We look at a lot of headphones here and lately we’ve been playing around with the JBL Reflects. They are a budget friendly mid-range wireless model built on JBL’s deep audio quality roots. JBL is known for making some great speakers, so we were definitely curious how their foray into the mini Bluetooth world would go.
Out of the Box
The out of the box experience is somewhat anti-climactic. It is a no frills experience and inside you are going to get the headphones, a USB cable, and replacement ear pods. The headphones themselves come in four different color, but feature a reflective stripe which should provide a slight level of visibility. Unlike other headphones however, the case for the headphones is sold separately.
Sound Quality
Something we hardly ever cover when it comes to athletic based wireless headphones is sound quality. It is typically not a factor in purchase for most people, but we had to touch on it because this is where the JBL’s shine. They packed a significant amount of performance into a very small package which was welcome.
Battery Life and Charging
The JBL Reflect Mini BTs get about 8 hours of playback before needing a charge. This was very much inline with what we experienced. A full recharge typically took 4+ hours in our testing.
Run Test
First off, the Reflect Minis are sweatproof and I can’t believe this hasn’t become a standard across other headphone manufacturers. If you make sure the USB port is closed, then you can run through rain, sweat, etc and it won’t flinch at it.
The next thing is these headphones are ultra light, in fact much lighter than I had expected. You barely notice you have them on and I guarantee you will forget they are even on your head when you are mid way through.
I will say that quality wise as it relates to the hardware the JBL Reflects definitely fit into that mid-range category. It is probably due to the ultralight nature of the design, but the mic, volume and charging block are definitely a little unrefined.
Overall Conclusion
The JBL Reflect Mini Bluetooth headphones are solidly designed and when it comes to mid-range economically friendly, you would be hard pressed to find better. They aren’t going to compete well with higher end models, but with their sweat resistant nature and ultralight design, they are definitely a solid performer. Most people will find them a really great fit for their everyday runs.
Technical Stats, Pricing & Availability
- MSRP: $99.95
- Available: Now
