Reviewing the JBL Reflect Mini NC
I love music, it’s powerful and affects my emotions. I also really enjoy learning and a good audiobook or podcast makes training sessions fly past, sometimes I do an extra lap just to finish a chapter. But I sweat a lot, even in my ears.. yes I agree it’s gross, but I like to think it helps me in the heat. Historically, this means lots of dead earphones. Step up the JBL Reflect Mini NC.
JBL Reflect Mini NC Specifications
- Driver size: 6mm/1/4″ dynamic driver
- Power supply: 5.0V 400mA
- Earpiece: 6.8g/pc (13.6g combined)
- Charging case: 45.4g
- Headset battery type: Lithium-ion battery (50mA/3.7V)
- Charging case battery type: Lithium-ion battery (300mA/3.7V)
- Charging time: < 2 hrs from empty
- Music playtime with BT on: up to 7.0 hrs
- Music playtime with BT on and ANC on: up to 6 hrs
- Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
- Impedance: 16 ohm
- Sensitivity: 97dB SPL @ 1kHz
- Maximum SPL: 96dB
- Microphone sensitivity: -32dBV/Pa @ 1kHz
(TBC) - Bluetooth version: 5.1
- Bluetooth profile version: A2DP V1.3,
AVRCP V1.6, HFP V1.7 - Bluetooth transmitter frequency range:
2.4GHz – 2.4835GHz - Bluetooth transmitter power: <10dbm (TBC)
- Bluetooth transmitter modulation: GFSK, π/4 DQPSK, 8DPSK
The JBL Reflect Mini NC is IPX7, comes with noise cancelling and a charging case.
Impressions
I touched on earlier about my sweaty ‘efficiencies’ and I’m happy to say that they’re still working after getting soaked both from sweat and being washed. Also, the build is quite durable having been thoroughly tested via multiple drops either running or riding my bike.
This leads onto the fit, it’s very important to use the right size ear fin to get a good fit. I’ve small ears, but in my haste to try them out; I promptly took them out of the box, popped them in my ears and went for a run. My initial impression of fit wasn’t good, but this is a user error as I didn’t refer to the material supplied with the in-ear headphones. Once I took the time to choose the correct ear fin (3 different sizes come with them), the fit has been great. Getting the right fit also improved the quality of phone calls using the headphones, so very important.
The noise cancelling is quite impressive. I’ve used a few different noise-cancelling headphones and while they do a decent job with constant ambient noise, they don’t do so well with blocking unwanted noise. I found the JBLs to reduce all unwanted noise and with a simple tap can controlled for those times when you need to hear everything around you.
The headphones are also quite smart in that they can access google assist. I’ve not used it much, but it’s cool functionality to get information on the fly.
Comparision
I’ve been using the plantronics 3200 for a couple of years now mainly as they can handle getting wet. Wrapping up my impressions of the JBL I’ve put together a quick comparison.
In some ways, these headphones are comparable, while in others it’s like night and day. For what you get in the JBL package for a similar price point in my mind I’ll be using the JBLs. The control, ability to take phone calls without removing the earbuds and smarts of them take the JBL Reflect Mini NC to a new level.
Copyright © Luke Jones
