JBL UA Sport Wireless Flex review: Quality in-ear JBL sound

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TA-ratings-94We’ve all heard of the name JBL at some point in life and here at Techaeris, we’ve done a plethora of reviews and now it’s time for another. The JBL UA (Under Armour) Sport Wireless Flex in-ear headphones are meant for those who like to workout or go out for a long job because of the neckband design that will flex to stay secure around your neck while you do your thing. It comes with a 12-hour battery life RunSafe LED that will flash while you’re out in the dark, and you’re also getting that JBL bold sound giving rich bass. Let’s see just how they perform.

Specifications

  • Speaker drivers: JBL 8.6mm dynamic
  • Frequency response: 10Hz – 22kHz
  • Bluetooth version and profiles: 4.1, A2DP v1.2, AVRCP v1.4, HFP v1.6, HSP v1.2
  • Battery life: Up to 12 hours
  • Battery charge time: Speed charge

What’s in the box

  • JBL UA Sport Wireless Flex in-ear headphones
  • Micro USB cable
  • Quick start guide
  • Safety sheet
  • Warranty card

Design

When taking the JBL UA Sport Wireless Flex headphones out of the box, you’re welcomed to an around the neckband wireless headset with wired earpieces at the end. Just holding the headset it feels like it’s made out of some good quality materials. JBL’s logo is planted on the back of the headset dead center at the more sturdy part. Working down each side is the “flex” portion which will allow you to bend in or out the headset to fit around your neck. Moving down from there, the headband widens up a bit to be home to the action buttons. On the right side are the volume + (up) and volume – (down) buttons as well as an LED indicator for the battery. On the right side has the play/pause button that acts as the power on/off and a mic button that will activate Google Assistant/Siri. That mic button will also activate the RunSafe LED that allows other to see you in the dark thanks to the LED strip below the JBL logo on the back. Underneath the headset is a small cap cover that lets you charge the JBL headset with a Micro USB cable.

JBL-UA-Flex-Logo
JBL Logo with winged earpieces

Also on the sides of the neckband are wires that lead to the winged earpiece with the Under Armour logo on it. Those two UA logos have magnets in them allowing you to connect the two earpieces together when they are dangling down to keep them from flopping around. The winged piece is made of rubber and works well with my ears, but took a second to get it to fit in my ear. If you’re not used to winged earpieces, you will have to have it at a certain angle and then twist so the wing will fit in place with your ear. After you do it a few times, it becomes easier and you know where to place the earpiece. The earpieces do fit comfortably for some time, but after long usage (roughly three hours or so), it became uncomfortable for my ears that I had to take them out.

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Ease of Use

On first glance, it may seem confusing on how to work this headset, but after going through the small start guide, holding down the play/pause button down will turn on the headset. It’s not hard to pair the JBL UA Flex after powering it on but have whatever device you’re using Bluetooth on and ready to refresh as a chime will come in through the earpiece saying it’s ready to pair. You’ll see the name of the headset in your Bluetooth list, after a tap on the device screen, the headset is paired and ready to go.

JBL-UA-Flex-Buttons
Left: Volume Up/Down (+/-) Right: Play/Pause, Mic

There are four buttons on the UA Flex: play/pause, microphone (Siri/Google Assistant), volume – (down), and volume + (up). Each button pretty self-explanatory but there’s more to it than just the buttons. Say you want to skip to the next song, you have to hold down the volume + button for two (2) seconds and change over. If you want to repeat that song, you will have to hold down the volume – button. Pressing the play/pause will power on and off the headset while holding down the mic button for two seconds will turn on Google Assistant or Siri depending on your device.

The only issue that I run into with the headset is how long you have to hold each button down for its action to start, mainly the skip/repeat song and mic button. I understand that it keeps the headset from being accidentally pressed at some point, but you have to firmly press down on the button which can get annoying after a while.

Sound

After pairing the UA Flex to my device, I chose a song to play and thought to myself,  “I bet these won’t sound all that good from past experiences with wireless headphones.” Unfortunately, I spoke way too soon. Once the song (“HUMBLE.” cover by Our Last Night) got further in, my mind was blown at how awesome the UA Flex sounds. I’m not a person who likes heavy bass or cares for it too much, but damn do these guys give off so much bass that I can’t think of another headset that gave me chills. Getting past the bass, the sound quality is really that good. Mids and treble are at the right settings to compensate for how much sound this gives off across a variety of music.

Call Quality

Call quality is just as important as a cell phone that you’re using. If you can’t hear anyone or vice versa, what’s the point of having that phone if you’re going to making phone calls? Whenever I made phone calls while paired with the UA Flex, each person I spoke with told me that I sounded good and didn’t seem like I was on speaker phone or seem like I was 10ft away when I asked how the quality was. One person even told me she didn’t notice that I was using the headset and thought I was holding the phone.

This headset has been much better than other wireless headsets I’ve used in the past including wired earbuds that I still use when on the phone. The only downfall is that if it’s windy outside, the person on the other end will hear it pretty loud.

Battery Life

The UA Flex comes with a battery life of up to 12 hours which is wonderful for anyone who plans on keeping these around their neck all day or even just for working out. When I first starting using the headset at 100% battery life, I played music for about 6 hours, which was me doing this review, plus an article and going to the gym to workout for about an hour and ended up with 70% the next morning. Even when not using the headset other than it just being paired with my phone, the battery doesn’t drain letting me get more use out of the headset. The battery life could vary for each person depending on what they’re doing though.

Price

If you’re looking to purchase the JBL UA Flex, it has an MSRP of $129.95USD. While it’s in the $100+ range, it’s not all that expensive compared to other brands who have sports type headphones.

Wrap Up

Knowing me, I will ditch wired headphones again and go back to wireless ones like the JBL UA Sport Wireless Flex and use it for nothing but music/video playback and phone calls so I don’t have to search around and untangle my wired headphones. The sound is top notch and the design is pretty sleek. Inside the box, you will also get a 12-month premium membership to MapMyRun (application) for those who already use the app or may look into it now thanks to the free gift from JBL.

*We were sent a sample of the JBL Under Armour Sport Wireless Flex for the purposes of this review.
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