JVC HA-S100N review: A compelling noise-cancelling headphone

Price When Reviewed

$299.95

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JVC has produced a worthy entry within the crowded noise-cancelling headphone class with its $300 mannequin HA-S100N. It incorporates a Bluetooth 5.1 radio, hybrid noise cancellation, and one of many higher touch-control mechanisms I’ve seen on a wi-fi headphone. JVC’s cans are priced $50 to $80 decrease than the preferred headphones on this class, they usually have some particular pluses. Even if JVC hasn’t fairly delivered a pair destined to take the crown, the HA-S100N is a worthy different to the market leaders.

The HA-S100N have a novel technique of powering on and off that ought to lengthen their battery life. While in its case with its earcups turned perpendicular to the headscarf, they’re off. When you place them in your head, they robotically activate and join. Take them off, flip the earcups, they usually’re off once more.

This overview is a part of TechHive’s protection of the perfect noise-cancelling headphones, the place you’ll discover opinions of the competitors’s choices, plus a purchaser’s information to the options you must contemplate when looking for this sort of product.

For the primary couple of days, this technique appeared bizarre and borderline annoying. Once you alter to the expertise, although, it’s nice. Too many wi-fi headphones have tiny buttons that aren’t straightforward to search out or push to energy them up or down. Use these for a short time and this method will seem to be the one option to go.

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Touch controls

JVC put the headphone’s contact management panel on the fitting earcup. Every model that makes use of this method appears to require a barely completely different quantity of strain and a particular location the place it’s essential to contact the controls for them to work.

The HA-S100N acknowledges the gentlest contact I’ve ever encountered on this sort of headphone. Tap too arduous and nothing occurs. Lightly lay your finger or fingers (however not your fingernail) on the pad and the controls work remarkably properly.

A single contact performs or pauses the music. Raise or decrease the amount by swiping up or down the earcup. Swipe back-to-front to skip ahead and front-to-back to return to the start of a observe or skip to the earlier one. There’s a bass sub management on the aspect of the earcup that you simply contact 3 times to modify between Normal, Bass, and Clear settings. It helpfully beeps whenever you make every contact and pronounces the brand new setting when it switches.

Two-finger touches on the earcup swap between the excessive noise-cancelling setting, low noise cancelling, noise cancelling off, and the ambient sound operate. Again, whenever you execute a change, the headphones announce your new setting. There’s additionally a useful Touch & Talk function: When you contact the identical spot that controls the sub settings twice (as a substitute of 3 times), the headphones decrease the amount to a stage the place you may have a dialog.

A single contact on the fitting earcup each solutions and hangs up a telephone name. Press and maintain the earcup for a couple of second to reject a name.

Once you arrange the headphones to work with Google Assistant, the identical press-and-hold motion prompts the voice assistant app in your smartphone.

Touch controls have turn out to be the usual for wi-fi headphones on this worth vary and, when you grasp the educational curve for JVC’s method, these contact controls are simpler to make use of than those for the Sony WH-1000XM4. No one’s but made contact controls which can be as satisfying or easy-to-use as precise mechanical buttons, however JVC’s execution is best than most.

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Filtering out the noise

JVC is aiming for the HA-S100N to compete in a worth vary that’s dominated by fashionable headphones from Sony and Bose. They use a hybrid system that options each exterior microphones and inside ones that seize noise across the ears to create a greater noise-cancelling expertise.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 justifiably have a powerful following, however I discovered that JVC’s noise cancellation bests them within the frequency vary occupied by fan and airplane noise. The Sony might need a stronger noise cancelling expertise total, however the barely extra relaxed JVC expertise nonetheless cuts down on the noise with out creating the extent of eardrum suck that some listeners expertise with different manufacturers.

That’s to say that the JVC expertise is superb with out going all-in with noise cancellation. Depending on what you’re searching for, that’s both a really sturdy plus or a slight demerit.

You get 22 hours of battery life with noise cancelling turned on; 25 hours when it’s off. The headphones cost by way of an included USC-C cable. A full cost takes roughly 3 hours.

There’s an included carrying case and a removable 1.2m cable for wired listening. You can flip off the ability when utilizing the cable by urgent the sub management panel for about 5 seconds. These headphones weigh 9.5 ounces and have confirmed to be remarkably comfy for prolonged use. Like present noise-cancelling fashions from Sony and Bose, the bottoms of the earcups are pitched barely ahead for a design that’s straightforward to put on. JVC used sturdy protein leather-based for the headscarf and earpads.

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The HA-S100N use the Bluetooth 5.1 commonplace and assist the SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX-HD codecs. They have 40mm drivers with neodymium magnets and current impedance of 32 ohms.

I frolicked with the superb Last Night in Soho–Official Playlist, which compiles the songs featured in director Edgar Wright’s 2021 film. I listened by way of Apple Music, nevertheless it’s additionally accessible on Spotify. In a head-to-head shootout with the Sony WH-1000XM4, Sony will get the nod for extra detailed replica, however that element comes with the extreme noise cancellation that comes with these headphones.

The JVC headphones won’t sound fairly nearly as good, however they’re additionally a much more fulfilling expertise if excessive noise cancellation offers you a headache. If you’re evaluating headphones on the airport Brookstone outlet, Sony’s knockout noise cancellation may seem to be the particular first selection, however I believe numerous listeners will desire JVC’s sound profile.

Bottom line

Most of the main noise-cancelling headphones fall right into a hard-to-define area between “adequate” and audiophile high quality. The JVC have significantly better sound replica than the entry-level noise-cancelling headphones launched in the previous couple of years. Some of these are surprisingly good for the worth. And but, not one of the wi-fi headphones launched to date can compete with the perfect wired headphones of their worth vary.

If you’re searching for the perfect noise-cancelling wi-fi headphones to purchase proper now, the JVC HA-S100N provide a viable different to the opposite manufacturers at present grabbing a lot of the consideration. They’re completely different sufficient from the opposite manufacturers to supply a reliable selection for anybody who’s available in the market.