JBL's new ANC headphones bring flagship features for a lower price

JBL LIVE 770NC worn by someone in a coffee shop
(Image credit: JBL)

If you're looking for a new pair of headphones with top active noise cancellation but can't quite justify the price of Sony's all-conquering WH-1000MX5, JBL have just announced not one but two alternatives. The JBL LIVE 770NC and JBL LIVE 670NC will be available from August 31st and promise high-spec features without an equally high price.

The specs certainly look impressive and could rival some the best on-ear headphones and best over-ear headphones we've tested to date. Both sets of headphones have 40mm dynamic drivers with Bluetooth 5.3 and LE Audio support, and you can customise their sound using HARMAN Personi-Fi 2.0. 

They also boast a massive battery life. Playtime is a huge 65 hours with ANC off and you can get another four hours of playtime in just five minutes thanks to the headphones' fast charging support.

What's the difference between the two JBL headphones: LIVE 770NC versus LIVE 670NC?

Although both sets of headphones have the same tech specification, they differ in their form. The LIVE 770NC are over-ear headphones, while the LIVE 670NC are on-ear headphones.

Both sets of headphones offer what JBL calls True Adaptive ANC technology. It's something we're seeing in a lot of the best noise canceling headphones of late, and it automatically adjusts the level of noise cancelling according to your environment – so if you need some extra audio elimination it'll do that without your intervention. The headphones also include two beamforming microphones for calls.

Although we haven't reviewed these headphones yet as they've only just been announced, we have reviewed JBL headphones recently and we were impressed by the JBL Tune 750BTNC. As we said in our review: "Even though they're a few years old, we still highly recommend them if you're looking for a pair of all-rounder, over-ear headphones." So it'll be interesting to see how these more advanced new headphones compare.

The JBL LIVE 770NC and JBL LIVE 670NC will be available in black, white, blue and sandstone for £159.99 / €179.99 and £119.99 / €129.99, respectively

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Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.