The JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless are basic truly wireless headphones. They're decently well-made, exceptionally easy to carry around, and have a stable fit. Unfortunately, they have a short continuous battery life, block out almost no ambient noise, and have a fairly limited control scheme. Their earbud design is also prone to inconsistent audio delivery, and they don't have any sound customization features to compensate for their lack of low-end bass.
Our Verdict
The JBL Tune 225TWS are disappointing for neutral sound. While their mid and treble ranges are quite well balanced, yielding present, clear, and detailed vocals and lead instruments, their sound profile is lacking substantially in bass, so they're a poor fit for genres like EDM and hip-hop. Their audio delivery can vary drastically depending on their fit, seal, and positioning in your ear, and they don't have any sound customization features.
- Well-balanced mid and treble ranges.
- Inconsistent audio delivery.
- No sound customization features.
The JBL Tune 225TWS are sub-par for commuting and travel. They do almost nothing to block out the rumble of bus or plane engines as well as the chatter of fellow commuters. Their continuous battery life is also somewhat short, so you may need to charge them during longer trips. However, they're exceptionally easy to carry around.
- Exceptionally portable, fairly sturdy design.
- Short continuous battery life.
- Terrible noise isolation capability.
The JBL Tune 225TWS are good for sports and fitness. They're lightweight and have a stable fit, so they should stay in place during moderate physical exercise. While they block out very little ambient noise, that may be a benefit if you're outdoors and want to stay aware of your surroundings. Unfortunately, they don't have any on-board volume controls, so you need to pull your phone out to make this kind of adjustment.
- Exceptionally portable, fairly sturdy design.
- Stable fit.
- Limited control scheme.
The JBL Tune 225TWS are poor for office use. They block out almost no ambient chatter from nearby coworkers and leak a fair amount of audio, which could annoy people nearby if you listen to content at high volumes. Since their continuous battery life is quite short, you may also need to put them back in their case to recharge.
- Exceptionally portable, fairly sturdy design.
- Short continuous battery life.
- Terrible noise isolation capability.
The JBL Tune 225TWS aren't compatible with Xbox One or PS4 consoles. While they can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs, their latency is likely to be too high for gaming.
The JBL Tune 225TWS are Bluetooth-only headphones that don't support any wired connections.
The JBL Tune 225TWS are an inadequate choice for making phone calls. Their integrated mic delivers decent recording quality, but it struggles to isolate speech from even moderate background noise. The buds themselves do an awful job of blocking out ambient noise, so you may have trouble hearing what's being said on a call if you're in a noisy setting.
- Decent mic recording quality.
- Terrible noise isolation capability.
- Sub-par microphone noise handling capability.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 29, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Jan 20, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jan 14, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Dec 03, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The JBL Tune 225TWS come in four color schemes: 'Black', 'White', 'Blue', and 'Gold', but there are a wider range of color variants available if you configure them yourself by using the "Design your own" feature when ordering the headphones from JBL's website. We tested the 'Black' variant, and you can see its label here. That said, we expect the other color variants to perform similarly.
If someone comes across a different variant, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The JBL Tune 225TWS are basic truly wireless headphones. They're similar in design and overall performance to the older JBL TUNE 220TWS Truly Wireless, with longer continuous battery life. Unfortunately, they retain the 220TWS's terrible noise isolation capability, limited control scheme, and lack of sound customization features. If you're looking for alternatives, look at our list of recommendations of the best AirPods alternatives, the best true wireless earbuds, and the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds under $100.
The JBL Tune 125TWS Truly Wireless are more versatile than the JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless. The 125TWS have a more comfortable fit, more consistent audio delivery, far superior noise isolation, and audio leakage performance, and a longer continuous battery life. They also exhibit lower audio latency. Meanwhile, the 225TWS have a more stable fit and charge a little faster.
The OnePlus Buds Z are better overall than the JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless. The OnePlus in-ears are more comfortable, are better built, block out more ambient noise, leak less audio, and exhibit lower audio latency. However, their controls only work when they're paired to a OnePlus device. The JBL have longer continuous battery life, though unlike the OnePlus buds, they aren't fitted with an auto-off timer.
The Apple AirPods (2nd generation) are better for mixed usage than the JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless. The Apple are better built, are more comfortable, have a more neutral sound profile, and come with a case that supplies a longer total battery life. They also have lower audio latency on PCs and mobile devices. Conversely, the JBL have a more stable fit, a more comprehensive control scheme, a superior mic recording quality, and a longer continuous battery life.
The JBL Tune 225TWS True Wireless are the next-generation version of the JBL TUNE 220TWS Truly Wireless and perform very similar overall, though the 225TWS have a longer continuous battery life. Both offer terrible noise isolation capability, though the 220TWS struggle much less to deliver audio consistently.
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