Treblab E3 Headphones review | Laptop Mag

The old adage of "you become what you lot pay for" is particularly truthful when purchasing technology. At $79, the Treblab E3 headphones won't deliver the balanced audio and powerful agile noise cancellation of the $300+ pair of Bose headphones. But what they will do is deliver solid sound quality along with a few smart features while saving you lot quite a few dollars. The headphones deliver a adept amount of bass and last 48 hours on a accuse. Yet, the ANC could be much better.

Headphones in the sub-$100 range are an culling to the cheap ane thrown in with a shiny new smartphone purchase. The affair that surprised me on the Treblab E3 was the bass response, which provided a surprising punch. The bass is a double-edged sword though, every bit information technology muddies up the remainder of the audio feel. Some tinkering with the EQ tin can definitely help but won't totally fix the trouble.

The E3s have a surprisingly long bombardment life of 48 hours with ANC off, simply the headphones can be uncomfortable at times, leading to shorter-than-desired listening sessions. The ability to fully recharge the battery in an hour is good for life on the go, just the quick charge features are even ameliorate.

Treblab E3 Headphones pricing and configurations

The over-ear Treblab E3 headphones tin can be purchased for $79.97 at major retailers. As Wesley Snipes famously said, "always bet on black." Treblab must take heard him loud and articulate because the E3s come in blackness...and only black. It's disappointing considering other headphone makers in the sub-$100 range offer multiple color options to aid you coordinate with your devices or outfits.

Treblab E3 Headphones pattern

While I would love a few more than color schemes, I really adore the design of the E3 when viewed from the side. There's something about the Treblab logo prepare against that all-blackness design. Information technology reminds me of a set of blacked-out auto rims, which makes me a chip empty-headed. The lines on the logo reverberate light perfectly, drawing merely the right amount of attention when wearing them out in public. I also like the simplicity of the "E3" printed in white on the inside above the earcups.

Treblab E3 headphones review — (Paradigm credit: Laptop Mag)

However, the all-plastic design doesn't experience sturdy although that is expected for sub-$100 headphones. That said, they don't feel fragile and should withstand normal day-to-day use. The exposed side of the extenders is aluminum reinforced by black plastic. The headband and earcups both have leatherette cushioning. The headphones can fold flat to be placed inside the included travel instance.

The majority of buttons and the USB-C charging port are located on the right earcup with the lone exception of the ANC button on the left earcup. The E3's dimensions and weight are 8 x7.ane x 2.ii inches and 0.half dozen pounds. The E3 looks similar a normal size pair of headphones until placed next to others; these are taller and wider than the ZVOX AV50 and the Panasonic RB-M700B.

Treblab E3 Headphones comfort

The headphones are not equally light as I anticipated considering how hollow the plastic feels. These are the first headphones I've used in a long time that didn't crave me to utilise the extenders. If you have a larger-than-normal head or have a lot of hair, these could be comfy headphones for you.

The E3 feel soft and comfy when I initially put them on. Even so, the headphones fit snugly, which is why I started to feel some pain around the lesser of my right ear later about thirty minutes of use. On the upside, while my ears got warm while wearing the E3, they didn't get-go sweating until nigh two hours of use.

Treblab E3 Headphones setup

Pairing your Trelab to Bluetooth-uniform devices is a straightforward procedure. Agree the dedicated ability button for three seconds to plow the headphones on and a voice says "pairing." Select the headphones from the listing of discoverable devices and you'll hear "connected" when the pairing is successful.

The headphones can only be connected to one device at a fourth dimension, which is a bummer, but it'south to be expected for a sub-$100 pair of cans. However, the headphones tin salve up to 8 devices in its memory for future connections. The downside is you must turn off Bluetooth on the first paired device to connect to the side by side device since the headphones always connect with the virtually recently used gadget. If that device is not available, the E3s will connect with the next device in its hierarchy.

Treblab E3 Headphones controls and phonation assistant

The Treblab has several physical buttons for the controls. Forth the back of the correct earcup sits the volume buttons with the play/pause button nestled in-betwixt. Property the volume up for 1 second skips to the next track while book downward jumps backward. The play/interruption push does its job with starting and stopping music playback.

Merely due to their position, I had difficulty hitting my intended button on the commencement attempt. I wish the buttons were more defined like the ability button, which is located near the front of the right earcup.

Double pressing the power button activates your digital assistant with support for Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby. It was a welcome surprise as many of the sub-$100 headphones I've reviewed lack this ability.

The ANC button is the sole button on the left earcup.

Treblab E3 Headphones agile noise counterfoil

I tested the Feedforward Active Dissonance Cancellation (ANC) feature without whatever music playing. I went into the noisiest environment in my home where the TV was on and my kid was playing then flipped on the feature. The ANC was barely noticeable. There was a minor reduction in environmental sounds as I toggled ANC off and on but I could still easily conduct a conversation with my kid while wearing the headphones.

The E3s have an Environmental Mode which allows you to hear the ambient racket the headphones would normally eliminate considering of its over-ear design and the resulting passive isolation. Environmental Way did an fantabulous job of allowing me to hear my environs equally though I wasn't wearing headphones. Having a conversation with my child with this fashion on and music off immune me to hear him much more than clearly.

Treblab E3 Headphones audio quality

Like other headphones at this toll point, the E3s are limited in their audio capability. The bass feels heavy and dingy, the midrange lacks fullness, and the high-end is severely lacking presence. I cycled through equalizer settings in Apple tree Music to find a contour to compensate for the lack of mids and treble while attempting to clear upwardly the depression end. The Electronic setting struck a decent balance.

Listening to Drake's "Back to Back" sounded deadened when I played information technology for the beginning day. The post-obit day, the overall audio was much clearer, which could be due to burn-in. However, the bass is heavy and often masks Drake as he'due south spitting his diss lyrics wondering how he got into the rap beef in the kickoff place. The headphones had me wishing for more than openness and presence to feel the excitement and anticipation that is normally strong in this song.

Compared to the E3sm the ZVOX AV50 headphones had a much cleaner low-end that brought out the mid and high frequencies in the organization. I experienced the energy the E3s were defective. The high hat patterns bounced from i ear to the other, which I had not noticed in the E3s. The drawback of the AV50s is that distortion occurred during the aforementioned musical phrases throughout the song.

The E3 sounded much better when listening to pop music. On Benee's "Kool," the muddiness was not equally pronounced equally it was on hip hop and rap tracks. The band's opening started off deadened, only then cleared up as before long as Benee settled into the opening lyrics and the other instruments took dominance. Benee'south lyrics were clear just often masked when the bass guitar played sustained notes. The bass guitar was not overpowering on the ZVOX AV50 compared to the E3, and provided a nice rest between Benee'due south clear lyrics and bass.

The Treblab shined when I listened to Tones and I's "Fly Abroad" with its pop/trip the light fantastic feel. The 4-on-the-floor bass was deep when paired with the accompanying lyrics. The song felt more open than the previous ones, and the headphones seemed a lot more balanced. The E3 and the AV50 both sounded keen with this vocal, but the AV50 made "Fly Away" feel airier.

Treblab E3 Headphones battery life and bluetooth

The Treblab E3 has an estimated 48 hours of battery life with ANC off, according to Treblab. The bombardment life drops to 35 hours if y'all use ANC. The user manual says the battery life drops to 27 hours with the volume at 100%. I would suggest leaving ANC off to maximize the battery life since ANC is not doing much to mitigate environmental noises. The battery level can be checked by pressing the power button, and a voice says the battery is either high, moderate, or low.

When your headphones die, a quick 5-infinitesimal accuse will get y'all an additional ten hours of bombardment life while an hour volition get a total charge. The headphones support PD Quick Charging resulting in vii+ hours of power after 3 minutes depending on the charger's voltage. Later on doing the math, that results in a total charge in about xx minutes using PD Quick Charging.

Bluetooth 5 is supported on the E3s and enables 33-foot range. I sabbatum my iPhone down on one side of my habitation, and then walked throughout my entire ii-story dwelling and heard my music relatively uninterrupted. In that location was a random leap every now and then, but shifting to a new position solved the trouble. I finally experienced skipping when I walked halfway across my backyard.

Treblab E3 Headphones telephone call quality

Using the E3s to make calls via my iPhone was frustrating. I called a friend and the sound switched from the headphones to the smartphone in one case he answered. I tried calling again, and the headphones disconnected from the iPhone and needed to be re-paired. When I finally got the headphones paired and working, I could hear my friend clearly but I sounded really far away to him. I experienced similar sound problems when using the headphones to receive calls.

Lesser line

The Treblab E3s take a solid sound (once you tinker with the EQ) with plenty of low finish. As a bass junkie, I was feeling the low-end response simply would have liked more clarity to open upwards the mid and high end. The non-existent ANC should just be scrapped altogether and invested in cleaning upwards the bass. The headphones severely lack presence and I had to reach for the blaster settings to residual the E3s. The headphones underperform when listening to hip-hop and rap, just they provide a meliorate audio experience when listening to popular and dance.

I appreciate the long battery life, which could easily last for two weeks without reaching for a charger, and the fast-charging feature is benign when you're in a rush. The support for multiple voice administration is absurd and having a defended power push button to activate them is a squeamish affect. The Bluetooth 5.0 range is exceptional, providing coverage throughout modestly-sized homes.

However, using the headphones for telephone calls is frustrating and makes voices sound afar to the person you are calling. And I wish the cans were more comfy, and so you could wear them for long periods of fourth dimension.