With the day of Black Friday itself now gone with the wind, you might have thought the deals had departed with it. You'd be wrong, though, as proved by our discovery of the five-star JBL Live Pro 2 TWS wireless earbuds being slashed by almost £50 to leave them at just £80 at Amazon. On the face of it, that's a superb offer worthy of any deals period.
Don't get us wrong, this is a great price on some great performers, and if you picked up the Live Pro 2 and went on your merry way, we wouldn't stop you. It's a great deal on some very decent buds, but can you do better? Well, possibly...
JBL Live Pro 2 TWS
Before we suggest an alternative, we really should give the JBL Live Pro 2 TWS their dues. The lightweight buds originally sat in quite a unique position in the market, providing a little more quality and oomph than their cheaper rivals but not troubling the really premium performers, either. As a pair of mid-to-affordable buds, they really did the job. As a matter of fact, they still do.
Not only are they light, pretty comfortable and a pleasure to use courtesy of the official JBL App, they're also surprisingly well-adorned with features. ANC works well and can be customised from the app, while Bluetooth Multipoint is included alongside auto-pause and a six-mic array for better voice calls. It's all very impressive, and it only gets better when you listen to the JBLs. We find them to be lively, entertaining and packed with enough meaty bass to give your tunes a real sense of vibrancy and muscle.
As we stated above, if you popped them into your virtual basket and enjoyed this healthy discount, we'd consider you a savvy saver rather than a fleeced fool.
The alternative: the Sony WF-C700N
But. There's a rather big obstacle getting in the way of our full recommendation, and it comes in the ominous shape of the Sony WF-C700N. Regular What Hi-Fi? readers may have seen this coming, but for the uninitiated, all we can say is that the C700N give you pretty much everything you'd get from the JBLs, plus a little extra, at an even lower price. If we had to recommend one set of buds, it would be our 2023 Product of the Year winner in the Best Wireless Headphones category.
Even if we've detailed the merits of the C700N many times by now, let's quickly go through what makes them such stiff competition for the Live Pro 2 at what is (discounted or not) a very similar point in the market.
Firstly, they're beautifully made, with a lightweight and extremely comfortable design that puts them ahead of any pair of buds at this level. Second, they're heaving with features, including great ANC, Bluetooth Multipoint, Adaptive Sound Control for automatically switching listening modes depending on your location, Sony's DSEE sound upscaling and an IPX4 splash-proof rating. As is typical for Sony, these features all work to the highest standards.
Lastly, of course, is sound, and this is where the C700N really shine. As we stated in our glowing review, the C700N offer a "refined presentation for the money" alongside a "detailed, dynamic and musical sound", a sound that can't really be beaten for the money.
In summary
So there we have it. While we really do like and admire the JBL Live Pro 2 TWS and would have no issue recommending them, a discount on the rival Sony C700N has really made it hard to recommend them wholeheartedly. That isn't to say we'd dissuade you from the JBLs, but rather we'd invite you to assess your options first.
Now that the C700N have fallen to £75 for Black Friday and beyond, they really are making a very strong case for themselves, especially as they undercut their JBL rivals by around £5 yet are the buds we'd choose if we wanted to get the best sound at this price. We can't make the decision for you, and while we'd veer towards the Sony Award winners, any choice you make will result in a great buy at a great price.
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