Music plays a special part in our daily lives especially
these days when the connected world is offering apps that provide users with
almost unlimited access to millions of tracks for a certain fee. Having said
this, getting a good quality audio equipment is now as important as the music
people store on the cloud.
Among the many brands currently available in the market, JBL
is one that hopes to offer a broad line of premium audio products that will
appeal to a lot of audiophiles or even to ordinary consumers who fancy high
fidelity sound whether it’s for personal use or for a backyard pool party.
One model in JBL’s lineup that’s particularly interesting (especially
for users who are looking for an upgrade from the pre-packaged headphones on
their smartphones or tablets is the Synchros E40BT. This particular model
boasts Bluetooth connectivity making it an ideal companion headphone for smart
devices.
We’ve borrowed a couple of E40BT headphones from JBL to test
and here is our full review, which we hope will help consumers check if the
Synchros E40 BT is the right type of product for them in case they’re on the
hunt for a new headphone.
WHAT’s IN THE BOX
The Synchros E40 BT comes in a somewhat traditional box.
Opening the paper box is a pretty straight forward deal. The headphone is
wrapped in plastic and sits at the center of the box and there’s a smaller box
taped into the side that contains the headphone’s accessories and paper work.
Opening the smaller box, you’ll find a straight aux cable
that will allow users to plug in the headphone to a source with a 3.5mm audio
jack. The E40BT also comes with a USB aux cable for charging its lithium ion
batteries, one safety sheet and a quick-start guide that comes in different
languages.
DESIGN &
CONSTRUCTION
JBL has designed the E40BT probably with the intention of
targeting young professionals. The headphone comes in different colors
including black, white, blue and red; but unlike other brands who try funky and
over-the-top designs, JBL showed restraint and kept the design clean
and simple.
For a headphone, the E40BT comes with more moving parts
compared to most products in the market. For starters there’s the adjustable
headband whose middle part is lined with foam covered with leatherette. The
sound drivers are mounted on two hinges that swivel horizontally and
vertically, which allows the headphone to be folded compact and placed in a bag
or purse.
Around 99% of the headphone is constructed with plastic with
a matte finish. The ear cup covers feature a metallic paint job with a ripple
design pattern, which adds a subtle texture to the device and could very well
help prevent the JBL branding on the side from fading and scratches.
One minor gripe we had with the E40BT was the headband. Its
curvature makes for quite a snug fit (a little too much to our liking), which
can cause a little discomfort during extended hours of use. However, we’re
thinking that this little issue just needs a bit of getting used to (much like
wearing a new pair of shoes) and the fit will likely be better as the headphone
is used more.
FUNCTIONS AND
FEATURES
As a Bluetooth headphone, it’s very important that the E40BT
is capable of providing easy access and control to a user’s music library
wirelessly. JBL accomplishes this by putting buttons on the side of the ear
cup, specifically the one on the left.
These buttons allow users to control different functions of
the headphones including music volume, pause/play and an interesting feature
called “ShareMe” that lets users stream music wirelessly to another ShareMe
equipped device. It’s quite a trick but we’re not sure if a lot of people would
find it useful and we don’t know a lot of devices that have this feature.
The left ear cup also houses the microphone as well as the
button that activates the Bluetooth pairing function of the device. Speaking of
Bluetooth, the pairing button doubles as an indicator for the headphone’s other
functions: a fast blinking white light means it’s trying to pair with a source, a
solid white light means it’s on and a red light means it needs a recharge.
As for music controls, the buttons on the six and twelve o’clock
positions adjust the music volume while the button at the 9 o’clock position is
a multi-function button (MFB) for play/pause, skip track and previous track. Users
can even skip a track forward or backward by pressing the MFB twice (and
holding it).
The Multi-function button can also control calls (if it’s
connected to a phone) – a single press on the MFB answers a call while a long
press rejects a call. Surprisingly, it can even handle two calls at the same time. A single
press on the MFB hangs up the current call and switches the user to the second
call while a long press on the button switches back the call to the first caller.
As for the ShareMe button, it’s not as intuitive as we might
like. We tried the feature shortly after unboxing the E40BT but we only succeeded
in making it work after reading the manual. Not that it doesn’t work (it does), but it’s just
that it’s a bit confusing to use on your first try.
AUDIO QUALITY
Now, let’s dive into the headphone’s
acoustics; and for the Synchros E40BT it’s all about that bass. People who are
looking for a good headphone for their RnB or EDM-filled library. JBL has
managed to this by combining its PureBass performance with the E40BT’s 40mm
drivers.
However, after a few days of
testing we found out that this high levels of bass can only be achieved using a
wired connection. There’s a noticeable loss of bass when you try to use the
headphones using a Bluetooth connection, but for non-audiophiles we reckon the
sound quality won’t be affected much.
If in case, you need to tone down
the bass, a smartphone’s or tablet’s EQ settings can still be used to adjust
the sound output.
| Driver |
40mm |
| Freq |
20 – 22kHz |
| Maximum SPL |
115dB @ 30mW |
| Impedance |
32 ohms |
| Connections |
3.5mm jack |
| BT frequency range |
2.402 – 2.480GHz |
| BT transmitter power |
<4dBm |
| BT transmitter modulation |
GFSK π/4 DQPSK 8-DPSK |
| Support BT 3.0, A2DP v1.3, |
| AVRCP v1.5, HFP v1.6, HSP v1.2 |
| Rated power input |
30mW |
| Microphone sensitivity |
-42dBV/Pa @ 1kHz |
| Battery type |
Lithium polymer (3.7V, 610mAh) |
| Music playing time |
16 hours |
| Talk time |
24 hours |
| Weight |
.205KG |
FINAL WORDS
There are a lot of things that can be liked with the JBL
Synchros E40BT. First, we really like the sound that its 40mm drivers deliver
that provides high levels of bass. We we’re also impressed by its long battery
life, which JBL claims goes up to 16 hours of continued use without needing a
recharge (ours lasted around 3 days with 5-6 hours of use per day).
Compared to other headphones in the market, the E40BT offers
great results in a colorful package that packs a lot of nifty features. The
design is subtle (though there might be too much branding on the device for
some people’s tastes) and the colors offered by JBL ensures that consumers have
a choice when they go to the store to purchase the device.
Now, on to the not so good stuff. First there’s the headband
– which is quite too snug to our liking (again, this might change as the band’s
curvature gets more relaxed with continued use). Moreover, after days of use,
we noticed that the adjustable segments on the band can easily get loose. The
ShareMe function is also okay, but again, we’re not sure if there’s a lot of
situation where the feature can be useful and that operating it is not as
intuitive as we’d like.
With all things said, the JBL Synchros E40BT is quite an
impressive device given its price tag. That’s why we’re giving it a rating of 4
out of 5. The E40BT is available in all JBL outlets for PHP4,599.
If you want a hands-on experience with the JBL E40BT, you can visit any of the following JBL stores:
- JBL Sound Gallery – B3 Bonifacio High Street (beside TGIFriday’s and Happy Lemon), 799-9344
- JBL Acoustical Space – 4th Floor SM Megamall Cyberzone, 919-6012
- JBL Digital Dreams – 4th Floor SM North EDSA Annex, 738-2554
- JBL / Harman Kardon Level 3 Mindanao Wing TriNoma
- JBL / Harman Kardon 3rd Floor Fairview Terraces
