JBL Tune Beam 2 review: Feature-rich wireless earphones with great sound

Business Standard

06-05-2025

Audio accessories maker JBL has recently launched the Tune 2 series of wireless earphones in India. Leading the lineup is the Tune Beam 2, a pair of true wireless earbuds featuring adaptive noise cancelling and spatial sound support.
On the connectivity front, the Tune Beam 2 comes with Bluetooth v5.3 (LE Audio supported) and Google Fast Pair for swift pairing with supported devices. JBL claims up to 48 hours of total battery life and a six-microphone setup to ensure clearer voice calls.
The earbuds are compatible with both Android and iOS devices. On paper, the Tune Beam 2 appears to be a strong contender in its segment — but how does it perform in real-world use? Let us find out.
Design and fit
The JBL Tune Beam 2 comes in a compact box, which includes the charging case and earbuds, a USB-C charging cable, a user manual, and two additional pairs of silicone ear tips in different sizes.
The charging case has a compact design with matte-finish to resist smudges. While the case is portable, it is on the heavier side even when empty. The front of the case features the JBL logo, just above a row of three LEDs that indicate the remaining battery level. A USB-C charging port is placed at the bottom.
Opening the lid reveals a glossy interior with clearly marked left and right indicators. The earbuds are secured with strong magnets and remain firmly in place, but you can pick them out without any efforts.
The earbuds themselves feature a stem-style design with soft silicone ear tips that provide a snug fit. They sit securely in the ears, remain stable during movement, and feel sturdy overall. However, extended use may lead to some ear fatigue. The earbuds have a clean, solid-colour body, while the touch surface sports a glossy finish. This area allows you to control playback, manage calls, and toggle ANC and ambient awareness modes.
Connectivity and pairing
The JBL Tune Beam 2 supports Bluetooth 5.3 and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. It also features multi-point connectivity, allowing it to stay connected to two devices at once. Google Fast Pair is supported on Android, enabling quick and seamless pairing.
Pairing with smartphones is straightforward and hassle-free. However, connecting to a Windows laptop occasionally required multiple attempts. The earbuds are supported by the JBL Headphones companion app, which offers a user-friendly experience across platforms.
Audio and features
The sound performance of the JBL Tune Beam 2 is above average for mid-range earbuds, offering clear highs and dynamic, punchy bass. While the default tuning is decent, the sound quality improves noticeably with customisation through the JBL Headphones app. The app includes several useful audio settings like equalizers, spatial sound modes, Personi-Fi, and sound balance controls—giving users the freedom to tailor their listening experience in depth.
Personi-Fi 3.0:
This feature lets users personalise the sound based on their individual hearing profile. It runs a quick hearing test and then generates a custom sound profile to optimise the audio experience. I personally found this feature effective—after enabling it, the overall clarity improved, and the bass felt strong but never overpowering. The earbuds handled different music genres like jazz and rock with ease, and sound remained balanced even at higher volumes.
Smart Audio & Video Mode:
This setting lets you switch between Audio and Video modes depending on your content. 'Audio mode' enhances the music listening experience, while 'Video mode' reduces latency to ensure better lip-sync accuracy when watching videos or streaming content.
Spatial Sound:
For a more immersive experience, Spatial Sound offers three presets—Movie, Music, and Game. Each mode tweaks the surround sound field slightly to match the type of content being consumed, adding depth to the audio output.
Gesture control:
The earbuds support touch controls, which can be customised through the companion app. You can assign gestures like single tap, double tap, or tap-and-hold to functions such as switching between ANC and Ambient Aware, activating TalkThru, or summoning a voice assistant. For example, my setup includes a single tap to toggle ANC and Ambient Aware, double tap for TalkThru, and tap-and-hold to activate Siri.
Equalizers: The EQ section includes several presets like Studio, Bass, Club, Extreme Bass, Vocal, and Jazz. There's also an option to create your own custom EQ profile. This detailed control is great for more demanding listeners and helps fine-tune the sound to personal preference.
Relax Mode: The app also includes a Relax Mode, featuring calming nature sounds such as crackling fire, ocean waves, birdsong, and rain. You can mix multiple sounds and set a timer for up to 60 minutes, making it a nice addition for winding down or meditating.
Noise cancelling
The JBL Tune Beam 2 features adaptive noise cancellation (ANC), which performs reasonably well for everyday use. In typical environments like busy streets or noisy indoor spaces, the earbuds manage to filter out much of the background noise, allowing for an immersive listening experience. However, in louder settings—such as heavy traffic or construction zones—some ambient sound still seeps through.
ANC can be toggled directly from the earbuds, and its effectiveness also depends heavily on getting the right ear tip size and adjusting the volume appropriately. The transitions between phone calls and listening on the earbuds are seamless.
The JBL Headphones app enhances the noise control experience with manual settings for ANC, Ambient Aware, and TalkThru modes. These options let you fine-tune how much external sound you want to let in. I found the ability to customise the ANC level particularly useful, especially when I didn't want to be completely isolated from my surroundings.
The TalkThru feature came in handy during face-to-face conversations, allowing voices to pass through clearly without needing to remove the earbuds.
Calling
Call quality on the JBL Tune Beam 2 is solid, thanks in part to the well-placed microphones on the stem-style earbuds. Even in noisy environments, voice clarity remains strong, and background sounds are mostly filtered out, preventing the caller's voice from sounding muffled or drowned.
Each earbud features a triple-microphone setup—six microphones in total—which delivers noticeably better performance compared to many other earbuds in this range. Voices on both ends of the call come through clearly, and the connection remains stable.
The JBL Headphones app also includes dedicated sound and voice settings, allowing me to fine-tune both how I sound and how the caller's voice comes through. This adds a nice layer of customisation to the calling experience.
Battery Life
The battery life on the JBL Tune Beam 2 varies based on usage patterns, but in general, the earbuds easily last multiple days on moderate use when combined with the charging case.
JBL claims up to 10 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC enabled, and up to 12 hours without ANC. The case provides an additional three full charges, bringing the total battery life to up to 40 hours without ANC or 30 hours with ANC. In practice, this holds up well for daily use and makes the earbuds a reliable option for travel or long listening sessions.
Verdict
Priced at Rs 11,999, the JBL Tune Beam 2 offers dynamic sound along with useful features like spatial sound and adaptive sound control. Its strong app integration allows for deep customisation of audio preferences, and the impressive battery life adds to its overall value. That said, there are a few trade-offs such as lack of auto play/pause functionality, which is offered by some competitors in this price range.