Jam True Wireless ANC Review
Good sound but loose fitting
Verdict
If you’re looking for an affordable pair of earbuds that sound good, the Jam True Wireless ANC will do the job. However, the design and ANC leave something to be desired.
Pros
- Audio is crisp and clear
- Touch controls are simple
Cons
- It’s difficult to get a good fit
- ANC is subtle
Availability
- UKRRP: £99.99
- USARRP: $119.99
Key Features
- Noise cancellingThe True Wireless ANC feature Active Noise Cancellation
- DesignThe earbuds have an AirPod-like, tail-shaped design
- Battery lifeJam claims the earbuds offer up to 7 hours of battery with ANC switched off
- Touch controlsPlayback is controlled via touchpads on the earbuds
Introduction
Jam Audio has been making wireless audio tech since 2012 and we here at Trusted Reviews have tested plenty of it.
From the portable Zero Chill to the Rhythm and Symphony wireless speakers, and the Ultra earbuds, none of the brand’s products we’ve reviewed have scored below 3.5 stars. In fact, all but the latter have gained a 4 and above, which is why I was excited to take a closer look at the Jam True Wireless ANC.
The True Wireless ANC are currently the priciest set in Jam’s earbud lineup, sitting above the Black TWS Exec and the TWS Game On, as well as the Live Loud and Live Free earbuds.
Design
- The earbuds have a simple, stem-shaped design
- It can be difficult to get the right fit
- There’s no IP rating
The Jam True Wireless ANC have a rather simple appearance. The earbuds are matte black and chunky, with an oval-shaped top and an Apple AirPod-like stem. Visually, they remind me of the EarFun Air and the Urbanista London.
The earbuds come with a choice of four silicone ear tips – the pair on the earbuds, plus three extras in the box in sizes small, medium and large – so you can opt for the pair that delivers the best seal.
It’s always important to get a tight seal between your ears and a pair of earbuds, and the Jam True Wireless ANC are no exception. Here, the sound quality relies heavily on getting the best seal possible, which can be a challenge as a result of these earbuds’ bulky build.
The images of models wearing the earbuds on the box suggest the pair are supposed to be worn with the stems pointing toward the floor, but in this position the earbuds felt loose and shifted out of place with any small movement.
In my experience, twisting them inward significantly improved the audio, making them feel more stable in the ear – but I’m not entirely sure this is how Jam intended the earbuds to be worn.
The fit isn’t uncomfortable either way, but the earbuds do shift around too much for my liking, affecting the audio.
The True Wireless ANC come with a matching palm-sized charging case with support for USB-C, but no wireless charging. The earbuds also lack an IP rating, so I wouldn’t recommend taking them to the pool or using them in the rain.
Features
- Noise cancellation is weak
- The six to seven hours of battery life seems accurate
- There’s no support for wireless charging or fast charging
The True Wireless ANC aren’t a feature-packed pair of earbuds but, as the name suggests, they do take advantage of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which isn’t always expected at this price.
You can access ANC by tapping the right earbud three times. I didn’t find a huge audible difference between having ANC on and ANC off. In addition, there’s no voice to tell you if the setting is switched on, making it even tougher to tell the difference. According to the manual, one beep means noise cancelling is on, while two beeps means it’s off.
The sound is slightly improved with ANC on, but the earbuds won’t do much to cancel noise in busy public spaces or on noisy transport.
Jam proudly announces that the True Wireless ANC take advantage of a seven-hour battery life on the box. Look at the smaller print and you’ll see the earbuds are estimated to last seven hours without ANC, six hours with ANC, and that there are 24 to 28 hours of charge in total in the case.
I tested the earbuds playing music at a medium volume until they died and found they lasted just over seven hours with ANC on.
There’s no support for Qi wireless charging or fast charging here, so you’ll need two hours to achieve a full charge.
Sound quality
- The earbuds pack 10mm dynamic drivers
- The sound quality depends largely on how they fit in your ear
- Audio is crisp and dynamic
Jam says the 10mm dynamic drivers in the True Wireless ANC offer “a great combination of sound quality and affordability” and, for their price, the audio quality is very impressive.
However, as mentioned above, how good the earbuds sound depends heavily on the seal achieved. As such, the quality can waver if the earbuds shift out of place – as the True Wireless ANC so easily do.
That said, when the earbuds are in the right place they sound great.
David Bowie’s Heroes offers a good balance of highs, mids and lows, with little distortion unless you push the volume to its limit. However, the soundstage could be more spacious; the instruments sound more cramped as the track builds.
Moving onto a classical piece, Debussy’s Clair De Lune demonstrates crisp highs and plenty of dynamism as the song becomes louder. The soundstage is less of an issue here and, overall, it’s a clear and detailed performance.
Bass performance feels a bit lacking at times. Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now is full of energy, with the bass managing to keep up – but I wish it were a little more hard-hitting for a dance track. Let the earbuds slip out of place and you’ll lose the bass entirely, but this feels like a design fault more than an issue with the audio.
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Should you buy it?
You want a cheap pair of earbuds that sound great The Jam Audio True Wireless ANC offer a crisp and balanced sound with the right seal.
You want a snug fit The bulky design causes the earbuds to move out of place with slight movements, which affects the quality of the sound.
Final thoughts
The Jam Audio True Wireless ANC offer a crisp, dynamic and generally well-balanced performance – if you’re able to get the perfect seal.
However, it’s difficult to look past the weak ANC and precarious fit. The earbuds look and sound nice, but the design seems to compromise the audio when the earbuds shift out of place.
How we test
We test every headphone we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Tested the earbuds for one week
Drained the battery from 100% to 0%
Listened to a variety of music genres
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FAQs
The earbuds are noise cancelling.
There are touchpads on the earbuds to control the music.
The Jam True Wireless ANC include Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for wireless listening.
Specs
Jargon buster
ANC
ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) uses an array of microphones in a headphone to detect the frequency of the sound coming at the listener, with the ANC chip creating an inverse wave (i.e. opposing sound) to suppress any unwanted external noises.Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0 is the latest iteration of the standard, and allows data to be sent at twice as much as speed over previous standards, cover four times as much in terms of distance and transfer eight times as much data.IP rating
An abbreviation for ‘Ingress Protection Code’, which lets you know to what extent a device might be waterproof or dustproof.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
