JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive Truly Wireless Headphones Review

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have a pretty simple design, with protruding stems similar to the Anker SoundCore Liberty Air 2 Truly Wireless. The JLab Audio logo on the side of each earbud has a metallic finish which makes them a bit flashy, especially since it tends to catch and reflect sunlight, but they have a fairly low-profile look overall. We reviewed them in black, but they're also available in white.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive are decently comfortable overall, but their in-ear fit won't be for everyone as it does stick into the ear canal quite deeply. The earbud itself is also rather bulky and puts a bit of pressure on the inside of the ear, which can be bothersome if you have small ears. On the upside, they're very lightweight and come with thin removable stability sleeves and a couple of different tip options, including foam tips, which can help you find a decent fit.

The JLab Audio Air Executive controls are okay. Their controls are surprisingly complete for truly wireless earbuds; not only can you play/pause your music, but you can skip tracks both forward and backward, adjust the volume, cycle through EQ presets, activate talk-through, and activate your device's voice assistant. Unfortunately, the sheer number of options make the controls confusing. The touch-sensitive surface is decently receptive, but they provide very little audio feedback, so it can be challenging to tell if a command was registered or not.

Like most truly wireless earbuds, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive are super portable. They're easy to throw into your bag when you're on the move, especially with their charging case, and should fit in most pants pockets.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive come with a good hard case that charges the earbuds when they're not in use. The case has a faux-leather finish that's quite nice and is easy to open and close. There's a window cut out in the front so you can see the charging status lights, which is quite convenient, but the earbuds themselves don't snap securely into place in the case, so you'll want to manually make sure they're secure before throwing the case around.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive feel decently well-built overall. They're made of plastic but don't feel too cheap thanks to their nice matte finish, plus they have an IP55 certification for dust and water resistance. Their case feels well-built but isn't advertised as waterproof. The case also has an integrated charging cable, which is convenient but also means that if it breaks, you can't just buy a new cable. Fortunately, JLab Audio sells the charging case separately to avoid having to repurchase everything. For better-built headphones, consider the OnePlus Buds Z Truly Wireless.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive's stability depends on the fit you can achieve. If they aren't too big for your ears, they have a good, stable fit that's suitable for running or working out. It'd be even better with more prominent stability fins, but it should do fine. However, if you have smaller ears and they don't fit as well, you'll find them prone to slipping out of your ears.

• JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive
• 3x silicone tip options
• 1x stability sleeves
• 1x foam tip option
• Charging case with integrated USB cable
• Manuals

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have a very pronounced V-shaped sound profile with their default EQ setting. Both the bass and treble ranges are strongly overemphasized, bringing extra punch and rumble and added brightness. They do sound a bit boomy due to the high-bass bump continuing into the low-mids, but the rest of the mid-range is quite neutral, so they end up sounding relatively well-balanced if a sculpted, excited sound signature is what you're after. They also have two other EQ settings to choose from if you prefer a different sound.

Like most in-ears, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have outstanding frequency response consistency. If you can get a good fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tip options that they come with, they should perform consistently. There may be a bit of variation in the bass range due to the fit, but it shouldn't be too noticeable.

The JLab Audio Air Executive's bass is inaccurate due to their V-shaped sound signature, which boosts frequencies in the bass range. However, the response is impressively even throughout the range, so while these earbuds have a lot of extra punch, thump, and rumble, their bass shouldn't sound poorly balanced.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have good accuracy in the mid-range. Their overemphasized bass carries on into the low-mids, making instruments and lead vocals sound rather muddy and cluttered. However, the rest of the range is very neutral, so vocals and instruments still sound clear.

Just like with their bass, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive's excited sound signature gives them very inaccurate treble. The response is flat continuing from the high-mids into low-treble but quickly rises, giving extra detail and presence to most instruments. The overemphasis persists into mid-treble, giving these earbuds added brightness but making them sound a bit harsh. Certain sounds, like cymbals or sibilants like "S" or "T" sounds, can sound especially piercing. Not everyone hears sounds in these ranges the same way, though, so this may not be an issue for some people.

Due to their dramatically sculpted sound profile, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have quite a few peaks and dips. The large bump starting in mid-bass and continuing right up until the mid-mids brings excess kick and punch to their sound but at the expense of sounding a bit muddy and cluttered. The rest of the mid-range is slightly scooped, so vocals and instruments have some room to still sound clear and balanced before a few sharp peaks in treble bring extra brightness, but also harshness, to their sound.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have excellent stereo imaging. Their weighted group delay is very low, and the graph shows that the entire response is well below the audibility threshold, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble. The left and right drivers of our unit were well-matched in frequency, amplitude, and phase response, important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

Creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependent on activating the resonances of the pinna (outer ear) but in-ears are designed in a way that bypasses the pinna completely, so the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have a poor soundstage. They're also closed-back earbuds, so their soundstage won't feel as open as open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (2nd generation) Truly Wireless or the Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless.

These Bluetooth in-ears don't have any virtual soundstage features.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have very good weighted harmonic distortion performance. They tend to distort a bit more in the higher frequencies, which tend to be more noticeable, but it's still within good limits, even at louder volumes.

These earbuds' results are only valid for these test settings.

However, we were unable to determine the firmware version. If you own them and know where to find it, let us know in the discussions.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive can isolate a decent amount of noise. Like most in-ears without active noise cancelling, they don't isolate very much in the bass range, so they won't help block out the deep rumbles of bus or plane engines very well. However, they do an excellent job isolating noises in both the mid and treble ranges, like the chatter of a busy office. We tested them with their silicone tips, but we expect even better results with their included foam tips.

As expected for closed-back in-ears, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive have fantastic leakage results. Most of the audio they leak is concentrated in a fairly narrow band in the treble range, making their leakage sound thin but also a bit sharp. Thankfully, the overall level of their leakage is below the noise floor of an average office, so it shouldn't be too bothersome.

These Bluetooth, truly wireless earbuds have an integrated microphone.

Like most Bluetooth earbuds, JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive's microphone recording quality is poor. Speech recorded or transmitted with their mic will sound thin, but you should still be easy to understand.

The JLab Audio Air Executive's microphone has mediocre noise handling. It's best suited for quiet environments without much background noise as they struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in louder situations.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive's battery performance is disappointing. We measured one full hour less of playback than what JLab Audio specifies in the product specs, so the total battery time is likely shorter than what's advertised. They also don't have an auto-off timer or standby mode to help save power. On the upside, they charge quickly, providing an hour of playback with just 15 minutes of charging.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive aren't compatible with a companion app; however, you can cycle through three different EQ presets directly on the earbuds themselves.

The JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive are truly wireless earbuds that support Bluetooth 5.0. They have a fair bit of latency, though, not only on PC but also on iOS and Android, so you might notice some audio lag when watching videos or playing games. However, certain apps and devices seem to compensate a bit, so you might not notice it as much depending on your personal use.

These truly wireless earbuds are Bluetooth-only.

As expected of truly wireless headphones, you can't use the JLab Audio Air Executive wired in any way. The only cable provided is the USB charging cable integrated with the case.

You can only use the JLab Audio JBuds Air Executive via Bluetooth on PCs, and they aren't compatible with the PS4. Due to their high latency, they aren't for gaming.

These truly wireless earbuds only support Bluetooth, so they're not compatible with the Xbox One.

These truly wireless earbuds come with a charging case that should give you around four extra charges but doesn't provide any additional inputs or features besides the integrated charging cable.