Over the last one odd years or so, whenever we have reviewed a JBL headphone here at the India Today Tech, we have been impressed. Better known for its speakers and home theatre speakers, the brand is increasingly shaking up things in the headphones market. With every new product, most notably as we saw in the JBL Tour One M3, the company is inching closer to the likes of Sony, Sennheiser and Bose. It is not there yet, but as the most-recent JBL Live 780NC shows — yet again — it is very close.
At least that is my impression after trying out the JBL Live 780NC for close to 10 days. The headphone has been launched in India at a price of Rs 15,999, although the market price is expected to be slightly lower. At this price it punches way above its weight, thanks to its well-rounded performance.
The JBL Live 780NC will not please the purists, but even for discernible users it will prove to be sufficient. From battery life to design to ANC, everything is a notch above its class.
Built like an expensive headphone
I am certain that to keep the price low for a premium headphone, JBL must have gone easy somewhere in the Live 780NC. But build quality and design is not that area. The Live780NC is made of plastic, but is extremely good quality plastic. It is smooth to touch, and feels solid. This is a welcome change compared to plastic I have seen in most other headphones in this range. They tend to have flimsy and thinner plastic. Similarly, the quality of foam and leatherette used in headband as well as earcups is absolutely top grade.
The headphone can be controlled in multiple ways. Once paired with your phone, you can customise and control the headphone through JBL Headphone app. At the same time, you can use physical controls provided on the earcups. On the right cup there is the Power On \& Off, a welcome sight considering some headphones nowadays are getting rid of it for some reason. Below the power button you have the button to toggle Ambient Mode in ANC. It is super convenient. It is a programmable button, and you can set a different functionality to it using the JBL app.
Below the multi-purpose button is the USB C port for charging. It can also be used with the supplied 3.5mm jack cable in case you want to turn the Live 780NC into a wired headphone.
On the left cup there are buttons for volume control. On the right earcups, the plastic surface is touch sensitive. It allows you to control music playback with each tap registered as Pause or Play while the double tap skips to the next song.
Overall, in terms of controls, the Live780NC is an easy-to-use headphone. You take it out of the box, turn it on, pair it with a device, and you are good to go. While using it too, its controls are easy to reach. The best part is that because most of the controls are through physical buttons, there is no risk of messing them up accidentally.
The JBL Live780NC is (almost) a full-sized headphone. As in it is not overly big, like the Apple AirPods Max, but it is an over-the-ears headphone. The size of the earcups is big enough and will engulf the ears of almost all. The comfort through the headband is fantastic, and the earcups are supple but slightly firm compared to what I have seen on some other headphones.
Comfort wise, the Live780NC is good enough, although more expensive headphones from Bose and Sony remain the gold standards on this.
The clamp force, according to how it felt to me, is just like the foam in earcups — firm and supple. The effect is that these are not the headphones that you won’t feel on your head. They put enough clamp force to remind users that you are wearing them, and that also means that you will be taking them off every hour or so to relax your ears and jawline. On the plus side, if you wear headphones during exercise or jogging, you will find that the Live780NC will stay firm on your head even if you are in the middle of a vigorous session.
One area where JBL has saved money is in the case. There is none with the Live780NC, which given the price of the device is expected. Instead, you get a soft pouch made of velvety cloth. In which you can fold and carry the headphone.
Something for everyone in sound
Given that JBL is fighting more recognisable names in this space, it is increasingly throwing everything possible in its headphones. The Live780NC is also a very feature-rich headphone. It supports active noise cancellation. It also supports spatial audio, multi-point connection, latest Bluetooth 6.0 along with LE, Voice Aware and Talk Through when ANC is engaged, fast charging and Personi-Fi 3.0. And then there is my favourite feature. Yes, the Live780NC supports Auracast, which means it is possible to connect it to an Auracast device to share audio.
Apart from the music playback, the Live780NC also makes an effort to excel at audio calls. This it tries to do with the help of 4 microphones. While working I often took calls through the headphone and the voice at my end as well as at the receiver’s end was always clear.
According to JBL the Live780NC comes with the company’s Signature Sound. While I don’t know much about that, or how best to define this sound given how subjective the issue is and how everyone’s ears are different, I would call the sound quality of the Live780NC competent. Or rather more than competent given its price point. It doesn’t match the quality one can get from the likes of JBL Tour One M3 or Sony 1000XM6, but it is good enough to make music sound enjoyable.
By default the Live780NC comes with the Studio sound profile. To my ears, this sounded balanced with a hint of bass that could be felt. But I also found it laid back. Through the JBL Headphone App, I explored a few other modes. There is one to boost Bass, which does the job but at the cost of mids and highs. The Extra Bass does the same, and will satisfy the bass hunters. Club and Jazz seemed superfluous to my ears.
Personally, the one I liked the most, and the one I believe allows the Live780NC to truly put on a performance, is the Vocal mode. Of all the default modes, it is in this mode where the mids really shine and the highs start registering in a somewhat right way. It is livelier and hence closer to the kind of sound signature I like. Although the penalty for it is slightly reduced bass.
Irrespective, unless you absolutely heart bass, I would say Vocal is where most users will find the Live780NC performing in a lively and pleasing manner.
This brings me to Person-Fi 3.0. Like some other high-end JBL headphones, the Live780NC too supports this feature. What it means is that you can create a custom sound signature through Equalizer and save it in the headphones. More importantly, the hardware of the Live780NC is good enough to let you explore and expand Lows, Mids, and Highs to something that will suit your ears and moods.
The Live780NC supports spatial audio but its effect is barely noticeable so most of the time I kept it turned off. But while watching TV I did appreciate the feature more because it creates a more engaging experience.
The JBL Live780NC promises 50 hours battery life with ANC on. On the basis of my experience, I will call the battery life exceptionally good. I feel that for most people, if they use the headphone daily, this would mean charging it every week or 10 days.
The JBL Live780NC worth its price?
The JBL Live780NC has been launched in India at a price of Rs 15,999. Although it is highly probable that you can purchase it with some discount. At a price of around Rs 15,000 I believe this is the best around-the-ear headphone to purchase.
It is loaded with useful features, has a robust build quality and tasteful design. It has stellar battery life and ANC that is much better than what its price suggests. Its default sound is a little laid-back with highs and mids muddled by bass. But with the different profile — Vocal — you can enjoy crisper sound and if even that doesn’t satisfy you, there is always the Personi-Fi 3.0.
Overall, it gets a thumbs up from us. It is not perfect, but perfect headphones don’t exist. At any price point. At its price point currently the JBL Live780NC is as close to perfect as you can get.
- Ends
Published By:
Divya Bhati
Published On:
Jul 21, 2026 11:32 IST