JBL Endurance Sprint Wireless [Review]

The JBL Endurance Sprint are decent sports headphones that can be used in a number of activities. They have a unique and sporty style that looks well-made and is lightweight enough to take around with you. They also have a comfortable in-ear fit that filters out a lot of noise, making them perfect for running, working out, commuting, and traveling. They’re not the most comfortable headphones for long listening sessions, and their control scheme isn’t as accurate. They’re also a little short on active features, but they sound well-balanced enough for most genres.

Style

The JBL Endurance Sprint has a distinct and sporty style that will cater to others. Their thick, highly rubberized earbuds give them a decently well-built appearance. The buds and ear hooks are a little bigger than most wireless in-ears of a similar design, and they have a magnetic base that locks the hooks in place so you can quickly add them to your backpack, keychain, or pocket. Overall, the Sprint looks and sounds like well-made sports headphones, and the bigger earbuds and cool rubber coating make them stand out a little more than other sports-oriented styles. However, for users who prefer a more understated style for working out, this may be a deal-breaker. See our recommendations for the best sports headphones.

Comfort

The JBL Endurance Sprint headphones are very comfortable, but they need a lot of tuning to get the perfect fit. They have a traditional in-ear style with larger ear hooks than most. The earbuds have a twist-to-lock wear process that can be finicky and doesn’t always produce the best fit in the ears, but the hooks are reasonably malleable and fit well behind the ears. They also don’t come in as many tip sizes, but if you find the best match, they’ll feel like normal in-ears, which isn’t perfect for everyone. They should be comfortable enough for sports and casual listening, but they won’t be the best headphones for long listening sessions like the Plantronics BackBeat Fit.

Controls

These headphones have a touch-sensitive control scheme that allows you to perform all of the requisite functions. However, unlike the physical controls offered by the AKG N200 or V-MODA BassFit Wireless, it can be difficult to use accurately. The layout of the controls is simple: swipe up and down on the right earbud to change volume, the JBL logo handles calls, pauses or plays music, and tapping 2 or 3 times skips and rewinds tracks. Unfortunately, the tiny touch surface does not always reliably register your swipes. Swiping for volume will often rewind or skip songs, which can be very distracting when working out. Increasing the volume or skipping tracks are two choices.

Breathability

The JBL Endurance Sprint headphones are incredibly breathable. They don’t cover the outer ear, like the Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless and other in-ears, so it stays cool when exercising and working out. Because of their ear-hook nature, they cover a little more surface area than traditional in-ears, but it’s a small difference that won’t make you sweat like on-ears or over-ears might.

Portability

The Endurance Sprint is lightweight and easy to transport. They’re reasonably small, and even with slightly larger-than-average ear hooks and earbuds, they can fit into most pockets and bags. They do not, however, come with a good case or pocket, which limits their overall portability.

Build Quality

For a wireless in-ear, the JBL Endurance Sprint has an above-average build efficiency. The earbuds are dense and rubberized, with thick earhooks that feel reasonably safe. The earbuds, in particular, seem to be tough and robust, but the audio cord connecting the two buds is very small. It’s not as rubberized as the rest of the design, and it’s not as smooth or braided as some of the higher-end in-ears we’ve tried. They should be durable enough to last a long time and waterproof to IPX7. We can’t vouch for their longevity or resistance to water damage because we haven’t done a water and sweat resistance test yet.

Check Out: Best In-Ear Headphones

Stability

The ear-hook design on these headphones is secure, making them ideal for sports. Even during the most strenuous of workouts, the ear hooks protect them from slipping off your feet. However, the earbuds do not always stay in place and can sometimes fall out of your ears, particularly if you do not get the correct sized tip for your ears. The enhancer attachment that wraps around the tip of the buds tends to mitigate this problem by providing more points of contact with your inner ear, but if you don’t have the twist-to-lock wearing technique down pat, they can pop out of your ears very often.

On the plus side, they’re still stable enough to be a decent running and working out headphone; you just have to find the best match. If you don’t like the ear-hook style and prefer something with stability fins but still want something that performs as well as the Endurance Sprint, we recommend the JBL Everest 110.

Noise Cancelling

The isolation efficiency of the JBL Endurance Sprint is excellent. The in-ear construction of these headphones offers a lot of isolation, even though they don’t have active noise cancellation (ANC). This is close to what we’ve seen with the Jaybird X3 and Beats BeatsX in-ear headphones. They have more than 13dB of isolation in the bass range, where airplane and bus engines rumble, which is above-average and very remarkable for passive isolation. They isolate by about 21dB in the mid-range, which is very good for blocking out expression. They gain 37dB of isolation in the treble range, which is occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts.

Check Out: Best Noise Cancelling Headphones

Battery

The Sprint has a good battery life of 9 hours and a complete charge takes around 1.7 hours on average. This makes them a good option for both casual and heavy users, and they switch off automatically when not in use to save power and prolong battery life. They should last long enough for most uses, but they might not be the best option for heavy users who listen for long periods of time. Unfortunately, depending on the use case, the power saving feature can be a little too stubborn and shut off after 5-10 minutes, which can be a little frustrating at times.

Bluetooth

Multi-device pairing and NFC support are not available with these headphones. On the positive hand, their hold-to-pair technique is easy to implement.

The JBL Endurance Sprint, like most Bluetooth headphones that lack low-latency codecs, isn’t designed for watching movies or playing games. They have a latency of around 240ms, which is a little higher than normal Bluetooth headphones and would not be suitable for latency-sensitive applications.

Bass Accuracy

The bass is fantastic. The LFE (low-frequency response) is 10Hz, which indicates a deep and prolonged bass. Low-bass, which gives bass-heavy music and sound effects their thump and rumble, is boosted by around 2dB. This may appeal to heavy bass fans. Mid-bass, which gives bass guitars their body and kick drums their punch, is within 0.3dB of our neutral aim. Warmth comes from high-bass, which is underemphasized by around 2dB. Overall, the Endurance Sprint’s bass is deep and thumpy without being boomy.

Mid Accuracy

The performance in the mid-range is excellent. The response is well-balanced and even throughout the range, however, the low-mid and mid-mid are underemphasized by around 3dB. The vocals and lead instruments are thinned out a touch and pushed to the back of the mix.

Treble Accuracy

The treble range performance of the JBL Endurance Sprint is excellent. The response is consistent and well-balanced throughout the spectrum. Low-treble is flat and 0.9dB below the neutral aim. The mid-treble is flat as well, but it’s roughly 2dB overemphasised. Their treble offers just the correct amount of detail and brightness overall, although the sibilances (S and Ts) on some tunes may seem a little too boosted.

Imaging

The Endurance Sprint has outstanding imaging. The weighted group delay is 0.16 seconds, which is excellent. The group delay response never crosses the audibility threshold in the GD curve, implying a tight bass and clean treble reproduction. Furthermore, the amplitude, frequency, and phase response of our test unit’s L/R drivers were well-matched, which is critical for precise placement and localization of items (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image.

Passive Soundstage

The soundstage is inadequate. Because having a speaker-like pinna activation is somewhat dependent on having a broad and speaker-like soundstage, yet in-ear headphones bypass and don’t connect with the pinna (the outer ear), their soundstage will be perceived as small and located inside the listener’s brain. Because of their closed-back construction, they won’t have the same open soundstage as open-back earbuds like the AirPods or the SoundSport Free.

Leakage

The Endurance Sprint has good leakage performance. The bass and midranges of these headphones do not leak, resulting in a very thin sounding leakage. A large part of their leakage is focused in a very narrow region around 5KHz. The total volume of the leaks is also not particularly loud. When the music is turned up to 100 decibels, the leakage averages 26 decibels and peaks at 51 decibels, which is roughly the same as the noise floor of a typical office.

Verdict

It’s ideal for a range of applications. The JBL Endurance Sprint features a sporty style that is ideal for a wide variety of applications. Despite their slightly larger than average earbuds, they are small enough to carry around on your person. They’re also secure enough for the gym and provide enough passive isolation for most conditions, including commutes and travel. Unfortunately, they lack the best buttons and aren’t the most comfortable headphones to wear for extended periods of time.

The Endurance Sprint headphones have a stable ear-hook feature that keeps the headphones from slipping out of your ears no matter how strenuous the workout is. They also have a long battery life and a touch-sensitive control scheme that allows them to perform all of the required functions. Regrettably, their control scheme is less precise, and they lack foam tips for added comfort.