Headphones — JBL VIBE FLEX 2

The JBL VIBE FLEX 2 is a true wireless earbud without active noise cancelling, built around an ergonomic shape that JBL presents as its main comfort feature. It offers up to 40 hours of total playback with the charging case and uses larger drivers than the VIBE BEAM 2 from the same range.

Key specs that matter

The drivers are 12 mm dynamic units. Specified bandwidth reaches from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with an impedance of 16 ohm, sensitivity of 98 dB SPL at 1 kHz and a maximum SPL of 95 dB. The earbuds play up to 10 hours per charge, and the case supplies three more full charges, or 30 hours. Talk time is up to 6 hours on a single charge of the earbuds. A single earbud is 4.12 g (8.24 g for both), with 35.68 g for the case. Earbud dimensions are 18.57 x 33.48 x 18.50 mm and the case measures 54.88 x 49.30 x 25.85 mm.

Engineering and use context

Four microphones, two per earbud, pick up the voice, handle calls and filter out background noise, each rated at -38 dBV/Pa at 1 kHz. Smart Ambient technology gives two modes - Ambient Aware adjusts how much of the outside world is heard, and TalkThru allows a conversation with the earbuds still in. The earbuds are IP54 rated against water and dust and the case is IPX2. Bluetooth 5.3 runs the A2DP 1.4, AVRCP 1.6.2 and HFP 1.8 profiles, with transmitter power under 9 dBm EIRP in the 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz band and GFSK, pi/4-DQPSK and 8DPSK modulation. Each earbud holds a 45 mAh 3.85 V lithium-ion cell and the case a 500 mAh 3.8 V cell. A full charge takes under 2 hours over USB Type-C at 5 V 1 A, and 10 minutes on the cable gives another 3 hours. Maximum operating temperature is 45 degrees C. In the JBL Headphones app users can pick an EQ preset or build a custom curve, choose a voice prompt language for alerts such as a low battery warning and use Relax Mode with five background sounds.

Pairing

The VIBE FLEX 2 remembers up to 8 Bluetooth devices and holds two active at once through multi-point connection. One-tap connection to Android phones and Windows PCs comes from support for Fast Pair by Google and for Swift Pair from Microsoft, and calls are handled by tapping the earbuds. Inside the carton are the buds, the case, a USB-C cord and printed guides. Unlike the VIBE BEAM 2, no spare ear tips are listed among the contents.

Alternatives

The JBL VIBE BEAM 2 is a sibling in the same VIBE range that adds active noise cancelling with 8 mm drivers.