JVC HA-A8T

Available in a choice of black, white or red, the JVC HA-A8T earbuds are most notable for their TWS design. Unlike with other earbud models, the 10-millimetre neodymium magnet driver is hidden in an angled, thus ergonomic housing. Thanks to the long shaft and the matt rubberised surface, these small earbuds are also very easy to grip. Both earbuds have a button for operating various functions and a status LED, while the microphone is in the left earbud.

Wearing comfort

Due to their small size and weight of five grams each, these earbuds not only look good they’re also comfortable to wear. They are IPX4 certified, which protects them from splashing water and makes them ideal for outdoor use.

The TWS design touted by JVC is supposed to ensure a secure and more comfortable fit. The driver housing sits deeper in the ear canal than with other earbuds without using a silicone top. However, in my ears, these earbuds easily slipped out of the ear canal, which in my opinion, means they are too loose. They held their position quite confidently during sporting activities, but the feeling that I was about to lose them was still disconcerting.

Functionality

The JVC HA-A8T’s buttons cover the following standard functions: Start, pause, skip music and volume control. Voice assistants, as well as phone calls, are controlled by button presses. However, pressing the buttons produces an audible click in the ear.

Speech was very clear when talking on the phone; at least it was from the other side of the call. On the other hand, one’s own voice via the microphone sounds somewhat unnatural and as if it is affected by a phasing effect, which unfortunately reduces intelligibility.

The earbud’s Li-polymer batteries last for up to six hours of playtime, the charging case stores another nine hours. According to the manufacturer, charging the earbuds takes two hours; in our practical test, it was actually a little faster. Refuelling the case takes half an hour longer. If the buds are completely empty, they only need 15 minutes of power for another 60 minutes of playtime.

Sound

The JVC HA-A8T is equipped with ten-millimetre neodymium magnet drivers with a frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz and an impedance of 16 ohms. When it comes to Bluetooth, JVC uses version 5.0, with only SBC as the codec. But the HA-A8Ts quite impressively prove that codecs are not everything:

These headphones earn particular praise for the finely tuned and homogeneous mids and highs, which give lead sounds and vocals a well-deserved presence. This was especially true for Bob James’ “Westchester Lady”, where the brass section sounded brilliant and dynamic. In general, the transparent interpretation made the organic instrumentation appear very tidy, almost spacious.

The sound arrangement also suits synthetic sounds, such as Moderat’s “A New Error”, whose precisely recorded sequencer cleanly stood out over the beats. Nevertheless, I missed the low bass, which would add a certain warmth and volume to the sound. These qualities only become audible when the earbud is fitted deep into the ear, which unfortunately didn’t work with my ears. However, the mid-bass and the upper bass were very effective and harmoniously complemented the overall impression. Thanks to their extremely low impedance, these tiny earpieces delivered a quite loud, undistorted signal even with lower-power outputs, including reproduction of the required transients.