JLab JBuds Air (2018) vs Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017)

The JLab JBuds Air (2018) is a great Earphone for its $49 asking price.

The Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017), however, is merely passable at its $39 price point. If you're considering buying a Earphone in the $35 range, you might want to check out some of its competitors.

The JLab JBuds Air (2018) was loved by reviewers at Tom's Guide, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. It did great in its "The best cheap wireless headphones in 2021" roundup where it was named its "The best cheap wireless earbuds for value", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering.

As for the Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017), it wasn't able to earn a top spot in any roundups from trusted sources that conduct their own hands-on testing. Nevertheless, it managed to impress reviewers at PCmag, SoundGuys, Rtings, and Headphone Review enough to make it onto their respective shortlists.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these Earphones, Headphone Review preferred the JLab JBuds Air (2018), whereas reviewers at PCmag and SoundGuys liked the Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017) better. Rtings gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest JLab JBuds Air (2018) rating came from Headphone Review, whereas the Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017) most impressed reviewers at Technically Well; they earned scores of 8.4 and 8.9, respectively.

Lastly, in order to better compare them to the rest of their competition, we averaged out their review scores. The Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017) managed to get 7.7 out of 10 - considerably better than the 7.3 review average of Earphones in general - whereas the JLab JBuds Air (2018) earned 7.0 points.

It should be said that doing a direct JLab JBuds Air (2018) vs. Jaybird Freedom 2 (2017) comparison might not be entirely fair due to the difference in their prices - some sources don't put much weight on value for money and thus tend to give better review scores to more expensive products.