The GO Air Sport is a variant to JLab’s popular GO Air Pop that adds built in earhooks for extra security, and otherwise uses the same build and hardware.
I had to use the largest tips to achieve a proper seal (I’m usually a medium tip guy) and once I put those on, the Go Air Sport fit very solidly. It’s a shallower fit than what I typically prefer and what I’m used to, with the bigger tips sitting firmly flush against the outer part of my ear canal (the concha), but the buds didn’t move around and the seal didn’t break at all no matter how I moved my head and/or jaw.
The earhooks are built in and elastic – not malleable – so there’s a chance the hooks and the buds just won’t fit someone who happens to have ear geometry that doesn’t work with these earbuds. I do think the earhooks feel nice and comfortable, though I did notice a slight hot spot on the lower part of my right ear. The hooks are a bit bulky and did interfere with my glasses, and I had to take them off, put the buds in, then put them back on and position the temples on top of the hooks. The hooks also make the earbuds a bit more of a hassle to put on and take off, but I think that’s an unavoidable concession of the added security earhooks give. These earbuds are definitely meant for more intense active use by people who are worried about their earbuds falling out while doing whatever it is that they’re doing.
The Go Air Sport uses the same control schematic that all JLab true wireless earbuds use, and it’s good – all the functions you’d expect wireless earbuds to have in 2023 are there, and the touch commands are easy to execute reliably.
List of JLab GO Air Sport Touch Control Functions:
*The GO Air Sport comes with three EQ presets: “balanced,” “bass-boost,” and “Jlab-signature.”
Pairing the GO Air Sport is easy and straightforward – they will automatically enter pairing mode when taken out of the case for the first time after the initial charge, with one earbud blinking blue, then you just select “JLab GO Air Sport” from the menu then you’re good to go.
The GO Air Sport has an official ingress protection code of IP55 – the final “5” digit means it’s water resistant up to moderate jets, and the penultimate “5” digit means it’s dust and debris resistant as well.
Most true wireless earbuds, even those that are marketed as “active/sport/outdoor” products, don’t have a double digit IP code and thus both water and dust/debris resistance. The fact that the GO Air Sport does have that while remaining relatively inexpensive is a great selling point.
The GO Air Sport does not have active noise cancellation technology, but the isolation is actually decent, solidly medium I’d say. Perfectly fine for basic active/commuter use.
The case is nice and sturdy and also has a nice design that manages to stay relatively compact despite the earbuds having built in tentacle like earhooks. The built in USB cable is also an interesting feature that I have not seen any other manufacturers do. On the one hand it’s convenient and no separate cable means one less thing to worry about. But, it’s kind of short, and if it breaks you can’t just replace it. I still think I prefer standard USB C cables for charging true wireless earbuds.
The purported battery life of the GO Air Sport – 8+ hours on the earbuds and 32+ total hours with the case – is relatively decent battery life for the price-point, though there are some competitors that do have more.
All of JLab’s headphones have a 30 day return or exchange window, followed with a two year limited warranty against defects. This is currently, as far as I’ve seen, industry leading coverage – no other companies currently offer two years of warranty on budget earbuds. This is yet another particularly great selling point of the GO Air Sport – you can be be quite confident that it won’t fail with more rugged active use.
The GO Air Sport uses the same build and hardware as the popular GO Air POP (reviewed here) and thus also has very decent sound at it’s price-point, but not amazing. I won’t republish my sound writeup here because that would be redundant – you can read the above linked review for that. The sound profile might be a little different with the added earhooks and, in my experience at least, shallower fit and seal, but, I honestly can’t tell a difference.
If you’re looking for a pair of wireless earbuds that sounds decent and is mainly ideal for more intense active use, but remains as cheap as possible, then the JLab GO Air Sport definitely fits the bill, and is likely going to be the best choice for that.
They fit well and have added earhooks to ensure they won’t accidentally pop out, they have a double digit IP code that certifies them as resistant to both water and dust/debris, they have a really easy to use and reliable touch control schematic, they have an industry leading two year warranty, they sound solid for budget earbuds, and they’re much cheaper than pretty much all of the alternatives with comparable features.
The only downside of the GO Air Sport is that the built in non-malleable earhooks might not fit you well if you’re unlucky, but you can always return them in 30 days if that’s the case.
Get the Jlab GO Air Sport wireless earbuds on Amazon (affiliate link)
For those who are curious how the GO Air Sport fares against popular competitors:
• JLab GO Air Sport vs JLab GO Air Pop
• Is JLab a good audio brand?
• See our current picks for the overall best budget true wireless earbuds
