Design

The first thing you’ll notice about the JBL E45BT headphones is their design, and they look much like all the other headphones in the E-Series lineup. They feature a distinct “JBL” look, with the JBL logo on each ear cup, as well as rounded corners and the ability to fold up and swivel.

The headphones are available in a range of different colors, including black, blue, red, green, and white. We’re reviewing the green pair, which have a very “fun” look to them — though if you’re looking for something a little more sleek and stylish the black pair look to offer that too.

Comfort

While these headphones obviously aren’t the same as the JBL E35 headphones, they are built similarly and are generally the same size — so the comfort level between the two headphones is extremely similar. On-ear headphones in general have a rough time when it comes to comfort level, largely because of the way that put pressure on the ear. Thankfully, JBL seems to have been able to avoid that problem in building the JBL E35 headphones.

Sound

So the headphones are well-designed and decently comfortable, but do they sound good? Perhaps unsurprisingly, they sound pretty nice indeed.

Let’s start with the bass, which sounds quite nice. It’s relatively deep and punchy, while still not overshadowing the other frequencies on offer. The only negative aspect of the bass is that we would have liked to see it extend a little deeper, which would help make that bass a little heavier and more versatile. Still, the vast majority of people will be very pleased with the amount of bass the JBL E45BT headphones deliver.

Performance

The battery life of these headphones is pretty good. While you would expect most over-ear headphones to extend well into the 20-hour region, on-ear headphones you get a little less — simply because there’s less room for batteries. These last 16 hours, which is pretty good for this form-factor. Sure, it’s nothing to write home about, but it’s still quite good.

The headphones use Bluetooth 4.0, and you’ll get a standard range of 10 meters, or 33 feet. That will, of course, depend on obstacles, but in general we didn’t have any issues with the connectivity of these headphones.