I’m a big fan of open audio, but not everyone loves the earbud form factor. Despite how comfortable some of the entrants in the open-ear audio space may be—Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds and Nothing’s Ear Open are particularly comfy—sometimes you just want a pair of more traditional over-ear headphones, whether for ergonomics or more stability on your head. The problem is, if you want to combine the two (headphones and open-ear audio, that is), you’re not exactly flush with options. JLab, however, plans to fix that.
As a part of IFA 2025, JLab unveiled its JBuds Open Wireless Headphones, which are exactly what they sound like—headphones with an open-ear design. The backs of these things are completely open, allowing you to hear your environment. While open-ear audio isn’t new—Sony, Bose, Nothing, and even JLab have their own open wireless earbuds already—I’ve not seen the idea applied to a pair of wireless headphones before, at least not from a brand that’s big enough to matter to people. And the idea is actually exciting to me for a couple of reasons, one of them being that headphones usually give you a lot more oomph in the volume department, which could make them ideal for open-ear audio.
As much as I like Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds, they still get drowned out by external noise (so do any open earbuds, to be honest) since they’re built to allow for ambient noise bleed. A pair of headphones, though, may actually be able to provide a better balance between audio playback and ambient noise. To help its headphones achieve that better balance, JLab says the JBuds Open have two drivers (a 35mm and a 12mm) and what it’s calling “LabFocus sound steering technology” that it says can “minimize sound leakage while maximizing audio quality.” That all sounds pretty good on paper.
Another nice touch is the addition of noise-canceling mics that should make these headphones great for calling. Calling people comfortably is probably my favorite part of open-ear audio since you don’t have to stuff your ears with silicone and listen to your muffled voice reverberate inside your own head. Battery-wise, JLab says you should get 18 hours, which isn’t the most impressive figure in the world, but it’s not bad, either. And the best part? The price is right. JLab plans to debut these open-ear headphones at $99, though you won’t be able to buy a pair until November. Either way, I’m ready for the future wave of open-ear headphones to arrive.