only issue is with how long it lasts after it has been charged fully. Before I bought it I read several reviews and many people commended this product for how long it lasts, some even said a whole day or more but mine seem to last less than 10 hours after it has been charged fully. This may not be of so much concern as I use it continuously watching videos, video calls, listening to music whenever I am off from work. It is a good product and of high quality too.

Breaks easily through normal use - do not buy

I purchased these headphones to use with my phone and computer. The Bluetooth connection to my phone stops randomly.I have found that the plastic that is a part of the bit that goes in and out to adjust to your head has cracked. Looking at the design and the fact that it puts pressure on the plastic is just rubbish.I contacted JBL and they advised that the units degrade and I can only expect to get a year out of it.Given the cost $300 I would not expect to buy replacing them after just a year.Seems the JBL headphones of the past that were great are no longer.Save yourself your money and buy another brand.Customer support has no interest in backing the products.

But I chose these because of the long battery life good sound quality good bass good comfort and price

10 hrs in. Good sound overall with clear vocals and base while listening to Tool Eniema. Better without the ANC on. Comfortable ear cups and I have a big head. I bet after a month of wear they will be perfect across the sound and comfort board. Base is capped at a sound level for function but really any volume higher than a 3/4 bar with the equalizer on in small speakers or rock is too much anyway. Temperature was good. Did not find I was overheating wearing them on a plane for four hours. Picked them up at a sale price in Canada for an unopened box for $129. Overall great. Don’t and did not Expect the same soundstage Of wearing an open back over ear But I chose these because of the long battery life good sound quality good bass good comfort and price

Good Sound, Malfunctioning within Week of Purchase

I hate leaving negative reviews, because it means I've had a bad experience. On paper these seemed like great headphones. I read the reviews, I wasn't expecting to get the Sony or Sennheiser flagship headphones for this price, but they do sound decent and the app has a customizable equalizer. The cups and pads are comfortable on my ears for long periods, and it comes with a nice little leatherette pouch for storage. However, their overall design and interface is poorly thought out in my opinion (more on that below).I actually probably would've been happy with the 500BTs, the model just below these in the line-up. Those appear to be the same except for the Active Noise Cancellation feature.As, what appears to be the problem is the Active Noise Cancelling feature. ... MoreI hate leaving negative reviews, because it means I've had a bad experience. On paper these seemed like great headphones. I read the reviews, I wasn't expecting to get the Sony or Sennheiser flagship headphones for this price, but they do sound decent and the app has a customizable equalizer. The cups and pads are comfortable on my ears for long periods, and it comes with a nice little leatherette pouch for storage. However, their overall design and interface is poorly thought out in my opinion (more on that below).I actually probably would've been happy with the 500BTs, the model just below these in the line-up. Those appear to be the same except for the Active Noise Cancellation feature.As, what appears to be the problem is the Active Noise Cancelling feature. The ANC does, in fact, block most noise when operating. However, after having these for about a week (and only having to charge them once, the battery life in these is good) the ANC keeps turning itself off and on, I have tried connecting and reconnect them to and from my phone, restarting them, restarting my phone. I think it's a problem with the switch or button that activates and deactivates the ANC. Why is this a problem? Well, when the ANC is turned off or on it plays a little chime beep-boop, boop-beep, etc. it also interrupts your music. It pretty much does this constantly now, so all I here is 2 to five seconds of song, then beep boop, boop beep, beep boop, boop beep, and then another second or two of music, then repeat. Completely unusable after a week's use, and I haven't been hard on them. No, it's not user error, I know where the button is and it is not being activated, I am no where near even touching it and it keeps doing this every time I connect the headphones.As for the poor design: I don't use any smart assistant features (like Alexa or Google) and the way to activate that is by touching the cup, so if you ever have to adjust these while they are on your head it will activate the google assistant/alexa. If you're like me and you hate digital assistants, thus you have it disabled you get to listen to a voice chime repeat "the google assistant feature is not currently enabled" again interrupting your music every time you need to touch the ear cup for some reason other than to activate your digital assistant. So, that's really annoying too.I cannot be anymore emphatic about how displeased I am with this product but I will probably have to eat this one as I didn't retain the box (It's harman-kardon, why would I need to keep the box was my thinking?), so I don't think I can return it and god knows if JBL/Harman will actually honor any kind of warranty how long it will take or how much more money for shipping I will have to shell out to have them even evaluated. I got these on sale, but still that's $160 I could have spent on a better product or used for bills-- I feel like I essentially got nothing in return for my money. I probably should've gotten the Sennheiser headset, way more $$ but better build quality for sure.

Good but not great

Cons:- Can’t charge and use at the same time.- Every single time I adjust the headphones it keeps saying an error message about connecting to Alexa (very frustrating!). Too much flash things that actually made it a worse product.- Alexa function doesn’t even work properly when needed. For the price of the headphones, I should have just got the basic ones.- There is no “auto stop” functionality on the headphones when taking the headphones off (as mentioned in one of the feedback about the product - they just copy & pasted the wrong feedback on the wrong JBL product which created confusion).- sometimes the JBL app doesn’t connect to my headphones, very frustratingPros:- Very comfortable headphones.- Looks good in white/grey.- Great noise cancellation ... MoreCons:- Can’t charge and use at the same time.- Every single time I adjust the headphones it keeps saying an error message about connecting to Alexa (very frustrating!). Too much flash things that actually made it a worse product.- Alexa function doesn’t even work properly when needed. For the price of the headphones, I should have just got the basic ones.- There is no “auto stop” functionality on the headphones when taking the headphones off (as mentioned in one of the feedback about the product - they just copy & pasted the wrong feedback on the wrong JBL product which created confusion).- sometimes the JBL app doesn’t connect to my headphones, very frustratingPros:- Very comfortable headphones.- Looks good in white/grey.- Great noise cancellation functionality.- Great battery life after a few minutes of quick charge- comes in a little JBL carry bag with the relevant cords- sexy as bass sound/quality when the JBL app is working

Great 'phones!

I bought these headphones after casting about on the web for a replacement for wired 'phones that I've been using for TV watching. I soon concluded that Richer Sounds was the place to be (don't know why I bothered looking elsewhere tbh). I knew I wanted Bluetooth connectivity as opposed to wired, but wasn't sure how hi-tec to go. Anyway, after reading other reviewers it became clear that JBL were the brand I wanted and I settled on the 650s as a decent price level for what appeared to be great sounding headphones. I've now used them for a few weeks for music and TV. Music comes over as a bit too bass-y for me, losing some vocal clarity, and I've had to adjust by using the equaliser options on my tablet. TV though is a great improvement, especially with NC switched ... MoreI bought these headphones after casting about on the web for a replacement for wired 'phones that I've been using for TV watching. I soon concluded that Richer Sounds was the place to be (don't know why I bothered looking elsewhere tbh). I knew I wanted Bluetooth connectivity as opposed to wired, but wasn't sure how hi-tec to go. Anyway, after reading other reviewers it became clear that JBL were the brand I wanted and I settled on the 650s as a decent price level for what appeared to be great sounding headphones. I've now used them for a few weeks for music and TV. Music comes over as a bit too bass-y for me, losing some vocal clarity, and I've had to adjust by using the equaliser options on my tablet. TV though is a great improvement, especially with NC switched off, giving better dialogue clarity. I won't be using them on public transport (I prefer to be aware of what's going on around me) nor for phonecalls, so I'm paying simply for the improvement to my hearing whilst watching TV and the freedom to move around when listening to music or the radio.Why only 4 stars then? Well, I find them a little tight at the moment (60cm head) but I'm hoping they'll "relax" after a few more weeks' use.

NOT THE BEST, BUT PASSABLE

I bought this headset when my laptop's headphone jack fell loose on the inside, allowing only the left channel to play. My wonderful old, wired workhorse, the Bose QC-15, no longer could serve me well for computer stereo sound (though I still use them with my home audio). The Geek Squad, upon confirming that the analogue 'phone jack indeed was the only problem, suggested that I invest in a Bluetooth wireless set, thus saving myself weeks of backlog for a factory computer repair. I knew that I wanted great sound on a tight budget, so I was drawn to JBL as a Harman product. Honestly, this set proved to be adequate but not outstanding. The uncomfortably tight, over-the-ear fit plus the active noise cancellation are almost too isolating for enjoyment. The sound is rich ... MoreI bought this headset when my laptop's headphone jack fell loose on the inside, allowing only the left channel to play. My wonderful old, wired workhorse, the Bose QC-15, no longer could serve me well for computer stereo sound (though I still use them with my home audio). The Geek Squad, upon confirming that the analogue 'phone jack indeed was the only problem, suggested that I invest in a Bluetooth wireless set, thus saving myself weeks of backlog for a factory computer repair. I knew that I wanted great sound on a tight budget, so I was drawn to JBL as a Harman product. Honestly, this set proved to be adequate but not outstanding. The uncomfortably tight, over-the-ear fit plus the active noise cancellation are almost too isolating for enjoyment. The sound is rich but "enclosed." By that, I mean that the heaviness of the upper bass (around 100-200 Hz) tends to suffocate the rest of the music, creating the sensation of a narrow, crowded sound field, as if an entire band or orchestra were standing to play in a tiny space of four cubic feet. There hardly seems room for the listener! // There is no question that this is a sturdy, well-built headphone and one which produces decent sound quality for its affordable price. However, I have been spoiled too long by the Bose QC Series, headsets which produce a bright, open, uncolored sound across the spectrum, allowing for exceptional clarity, definition, and placement. Thus, I am mildly disappointed in this JBL model, for I had expected its sound to be similar. Certainly, the LIVE 650BT-NC is not bad, but just not the same.

True sound quality. Very comfortable. 100% recommend.

Product is awesome because it's JBL. Let's start from there. In addition, the sound quality is great. Not the lightest headphones but not noticeable. Love the design, very clean and professional. Great at connecting to whichever device. If you are not a Google Assistant fan you can opt out of it with no problems so that's a plus. Only thing to note is it's a 2.5mm to 3.5mm aux cord so if you have 3.5mm cables may need to find specific cables for it. Awesome headphones. Love JBL.

disappointing operation

I find once every 3 months my headphone hangs!What I mean is it cannot be switched off, the power LED stays ON, the app gives you the impression that it is OFF, switching the ON/OFF switch has no effect and factory reset does not work because the headphone is OFF though the LED is ON (I think this is the case because 1. the app shows the phone is OFF 2. It is not searchable from your phone or tablet 3. factory reset works when the headphone is ON only, and it does not work when the headphone is in this UNKnown state).SOLUTION: wait for the headphone to die - meaning if it was fully charged then it could die in 3 - 4days (yay! it is really > 35 hours ON time). Then charge the headphone a little, power ON then, and only then you can factory RESET it because it is ... MoreI find once every 3 months my headphone hangs!What I mean is it cannot be switched off, the power LED stays ON, the app gives you the impression that it is OFF, switching the ON/OFF switch has no effect and factory reset does not work because the headphone is OFF though the LED is ON (I think this is the case because 1. the app shows the phone is OFF 2. It is not searchable from your phone or tablet 3. factory reset works when the headphone is ON only, and it does not work when the headphone is in this UNKnown state).SOLUTION: wait for the headphone to die - meaning if it was fully charged then it could die in 3 - 4days (yay! it is really > 35 hours ON time). Then charge the headphone a little, power ON then, and only then you can factory RESET it because it is actually in a known state - ON.Bought this as my Christmas gift in 2019 (meaning I have had this is the issue about 4 times and I am due for another, yay!).WIll not buy this or a JBL again. I own a flip4 too and some funny story I have about that!