JLab Go Air Pop+ Review [Still WORTH IT in 2026?]

In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST JLab Go Air Pop+ review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT. I’ll also be comparing the JLab Go Air Pop+ vs CMF Buds Pro 2, Soundcore Liberty 5, EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus, Sony WF-C710N, Beats Studio Buds Plus, and Soundcore Liberty 4 NC.

I’m going to do my best to share whether these earbuds are worth it, and ideally who these earbuds are for. I bought these earbuds 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!

JLab Go Air Pop+ Review in Short

Holding JLab Go Air Pop+ wireless noise cancelling earbuds in hand

The JLab Go Air Pop+ is an incredible value under $30 primarily due to its sound quality. It doesn’t have active noise cancelling, but still blocks out a decent amount of outside noise, especially with music playing. Competes with CMF Buds Pro 2, Soundcore Liberty 5, EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus, Beats Studio Buds Plus, and Soundcore Liberty 4 NC.

Pros and Cons

7.5

JLab Go Air Pop+

Check lowest prices

PROS

Good sound quality
Comfy
Incredible value under $30

CONS

No active noise cancelling
Poor mic quality

Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):

JLab Go Air Pop+ True Wireless Earbuds

$24.88

Buy Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

08/22/2026 04:49 am GMT

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 🙂

Comfort + Features

Comfort

The JLab Go Air Pop+ has a “bulb” design that is similar to Sony earbuds, as opposed to the “stem” design of AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds.

From a handling perspective, I find the bulb design to be inferior to the stem design due to slipping out of the hand easier.

That said, the Go Air Pop+ is a comfortable earbud once inserted into the ear canal.

The soft silicone eartips are quite compliant and easy to get a physical seal.

One note while I was working out, I did notice that the earbuds would get slightly dislodged during certain movements and would need to be readjusted.

That said, if you aren’t moving around too much, these are quite comfortable and not that noticeable.

Features

The JLab Go Air Pop+ was originally released in October 2024, so it has many modern wireless earbud features:

IPX4 dust and water resistance rating (sweat and light splashes of water)
Built-in microphones for taking calls
Bluetooth 5.3
Multi-point connection
Native apps for both iOS and Android

Microphone Quality

Let’s be clear, this is a sub-$30 “ultra-budget” earbud, so temper your expectations.

Now these do have microphones and they are functional, but this earbud is pretty simple in hardware as they don’t even have active noise cancelling features.

Because of this, the mic quality is just barely serviceable and only in quiet environments.

Any background noise or wind and the mic quality severely diminishes, since it lacks the AI processing and bone conduction sensors found in the more expensive flagship earbuds.

Overall, it’s nowhere near true “flagship” level like the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, Sony WF-1000XM6, etc.

Battery Life

With ANC on: N/A
With ANC off: 9 hours on a single charge / 35 hours total with charging case
Fast Charge: 10 minutes = 1 hour of playback

This battery life is fairly average, which tends to be around 9 hours with noise cancelling turned off, and 30-35 hours with the charging case.

Comfort + Features Score: 9.0 out of 10

Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) Performance

Holding JLab Go Air Pop+ wireless noise cancelling earbuds inside charging case

Right off the bat, the JLab Go Air Pop+ does NOT have active noise cancelling features.

Instead, it relies on the passive noise isolation from the physical seal with the silicone eartips.

Despite not having noise cancelling, it actually does have a “Be Aware” transparency mode making use of the built-in microphones used for calls.

Surprisingly, I actually found the earbuds to block a decent amount of outside noise, similar to wearing earplugs.

Adding in music at a moderate volume, and the Go Air Pop+ drowns out a surprising amount of outside noise for not having noise cancelling.

Overall, I’d put the noise cancelling as below average, but it does still block a good amount of noise.

More than you’d expect, at least.

Noise Cancelling Score: 5.0 out of 10

Sound Quality

JLab Go Air Pop+ earbuds next to charging case

Being a sub-$30 “ultra-budget” earbud, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this.

But I have tested JLab’s headphones before like their JLab JBuds Lux ANC, which sounded decent enough for the price.

My first listening impression was actually quite positive from the Go Air Pop+.

The stock sound profile is fairly exciting and leans consumer-friendly with a very powerful bass response, but it’s not too overblown.

The bass is quite full with a good amount of sub-bass and punch, more than I was expecting at this price point.

Although the timbre isn’t realistic, there is a good amount of detail and vocals still cut through that heavy bass just fine.

While these are not on the same level of resolution as the more expensive flagships, the overall musicality is fun and engaging, mostly thanks to the strong bass response.

I’d say the sound quality is well above my expectations, and performs closer to some $50 to $100 earbuds instead.

Sound Quality Score: 7.7 out of 10

Value

The JLab Go Air Pop+ retails for $29.99 USD, but can be found on sale for as low as $24.88.

On paper, the Go Air Pop+ is unimpressive as it lacks active noise cancelling, and how good could a sub-$30 earbud really sound?

Well, as it turns out, they sound pretty good.

Also, despite not having active noise cancelling, the passive noise blocking from the silicone eartips combined with music playing is actually much more effective than I was expecting.

Flat out, I think this earbud is an incredible value for being under $30.

Value Score: 10 out of 10

Overall Scoring Breakdown

Comfort + Features (15% of score): 9.0 / 10

Noise Cancelling (25% of score): 5.0 / 10

Sound Quality (50% of score): 7.7 / 10

Value (10% of score): 10 / 10

Total: 7.45 out of 10

7.5Expert Score

Great (for under $30)

The JLab Go Air Pop+ is an incredible value under $30 primarily due to its sound quality. It doesn’t have active noise cancelling, but still blocks out a decent amount of outside noise, especially with music playing.

Is the JLab Go Air Pop+ Worth it?

JLab Go Air Pop+ earbuds and charging case next to box

The JLab Go Air Pop+ is worth the $30 (or less) price of admission due to its great sound quality alone.

While it doesn’t have active noise cancelling on paper, the passive noise isolation with music playing is much better than I expected.

Frankly, for a product in the “ultra-budget” category, the JLab Go Air Pop+ is much better than I expected.

That said, if you want true active noise cancelling with similarly great sound quality, the CMF Buds Pro 2 can actually be found for just about $10-$20 more, and is also an incredible value.

Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless earbuds are:

Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):

JLab Go Air Pop+ True Wireless Earbuds

$24.88

Buy Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

08/22/2026 04:49 am GMT

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.