Tech

The 6 Best Grills and Smokers of 2026: Smart, Portable, Pellet

Published

3 hours ago

17 May 2026

It’s likewise smartly designed, packing up into—as you likely already gleaned—the shape of a suitcase. The heavy-duty handles and latches are strong. Though the Nomad is 28 pounds, which is a bit on the heavy side for a single-hand carry, the shape and large handle actually make it easier to carry than smaller and cheaper models.

The Nomad uses a dual-venting system to achieve good airflow, even when the lid is closed. The vents, combined with the raised fins on the bottom of the grill (which elevate your charcoal, allowing air to flow underneath), allow for very precise control of both high and low temperatures. If you live and die by overlanding, this grill could be your new constant companion.

A Great Budget Portable Grill: WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson also loves the simple Weber Jumbo Joe ($90), a smaller version of the classic Original Kettle. It’s an easy choice for tailgates, especially. And if you want to use it at home, you can build yourself a stand for home cookouts. It’s low-cost, light, and dead simple. All are virtues.

Other Grills I Recommend

Large silver outdoor grill shown closed as well as open with a piece of meat inside

Recteq X-Fire Pro 825 for $1,400: Pellet smokers rarely crest much over 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which does not offer the sear you’d get on a charcoal or gas grill. But Recteq’s 825-square-inch, dual-pot X-Fire Pro wants to be your everything device, notes WIRED reviewer Kat Merck. In Smoke Mode, the left fire pot ignites for classic low-and-slow smoking. Switch the big knob to Grill Mode, and both pots fire up, with an adjustable damper over the right side. The damper, controllable with another knob, allows you to open access to the right fire pot just a little bit, or all the way to the gates of hell—1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes about 20 minutes for the fire pot to get going this high, and if you don’t clean the fire pot first, it’ll kick off a lot of sparks in the process. Who knows why you need to get to 1,200 degrees? But as Merck notes, this is a company known for a cartoon bull logo and bull-horn handles. “Recteq likes to be extreme, so it tracks,” she says. If you keep your sear to a more human 600 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s a solid grill and sear experience. But keep in mind that the high power draw from the dual igniters will require a 10- or-12-gauge extension cord, which is probably better than the cord you’ve got at home. The X-Fire also didn’t produce the same smokiness as WIRED’s top-pick Recteq Flagship 1600, according to Merck’s testing, which means you’ll end up using smoke tubes at low temperature if you want to get more smoke in the meat. Note, too, that the advertised 20-pound pellet capacity is split between fire pots. This could mean refilling a 10-pound hopper multiple times during a long cook.

Front view of Traeger Woodridge Pro pellet smoker resting in a grassfree backyard with a white fence in the background

Traeger Woodridge Pro for $1,000: The Traeger Woodridge Pro is WIRED’s previous top-pick pellet grill and smoker for most people. It still exists beautifully at the intersection of value and utility, and is likely to make you popular in the neighborhood. It’s a straightforward beast of a thing that’s easy to clean, easy to dial in for a perfect rack of ribs, and big enough to cook up two pork bellies at the same time. My new top-pick Recteq has a couple smart features that make us prefer it, like temperature history on its meat probes, and an easier learning curve on smart features. But this Woodridge will still make you quite popular in the neighborhood.

Traeger Timberline grill with lid and cabinets open

Traeger Timberline Wi-Fi Wood Pellet Grill for $3,300: If you’re serious about grilling and smoking, Traeger’s Timberline is almost a step up from a smoker. It’s the perfect all-in-one outdoor kitchen. It uses the same wireless smoking smarts as the Woodridge but adds some extras, like an induction burner (perfect for adding a last-minute sear with a cast-iron pan or steaming some veggies). The insulated smoke box has room for six pork shoulders, or about the equivalent racks of ribs or chickens. Former WIRED editor Parker Hall has managed to feed hundreds of people using it. (As a longtime food and barbecue critic, I can vouch heartily for Hall’s resulting brisket and ribs.) If that’s not enough, there’s also an XL version that’s even bigger. “All of my meats heated evenly and were perfectly cooked right when the smoker said they would be,” Hall says. If you want flawless smoking from the comfort of your couch and price is not a factor, the Timberline delivers.

Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 for $899: This spacious Masterbuilt offers a nice combination, notes WIRED reviewer Chris Smith: charcoal flavor with the temperature precision of gas or electricity. The large, top-loading charcoal hopper uses gravity (hence the name) to feed heat into an internal housing, and an integrated fan enables precise digital temperature control—on the device or via the app. You’ll reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit within 15 minutes. Temperatures are remarkably consistent once stabilized, and if you want to add smoke flavor, just throw wood chunks into the ash bin and let falling charcoal embers do the rest. But the versatility comes with caveats. You may miss the ability to sear directly over a flame, and you’ll need to change out the internal housing before switching to the flat-top grill.

Yoder YS640S Pellet Smoker for $2,700: Most grills do one thing well and several others poorly or not at all. Yoder’s YS640S is a more versatile tool, thanks to a design that allows easy access to the auto-feed firebox. Like Traegers that are half the price, this Kansas-made grill uses an electric fan and an auger to feed wood pellets in for a slow smoke session. It’s all driven by a control board that sends temp alerts and allows you to adjust the temperature via Wi-Fi. As a smoker, it easily handled ribs and a chuck roast, holding the temperature better than most. This is thanks to its bomb-proof 10-gauge steel construction, which means this grill weighs as much as a refrigerator. Where the Yoder really stands out, though, is as a grill and possible pizza oven. By removing a steel plate positioned over the fire pit, you can sear burgers directly over the flame or remove the grills and plop on a hefty pizza oven attachment ($489), which uses the pellet feed system to maintain a constant 900-plus degrees Fahrenheit.

A Grill to Avoid

Black and red charcoal grill with the lid open

Kamado Joe Konnected Joe for $1,900: There’s a lot to like about this kamado-style grill. Indeed, WIRED previously recommended it for its electric ignition and Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to measure the temperature of the interior and the meat via two probes. But over long-term use, WIRED commerce director Martin Cizmar has had constant problems with the electric grill tripping the 2-year-old GFCI outlets on his patio. Once it even tripped the breaker. A Reddit thread reveals this is a common problem. Like the Redditors, Cizmar found temporary relief by running an extension cord into an outlet in his kitchen, but even that has failed him a few times during testing. Unfortunately, this grill is a hard pass until the issue is resolved.

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5 Lexus Engines You Should Steer Clear Of

Published

10 minutes ago

17 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Lexus has spent more than three decades earning the reliability that most luxury brands would love to borrow. From the original LS 400 that humbled German sedans, to early RX and ES models, the brand has conditioned buyers to trust any Lexus engine almost by default, and most of the time that trust is warranted.

But no automaker bats a thousand. Hidden in Lexus’ 35-year engine catalog are a few designs that don’t quite live up to the badge. The five engines ahead span nearly every era of the brand and together power hundreds of thousands of vehicles still on the road. These include a twin-turbo V6 that can stall when stray machining debris wipes out its bearings, another V6 that became known for turning its oil into sludge, the hybrid four-cylinder that powered the company’s first hybrid car and burned oil faster than fuel, a compact direct injection V6 that misfires when carbon clogs its intake valves, and an otherwise reliable Lexus V8 engine with a fire-risk related recall.

Have all of them been fixed by recalls, updated parts, or warranty programs? In most cases, yes. Does that mean every example you’ll find on a used car lot will be bad? Not really. But if you’re shopping for a used LX 600, IS 250, ES 300, RX 300, HS 250h, GX 460, or LS 460, the engine under the hood deserves more attention than the badge on the grille.

1. 1MZ-FE 3.0L V6

When Toyota introduced the all-aluminum 1MZ-FE in the mid-1990s, it looked like the perfect luxury V6. Aluminum saved weight over the iron 3VZ it replaced, twin overhead cams kept it smooth to 5,800 rpm, and its broad torque curve gave the ES 300 and first-gen RX 300 the effortless feel buyers expected from a Lexus. Later updates even added variable valve timing, helping the engine meet low-emissions targets without giving up power. The problem is that the 1MZ-FE also became one of the main engines tied to Toyota and Lexus’s oil-sludge controversy.

It started with reports of thick, oily sludge building up under the valve covers, and it quickly became one of Toyota’s most notorious reliability issues. Engine oil is supposed to stay thin enough to move quickly through narrow passages, carry heat away from hot spots, and keep bearings and cam surfaces from grinding against each other.

In the 1MZ-FE, however, degraded oil could thicken into sticky deposits instead of flowing cleanly through the engine, and it showed up as warning lights, blue smoke at startup, burning oil, valve knock, sudden stalling, and no-start conditions. In the worst cases, the engine sludge problem led to complete engine failure, with quotes for thousands of dollars in major internal work involving the short block, heads, valve covers, and cams.

The problem was widespread enough to pull in the 1MZ-FE-powered Lexus ES 300 and RX 300, and Toyota addressed it through a Special Policy adjustment rather than a formal recall; a later class-action settlement ultimately covered about 3.5 million 1997-2002 Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

2. 4GR-FSE 2.5L direct-injection V6

Toyota’s GR family makes some of the most respected V6s in modern motoring, but the 4GR-FSE is the odd child. Lexus dropped it into the second-generation IS 250 (2006-2010 sedan, 2010 IS 250C) as a downsized alternative to the 3.5-liter IS 350. Technically, it looked smart: a modern, high-compression GR-family V6 with dual VVT-i and, critically, D-4 direct fuel injection. Lexus claims the direct-injection system helped cool the cylinders, allowing the 4GR-FSE to run at higher compression and extract more efficiency from a small luxury-sedan V6.

The problem is that gasoline direct injection engines also remove one useful side effect of port injection. In a port-injected engine, fuel is sprayed upstream of the intake valve, which helps “wash” the backs of the valves as the engine runs and makes it harder for oily vapors and deposits to stick. In the 4GR-FSE, fuel is injected directly into the cylinder, so the intake valves don’t get that natural cleaning effect. Without it, carbon deposits are more likely to build up on the intake side over time. Once carbon deposits built up, the 4GR-FSE could show check-engine and VSC lights, rough cold starts, shaky idle, random cylinder misfires, sputtering at stops, sudden loss of power, and occasional stalling when rpm dropped. Some cases involved repeat top-engine cleanings, piston/ring work, or complete engine replacement.

Because Lexus treated it as a drivability/emissions issue — not a safety defect — it was handled with service bulletins and a Customer Support Program instead of a recall. That coverage ran for nine years, but it’s expired now, which means today’s used-IS buyers pay out of pocket for cleanings and related repairs or sidestep the 4GR altogether and buy the port-and-direct-injected IS 350 instead.

3. 1UR-FE/1UR-FSE 4.6L V8

When Lexus replaced its long-running 4.3L LS V8 and 4.7L GX V8 engines, the 4.6L 1UR looked like the perfect upgrade. The 1UR-FSE arrived in the LS 460 as a newly developed 4.6-liter V8, while the 1UR-FE followed in the 2010 GX 460 as a stronger, more efficient replacement for the old 4.7-liter V8. Early 1UR-era cars, however, had a number of problems, and the one that drew the most attention was a valve-spring defect.

Toyota found that some valve springs in certain 2007-2008 LS 460/LS 460L and 2008 GS 460 V8 engines could create small cracks and eventually break. Once a valve spring fails, the engine can act like it’s starving for fuel; sluggish throttle response, sudden power loss, heavy shaking/misfires, and in the worst cases, it stalls and won’t restart.

Another issue involved the fuel system. On some 1UR-powered Lexus models, the gasket sealing the fuel-pressure sensor to the fuel delivery pipe could lose its seal over time, causing the fuel to leak into the engine bay, sometimes with little warning beyond a fuel smell, and that obviously raises the risk of a fire. On the SUV side, some GX 460s had a secondary-air injection fault that could trigger the check-engine light and put the truck into reduced-power/limp mode until the pump or valves were replaced.

Toyota addressed the broken springs with a safety recall, replaced the fuel-sensor gasket under a different recall, and later issued a GX 460 Warranty Enhancement for air-injection pump failures and switching valves for 10 years.

4. 2AZ-FXE 2.4L hybrid four-cylinder

The 2AZ-FXE was the mechanical heart of the Lexus HS 250h, which arrived for 2010 as the world’s first hybrid-only luxury vehicle and Lexus’s first four-cylinder gas engine paired with Lexus Hybrid Drive. It came from Toyota’s ubiquitous 2AZ engine family, including the conventional 2AZ-FE and the hybrid 2AZ-FXE, which powered countless Camrys, RAV4s, and Scion tCs before doing duty in the HS 250h’s 2010-2012 run. It was a very different kind of Lexus engine from the brand’s well-known V6s; a 2.4-liter tuned to prioritize fuel economy above everything else. Unfortunately, fuel economy wasn’t the only thing it became known for; oil consumption became the real problem.

In a healthy engine, piston rings are supposed to do two jobs at once: keep combustion pressure above the piston where it belongs and scrape excess oil off the cylinder walls so it doesn’t get pulled into the combustion chamber. When the oil control side of that job starts failing, the engine can begin consuming oil so gradually that a driver may not notice until the level has fallen much farther than it should. Once oil levels drop too far, bearings, cylinder walls, and the valvetrain are all working with less protection than they were designed to have.

There was no recall for the HS 250h; Lexus addressed excessive oil consumption with a Warranty Enhancement Program for certain 2010-2012 HS 250h vehicles, which called for updated piston assemblies. The HS 250h itself was a short-lived Lexus experiment, effectively discontinued in North America after 2012 and credited with only about 67,000 sales globally by 2016. Even Toyota moved on with the 2012 Camry, switching to a new 2.5-liter hybrid engine in place of the 2.4.

5. V35A-FTS 3.4 twin-turbo V6

The V35A-FTS was Lexus’s and Toyota’s clean break from the V8s that powered their old-school trucks and body-on-frame flagship SUVs. Instead of relying on displacement, the 3.4-liter twin turbo V6 uses boost to do the heavy lifting, which is why the LX 600 can make 409 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque from two fewer cylinders than the LX 570 before it. The tradeoff is that such boosted engines deliver their strongest shoves early, right in the low-mid rpm range where heavy SUVs and pickups spend most of their time. That also puts repeated stress through the crankshaft, which makes the bottom end especially important.

That starts with the crankshaft main bearings, which are not glamorous parts but keep the rotating assembly alive. Every time combustion pushes a piston down, that force travels through the connecting rod into the crankshaft. And the crank only survives because it rides on main bearings with a thin, pressurized oil layer acting as a lubricant between the metal surfaces.

In the V35A-FTS’s case, machining debris was left inside some engines during manufacturing. Those tiny metal particles can circulate with the oil, reach the crankshaft main bearings, and get trapped right where the crank is supposed to be riding on a clean, pressurized film. If the debris sticks and the engine keeps seeing higher loads over time, the bearings can fail – showing up as knocking, rough running, a no-start, or even a stall. Once it gets far, the result is complete engine failure.

That V35A-FTS engine is used in the 2022-present Toyota Tundra, 2022-present Lexus LX 600, and 2024-present Lexus GX 550. The machining debris was covered by a recall for certain 2022-2024 Tundra/LX and 2024 GX vehicles (126,691 in the US)

How we chose these engines

Lexus is one of the most reliable luxury brands in the world, which is why this list needed a careful filter, as reliability should not be treated like a free pass. We didn’t choose engines just because they had a few angry owner complaints, high repair bills, or one-off horror stories. A Lexus engine only made the cut if the problem had a larger paper trail behind it, such as a recall, service bulletin, warranty extension, or other official action.

That doesn’t mean every vehicle with one of these engines is doomed. In fact, the opposite is true. Plenty of owners continue to report long, uneventful runs with some of the powertrains on this list, and many affected examples have run perfectly fine for years after being repaired.

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Tech

AirPods Max 2 vs Heavys H1H: Heavy metal headphones compared

Published

23 minutes ago

17 May 2026

NewsAdmin

You’ve probably seen an ad for the rock-tuned Heavys H1H on the internet, and true to their word, they are in fact tuned for guitar-heavy rock. Here’s how they compare to Apple’s AirPods Max.

Two modern over ear headphones side by side: matte teal pair with rounded cups on the left, sleek black Heavys branded pair on the right, against a purple to green gradient background

AirPods Max 2 [left], Heavys H1H [right]

As a major mainstream tech company, Apple has an incentive to design to accommodate as many people as possible.
Its products may not necessarily have everything a particular person wants in an item. But even so, it will still be close enough to be acceptable for the majority of customers.
Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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JLab JBuds Open Wireless review: a genius concept, but I didn’t love them

Published

36 minutes ago

17 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Why you can trust TechRadar

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

JLab JBuds Open Wireless: Two-minute review

JLab is well-known for its affordable headphones and earbuds, but this time the brand is branching out into something more unusual.

The JBuds Open Wireless are over-ear headphones designed to allow you to hear the world around you. Yes, everyone is doing that right now, just take a look at our best open earbuds guide — but while most open-ear options are earbuds, JLab has made an over-ear version. It promises to deliver the same open benefits but from a bigger — and for some people, more comfortable — form factor.

Now, open-back headphones are nothing new. They’re actually a firm favorite among audiophiles. That’s because venting the back of the driver housing stops sound from bouncing back onto the driver itself, which gives you a cleaner and more accurate sound with a wider, more natural soundstage.

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However, the JBuds Open Wireless aren’t that. Sure, they look similar, but the “open” part here means something different. The earcups don’t create a strong seal against your head, and the cups can have grilles over them or the option to be completely open, so ambient sound outside flows freely in alongside your music.

So it’s not open-back as an audio engineering choice, but more open-ear as a lifestyle one, where the goal isn’t better sound quality but a mix of sound and awareness of what’s happening around you.

Sony released the MDR-F1 — not identical, but similar open or open-air headphones, and people referred to them as “earspeakers” at the time. This is a similar thing, and a few other brands have done it, such as the ONE Wireless Open-Ear Headphones from nwm.

But they’re still unusual right now, and I can’t work out if they’re uncommon because they’re about to appeal to everyone and we’ll see more soon, or because the use case is so specific that plenty of people will love the idea but find it falls apart in practice. Unfortunately, I’m in the second camp.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like here. The design is genuinely cool, with removable grilles and a comfortable all-day fit thanks to some memory foam padding in the cups and band. The sound also delivers more bass than I’d expect from an open design. And the ambient awareness really works. In quiet environments, it’s really nice to listen with them.

But add just a bit of background chatter or noise and the openness becomes the problem. There are just too many competing sounds and the experience collapses. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t that the whole point of open-ear designs? Sure, but if the music you’ve bought them to listen to becomes unlistenable, then we’ve got a problem.

At under $100/£100, the risk still feels low. But I think the use case is narrow, and most people will know within a day whether these are for them.

IFA 2025 in September of 2025, the JLab JBuds Open Wireless headphones were launched in some markets in late 2025, and then the rest in early 2026.

You can buy the JBuds Open for $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199.99. That price means they sit somewhere between the higher end of budget and mid-range.

Now this is where I’d usually give you context of how they compare to similar products, but it’s tricky to compare these headphones directly to anything else right now. They give you the benefits of open-ear styles, but those are mostly buds, and these still look and feel like over-ears.

In that case, let’s look at the open-ear buds you can get right now. Like the Shokz OpenFit 2+, our current top pick, which are $179.95 / £169. Though you can get much more affordable open buds that still sound good, like the Earfun Clip 2 with a clip-on design that’ll cost you $79.99 / £69.99 (about AU$120).

In terms of over-ears, one of our favorite budget picks is the OneOdio Focus A6 over-ears at $55 / £55 / AU$112, which we think sound fantastic for the price. Though at that higher end of the budget range you’ve got plenty of choice, like the very highly rated 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 at $89 / £99 / AU$130.

Although there’s nothing to strictly compare them to, the price reflects what you’re getting. Which is over-ear comfort and build with open-ear awareness in a form factor that doesn’t really exist elsewhere. For under $100 / £100, that does seem like a fair ask. But whether it’s worth it comes down entirely to your preferences, which we’ll get into.

The jlab jbuds open wireless headphones pictured on a stone surface — (Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

Simple app with essentials
Multipoint connectivity
24 hours battery life (well, nearly)

The JLab JBuds Open aren’t overflowing with features, but you have everything you need for the price here.

The app is basic, but that’s not a criticism. I found it easy to use and it covers the essentials well. You can customize the manual buttons on the right earcup, check battery life, set an interval timer, toggle spatial audio on/off, and switch between music and movie modes.

There’s also a 10-band custom EQ alongside three presets, which I enjoyed playing with to try and address some of the issues with the sound, more on that later.

The headphones have dual coaxial drivers onboard, a 35mm and a 12mm unit, and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity with support for SBC and AAC codecs. There’s no wireless hi-res audio options, but a USB-C cable is included if you want a wired connection.

The jlab jbuds open wireless headphones close up of their buttons on a stone surface — (Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

Multipoint connectivity to two devices worked seamlessly during my testing, switching cleanly between my laptop and phone while I was working.

Battery life is rated at 24 hours, though in some of JLab’s specs it says to expect 18 hours. In my testing I got around 20 hours, with a full recharge taking roughly 2.5 to 3 hours.

Sony WH-1000XM6 manages 30 hours, and the cheaper 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 headphones deliver an extraordinary 65 hours with ANC on. But, to be fair, it’s much harder to fit batteries in when you’ve removed all the physical space from your headphones…

Measured against open-ear buds, this amount is impressive as the Shokz OpenFit 2+ only manages 11 hours, but that’s expected given the size difference.

Better bass than most open options but sub-bass is lacking
Wide soundstage suits big, orchestral tracks
Sound leakage is an issue

With the JLab JBuds Open headphones, you can obviously hear your surroundings — that’s the whole point. But you’re going to want to bear that in mind, because these sound really open. Like, really open.

On a long quiet walk along the canal, it was lovely. I had music playing, I could hear bike bells and birds and I felt very happy. But walking through the city was a different experience entirely.

What I was hearing from the headphones was competing for my attention with a fire alarm, other music, and general chatter. There’s open-ear, which I’ve tried many times now from different brands, and then there’s this.

And some people might genuinely want this. If ambient awareness always trumps music for you, and competing sounds don’t overwhelm you, these could be ideal. That’s subjective and worth acknowledging, but it wasn’t my experience.

The reason it’s so pronounced is physical, because the drivers sit further from your ear than other open options. They’re outside the ear rather than in the concha, where other open buds sit. Sealed over-ears obviously don’t have the problem at all.

Here it’s essentially like holding a speaker close to your ear. I recommending testing adding the grilles in and out, because they do reduce the sound leakage in, and they’re very easy to remove.

With dual coaxial 35mm and 12mm drivers, they’re working with bigger hardware than most open-ear buds, and you can really tell when you listen. There’s genuine presence in the low end, with far more bass and substance than you’d typically expect from a pair of open-ear buds.

Vocals come through clearly, and the wide soundstage is a real strength here. I spent a lot of time listening to Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Arrival score and instrument separation was impressive. Big, cinematic or orchestral tracks have a sense of space that genuinely suits the open design.

Moving onto Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil and the track’s swagger and drive translated well. It felt wide, punchy and instruments were given plenty of room.

The jlab jbuds open headphones pictured on a stone surface with their grilles removed — (Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

But there are weaknesses. Sub-bass is mostly absent. Hi-hats and cymbals also had a tendency to tip into shrill territory, and kick drums have a sharp, thin quality rather than a satisfying thud.

The overall character skews mid-heavy, and you’ll find yourself pushing the volume higher than expected to get a sense of immersion.

At times it felt a bit like hearing your phone playing in front of you; it’s present and clear enough, but thin and lacking warmth. The bass boost EQ setting helps on the right tracks and is worth trialling, but it can’t resolve the main limitation here which is that there’s no seal to trap and focus the sound.

Calls were fine. With open ears, conversations feel more natural to me, and the noise-cancelling mic picked up my voice well. It lacked some clarity at times, but was fine for most purposes.

Sound leakage from the headphones is also worth flagging. I recorded audio on my phone while wearing them and could make out the track even at a moderate volume with the grilles on. If you remove them, it gets noticeably worse.

Push the volume up, which you will find yourself doing, and it gets worse still. So there’s a sort of irony here, which is that the open design means you need more volume to feel the music, but more volume means more leakage.

Ambient noise outside will mask the leakage, so you’ll get away with it way more in public than you might expect. But a quiet office or commute is going to be a different story.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones, my all-time favorite over-ears, but that’s to be expected at this lower price.

Both the earcups and headband are padded with memory foam and I found it genuinely comfortable for long sessions. The clamping force was occasionally a little much when I was working indoors, but on runs outside it actually helped and kept them feeling secure.

The jlab jbuds open wireless headphones with the grille pressed out

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

At 245g, they’re light, and you can shave a couple of grams off by removing the metal grilles. The earcups have a sort of wheel-spoke pattern with a grille sitting over under it. And if you twist the cup, the grille pops out cleanly, opening things up even more both in how these headphones look and sound.

I noticed it really changes the look of them, and noticeably affects how much ambient sound comes through. It’s a small but genuinely fun customization option.

That said, they’re bulky. They stick out from your head considerably more than most modern over-ears nowadays, and while the cups pivot flat, they don’t fold inward either, which makes them less practical to carry and store than many rivals.

The included carry case is a nice touch. It’s a similar concept to the AirPods Max case but it’s more practical with more coverage of the headphones. The matte, brushed finish picks up marks easily though.

The jlab jbuds open wireless headphones pictured in their carry case

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

You control the JBuds Open with physical buttons on the side of the right earcup. I personally prefer physical buttons over touch controls, and found these easy to locate and use on the move, and they’re also customizable via the app.

The headphones come in black, which is the pair I tested here, or Cloud, which is a light gray with gold accents that’s a nice option if you’re sick of all black tech.

There’s no IP rating here, which on paper suggests avoiding sweaty workouts when you’re wearing them. But given their open design means far more airflow than a sealed pair, I’d argue they’re pretty workout-friendly as long as you’re mindful about sweat and splashes.

I tested them on several runs without any problems and actually really enjoyed the ambient awareness and added airflow as I got warmer and more tired. But I maybe wouldn’t risk them in the rain.

The jlab jbuds open headphones

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

Good value compared to open-ear buds
But whether it’s worth it depends on your feelings about ambient sound

These are good value compared to other over-ear headphones and even some open-ear options. You can pick up open-ear buds for well under $100 / £100 these days, but top performers like the Shokz OpenFit 2+ cost nearly double at $179 / £169. So if you specifically want open-ear audio on a budget, they’re worth considering.

But really, whether these are worth it has less to do with price and more to do with your lifestyle. Under $100 / £100 feels fair for what’s here. But if you’re going to struggle to hear your music in most environments or find the bulk doesn’t suit you, the price won’t save them.

For the right person though, which I think will be someone who prioritizes awareness, loves the over-ear form factor, and isn’t chasing audiophile sound, then these were essentially made for you.

The jlab jbuds open headphones on a stone surface — (Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

Swipe to scroll horizontally

JLab JBuds Open Wireless score card
Attributes	Notes	Rating Advertisement
Features	The app is easy-to-use, and it’s nice to get multipoint connectivity and a USB-C option.	3.5 / 5
Sound quality Advertisement	Good for an open design, especially for bass. But it’s hard to hear your music in anything other than a quiet environment, and sound leaks out, too.	3.5 / 5
Design	They’re comfortable enough for all-day listening thanks to their memory foam. The design is chunky and divisive but I like that you can switch the grilles in and out. Advertisement	4 / 5
Value	Good sound, features and design for the money, but whether it’s good value for you or not is an entirely different story. It’ll be a really subjective thing for these.	3.5 / 5 Advertisement

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Header Cell – Column 0	Jlab Jbuds Open Headphones Advertisement	1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51	Earfun Clip 2
Drivers	35mm and 12mm coaxial dynamic drivers Advertisement	40mm dynamic	12mm dual-magnetic titanium composite driver
Active noise cancellation	No Advertisement	Yes	No
Battery life (ANC on)	Up to 24 hours Advertisement	60 hours (ANC on), 100 hours (ANC off)	11 hours
Weight	245g Advertisement	246g	5.5g
Connectivity	Bluetooth 6.0, USB-C Advertisement	Bluetooth 5.4, 3.5mm	Bluetooth 6.0
Waterproofing	None Advertisement	None	IP55

Becca Caddy wearing the jlab jbuds open wireless headphones — (Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

Tested over 10 days
Used with my iPhone 16 Pro
Listened to music, podcasts and some movies

I tested the JLab JBuds Open Ear Headphones for 10 days, which gave me plenty of time to trial them in different environments, wear them in a few different weather conditions and run a battery test.

I took them with me on daily long walks and two runs along the canalside, as well as one bigger hike in the countryside. They also came with me often when I was walking through a big city, in a busy market, to plenty of coffee shops while I was working remotely, on several bus rides and just out and about getting on with my day more generally.

I used my iPhone 16 Pro to test them and mostly listened to music and podcasts. I also used them when watching a couple of movies to test the movie preset and the spatial audio. I tested the different modes and EQ settings and used them with and without their grilles.

I actually became really fascinated by the subtle sound differences when it came to the grilles, so know my experience in this review comes from a lot of careful listening.

I’ve been writing about and testing tech for more than 15 years now. I’ve focused mainly on wearables, smart home devices and a lot of audio tech. Over the past few years I’ve been testing a lot of open ear buds, so I know what I’m looking (and listening out) for.

I’m always keen to think about the real world use cases and everyday practicality of tech so you get your money’s worth and pick the best device for you.

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Tech

JBL Tune 730BT Review – Trusted Reviews

Published

49 minutes ago

17 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Verdict

The JBL Tune 730BT is a no-frills wireless over-ear that nails the budget brief. There’s no noise cancelling and no spatial trickery, but you do get JBL Pure Bass Sound, Bluetooth 6.0 with Multipoint, crazy good 76-hour battery life, a foldable design and reliable two-mic call quality. At £39.99, the 730BT is one of the easiest budget recommendations going, provided you’re happy to live without ANC. For students, second-pair buyers and anyone who just wants to plug in and listen, there’s considerable value for money

	JBL Tune 730BT Review
UK RRP	£39.99
EU RRP	€79.99
Manufacturer	JBL
IP rating	No
Battery Hours	76
Fast Charging	Yes
Weight	218 G
ASIN	B0FSH42VZW
Release Date	2025
Audio Resolution	SBC, AAC, LC3
Driver (s)	40mm dynamic
Connectivity	Bluetooth 6, Auracast
Colours	Black, Blue, Beige, White
Frequency Range	20 2000 – Hz
Headphone Type	Over-ear

Drivers	35mm and 12mm Coaxial Dynamic Drivers
Active noise cancellation	No Advertisement
Battery life (ANC off)	Up to 24 hours
Weight	245g Advertisement
Connectivity	Bluetooth 6.0, USB-C
Frequency response	20-20 kHz Advertisement
Waterproofing	None

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