Anyone who owns gadgets is likely to own an annoying collection of charge cables, which are probably laying around the house like Christmas decorations. Some gadgets though, like the JLab GO Air true wireless earbuds have an integrated charge cable - same as Epic Air Sport ANC 2nd Gen - which means no extra cable to add to the collection.
Aside from having a built-in USB cord, the JLab GO Air charging case has an open top design; hence there is no lid on the charging case. The case design is a breath of fresh air as it breaks the mould, differentiating themselves from the vast majority of true wireless earbuds on the market. That said, the open top design does make the earbuds/charging dock less protected from the elements. The charging dock does have strong magnets and it's slightly recessed with a raised lip around it, which protects the earbuds from being accidentally removed.
Removing the JLab GO Air earbuds from the case is very easy by simply tilting the earbuds out at an angle. The pinhole status leds are located on the front side rather than front-facing the control panel like on a lot of earbuds. Because of this, the status leds get hidden by the inside of the ear when inserted, which is actually a good thing because nobody can see the blinking light which can be annoying to some people.
The front of the control panel is touch sensitive and has a beveled edge around the perimeter with JLab logo embossing, which provides a grippy tactile surface. The touch sensitivity is responsive and volume is supported via single taps. The other functions are also intuitive, skip track forward with the right earbud and skip track back with the left earbud.
The JLab GO Air earbuds also support voice assistant, calls (answer/hang up/reject call) and EQ, which is activated by triple tapping the left or right earbud each time to toggle between each EQ preset. There is three EQ presets to choose from, although navigating through the EQ presets can be a little awkward because of the need to triple tap each time.
The charging case of most true wireless earbuds have four battery leds, which makes determining the charge remaining in the case more accurate. The JLab GO Air charging case, however, has only one battery status led, which will show flashing blue (during charging), solid green (when charge is between 100% and 25%) or flashing red when battery is below 25% charge.
The JLab GO Air earbuds have three battery voice prompt status: full (100%-75%), medium (75%-25%) and low (less than 25%). While there is battery prompt, there is no volume prompt to tell you when you have maxed the volume.
The JLab GO Air bluetooth pairing process is straightforward. Simply remove the earbuds from the charging case and they automatically power on and connect to one another so, you only have to pair them as one single unit. There is no multi-point pairing but, you can use the earbuds independently; hence you can pair them to two different devices. Each earbud can deliver 2.5 hours of playtime on 50% volume, while the charging case can store 15 hours worth of charge. There is quick charge support, which provides 1 hour of playtime from a 15 minute recharge.
The JLab GO Air 370mAh charging case can be seated on its side or upright with the earbuds facing upwards. With the earbuds facing up, the charging case measures 4cm tall, 7.5cm long and 2.5cm thick. Total weight of the case is 33 grams, while the earbuds weigh 5 grams each.
The charging case is made of hard plastic and features a deep JLab branding engraved on the front side. The integrated charge cable wraps around the base of the case and it's easy to undo and stow away. The cable is made of rubber and measures 3.5 cm long and 6cm long including the flat USB-A connector.
The JLab GO Air have short stocky nozzle necks with wide tips, concealing 8mm drivers.The nozzle necks have a 45-degree slant, which perfectly corresponds to the angle inside the ear canal. Most people's ear canals are said to be between 45 degrees and 60 degrees, which is the reason why the same pair of earphones may not fit everyone the same. The more angular your ear canal is the better the earbuds should stay on the ears.
That said, how well earbuds stay in the ears also depends on the type of activities you engage in. For high intensity workouts, earbuds with wingtips or ear hooks are the best option for a super secure fit. For moderate activities like walking the dog or commuting on a bus, the JLab GO Air earbuds should stay in the ears pretty well. They can also be used for light jogging, although bear in the mind the IP rating, which is only IPX4. If you sweat a lot and/or like running in the rain, you ideally want IPX6 or IPX7.
The GO Air earbuds don't have wingtips or earhooks but, the eartips are JLab branded with a JLab logo embossed on the sides of the ear tips. The logo embossing is slightly raised, providing some grip to help anchor the earbuds. That said, the logo embossing can be felt and, while it doesn't cause any apparent discomfort, the logo texture on the ear tips could potentially irritate those with sensitive ears. If this happens, you can use standard aftermarket ear tips (i.e. SpinFits CP360), which aren't long so, they can fit the JLab GO Air charging case.
The microphone pinhole is located on the underside of the earbud, rather than on the front or outer side of the front panel. Despite the location, the JLab GO Air microphones perform pretty well without the microphone pinhole being muffled by the ear. This could potentially happen but, it's very unlikely because the nozzle design forces the microphone pinhole to slot between the outer ear notch. Background noise is picked up during calls but the internal filtering does a good job of amplifying your voice.
The default JLab sound signature delivers good soundstage separation with punchy low end, clear midrange and clean high end (treble). You can make the high end sound brighter or the low end sound slightly deeper by tuning the EQ. There is no aptX support; hence lag will be noticeable when watching videos via the YouTube app on an Android device.
There is AAC and SBC support, both of which are supported by iOS devices. Android devices can also stream via AAC but the power consumption makes it not worth it. The audio sync/lag is not as noticeable via an iOS device. You can buy the JLab GO Air on amazon. Check out the Jlab Jbuds Air Pro earbuds.