JBL Endurance Peak 3 review

Say hello to your newest gym buddy—the JBL Endurance Peak 3. With strong durability, a stable fit, and booming bass, these earbuds appear to be a worthy entrant to the workout earbud market. Should these earbuds be the newest staple in your gym bag?

What’s it like to use the JBL Endurance Peak 3?

Every part of the JBL Endurance Peak 3 is tailor-made for athletes. At a quick glance, you’ll notice the flexible ear hooks that wrap around the ear, a design we’ve seen on other earbuds such as the Powerbeats Pro. After inserting the earbuds and twisting them around the outside of your ear, the Endurance Peak 3 locks securely in place.

Along with multiple ear tip sizing options, JBL includes removable “Ear Enhancers.” These silicone pieces sit right behind the ear tip component that inserts into the ear and provides an additional grip point to stabilize the earbuds in place. Even when performing cartwheels, the earbuds don’t budge.

While these features ensure a snug fit, they also make the JBL Endurance Peak 3 a larger package than most true wireless earbuds. The earbuds themselves are quite bulky, but it’s really the charging case that impedes portability. You’ll have a hard time fitting this case in your pants pockets, especially if you also have a phone or wallet in your pocket.

An IP68 rating means the earbuds are both water and dust-resistant. The JBL Endurance Peak 3 isn’t designed for swimming, but you can submerge the earbuds in up to 1.5m of water for 30 minutes. The charging case is not waterproof, so make sure you don’t put wet earbuds back in the charging case.

How do you control JBL Endurance Peak 3?

You can control the JBL Endurance Peak 3 without reaching for your phone by tapping either earbud. Below are the default controls; however, you can customize these from within the JBL Headphones app. For example, if you enable volume control from the headset, you can increase volume with a single tap on the left earbud instead of activating Ambient Aware mode.

Should you use the JBL Headphones app for the JBL Endurance Peak 3?

The JBL Headphones app significantly expands the feature set and customizability of the JBL Endurance Peak 3. When you first open the app, you’ll see the earbud battery life and a toggle to turn on Ambient Aware or TalkThru mode. The Ambient Aware mode significantly amplifies your surroundings, so you can hear as easily as if you weren’t wearing earbuds at all. On the other hand, the TalkThru mode only amplifies frequencies present in voices, so you can listen to your music while having a conversation.

Below that is the equalizer, which is fully customizable, so you can adjust the sound of the earbuds however you like. The app also has a toggle for VoiceAware, which amplifies the sound of your own voice on phone calls, also known as sidetone. Another unique feature of the app is the Smart Audio & Video, which adjusts the Bluetooth latency for the type of content you are consuming. If you’ve ever used Bluetooth headphones while watching a video, you may have noticed the sound not quite syncing up with the action. Switching to video mode on these earbuds solves that issue by decreasing the Bluetooth latency in exchange for slightly lower audio quality.

How does the JBL Endurance Peak 3 connect?

Bluetooth 5.2 connects the JBL Endurance Peak 3 to your phone, laptop, or nearly any other device. The earbuds support the AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs, which ensures a great connection to Apple devices and a decent connection to Android phones. While Android users don’t get the benefits of a superior codec such as aptX, these earbuds support Google Fast Pair for instant pairing as soon as you open the charging case. The earbuds also support mono listening, so you can listen to music through one earbud while the other charges inside the case.

How long does the JBL Endurance Peak 3 battery last?

In our battery test, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 lasted 8 hours and 47 minutes on a single charge. One perk of the massive charging case is that it stores an additional four full charges. You can easily take these earbuds on holiday for an entire week without needing to bring a charging cable. There’s no wireless charging, but JBL includes a short USB-C cable.

How well does the JBL Endurance Peak 3 block out noise?

The JBL Endurance Peak 3 does not have active noise canceling, but a good fit with the included ear tips seals out a lot of external noise via passive isolation. Most low to mid-frequency noise up to 1kHz will sound about 50% as loud with the earbuds in. On the other hand, most high-frequency noise above 1kHz will be reduced by around 75%.

If you want to block out as much noise as possible, you should check out a pair of good noise canceling earbuds. However, with the Ambient Aware feature, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 is more suited for runners who want to stay aware of their surroundings while listening to music.

How does the JBL Endurance Peak 3 sound?

With its extreme bass boost, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 has a sound out of the box that is pretty standard for workout headphones. Runners and gym rats alike often enjoy a thumping bass to keep them motivated, and these earbuds certainly aren’t short on bass. That said, it’s quite easy to EQ the overpowering low frequencies away using the JBL Headphones app.

Lows, mids, highs

The JBL Endurance Peak 3 closely follows our ideal house curve in the mid and high frequencies. It’s primarily in the low frequencies where there is a significant deviation, as the earbuds boost bass beyond what most people prefer. When listening to the bridge at 2:35 of Gold by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the kick and sub-bass are very overpowering and sound significantly louder than other elements in the song.

Due to the effects of auditory masking, low frequencies are often the first to disappear when in a noisy space such as a busy gym. In these environments, you’ll enjoy the fact that you can still hear the bass in your music. However, in a quiet setting, you’ll probably want to use an EQ setting with a little bit less low-frequency emphasis.

Can you use the JBL Endurance Peak 3 for phone calls?

The four microphones on the JBL Endurance Peak 3 are good enough for taking calls in most situations. In the first three standardized microphone tests below, you can clearly hear all of the speech. However, in our simulated wind environment, much of the speech is inaudible due to the slightly overzealous noise suppression. If you try answering a phone call while running or biking, chances are the person on the other end of the line is really going to struggle to understand what you are saying.

JBL Endurance Peak 3 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

JBL Endurance Peak 3 microphone demo (Office conditions):

JBL Endurance Peak 3 microphone demo (Street conditions):

JBL Endurance Peak 3 microphone demo (Windy conditions):

Should you buy the JBL Endurance Peak 3?

A clear contender for the best fitness earbuds under $100, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 packs a ton of performance at a relatively affordable price. The only missing feature is active noise canceling, but if you prefer to stay aware of your surroundings, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 is a great buy.

The earbuds are extremely durable, stay locked firmly in place, and last for days on a single charge. App support is often a rare find in the sub-$100 earbud category, and the EQ in the JBL Headphones app is one of the best around. If you aren’t a huge fan of bass, you can simply adjust the audio however you’d like. With so many customization options, nearly every athlete and fitness enthusiast will enjoy using the JBL Endurance Peak 3.

How does the JBL Endurance Peak 3 compare to the JBL Endurance Peak 2?

The previous generation JBL Endurance Peak 2 has roughly the same design as the newer JBL Endurance Peak 3. That said, there are some drawbacks to the older model. First, it only has an IPX7 rating, which means no dust resistance. There’s also no support for the JBL Headphones app, which means no custom equalizer or ability to switch between listening modes. The older model also has less battery life and no fast charging. Generally, upgrading to the Endurance Peak 3 instead of getting the Endurance Peak 2 is definitely worth it.

What should you get instead of the JBL Endurance Peak 3?

There are many other workout earbud options to choose from. At the high end of the market, the Jaybird Vista 2 is a feature-packed option. You get military-grade durability, wireless and fast charging, a great companion app, and even active noise canceling. However, these earbuds are expensive, and some people might struggle to get a good fit.

At the more affordable end of the spectrum, the Anker Soundcore Life A1 is a great option. These earbuds pack a bass-heavy sound alongside good durability and a stable fit. If you’re simply looking for the best all-around true wireless earbuds on a budget, you can also check out our roundup of the best earbuds under $100.

Frequently asked questions