- JBL has launched three new open earbuds models at CES 2026 in Las Vegas
- There’s a new Endurance Series model, and two Open Sound Series options…
- …plus JBL’s first ever Soundgear Clips – with prices for these starting at $89.95
If there’s one thing 2025 taught us, it’s that open earbuds are in – the category of best open earbuds is by far the fastest growing and hotly contested sector in audio.
JBL wasn’t especially quick off the mark with this type of design, only unveiling its first ever dedicated sports-fit open earbuds, the Endurance Zone, in June of 2025 – while the 2023 Soundgear Sense also adopted the shell-shape design, those were not designed specifically for sports (the Endurance Zone were).
Anyway, JBL is now clearly making up for lost time, with not one, not two, but three new open designs to join the Endurance Zone, including two more shell-shape (or arc shape, with a driver housing at one end that hovers over your concha, and a battery pack that slips behind your ear at the other) designs, and one all-new clip-style offering, called the JBL Soundgear Clips.
The Sense Pro (pictured above) are the most premium of the truly open-ear trio, with a list price of $199.95 (around £150 / AU$300), while the most affordable set of earbuds JBL is unveiling at CES are the sports-focused Endurance Peak 4 at $129.95. Those latter buds are interesting. Why so? Because it’s the first time JBL has added its “adaptive noise cancelling technology” to the sports-specific Endurance series.
It should be noted that this model – the Peak 4 – should be thought of as an additional fourth pair in the rollout that otherwise comprises the Sense Pro, Sense Lite and Soundgear Clips, because the Peak 4 aren’t truly open-ear (think more traditional in-ear earpieces, but with secure twist-to-lock ear hooks to keep them firmly in your ear).
That said, ANC can very occasionally feature in open earbuds, but it’s so unusual that we’ve only tested it in the excellent Honor Earbuds Open to date – although I wager we’ll see a lot more of this type of thing making its debut at CES this year…
JBL’s whole lotta open earbuds at CES: key features and pricing
Let’s go from priciest to most wallet-friendly, shall we? JBL’s Sense Pro and Sense Lite (which are $50 cheaper than their Pro siblings, at $149.95) will hit shelves in March 2026.
The Pro are unique in the truly open-ear trio in that they offers “Hi-Res Audio Wireless with Adaptive Bass Boost” and Bluetooth 6.0. You’ll also get up to 38 hours of playtime (Earbuds: 8 hrs; Case: 30 hrs), wireless charging and JBL’s excellent Personi-Fi 3.0 to create your own sound profiles plus Spatial Sound for 3D audio, and I for one am very intrigued to see how these directional filters fare in an open-ear design.
The slightly cheaper Sense Lite offer JBL’s Open Sound Technology (but no Spatial Sound), IP54 water and dust resistance, Bluetooth 5.4 and up to 32 hours of playtime (Earbuds: 8 hrs; Case: 24 hrs), which is highly respectable in the category.
JBL’s all-new Soundgear Clips (pictured in purple, above), are also expected to cost $149.95 at launch, and they join the growing number of what I’d call ‘ear-cuff style’ options, but which those too young to to wear jewelry in the 90s might call ‘clip-style’ earbuds.
The color options prove how image-conscious wearers are expected to be, with finishes including copper, blue, purple and white. JBL is keen to point out its very own air conduction powered by JBL OpenSound tech here, with an enhanced bass boost algorithm and listening privacy.
You’ll also get up to 32 hours of playtime (Earbuds: 8 hrs; Case: 24 hrs) with Speed Charge (10 mins = 3 hrs) and the earbuds are IP54 water and dust resistant. On-ear touch controls also feature, and you’ll be able to tweak their functionality using the JBL Headphones App.
Last but by no means least is the follow-up to the February 2023 Endurance Peak 3, the Endurance Peak 4.
Like the Peak 3, the Peak 4 are more of an in-ear option, similar to say the AirPods 4 or Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.
Thanks to this design, JBL has been able to add its Pure Bass with Spatial Sound, plus ANC. You also get Multipoint Connection, Google Finder and Google Audio Switch, a lanyard hole on the case for convenient carrying and up to 48 hours of total playtime. A contender for our best earbuds category? Quite possibly – but watch this space…
The best open earbuds for all budgets
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C2LKzTrmknx3BgBycXGoFB-2000-80.jpg
Source link
becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
