I’m a huge fan of on-ear headphones and my go-to brand of choice tends to be JBL. Although, I do try other brands from time to time but I seem to go back to JBL. JBL is known for great sounding products and the JBL Club 700BT are no different. Let's dive in.
Design
I favor simple but modern designs and JBL hits the mark here. The metal frame of the headphones makes it feel premium along with the well-made cushions for the head and ears. The cushions are not leather but they're very comfortable to wear. Even for those extra-long listening sessions.
Features
The JBL Club 700BT features Hi-Res Audio and JBLs Pro Sound. The combination of these features creates very detailed sounding music with the clarity and bass you expect from JBL.
Speaking of bass, the Club 700BT features a bass boost button that's really not needed. It does provide extra oomph but it comes at the expense of clarity and details in the music. For those reasons, I keep the bass boost off. Besides, the default settings JBL provides for sound and bass is more than adequate.
There's also Ambient Ware and TalkThru. When turned on, the mics allow you to hear what's going on around you without removing the headphones. To be honest I can’t really hear the difference between the two modes but I’m glad the option is there.
The Club 700BT also provides 50hrs of wireless play time on a single charge. This is the second killer feature for me. I've been having my Club 700BTs for more than a month now and have yet needed to charge them. Well done JBL!
The number one killer feature for me has to be the Google Assistant. Alexa is there too. But the Google Assistant fits into my tech lifestyle seamlessly. I use an Android phone (Pixel 5) and the integration there is solid. I get to hear my notifications (the ones I want to hear), respond to messages, and get answers to questions right from Google. The way it works on the headphones is a pretty neat implementation. Just push in and hold the left ear cup to summon the Assistant. Release to hear the response.
As far as setup and features on the phone it's very similar if not identical to the experience you will have using the new Pixel Buds. Review on those coming soon. In Settings, you have what you would find with the Pixel Buds. Check out the screenshot below. Most of the settings are still within the app which is understandable.
Specs
As you can already tell, the Club 700BTs do not have ANC and this does not bother at all. To be real I can turn up the music loud enough to drown out the environment I'm in. But hey that's just me. Also, with ANC headphones they tend to sound better with ANC turned on because they’re tuned to work that way. This has improved over time but I don't want my best listening experience to be with ANC on. I have two little ones I must keep an ear out for. With that, check out the specs.
Frequency response (Passive)
16 Hz - 40 kHz
Frequency response (Active)
16 Hz - 22 kHz
Sensitivity
100 dB SPL@1 kHz / 1 mW
Maximum SPL
93 dB
Maximum Input Power (Passive)
1000 mW
Microphone sensitivity
-24 dBV@1kHz/Pa
Impedance
32 ohm
Driver Size
40 mm dynamic driver
Weight
283 g
Bluetooth transmitted power
<4 dbm
Bluetooth transmitted modulation
GFSK, _x001F_/4 DQPSK, 8DPSK
Bluetooth frequency
2.402 GHz - 2.480 GH z
Bluetooth profile version
A2DP 1.3, AVRCP 1.5, HFP 1.6
Bluetooth version
V5.0
BATTERY TYPE
Lithium Ion Polymer Battery( 3.7 v / 610 mah)
Power Supply
5 V 1 A
Charging time
<2 hrs
Music play time with BT on
up to 50 hrs
What's not so great about the headphones?
There's no such thing as a perfect product but this one comes awfully close for me. The one thing that I would point out as a bit of a sticking point but far from a deal-breaker and that is the number of buttons on the device. You get. Play and Pause, Volume up, Volume down, Power, Bass Boost, Bluetooth, and the Smart Ambient. Again, the number of buttons is not a deal-breaker but it did take a little getting used to.
Overall, what do I think?
All in all, the JBL Club 700BT is a really nice set of headphones. The sound quality with battery life that just goes and the Google Assistant makes these my favorite on-ear headphones to date. If you are in the market for some great sounding Google Assistant headphones without ANC I believe these are the ones to get.
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