JLab Audio Epic2 Bluetooth 4.0 Wireless Sport Earbuds, GUARANTEED fitness, waterproof IPX5 rated, skip-free sound, pristine high-performance 8mm sound

red71rum

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: 12 hour battery life, IPX5 rated, APT X
Cons: Bluetooth sound is never as good as wired.

 
I recently received the JLab Epic2 Bluetooth headphones for review. Some of the new features of the Epic2 are the upgrade from ipx4 to ipx5 to improve resistance to sweat and water. They have also improved the Bluetooth antenna to help with signal\cutout problems. The Epic 2 include AptX compatibility to improve Bluetooth audio. They also last for 12 hours of music which should last someone for the week if they were used in the gym.
 
Accessories:
 

 

 
The Epic2’s come with lots of accessories to help the new owner get the most of their headphones. The headphones come with 8 sets of tips with all different configurations of single, double, triple flange tips. Also included is a handy hard nylon zippered case that can hold the cable, extra tips and the Epic2 themselves. Another handy accessory is the included plastic cinches that will help the owner change the size of the cable to meet their needs.
 
 
 
Fit:
 

 
The Epic2 are fairly easy to figure out in regards on how to wear them, and because of the titanium over-ear hook and how it guides around your ear, it did not interfere with my sunglasses when using them outside. The memory wire in the wire helped keep the headphones over my ear and the included plastic cinches, I was able to lessen the amount of wire, helping to lessen microphonics. The outer housing of the phones are a little large, so the headphones cannot be inserted deep into the ear, making it so they isolate well and block out ambient sound, but it could be better. Still the Epic2 is worlds better than the isolation of the Powerbeats2, which is none at all.
 
 
Controls:
 
 

 
The controls are Intuitive with raised buttons, a left arrow, center button, and right arrow. They are at just the right height and raised in the way for you to be able to differentiate from them. It was very easy for me to change tracks, pause music, raise, and lower music. I found them to be easier to use then the ones included on the Beats Powerbeats2. The controls also seem very well made and probably could take a beating if I were someone who was not careful with my stuff.
 
Sound:
 
The sound of the Epic2 lean more to the bass side of music, but they are not overpowered by, as I could still discern mids and highs. I do not always listen to classical music, but these sounded fine when I listened to The Very Best of Mozart, they sounded pretty good. Listening to Chris Cornell’s Dead Wishes, the acoustic guitar and vocals were well defined, the headphones did not sound congested and I could make out the individual instruments. The headphones exhibited a decent sound stage.
 
 
Gym and Outdoors:
 
I used them at the gym doing chin-ups, bench press, abdominals, legs, and so on and these worked great, no problems. I also tried them on the elliptical and they stayed in and I did not have to re-position them. I sweat a bit, but I did not dunk these in water or anything like that, no torture test here to see if they met their IPX5 rating. These had a decent range of 30 to 40 feet, so when doing weights, I had my phone away from me when possible. Outside, the headphones had no dropouts and were great. I even took them to Europe with me and they performed flawlessly. I have found that some Bluetooth headphones ran into problems when outside, but these were great. I tested them with both my Samsung S7 and an Iphone 6 Plus. I wanted to mention that these also randomly tell me the battery life while listening to music, so you will always know where you are at in terms of how much time you have left.
 
Conclusion:
 
After having used these for several weeks, I think these are the very well rounded. They have very good sound, great battery life, good fit, are made for the gym and people on the go. These are now my go to bluetooth headphones.
Lord Raven
Lord Raven
Thanks for the review, can you please tell me if these have good sound isolation? Do you recommend them for a person who sweats a lot during gym? Also, can they be used for commute, in noisy environments? Taking long calls? Thank you once again!

Lastly, have you tried anything better than these? :)
red71rum
red71rum
@Lord Raven I am glad you liked the review. Think that the isolation is pretty decent actually, I do not find myself having to turn them up to excessive levels to drown out anyone at the gym or when I am walking around with them. I have used them also on the elliptical and they have gotten sweat all over them, the IPX5 rating really does help. On a noisy commute, I think they would be ok all though I have never tried them on something like the subway. Of course, maybe a different set of tips would help, like the triple flanges on my Etymotics. I think that bluetooth headphones sometimes are held back because the housing is larger sometimes depending on where the electronics are.
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