Review: JBL Tune 710BT over-ear headphones

JBL is one of the most popular audio brands in the world. Even so I have not had much opportunity to get hands-on with the company’s headphones. That changes now with the JBL Tune 710BT wireless over ear headphones. In this review I will try out a pair in my home, I’ll let you know what special features these headphones have and talk about how comfortable they are to wear and how long the battery life is. I’ll wrap things up with the pros and the cons overall and let you know if I think I can recommend these headphones for you.

What you get

Headphones are incredibly personal, and come with a boatload of features that you may think are must haves or mere extras. Similarly the cost of over-ear headphones can vary wildly from the price of a takeaway pizza to part of your monthly rent payment. The JBL Tune 710BT are positioned firmly on the budget side of the scale, and not just because they are now an older model.

Introduced back in late 2021 the Tune 710 often sells for under $60 USD / $90 CAD. Given their original release date it won’t be surprising that they are lacking some of the newer technology found in premium newer headphones; things like spatial audio and noise cancellation.

So are these a cheap and cheerful bargain hunter’s dream, or best left for the discount bin? Let’s dive in…

What’s in the Box?

The JBL TUNE 710BT might be older, but it’s certainly not outdated and what you’ll find in the box proves that. I was expecting to find micro USB charging in these but to my surprise they run USB-C.

The included USB-C charging cable is short, but it’s bright orange making it easy to find. You also get a 3.5mm cable for connecting your older devices as well as the usual quick start guide and safety sheet. In keeping with the budget audio theme, JBL didn’t include any protective case or sleeve with the product, which I’m not too fussed about since I personally don’t use that stuff much anyway.

About the JBL TUNE 710BT

Browsing JBL’s product catalog is a little confusing at first even if you narrow down the category to just over-ear headphones making it important to understand exactly how the JBL TUNE 710BT slots in the current lineup.
From a family perspective, the 710BT is the top tier model in the Tune series with a BT suffix. BT obviously means Bluetooth (version 5.0), but for JBL’s TUNE family, it also means lack of active noise cancelling which is key reason behind its price positioning.

Not having active noise cancelling is not necessarily a bad thing with the JBL TUNE 710BT because its over-ear design means that you can still expect some passive noise isolation from the thick padding and all-around cups. If you aren’t the frequent flyer type, you might just find the JBL 710BT sufficient for blocking most ambient sound.

Design and Comfort

The JBL 710BT feels a bit studier than your typical pair of $30 headphones and the extra synthetic leather padding adds to the comfort. You can fold the headphones as well for easy storage. While JBL is known for some flash, or even light shows on some of the company’s portable speakers, these headphones are way more discreet than that.

The subtle all black matte finish design means these are not going to stand out, so they might be ideal for those who are trying to focus in an office type environment. The adjustable headband has a small section of padding across the top middle where it meets your head; a lot less than many other over ear headbands, but again JBL is trying to save you money here.

Despite that, JBL has designed the headband well and the lack of all-around padding is actually not noticeable at all either via looks or feel once these are on your head.

For my personal taste and comfort, the ear cups are a little on the small side; they are only just as tall as my ears and barely as wide, meaning quite often my earlobes are sticking out. I don’t think I have particularly large ears, but if I’m being honest, these almost seem more suited to a child’s fit than a grown adult’s, particularly for you bigger-eared males out there. The headphones do you have a decent amount of clamping force yet even so, they don’t feel uncomfortable.

No app

Unlike most headphones sold today, the JBL 710BT do not offer a companion app. I am actually okay with this, particularly if it’s easy enough to manage what you need to do using the buttons on the headphones, and spoiler alert, I found it is.

Set up

Since there’s no app to fuss around with, set up is pretty straightforward. Press the power button to turn the headphones on and they will arrive in pairing mode. If not or you need to re-do it, holding the power button for five seconds should jump start this process. From there just head to your phone or device’s Bluetooth menu and look for the JBL 710 in the list. A small audio tone inside the ear cup will confirm your connection.

Controls

On the right your cup are the physical controls; not surprisingly no touch controls or tap pads here. There is a power button, auxiliary cable connection, a multifunction button teamed with volume up and down, and the USB-C charging port is cleverly hidden under one of the headband arms. Again; a nice subtle design touch.

JBL sells three variants of the 710BT – Black, Blue, and White.

Sound quality

Let’s get to where the rubber meets the road on these headphones and that’s the sound quality. I’m happy to report the sound on the JBL Tune 710 is outstanding. I was really surprised at the clarity and the full bass. The Tune 710s seem really well balanced, and at this price point I’m surprised and really impressed.

I listened to a bunch of different music from top pop to chill vibes, podcasts and phone calls. The headphones offer full and vibey bass, and the vocals are clear and clean.

I can’t make a single complaint about the overall sound quality and think these would actually impress even the snobbiest audiophones.

Battery Life

These headphones have a massively long battery life. You can get up to 50 hours on a charge which will take about two hours to fully recharge. During my two week review. Of intermittent listening I still had plenty of juice left over.
The only other small note I’ll make here is that figuring out how much battery life may be left isn’t that easy since there is no app and no dedicated battery bar. Just a small LED next to the charging port which will show either green orange or red when you plug them in. I would definitely wish for a bit of an easier way, but if I have to say it again; budget budget budget. They also have fast charging where five minutes of power will get you three hours of listening.

This is quite impressive in a pair of budget headphones.

Multipoint connection

A feature I truly appreciate in every set of headphones I want to keep around is multipoint connection which allows you to stay connected to two devices at once. This makes it easy to stay linked up to your laptop and your smart phone at the same time without lots of switching back-and-forth and reconnecting.

How to use JBL Tune 710 Multipoint

Linking up to a second device seems easy enough; the pictograph instructions tell you to connect to your first device then press the power button twice to initiate another connection. Except that did not work for me.
I did some surfing around and found recommendations for other button tap sequences but these didn’t work either. Finally I turned the headphones on and off a couple of times and tried the double tap of the power button again and it finally worked.

Oddly switching between my two devices I wasn’t able to hear certain things; for example while I could listen to a YouTube video on my laptop, when I would switch back to my phone and try to play music, there was no sound. After some research, I did pending software updates on both my phone and laptop and that fixed it, so if you seem to be having trouble with multiple connections, make sure your operating systems are up-to-date.

Finally, you get voice assistant integration allowing you to call up your phone’s default assistant without interacting with your device.

Overall Review: JBL TUNE 710BT Headphones

Overall if you need new headphones on a budget, the JBL Tune 710 is a surprise hit, delivering on more than you think it will.

Let’s leave the pros and cons so you can see. On the pro side the sound quality is outstanding, and the lightweight folding design is great for travel. The headphones are reasonably comfortable with a good amount of padding and feel secure on the head. The battery life is phenomenal particularly at this price range and the fact that it also has fast charging is a boon to commuters and travelers.

On the downside, I found the earcups to be very small side for me personally. I also found the battery life can be a little bit of a guessing game.

Aside from that, these are actually a very well-rounded pair of headphones that check many of the boxes most shoppers will have. For that reason I can definitely recommend the JBL Tune 710 BT over ear headphones for you.

They sell for about $79 USD though as of publication time they were not available on JBL’s website, but I was able to find them on Amazon.

Also Read:

1. The Best Wireless Earbuds Buying Guide: how to choose, plus our top recommendations
2. Review: Marshall Monitor headphones
3. Oladance Wearable Stereo Open Ear headphones: review

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