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Need-to-knows

– ANC mode is good but not world-beating (still excellent value for the price)

– Sound quality is nothing mind-blowing but, again, brilliant for the price

– 24 hours of battery life that defies belief

– See-through colourways are a refreshing take

I have a soft spot for the JLAB Go Pop earbuds.

About a year ago, I was on the brink of embarking on a four-month-long trip from the UK to China via bicycle and train (oh, and one flight!). This story is relevant to this review because, at the same time, I was looking for a pair of good quality but inexpensive wireless earbuds to take with me.

I wanted good audio quality with the longest battery life possible at a price I wouldn’t care about if I lost or damaged them. I landed on the JLAB Go Pop Air earbuds. They did the job flawlessly, even after being dropped in puddles, put through the wash and scattered across numerous dusty roads. 

Now JLAB has released noise-cancelling on the Air’s bigger brother, the standard Go Pop. As a result, I am excited to share with you what I think are easily the best pair of earbuds under $40/£50.

How I reviewed the JLAB Go Pop ANC

These earbuds make it clear that you shouldn’t expect studio-quality sound from their price alone. I tested the audio quality by listening to a range of different tracks from complex electronic music and pre-90s mixed rock to vocal-forward ballads, podcasts and movies.

The main focus however was on the quality of the noise cancelling, something rarely seen at this price. For this, I used the earbuds in different situations such as the London Underground, busy cafes, outdoor runs and at home with different appliances running. I also tested the transparency mode in these locations, using someone else with me to see if I could hear them talking clearly.

Battery life was assessed by using the earbuds every day during work, including video calls, and exercise.

Design – new colours, same fit

I’ll start with a superficial but surprisingly refreshing aspect of the JLAB Go Pop earbuds; the new colours.

Usually, I wouldn’t dwell on this too much because most people just buy black or white and are done with it. And that is often due to the, let’s say, safe choices of sales execs. But JLAB has gone all-in on different and I love it.

You can, of course, choose black, but there are also two block colours and a range of transparent colourways; Transparent Green (the ones I reviewed), Transparent Purple and Transparent Teal. They won’t be to everyone’s tastes but having the choice to pick something more vibrant is a tick in my books.

As for the in-ear fit and comfort, they are much the same as the previous generation which means very good. Everyone’s ears are different and people have their preferences but I much prefer stem-less earbuds in favour of the rounded design seen here. They just feel much more snug and secure in your ear. They reduce wind noise too.

I did have to slightly angle the left bud differently to get it in my ear canal properly but once there, it hardly shifted. The other thing with rounded earbuds is that they let you push them deeper into your ear, making for a much tighter seal.

The JLAB Go Pop aren’t the absolute peak of ear comfort (read Mark’s Bose QuietComfort Ultra review for those), but they are excellent for the price. For reference, I wore them for upwards of 8 hours every day on my trip and had no issues with pain or irritation.

I’ve been out running with the Go Pop earbuds too and found them to be stable most of the time. If you’re a heavy ear-sweater (gross, I know) then they can sometimes wiggle loose, but this only happened on some of my more intense runs.

Sound quality – solid for the price

Whenever buying a pair of budget earbuds, the main concern is that you’ll be getting a tinny, limp audio experience. But I just don’t think that’s the case anymore, at least with the bands I’ve used like Sony and Xiaomi.

I’ll level with you, the JLAB Go Pop earbuds don’t sound particularly awe-inspiring, nor do they break ground on new audio technology. But if that’s what you want, you’re looking about $100/£100 in the wrong direction.

These earbuds, which use a 10mm dynamic driver, sound perfectly good for the price. The instrument separation is particularly impressive, highs sound suitably crisp and the bass is punchy if you up it slightly in the JLAB which it needs when listening straight out of the box. 

They do sound very slightly washed out when you compare them to more expensive budget earbuds like the Sony WF-C700N. Tracks like ‘You Can Call Me Al’ by Paul Simon don’t sound quite as dynamic and full of life as they should. But again, I’ll remind you that these are a $30 pair of earbuds that, to the average user, will sound perfectly fine.

You can customise the sound via the JLAB app to bump the bass up or pick out the treble more if you find some areas lacking. Alternatively, you can just cycle through presets by using the touch controls.

There’s not much more to say about these earbuds other than you won’t find better audio quality at this price range.

ANC and transparency mode – packing in the value

Yes, you can now get active noise cancelling (ANC) in a pair of headphones for $30/£40. And it is surprisingly good.

ANC has historically been reserved for pricier earbuds, and especially good quality ANC. Most earbuds have it now though with the tech trickling down to cheaper models. But not this cheap.

The ANC on the JLAB Go Pop is as good as that found on earbuds like the AirPods 4 ANC or Sony WF-C700N. I used them on the London Underground, in the gym and at home with the washing machine on and they did a good job of shutting out background noise completely and dampening the louder noises. 

The only weakness was higher-pitched noises like squealing train breaks where you could still hear them clearly. But the ANC is shockingly good for the price. There’s pretty much no detectable audible hiss when ANC is turned out too which is always a bonus.

You also get ‘Be Aware’ mode which is JLAB’s own version of transparency mode which allows you to hear external noises while listening to audio. This is probably the weakest feature attached to the Go Pop, but it does work in certain scenarios.

In busy places like a cafe, you get a lot of the jumbled background noise through but it is hard to pick out specifics like voices. It gets a lot better in quieter rooms though where there’s only one source of exterior noise.

Again though, there are earbuds out there that cost more and don’t have this feature so it’s yet another tick in the value-for-money column.

Battery and charging – a major reason to choose these earbuds

The main reason I chose the previous generation Go Pop Air for my trip was the battery life. I didn’t want to have to charge my earbuds every day. Thankfully, the excellent battery life is transferred to the JLAB Go Pop. Albeit, slightly reduced due to the ANC.

JLAB states that you get 24+ hours of battery life with the charging case included with ANC turned off which drops to 21+ hours with ANC turned on. This translates to 7+ hours contained within each earbud and 6+ with ANC on.

I found these claims to be pretty bang on in terms of accuracy. I used the Go Pop ANC for a week during work and leisure time, about six hours a day, and didn’t have to charge them once. In one day when I had a load of online meetings, the earbuds coped with enough juice left over to head to the gym and start the next day afterwards.

It is so reassuring to have a pair of earbuds that will last you this long without a charge and something that some competitors still haven’t managed to master.

The way you charge these earbuds is slightly antique; you plug them into an adapter using a built-in USB-C cable. I suppose this is handy for those who travel a lot as you don’t need to carry another cable around, but it does potentially restrict the wattage of the cable, and therefore charging speed.

Saying that, I had no issue with it.

Conclusion – good ANC for a blisteringly low price

Maybe I’m biased because the JLAB Go Pop Air took me around the world and back again with no complaints, but I love the Go Pop earbuds series. And the Go Pop ANC only confirms this.

There are two reasons for this. One is the battery life, and two is the incredible value for money. Throw some surprisingly good-quality ANC into the mix and that second point becomes only more obvious.

On top of all that, the sound quality is better than you’d expect at this price. They may not offer the most dynamic audio profile, but for an all-rounder that doesn’t even ask you to break above a $50 note, then that’s fine by me.