JBL Live Beam 3, CMF Buds Pro 2 review: How TWS cases are becoming smarter

True wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds have come a long way since the Bragi Dash first cut the cords between the two earbuds back in 2015. Over time, advances in tech have made TWS buds sound better, while getting smaller, lighter and more affordable. What hasn’t changed meaningfully is the accompanying charging case, only adding wireless charging capabilities at the premium end.

The JBL Live Beam 3 ( ₹24,999, available for an introductory ₹14,999 pricing) and the CMF Buds Pro 2 ( ₹4,299) are set to change that, adding smarts and audio controls into the case, hopefully towards reducing the number of times you dig out your phone and get addicted to reels. Gimmick or utility? Let’s find out.

JBL Live Beam 3

For a pair of earbuds that compete with the Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Apple AirPods Pro, the Live Beam 3’s trump card is the 1.45-inch LED touchscreen on the lid of the slightly chunkier-than-normal gunmetal plastic case. Tap the screen and it lights up, showing you a lock screen wallpaper, which can be customized via the companion app.

Swiping across the panels scrolls through playback and volume controls, noise cancelling options, spatial audio settings, and equalizer presets, essentially quick access to functions that might otherwise take a while if you dug out your phone. You could, for instance, switch from the vocals preset for your work calls to the bass preset when you walk into the gym, or the jazz preset for when you’re doing dinner prep.

Unlike other TWS buds, there’s no need to fire up the companion app to switch between the presets and, once you’ve gone through the full setup and hearing test process, you could go entire days without once having to open the app on your phone. It’s even better when you connect the Live Beam 3 to multiple devices, you just need to pull out the case to switch tracks, even if the device playing the audio isn’t in your pocket at that moment.

Also read: Sony ULT Tower 10 review: This big party speaker delivers the goods

You can use the case to find a missing earbud by triggering a loud tone or use the boosted case screen brightness as a flashlight, both super handy when you’ve had a bud fall in between the cushions. There’s even a countdown timer, battery status and a clock, plus the ability to answer and reject incoming calls and view app notifications from the connected phone.

The Live Beam 3’s screen stops short of going full smartwatch style apps and interactivity to conserve battery life, but one wouldn’t have been averse to album art/track information for the current song or showing contact/number details for incoming calls.

The stem-style buds themselves are lightweight (5g) and comfortable for extended duration use. You can choose from silver, black or blue colors for the buds and the case.

The sonic profile is a bit bassy, yet balanced enough for most genres, though I loved listening to pop, a bit of rock and all my regular podcasts on these. Out of the box, there’s a lot of punch and dynamism to the music, and you can dig into the app and set up a custom equalizer profile to suit your exacting tastes.

Noise cancellation and transparency modes work as advertised, cutting out or letting in the outside world. There’s even a private call mode, which lets you remove one bud and use it as a mic, so you can lower your voice and keep the conversation truly private.

Battery life is a solid 10 hours with noise cancellation, with three charges possible from a topped-up case (even with some amount of case screen use). Yes, one realizes the irony of ditching the phone screen for yet another screen (minus the doom-scrolling on social media), but the Live Beam 3 offers a genuinely useful innovation in the category and is well worth the price of admission. Not to mention, it makes everything else look so dull.

CMF Buds Pro 2

The Buds Pro 2 by Nothing sub-brand CMF relies on a familiar nostalgia-inducing dose of tactility to the TWS case, via the physical rotary dial on its case – think the original click-wheel iPod to the Live Beam 3’s iPod touch.

This novel alternative to the earbud’s touch controls (or pulling out your phone) lets you do a ton of things, from rotating the dial to adjust the volume, to setting actions like activating the voice assistant or playing or pausing/skipping music tracks via a single/double/triple press, or engaging noise cancellation via a press-and-hold action.

All these actions are fully customizable via the Nothing X app. Using the dial lends the buds’ operation a sense of ‘eyes closed’ certainty that only comes with physical controls, and it avoids the unintended effect of either dislodging the earbud or pushing it deeper into the ear when you’re trying to use the buds’ touch controls on the stalk. It’s built well and deeply satisfying to operate. The IP55-rated buds are lightweight and fit well, although they are a bit plasticky to the touch.

The 11mm driver and 6mm planar tweeter turn in a respectable performance, particularly for the bass-loving masses, oftentimes a little too ‘boomy’ for my taste. You can, of course, dial it back via the custom equalizer on the app, and things sound a little more balanced. Overall, it’s a fun audio signature that’ll please most.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is quite capable as well, for the segment at least, and adaptive ANC does well to react quickly to changes in ambient noise. Battery life is around six hours with ANC on, and the case provides another 24-26 hours.

In all, the Buds Pro 2 make a solid ‘case’ for themselves, and I like how the brand has added physical controls to the charging case without messing around with its minimalist design philosophy.

Tushar Kanwar, a tech columnist and commentator, posts @2shar.

Also read: Nothing CMF Phone 1 review: Budget-friendly but high on customization