We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. It's hard to keep track of how many different true wireless earphones JBL makes, but you can't say it hasn't built variety into its wide range of offerings. The $99.99 Tune 120TWS earphones are essentially the manufacturer's no-nonsense option. They're not geared toward the gym, they don't work with an app, and their battery life isn't terribly impressive. The audio experience, however, is solid, especially if you love boosted bass matched with crisp, sculpted highs. That said, you can spend even less and still get strong audio quality with our Editors' Choice, the $80 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air. Design Available in black, blue, green/black, white, white/pink, or yellow models, the Tune 120TWS earpieces have a glossy exterior surrounding the JBL logo/control panel. The earpieces magnetically snap into cradles in the slightly larger-than-usual charging case. The case has a flip-top lid, status LEDs on the outer panel, and a covered micro USB port for the included micro USB charging cable. The control panels divide tasks between the left and right earpieces. Both can be used to power up/down (when held for two seconds for on, and five seconds for off). A single tap of the left earpiece skips forward a track and a double tap skips backward, while the right earpiece handles play/pause with a single tap, or answers an incoming call. Tapping the right ear's button twice summons your phone's voice assistant, and holding it down for three seconds mutes the mic (or unmutes it). The in-ear fit is secure, but the earphones only ship with three total pairs of silicone eartips, and the earpieces don't utilize fins for added stability. Regardless, placing them in the ear and twisting provides an exceptionally secure seal. The fact that there's no published IP rating means we'd be wary of using the earphones for exercise. Chances are, the earpieces can handle a light splash of sweat, but we wouldn't trust getting them wet beyond that. JBL estimates the earphones get about four hours of battery life per full charge, with 16 extra hours in the charging case. These are somewhat middle-of-the-road specs for the true wireless category, but leaning toward the weak end of the spectrum. Regardless, your results will vary with your volume levels. Performance Internally, 5.8mm dynamic drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. There's no app associated with the earphones, so the sound signature you hear is the sound signature you get, unless you go rogue and use a third-party EQ. This is worth mentioning, because plenty of competing (albeit slightly more expensive) true wireless in-ears have free apps that allow for EQ adjustments, and the sound signature here is unabashedly bass-forward. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver powerful low-frequency response. At top, unwise listening levels, the bass doesn't distort, and at more moderate levels, the lows still pack plenty of thump. See How We Test Headphones Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the general sound signature. The drums on this track sound heavy and full—not in an over-the-top manner, but they definitely have some added boosting. Callahan's baritone vocals are delivered with some added low-mid richness as well, but there's plenty of high-mid presence to keep things crisp and defined. The sculpting in the high-mids and highs also lends a crisp edge to the acoustic strums and higher-register percussion hits. Thus, things never sound muddy, despite the boosted lows—this is a very sculpted sound signature, but balanced between the lows and highs. On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence of its attack to retain its punchy edge, but the lows are also beefed up a bit, giving the loop's sustain some added heft. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with gusto—bass lovers will be pleased. The vocal performances on this track are delivered with solid high-frequency clarity, but there is perhaps some added sibilance in the mix. Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound quite exciting through the Tune 120TWS—there's more bass boosting than necessary, but it only pushes the lower-register instrumentation forward in the mix and doesn't overwhelm things. The higher-register brass, strings, and vocals get plenty of bright, crisp presence in the mix, and despite the sculpting, there's a healthy balance between lows and highs. The mic offers average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded, but the audio had typical Bluetooth artifacts, sounding fuzzy and a bit muffled at times. The mic delivers a solid signal, though—it doesn't sound too far from the speaker's mouth. Conclusions JBL's Tune 120TWS earphones deliver a solid, if not accurate, listening experience, where boosted frequencies don't overpower the mix and things sound relatively balanced. Beyond that and a secure fit, however, this is a pretty barebones offering from JBL. There's nothing wrong with that, but as we mentioned earlier, you can spend even less on Anker's Soundcore Liberty Air without making any sacrifices in the audio department. And if you're willing to spend more, the $170 RHA TrueConnect earphones deliver a superior audio experience and a plethora of accessories and in-ear fit options, while the waterproof JBL Endurance Peak and Samsung Galaxy Buds are both slightly more expensive (around $120, depending where you look), but also offer more in the features department. Bottom Line: JBL's Tune 120TWS true wireless earphones offer strong bass depth and crisp highs for a reasonable price. Top Comparisons

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