JBL Tune 680NC Review | 93 Data compared

The expert review by Which? highlights the JBL Tune 680NC as a highly portable, budget-friendly pair of wireless on-ear headphones released in November 2025. Tested heavily in laboratory conditions, the review points out several defining pros, including its exceptionally long-lasting battery life clocked continuously at 3,221 minutes (roughly 53.6 hours), an incredibly lightweight and foldable 164g frame built for easy commuting, and the incorporation of modern Adaptive Noise Cancelling (ANC) and Bluetooth 6.0 features. Additionally, the review notes the inclusion of integrated physical headphone controls, visible left and right ear markings, and a 121cm physical backup cable. However, the evaluation also underscores a few notable cons and trade-offs that consumers should keep in mind before purchasing. Despite marketing promises of a comfortable padded headband, expert panels indicate that the tight clamp inherent to its on-ear design can cause discomfort and physical ear pressure over prolonged listening sessions. Furthermore, while the active noise-canceling setup blocks baseline ambient noise well, it falls short of premium-tier isolation standards and suffers from an integrated microphone with mediocre speech quality when subjected to background noise....

The JBL Live 780NC over-ear and 680NC on-ear wireless headphones offer comfortable clunky designs that fold down for storage, combined with an identical, premium set of features via the JBL Headphones app. Both models provide excellent battery life, reaching up to 50 hours with ANC enabled and 80 hours with it turned off. Their Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) and Ambient modes are highly effective at muting real-world distractions like traffic and barking dogs. Additionally, they support highly requested features including 360-degree spatial sound, automatic pausing, Adaptive EQ, and simultaneous multipoint Bluetooth connection switching. However, the duo suffers from notable acoustic limitations and confusing default configurations. The audio profile is polarized; the over-ear 780NC delivers a wide but hollow bass response, while the on-ear 680NC provides punchy bass at the expense of a narrow soundstage and distant vocals. Out of the box, users cannot completely disable ANC or Ambient mode from the physical buttons without first downloading the companion mobile app to change the settings. Furthermore, both headsets possess poor microphone quality that heavily muffles human voices, alongside touch controls that...