The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are the next generation of the JBL Tune 125TWS Truly Wireless. They have a more comfortable and well-built design than their predecessor, and their continuous battery life of 7.6 hours should last through long days at the office. They also have a very neutral default sound profile that's suitable for a variety of genres, although you can adjust their sound to your liking using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets if you prefer. However, while they have active noise cancelling (ANC), it only offers an okay overall performance and may not be enough to block out the low rumble of bus and plane engines.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are good for neutral sound. Out of the box, they have a very neutral sound profile suitable for a variety of audio content. Although their mid-treble is slightly underemphasized, you can adjust their sound to your liking using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets. Unfortunately, their passive soundstage is bad, and sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are good for commute and travel. They have a small and lightweight design, making it easy to put them into your pockets or bags when you're on the go. They also have a comfortable fit and deliver over seven hours of continuous battery life. However, their ANC struggles to block out bus and plane engine noise.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are great for sports and fitness. They have a comfortable, lightweight, and well-built design that's rated IPX4 for water resistance. They also have roughly 7.6 hours of continuous battery life, which should last through days on the move. They lack stability fins, though, and can fall out of your ears with more intense head movement.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are decent for office use. These headphones have a comfortable fit and a 7.6-hour continuous battery life. They also don't leak a lot of audio at high volumes, so you can turn your music up without bothering your coworkers. They have active noise cancelling, too, and can block out an excellent amount of office chatter around you. However, you can't connect them to your PC and smartphone at the same time.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC can't connect to PlayStation or Xbox consoles, and their latency with PCs, iOS, and Android devices is too high to be suitable for gaming. That said, they have a low-latency 'Video Mode', which helps lower their audio lag within reasonable levels on iOS and Android devices.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are ฮluetooth-only headphones, and you can't use them wired.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC are okay for phone calls. Their integrated mic offers a satisfactory recording quality, ensuring your voice is intelligible to whoever you're talking to. However, it struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise around you, and your voice could be drowned out if you're taking a call from a busy street.
The JBL Tune 130NC come in three color variants: 'Blue', 'White', and 'Black'. We tested the 'Black' variant, and you can see our model's label here. If you come across another variant, please let us know in the discussions.
The JBL Tune 130NC are the next generation of the JBL Tune 125TWS Truly Wireless and have a more comfortable and well-built design. Unlike their predecessor, they also have ANC, and although it offers an okay overall performance, it falls short compared to other truly wireless headphones like the EarFun Air Pro 2 True Wireless or the Anker SoundCore Life P3 Truly Wireless. That said, they offer a very neutral sound profile, and like many JBL headphones, have a companion app with a parametric EQ and presets.
Check out our recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best noise cancelling earbuds and in-ear headphones, and the best earbuds and in-ear headphones.
The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are similarly performing in-ears as the JBL Tune 230NC TWS True Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable and well-built, the 230NC have a more stable in-ear fit and better battery performance. The 130NC have a more neutral default sound profile, which some users may prefer, and their ANC can block out more ambient noise.
The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are better in-ears than the JBL Tune 125TWS Truly Wireless. The Tune 130NC are more comfortable, better-built, and have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. They also have a significantly better battery performance, and their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets to help you customize their sound to your liking. However, the Tune 125TWS have a better noise isolation performance, despite not having active noise cancelling.
The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are more versatile headphones than the JBL Live Free NC+ TWS True Wireless. While both are comfortable, well-built, and have a neutral sound, the Tune 130NC have active noise cancelling and can block out more background noise. They also have a better overall microphone performance and a longer continuous battery life. However, the Live Free NC+ have a more stable fit.
The Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless are better overall headphones than the JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable and well-built, the Jabra have a more stable in-ear fit, are equipped with an ANC system, and their default sound profile is even more neutral, which some users may prefer. They also have a slightly better battery performance.
The Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless are better in-ears than the JBL 130NC TWS Truly Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable, the Apple are better-built, have a better noise isolation performance, and have an H1 chip for seamless pairing with your other Apple devices. However, the JBL have a more neutral and customizable sound profile. Their continuous battery life is longer, too.
The JBL 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are better truly wireless headphones than the JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless. The 130NC are more comfortable, better-built, and have a significantly more neutral sound profile. They also have ANC and offer better noise isolation. Their battery performance is better, and their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking.
The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are slightly better headphones than the JBL Vibe 100TWS True Wireless. While both headphones are well-built, the Tune 130NC are more comfortable, have a more neutral default sound profile, which some users may prefer, and have a better overall battery performance. They're also compatible with the JBL Headphones app, which offers a parametric EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound. However, the Vibe 100TWS have a better noise isolation performance, despite not having a noise cancelling system.
The JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless are slightly better in-ears than the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless. The JBL are more comfortable, have a more neutral sound profile, and have longer continuous battery life. Their companion app also offers a parametric EQ, which some users may prefer. However, the Sennheiser are better built.
Depending on your usage, you may prefer either the Beats Solo Pro Wireless or the JBL Tune 130NC TWS Truly Wireless. The Beats are on-ear headphones that are better built, have a significantly better noise isolation performance, and have longer continuous battery life. They also have an H1 chip so that you can seamlessly pair them with your Apple devices. However, the JBL are in-ears that are more comfortable and have a more neutral default sound profile that you can adjust to your liking using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC have a somewhat non-descript look, with the manufacturer's logo is on both buds in large, glossy print. They're also a bit bulky and stick out of your ear like similarly oval-shaped earbuds like the JBL Tune 125TWS Truly Wireless and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless. They come in three colors: 'Black', 'White', and 'Blue'.
Theย JBL Tune 130NC have okay controls. There's a touch-sensitive surface on each bud, which is easy to use and responsive. There are beeps to let you know when you've registered a command, and an audible tone to let you know when you're pairing as well as cycling between ANC on, 'Ambient Sound Control', and ANC off. You can also remap the controls to add volume and voice assistant commands. On the downside, while you can use either bud at a time, you lose some access to controls.
On the left earbud:
On the right earbud:
On either earbud:
These headphones come with a decent carrying case. It's nearly identical in design to that of the JBL TUNE 230NC TWS True Wireless, although the inner molding is designed to fit these specific earbuds. It's also made of plastic, but it feels a bit cheap overall. The lid especially feels flimsy compared to the case's body. That said, it has magnets to hold the buds in place and there are LED lights to display the battery life of the case.
The JBL Tune 130NC's build quality is good. They're mostly made of plastic, although it feels a bit cheap. The ear tips also feel thin and could be a weak point of the build. However, they still feel solid enough to survive a couple of accidental drops without taking too much damage. They're also rated IPX4 for protection against splashes of water.
Out of the box, these headphones have a very neutral sound profile. They're well-suited for a variety of audio content. That said, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets so that you can adjust the sound to your liking.
The JBL Tune 130NC's peaks and dips performance is excellent. There's a small mismatch between the left and right driver, and some peaks and dips affect one driver more than the other. The low to mid-bass is overemphasized, more so in the left driver, adding extra thump and rumble to mixes. A dip in the high-bass weakens boom in your mixes, while a small peak in the high-mid makes vocals and lead instruments bright. An uneven mid-treble means that the left driver dulls sibilants like cymbals while the right driver makes them sound harsh.
The JBL Tune 130NC's imaging performance is satisfactory. The group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The L/R drivers are also well-matched in frequency and amplitude response, ensuring a stable stereo image. However, there's a lot of phase mismatch that's audible with real-life content, which skews objects like footsteps or voices to one side of the stereo image. The low-mids are louder in the left driver, while the high-mids to treble range are louder in the right driver. The peak in the high-bass can be very hard to spot, though. That said, our results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.
These headphones have a terrible passive soundstage, which is to be expected for in-ear headphones. To create an immersive and speaker-like passive soundstage, your outer ear needs to be activated with sound. By design, they bypass your outer ear, and sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. Since they also have a closed-back design, their soundstage won't seem as spacious as headphones with an open-back enclosure.
These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using them with these settings.
The JBL Tune 130NC's noise isolation performance is okay. The ANC doesn't offer significantly better performance than the headphones' passive isolation capabilities, and overall, these headphones block out less noise than the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless. As a result, they struggle to isolate you from the low rumble of bus and plane engines. While they do a better job of cutting down office chatter, high-pitched noise like the hum of an AC unit is more challenging for the ANC to reduce well.
The JBL Tune 130NC's noise handling performance is okay. The mic has some trouble separating your voice from moderate ambient noise around you. As a result, it may be difficult for whoever's on the other end of the line to hear you clearly if you're taking a call from a busy street.
The JBL Tune 130NC have a good battery performance. They're advertised to last roughly eight hours with their ANC on, but we measured a bit less than that. However, battery life can vary depending on use, so your real-life experience may vary. That said, their carrying case holds roughly three additional charges, and they have an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life when you're not using them. You can also use one bud while the other one charges.
The JBL Tune 130NC have a good app. It allows you to adjust their sound using their parametric EQ and presets, turn on and off ANC, toggle between 'Ambient Aware' and 'TalkThru', and remap controls. You can also toggle 'Smart Audio & Video' between the following settings: 'Normal' (for a stable connection), 'Audio Mode' (which is the default setting and is designed for the best sound for music), and 'Video Mode' (which lowers latency for streaming video). You can adjust the auto-off timer too, turn the auto play/pause feature on and off, and access 'Find My Buds'.
The JBL Tune 130NC have alright Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. They also have high audio lag on PCs, iOS, and Android devices. However, they have a low-latency 'Video Mode' in their companion app, which lowers their latency to 203 ms on PC, 91 ms on iOS, and 132 ms on Android devices. That said, some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.
These headphones are fully compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, you can't connect to a PC in any other way.