Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST JBL Tune 510BT review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT in 2026. I’ll also be comparing the JBL Tune 510BT vs 520BT, Sony WH-CH520, JBL Tune 720BT, JBL Tune 770NC, Sony WH-CH720N, Anker Soundcore Q20i, Beats Solo 4, JBL Live 770NC, and more!
I’m going to do my best to share whether these headphones are worth it, and ideally who these headphones are for. I bought these headphones with my own money, and was NOT sponsored, paid, or received a free copy for review. All thoughts are my own.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist. I also run the RecordingNow YouTube channel with over 25,000+ subscribers and over 5 million views.
Let’s dive right in!
JBL Tune 510BT Headphones Review in Short
The JBL Tune 510BT has impressive sound quality for its price, but is uncomfortable, lacks noise cancelling, and is limited in features. I’d suggest upgrading to the newer JBL Tune 520BT for improved 57-hour battery life (versus 40 hours) and ability to connect to the JBL app for more features like custom EQ. Competes with Sony WH-CH520, Sony WH-CH720N, Anker Soundcore Q20i, JBL Tune 720BT, JBL Tune 770NC, Beats Solo 4, Soundcore Space One, JBL Live 770NC, Anker Soundcore Life Q30, and JBL Live 670NC.
Pros and Cons
- Great sound quality for the price
- Very cheap
- Lightweight
- 40 hour battery life
- Uncomfortable on-ear design
- No active noise cancelling
- Cheap build quality
- Newer Tune 520BT is better
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Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Sound Quality
Full Sound Quality Test
Being a sub-$50 headphone with an on-ear design, I wasn’t sure what to expect for sound quality.
The Tune 510BT features 32mm drivers and JBL advertises its “JBL Pure Bass Sound”.
I’ll say that these do deliver on that promise of bass.
The stock sound profile is consumer-friendly and quite bass-forward over everything (as advertised).
The good news is that despite being bass-heavy, the bass is actually fairly controlled compared to the boomier bass on a lot of these budget headphones.
That said, the vocals are a bit muddied up and distant due to the emphasis on the bass response over everything.
And unlike the newer Tune 520BT which has access to the JBL app and custom EQ, you’re stuck with the stock sound profile.
If you mostly listen to modern music genres like Pop, Hip Hop, and EDM, where sub-bass and bass is prominent, then these are pretty great for the price.
But if you’re looking for a more vocal-forward and detailed sound in the mids and treble, look elsewhere.
Sound Quality Comparisons
vs JBL Tune 520BT
The JBL Tune 520BT is the newer successor to the 510BT, but shares almost an identical physical design and only slightly larger 33mm drivers.
The biggest difference is that the Tune 520BT has access to the JBL smartphone app, giving the option to apply custom EQ to shape the sound.
When comparing the stock sound, the two sound nearly identical, with that heavy emphasis on bass.
But due to the flexibility of the Tune 520BT with custom EQ, I give the edge to the newer 520BT.
vs Sony WH-CH520
The closest parallel to the JBL Tune 510BT is the Sony WH-CH520, both being on-ear wireless headphones under $50 when on sale.
Both of these headphones have better sound quality than the price suggests, and are quite competitive with one another.
The stock sound profile of the JBL Tune 520BT is more consumer-friendly and bass-heavy versus the more midrange-focused Sony WH-CH520.
Between the two, I give a slight edge in overall sound quality and “fun” factor to the JBL Tune 510BT because of a much more satisfying bass response.
vs JBL Tune 720BT
The Tune 720BT is the more premium, larger over-ear model compared to the 510BT’s on-ear design.
While the 510BT sounds surprisingly good for a cheap, on-ear headphone, the 720BT elevates this to a new level thanks to its larger 40mm drivers (compared to 32mm on the 510BT).
The 720BT also has the advantage of being a larger over-ear design, so the interior earcup space allows for slightly better acoustics.
Overall, the 720BT has a higher resolution and more detailed sound that reaches to lower sub-bass and more treble detail.
Both headphones have impressive sound quality that is above their respective prices.
vs Anker Soundcore Q20i
The Anker Soundcore Q20i is a popular sub-$50 contender with a larger over-ear design versus the smaller on-ear design of the JBL Tune 510BT.
Both of these headphones share a consumer-friendly tuning, but I prefer the execution on the JBL Tune 510BT.
The bass response is heavy on both headphones, but the JBL yields the more satisfying and controlled bass response versus the boomier Soundcore Q20i.
Sound Quality Score: 7.5 out of 10
Comfort
The JBL Tune 510BT is one of the lightest in weight for the wireless noise cancelling headphones as weighed on my scale:
- Sony WH-CH520 – 144.0 grams
- JBL Tune 510BT – 158.1 grams
- JBL Tune 520BT – 158.6 grams
- Sony WH-CH720N – 186.4 grams
- Beats Solo 4 – 217.6 grams
- JBL Live 670NC – 218.1 grams
- Sennheiser Accentum – 223.0 grams
- JBL Tune 720BT – 223.2 grams
- Sennheiser Accentum Plus – 225.8 grams
- JBL Tune 770NC – 227.1 grams
- Skullcandy Hesh ANC – 229.6 grams
- Bose QuietComfort – 236.1 grams
- Sony WH-1000XM5 – 245.9 grams
- Anker Soundcore Q20i – 249.3 grams
- Sony WH-1000XM4 – 251.6 grams
- JBL Live 770NC – 254.5 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space One – 260.6 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space 2 – 262.8 grams
- Anker Soundcore Life Q30 – 264.6 grams
- Beats Studio Pro – 268.6 grams
- CMF Headphone Pro – 280.8 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space One Pro – 286.3 grams
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45 – 297.5 grams
- Nothing Headphone (a) – 311.4 grams
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 – 332.3 grams
Despite sharing an identical physical design to the newer Tune 520BT, the 510BT is a bit more uncomfortable due to its less plush cushioning.
Both headphones have quite a strong clamping force from the factory that loosens up slightly over time.
Aside from the lack of supportive cushioning, the on-ear design is simply less comfortable than most over-ears that put less pressure directly on the ears over time.
The one benefit to these is that they are one of the lightest we’ve tested, helping to offset some of that pressure.
Comfort Score: 5.5 out of 10
Features / Battery Life / Build Quality / Practicality
Features
The JBL Tune 510BT was originally released in March 2021 with the following features:
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Multi-point connection
- Foldable design
- Stereo cable
Battery Life
The JBL Tune 510BT has 40 hours of battery life and does not include ANC.
- Nothing Headphone (a) – 75 hours (ANC on), 135 hours (ANC off)
- Marshall Monitor III – 70 hours (ANC on), 100 hours (ANC off)
- Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 SE – 60 hours (ANC on), 100 hours (ANC off)
- Sennheiser HDB 630 – 60 hours
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 – 60 hours
- Sennheiser Momentum 5 – 57 hours
- Anker Soundcore Space 2 – 50 hours (ANC on), 70 hours (ANC off)
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45 – 50 hours (ANC on), 65 hours (ANC off)
- JBL Live 770NC – 50 hours (ANC on), 65 hours (ANC off)
- JBL Live 670NC – 50 hours (ANC on), 65 hours (ANC off)
- JBL Tune 520BT – 57 hours (no ANC included)
- Sennheiser Accentum Plus – 50 hours (ANC on)
- Sennheiser Accentum – 50 hours (ANC on)
- Beats Solo 4 – 50 hours (no ANC included)
- JBL Tune 770NC – 44 hours (ANC on), 70 hours (ANC off)
- Anker Soundcore Space One Pro – 40 hours (ANC on), 60 hours (ANC off)
- Anker Soundcore Space One – 40 hours (ANC on), 55 hours (ANC off)
- JBL Tune 510BT – 40 hours (no ANC included)
- Nothing Headphone (1) – 35 hours (ANC on), 80 hours (ANC off)
- Sony WH-1000XM6 – 30 hours (ANC on), 40 hours (ANC off)
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) – 30 hours
- Sony WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM4 – 30 hours
- Sonos Ace – 30 hours
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra (1st Gen) – 24 hours
- Apple AirPods Max 1 and 2 – 20 hours
In my testing, I found this rating to be accurate.
40 hours would be considered above average, but it’s important to note that the JBL Tune 510BT does NOT include noise cancelling, which uses up more battery in general.
There is a fast-charge feature that adds 2 hours with just 5 minutes of charging time.
Build Quality
The JBL Tune 510BT absolutely feels very cheap, and in all fairness, it is cheap at under $30 on sale.
Price aside, the Tune 510BT feels like one of those free headphones the airlines gives you on an international flight.
It’s entirely plastic with cheap earpad cushions that aren’t very plush or supportive.
The newer successor Tune 520BT has slightly better earpad cushions.
Practicality
The JBL Tune 510BT is a very basic headphone that lacks access to the JBL smartphone app, unlike the newer 520BT.
Its strengths include the light weight, smaller footprint due to being on-ear, foldable design, and 40 hour battery life.
On the downside, it feels very cheap in build quality, has no active noise cancelling, and the newer JBL Tune 520BT has a more impressive 57 hours of battery life.
Features / Battery Life / Build Quality / Practicality Score: 5.0 out of 10
Does JBL Tune 510BT have noise cancelling?
The JBL Tune 510BT does NOT have any active noise cancelling technology, or transparency mode.
It relies on passive noise isolation due to its physical on-ear design.
The Tune 510BT doesn’t really block a lot of noise because the material and earpads are quite thin, so it scores rather poorly here.
Noise Cancelling Performance Score: 2.0 out of 10
Value
The JBL Tune 510BT retails at $49.95 USD, but is currently around $29 to $39 market price brand new.
Honestly, for being so cheap, the sound quality is actually pretty decent for the money.
The downsides are its comfort, lack of noise cancelling, cheap build quality, and no access to the JBL app which limits its features.
Overall, not a bad value, but the newer JBL Tune 520BT is better all-around for not much more money.
Value Score: 8.5 out of 10
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Sound Quality (50% of score): 7.5 / 10
Comfort (10% of score): 5.5 / 10
Features / Battery Life / Build Quality / Practicality (10% of score): 5.0 / 10
Noise Cancelling (20% of score): 2.0 / 10
Value (10% of score): 8.5 / 10
Overall: 6.05 / 10
Is the JBL Tune 510BT Worth it?
Overall, I like the sound quality of the JBL Tune 510BT as an ultra-budget option under $50.
That said, the newer successor Tune 520BT is a better headphone in every way, including comfort, battery life, and access to the JBL app for custom EQ and other features.
If you can find these on sale under $30, it’s hard to argue at that price.
But if you can afford it, just upgrade to the Tune 520BT instead.
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless headphones are:
- JBL Tune 520BT
- Sony WH-CH520
- JBL Tune 720BT
- Sony WH-CH720N
- Anker Soundcore Q20i
- JBL Tune 770NC
- JBL Live 770NC
- JBL Live 670NC
- Beats Solo 4
- Beats Studio Pro
- CMF Headphone Pro
- Anker Soundcore Space Q45
- Anker Soundcore Space One
- Sennheiser Accentum
- Anker Soundcore Space 2
- Sony ULT Wear
- Anker Soundcore Space One Pro
- CMF Headphone Pro
- Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
I highly recommend you check those out next!
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Save money with RENEWED!
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
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