Computer Shopper – September 2019

SSU 379ISSUE 379 ||COMCOMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER (^201937)
JBLUnderArmour
TrueWirelessFlash
★★★★★
£160•From uk.jbl.com
WIRELESSIN-EARHEADPHONES
VERDICT
Aloosefitandinconsistentsoundclashagainst
theseearphones’genuinelygoodfeatures
HEADPHONESSUBTYPEIn-ear•PLUGTYPENone•
WEIGHT16g•CABLELENGTHN/A•WARRANTY
OneyearRTB•DETAILSuk.jbl.com•
PARTCODEUAJBLFLASHBLKAM
SPECIFICATIONS
ONPAPER,JBLand Under Armoursounds
like the perfect partnershipforaset of
fitness-orientated headphones.The former is
among the biggestnames in the audio
industry,while Under Armouris synonymous
with the world of fitness wear.
We’ve seen the two join forces forapair
of wirelessheadphonesbefore,back in 2016
with the flatly named JBL Under Armour
HeadphonesWireless(Shopper345). Amore
recent collaborativeeffort has producedthe
JBL Under ArmourTrue WirelessFlash, apair
of true wirelessearbudsthat, given the
pedigreeof the two companies,ought to
give music-loving fitness fanatics something
to get excited about.
WETWETWET
To stand out in arapidly crowdedmarket,
these earbudsare IPX7-certified.That means
they’re water-resistantand can be fully
submergedto adepth of up to one metre for
30 minutes. AlongsideENOD’sMini Ring
Pros, the Flash sit in aminority of earbuds
that have afully water-resistantdesign.
Unsurprisingly,theyhaveasporty look. A
strip of textured siliconewraps halfwayaround
the earphones’angularhousing,lendingthem
an aggressivelook while adding grip.Red
accentsgive them abit of extra personality,
and the Under Armourlogos on the end of
each bud serve as multifunctionalbuttons.
The button on the right earbudprovides
media controlsand call functions,while the
one on the leftallows you to access your
smartphone’s voice assistant,as well as
Under Armour’s TalkThru and Ambient
Aware features. The former helpfully lets in
outsidenoise so you can carry on
conversationswithoutremoving the
earphones,while the latter mixes in some
ambientaudio so you can hear what’s going
on aroundyou. We’re less impressedby how
this feature works, however: it often simply
fails to amplifyambientsound.
As true wirelessheadphonesgo,they’re
rather bulky, and withoutany over-the-ear
hooks included,we found theywould fall out
rather tooeasily,even with the Sport Flex Fit
ear tips installed.DespiteUnder Armour’s
involvement,then, they’re not the best for
strenuousphysicalactivities.
The True WirelessFlash work flawlessly
over Bluetooth but are limited to the
lowest-qualitycodec –SBC –which means you
won’t get the crispnessof aptX or aptX HD.
More positively,the right bud, which serves as
the master driver,can be used independently
from the left, slave driver.This doesn’t work
the other wayaround, however.
Size is atheme with these earphones,and
the chargingcase theycome with is also bulky.
It’s less water-resistantthan the earbuds,
being rated as only splash-resistant.Even so,
it’s nicely made,with arather satisfying
drawer-style mechanismthat locks into
place using magnets.
DAYSTO GO
There’s also anon-removable wrist loop,
which makes it easy to carry around.Most
importantly,battery capacityis pretty
impressive,with enoughcharge to topupthe
True WirelessFlash afull four times from
empty.With the earphones
themselvesdelivering
five hours of
playback per
charge,that
amountsto
about 25 hours
playback in total.
It’s ashame that
the case itself is charged
via Micro USB, however.
Given the price,it’s disappointingnot to see a
more modern,faster USB Type-C interface.
Sonically,the earbudshave afun and
punchysound signature,with astrong
emphasisin the mid-bassfrequencies.
Hearingthat healthybass pound will bring a
smile to your face,althoughthe lack of
controlaround250Hz and rather patchy 808
bass extension can put adampeneron the
experience.Bycomparison,the Creative
Outlier Air (Shopper 377)excel in this area,
providing qualitativelybetter bass response.
The mid-rangeis also abit of amishmash:
on the one hand, there’s plenty of excitement
in the upper mids, while on the other hand
the earphonessound recessedbetween
250Hz and 500Hz,sometimesfailing to give
vocals their due prominence.That said,
music doesn’t sound congested, and the
True WirelessFlash’s soundstageimparts
good width and depth.
The JBL Under ArmourTrue WirelessFlash
cost £160 and, at that price,the competitionis
pretty stiff. The fitness-orientated JLab Epic
Air Eliteoffer amore secure fit and cost £150;
the ENOD Mini Ring Pro offer the same level
of water resistanceas the True WirelessFlash
but only cost £72; and both the £75 Creative
Outlier Air and the £150 RHA TrueConnect
(Shopper375) sound better.
UNDER PRESSURE
The True WirelessFlash do hold some
attraction.They’re the first water-resistant
true wirelessearphonesto come from amajor
manufacturerand, forthat, both JBL and
Under Armourshould be commended.
However,atthis price,they’re farfrom
perfect, with sound quality and afitthat
should really be much better forthe money.
ChristopherMinasians
As truewirelessheadphonesgo,they’rerather bulky,
andwe foundtheywouldfall out rathertooeasily