Hi,
Santa Claus came early and bestow us with a set of JBL Everest 300 headphones.
Chio right, this is the first time I see headphones so white its probably gonna be shining on my head! Okay let me cut the crap. While unboxing, my first impression is that this must be some hardcore headphones aiming squarely at youngsters like those on the secondary box, partying with overflowing gusto! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR *eh hem* ok back to Earth now.. Well whatever picture on the box is of course not the main character, its the pearl white JBL Everest 300 Wireless Bluetooth headphones in the guts.
Wah the beauty.. It looks like premium stuff, something young clubbers (who spent all their daddy’s allowances on the entrance and alcohol..) could afford with ease. But its actually really not so pocket friendly at the price of USD$149 which roughly translate to ~SGD$220.. But who knows, kids nowadays seems to have deeper pocket than a working adult like me.
Back to the JBL headphones now.
Features and Design
The JBLs features (quote from the box):
- Bluetooth 4.1 Wireless Connection
- JBL pro audio sound for a dynamic audio experience
- Sculpted ear cushions provides unprecedented fit and comfort
- ShareMe 2.0: connect with Bluetooth headphones and share music
- 20hrs rechargeable battery
- Built in mic with echo cancellation
I didn’t even read the instructions once I opened it, I just went straight to connecting it to my iPod via Bluetooth. Its super straightforward, I just on the headphones, search for it on my iPod, connect and start playing! The JBL is programmed with audio instructions/notification like say when the pairing failed, a female voice will tell you.
The sculpted ear cushions were nice and fluffy. It does a great job at isolating sound. I don’t even need to play anything to shut my wifey’s nagging out when I wore it! While its nice and comfy when I put it on, it gets a little sweaty in our tropical weather, even though the stickiness gives us better seal.. Its not really comfortable.. The JBL can be folded for easy stowing of stuff.
There are button controls on both sides of the JBL, left side are the volume up and down and a play/pause button, right are the on/off and ShareMe 2.0 button. I didn’t get to test the ShareMe 2.0 feature simply because I do not have another Bluetooth headphone. Neither did I test the built in mic because I use it with an iPod and I don’t need to speak to my iPod.
The 20 hour battery is something I can justify for. While I didn’t time it, I forgot to off the thing one day after I came home from one full day of commute shutting-out-external-stimulants (with the JBL on) and went on to sleep. The next day it could still go on surviving a morning commute before I have to charge it.
Sound
I’m using a pair of the basic Marshall Mode headphones, my iPod eq is set to ‘flat’, and when I change it over to JBL its really really flat… I thought flat setting on my Marshall was flat already, I didn’t expect the JBL to outperform the flatness! I changed the eq preset to ‘Rock’ and the JBL immediately sound better.
It sounded a little bass heavy but not to the extend of hip-hop or dance music heavy. The mids were not really as clear as I hoped it to be and the highs were kinda muffled.. Please note that I am in no way an audiophile or an expert of audio quality, just saying what I feel after using it for a couple days. I did use it extensively to get to this conclusion. Your mileage may differ.
Overall, I think the lows and mids sounded better than my old headphones but the highs could’ve been better. Well its still not a bad headphone, its good. Just not excellent. I’m just saying based on the price, I expected super good results. But I might be being unrealistic with my expectations, since its got other great features crammed into it.
Other than the headphones, a micro usb cable (for charging) and a audio cable with 3.5mm jack (for using it like a wired headphone) and some papers are provided.
Conclusion
The JBL Everest 300 is overall still a good headphones. I am quite sold on the wireless feature and completely sold with the 20 hour battery. Its got better battery life than my smartphone! Although the sound wasn’t the best in my limited experience with headphones, I think its still good when you consider the comfort, isolation, build quality and more. Check them out, give them a try if you have a chance (probably at one of those big electronics stores) and see if it suits your taste. Music is a matter of preference and this headphone delivers well enough in most cases.
The white suits wifey nicely as she listens to her boring music. Only rock music are nice, all else are boring. 😡
And here’s rocking the headphones infront of some Christmas lightings.
Its Christmas season and everybody’s just in a more generous mood. I would go ahead and get myself one of these headphones for myself to match Claire’s white one. The wireless feature has been something I’ve been yearning for a long time. I’m just getting a little sick and tired of using a wired headphones and my daily battle with the tangled up cable. Well of course you’ll need to charge it, but this JBLs rated at 20 hours, that’s more than enough to power through our marathon Christmas shopping sessions, where the crowd got filtered out by the awesome isolation from the headphones. But mind you, this headphones does not protect you from an angry-neglected-wife on a rampage, please take caution when using it in your spouse’s presence.
Go get your JBL Everest 300 from those major electronic stores!
IMS Marketing Pte Ltd (Singapore) is the main distributor in Singapore for international renowned audio brands like JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG.
You can visit their Facebook and Instagram at @IMSoundSG. The official website is https://www.imssg.com.
Simon Tey
This is a sponsored review but all opinions are of my own.
