Hands-on review: JBL Endurance Peak 4

Nowadays, owning a pair of wireless earbuds is almost as common as owning a smartphone. There are countless choices of earbuds and headphones on the market, but the majority tend to be designed for commuting, calls, and casual listening rather than high-intensity workouts.

The new JBL Endurance Peak 4 true wireless earbuds are instead tailored for those who love to stay active - whether that's grinding at the gym, out on a morning run, or exploring the great outdoors.

First impressions and setup

One of the first things you notice when unboxing the Endurance Peak 4 earbuds is the size of the charging case - it's huge compared to most 'regular' wireless earbud cases. At around 91mm x 33mm x 72mm, it's not an ideal size to stuff in your gym shorts, but it's necessary to store and charge the earbuds due to their shape. Weight-wise, the case it comes in at just over 80 grams.

The Endurance Peak 4 are over-ear hook-style earbuds - essential for the users they are targeted for. Regular earbuds tend to fall out on occasion, particularly when you're hot, sweaty, and pushing your body to its limits. These have been designed to fit snug around the ears while maintaining great comfort. To help tailor the fit, three different sizes of earbud tips are included in the box.

The earbuds combine a lightweight plastic body with silicone hooks that are flexible to ensure a soft and comfortable fit no matter the shape of your ears. The plastic is thoughtfully textured which helps give the earbuds a more premium feel.

The Endurance Peak 4 comes in a choice of two colours - black and white. The former is complemented by flashes neon green, while the latter features orange trim - in line with JBL's branding.

JBL's setup process remains as simple as ever and is as easy as opening the case to enter pairing mode and finding 'JBL Endurance Peak 4' on your device. To connect to a secondary device, you can tap and hold your finger on one of the earbuds to put it into pairing mode again.

The Endurance Peak 4 features Bluetooth 5.4 which allows for a more stable connection while having increased power efficiency.

After connecting, the JBL Headphones app is an essential download as it helps you customise your experience, letting you adjust the touch controls, switch between Ambient Sound modes, and tailor the audio profile to your liking.

Performance

The Endurance Peak 4 aren't trying to be everyday earbuds - they're built with movement at the top of mind, and that focus carries through to how they perform. After several weeks of use across workouts, walks, and just general listening in a wide range of environments, they were consistently reliable, particularly when it comes to staying secure and holding a stable connection. 

The quality of the sound remained solid across a wide selection of music genres, with a noticeable emphasis on bass that helps spur you on during workouts. Tracks felt energetic and punchy, especially during runs or gym sessions.

Aided by how well they fit my ears, the Adaptive Noise Cancelling performs well alongside Ambient Aware and TalkThru, all of which can be controlled directly from the earbuds. Switching between modes is straightforward, and each works reliably and as you'd expect from a JBL product. Ambient Aware is perhaps especially useful for these earbuds - particularly when you're running or training outdoors.

Durability is another important feature for the Endurance Peak 4. With an IP68 rating, they handled sweaty gym sessions and wet Auckland conditions without any issues. Combined with the ear-hook design, they feel far more dependable than standard earbuds when you're on the move.

Battery life is another strongpoint. You'll get up to 12 hours from the earbuds, with the case pushing total playback to around 48 hours. Like most earbuds, that drops when features like noise cancelling are active, but it's still comfortably enough for several workouts between charges.

Call quality on the earbuds is ample without being a standout. The microphones do a good job of reducing background noise in most situations, but in busier environments there's still a tiny bit of bleed-through.

JBL's Personi-Fi is a feature I've really liked in recent JBL products. It offers a quick in-app hearing test to tailor the sound profile to your ears. It's easy enough to toggle on and off, and while the difference isn't night and day, it does add a bit more balance depending on your preferences.

Verdict

The Endurance Peak 4 earbuds are yet another strong offering from JBL, and represent solid value for money at under $200 NZD/AUD. 

They're clearly built with a specific user in mind and prioritise durability and performance during workouts over regular, everyday convenience. Admittedly, they're not the most compact or refined earbuds for casual listening, but they excel when put through their paces in a training environment.

From the ear-hook design to the IP68 rating and long battery life, everything is geared towards keeping them secure and reliable during movement. 

For runners, gym-goers, and anyone who needs earbuds that stay put no matter the activity, the JBL Endurance Peak 4 earbuds just make sense.