JLab Go Lux ANC Wireless Review – Go Get It

Hey! Welcome to the review of the JLab Go Lux ANC wireless on-ear noise-cancelling headphones. Despite their low price, these headphones have some interesting features. Let’s “go” into the review. Like what I did there? I hope people start to like me after that joke.

Accessories

For accessories, there’s no travel case included, which is understandable given the low price. There’s also no auxiliary cable since it doesn’t support a wired connection. The only accessory is a 6-inch USB-C cable. Kudos to JLab for including a pure USB-C cable, unlike other manufacturers who often include USB to USB-C cables. There’s no power adapter, so you’ll need to use your phone’s wall power adapter or computer to charge them, which is standard for most headphone manufacturers.

Design & Comfort

Regarding appearance, they look okay for budget-friendly headphones. They come in various colours like graphite (which I have), white, mauve, and sage. They weigh 235g, which might seem heavy but indicates a firm construction. Despite the weight, they feel durable and survived some rough testing.

I couldn’t find any information on dust and water resistance, so I recommend keeping them dry and clean.

In terms of comfort, whether wearing glasses or not, I found them comfortable for 2-3 hour sessions. The headband flex is decent, and the ear pad cushioning is surprisingly soft and thick for the price. The headband cushioning is generous too, thanks to JLab’s fabric “cloud foam,” whatever that means. It’s comfortable, and that’s what matters.

For workouts, I don’t recommend them as on-ear headphones tend to make your ears sweat excessively during exercise. It can get gross. But hey, you can be a slob if you want—I’m a slob 24/7! So, to each their own.

To adjust the size, the headband uses notches, not a sliding mechanism. The ear cups rotate in all directions, fitting various head and ear shapes comfortably. The headphones can also be folded in if needed.

There are no replacement ear pads available yet, likely because these headphones are new to the market. They’ve only been out for about a month. During battery drain testing, I couldn’t find any third-party replacements either, but they might become available eventually.

For travel, without a case, simply rest them on your neck with the ear cups folded in. They don’t dig into your neck, making this a good solution.

Controls

All controls are physical buttons on the right ear cup. The power button also handles Bluetooth pairing, play/pause, and call functions. Double-tapping it activates your smartphone’s assistant. The volume rocker controls track navigation (by holding volume up or down) and equalizer settings. The ANC button cycles through ANC (active noise-cancelling, transparency (projects sound from the microphones into the earcups to better hear your surroundings), and regular headphone mode.

Smart assistant functionality works well with Google and Android.

There’s no active play/pause feature, which is expected at this price point. This is essentially wear detection that pauses content when you take the headphones off and resumes when you put them back on.

Noise Cancelling

For active noise cancelling, on a bus, you can comfortably listen to music at 75-85% volume, even near the engine.

On a plane, these headphones won’t do well. You need to crank the volume to 90%, which isn’t good for your hearing. Watching movies with lots of dialogue is even worse, requiring higher volume.

For being in close proximity of people talking require about 50-55% volume for music and 65% for podcasts or news. ANC works better than expected for the price, even when wearing glasses.

Transparency mode is available but ineffective, making conversations muffled. It’s more of a bonus feature that doesn’t work well.

There’s no sidetone mode for phone calls, which isn’t expected at this price point.

Battery

Battery life is impressive. JLab claims 40 hours with ANC on; I got 44.8 hours. With regular mode, they claim 70 hours; I got 79.9 hours. Recharging takes about 2.5 hours, slightly better than the claimed 3 hours. The USB-C charging port is on the bottom of the right ear cup.

Microphone Quality

In a quiet setting, the microphone performs as expected for this price, slightly worse than a laptop mic but still clear enough for conversations. In noisy settings, it surprisingly maintains the same clarity, effectively drowning out background noise.

However, in windy environments, the microphone struggles, suppressing your voice significantly. It seems the headphones try to reduce wind noise but end up affecting your voice too, making conversations almost unbearable.

Audio Quality

For audio codecs, these headphones support SBC and AAC, which is standard for this price range. The default equalizer profile, JLab Signature, focuses more on bass. However, I found the bass a bit muddy compared to other JLab devices like the Go Pop ANC and the Epic Lux Lab Edition, both of which had excellent sound profiles.

Adjusting the custom equalizer improved the sound significantly. Increasing the bass and highs while slightly decreasing the vocals resulted in a cleaner bass. Although there’s still a slight muddy rumble with certain rap songs. For vocals, increasing them while slightly lowering the bass worked well.

Highs were the hardest to adjust, making little difference even with dance and rock songs. Overall, the sound signature is good, except for the muddy bass. Given the price, it’s hard to complain.

Software

In the mobile app, JLab allows custom controls per button, which is fantastic for such inexpensive headphones. This level of customization is rare, even in mid-tier headphones.

Spatial mode feels like a gimmick, so I don’t focus on it. Music and movie modes don’t show much difference; I prefer adjusting the custom equalizer. Safe hearing mode is a nice bonus. Bluetooth connections let you manage your devices easily.

The My JLab section mostly provides manual information and other JLab products.

The Settings section contains steps for troubleshooting issues and contacting support.

Conclusion

These are the best budget headphones I’ve reviewed. JLab is doing an amazing job, offering great wireless noise-canceling headphones at a budget-friendly price. They’re definitely worth getting if you’re on a budget.

After reviewing the mentioned Go Pop ANC and Epic Lux Lab Edition (both I praised in their reviews), it’s clear the JLab is on fire lately and pushing hard to make a large impact in the market.