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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want the best sound quality and longest battery life for everyday listening, choose Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK; if you need open-ear headphones that keep you aware of your surroundings while you swim, run, or ride, choose Generic S10.
• Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK — biggest strength: JBL Pure Bass sound from dynamic drivers, with a huge 76-hour battery life and app-based EQ customization.
• Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK — biggest trade-off: These are over-ear headphones with only passive noise cancellation, so they block sound physically but don't silence the world electronically, and there's no water-resistance rating.
• Generic S10 — biggest strength: A true open-ear, non-in-ear design with bone conduction plus air conduction dual drivers, a secure memory-wire hook fit, and a waterproof swimming claim.
• Generic S10 — biggest trade-off: Just 12 hours of battery life, no active noise control at all, and a "Generic" brand with no established track record.
• Who each pick is for: Pick the JBL for commuting, working, and marathon listening sessions; pick the S10 for swimmers, runners, and anyone who needs to hear traffic or a training partner.
The Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK is a refurbished, over-ear version of the JBL Tune 720BT in black. It's built around JBL Pure Bass Sound delivered through dynamic drivers with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz — the standard full-range spread you'd expect for music and podcasts. Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.3, and there's also a 3.5 mm jack for wired listening when you want it. The ear cups are plastic and foldable, and the whole thing weighs 220 grams, which is light for an over-ear model and helps with long wear.
What really stands out here is battery life. JBL rates it at up to 76 hours of playback with a 2-hour charge time. That's a genuinely unusual number — it means a single charge can cover weeks of casual use before you think about the cable again. You also get the free JBL Headphones App, which lets you pick preset EQ modes or shape the EQ curve yourself, plus voice prompts in your chosen language. Controls are on the ear cup: media, call, volume, and touch controls, and Voice Aware lets you hear your own voice during calls.
So who should buy it? Anyone whose priority is sound quality, stamina, and comfort over long stretches — commuters, students, remote workers, movie watchers, and people who hate charging gadgets every other day. The app EQ is a real draw if you like tuning bass and treble to taste. Who should skip it? If you need earphones for swimming or heavy sweat, this isn't the one — there's no waterproof rating in the specs. If you want active noise cancellation, note this model uses passive noise cancellation only, which relies on the ear cups physically sealing around your ears rather than electronics. And if you specifically want to stay aware of your surroundings, an over-ear design is the opposite of what you need. One more thing worth knowing: this is an Amazon Renewed item, and it carries a 90-day limited warranty.
The Generic S10 is a very different animal. It's a bone conduction, non-in-ear headphone designed around open-ear listening. The dual-driver setup combines bone conduction for clear highs with air conduction for deep bass, and JBL's spec sheet claims 12 hours of 3D audio per charge with a quick 1-hour charge time. Crucially, the open-ear design means your ear canal stays completely open, so you can hear traffic, a coach, or a teammate while music plays.
The fit is the other headline. It uses a unibody frame with ergonomic ear hooks and a Ni-Ti alloy memory wire, which is the kind of construction meant to hold firm through movement instead of slipping or shifting. It weighs just 30.3 grams, so it's barely there on your head. It's rated as swimming waterproof and ships with a hard-shell carrying case, a cable, and a user manual. Bluetooth 5.3 gives you a 33-foot wireless range. Calls are handled by dual wind-resistant microphones with an AI noise-reduction algorithm that the specs say filters out 96.5% of background noise, including wind up to 15 mph. There's also a Shokz App with dedicated EQ modes, including a Classic Mode for pure bone conduction sound.
Who should buy it? Swimmers first and foremost — that waterproof rating and the bundled hard case are clearly aimed at pool and open-water use. Runners, cyclists, and gym-goers come next, because open-ear awareness is a safety feature, not a compromise. Who should skip it? If you want deep, isolating bass or silence on a plane, the open-ear design works against you. There's no noise control of any kind here, and 12 hours of battery is a fraction of what the JBL offers. The "Generic" branding also means no long-established reputation to lean on, though the specs list a 2-year warranty, which is notably longer than the JBL's 90 days.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for battery life → Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK. Up to 76 hours versus 12 hours is not close.
• Best for sound quality and bass depth → Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK. Dynamic drivers tuned with JBL Pure Bass and an app EQ.
• Best for swimming → Generic S10. It's the only one of the two with a waterproof swimming rating.
• Best for all-day comfort at a low weight → Generic S10. At 30.3 g versus 220 g, it disappears on your head.
• Best for commuting, flights, and focused work → Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK. Over-ear cups with passive noise cancellation muffle the world far more than an open-ear frame can.
• Best for call clarity in wind → Generic S10. Dual wind-resistant mics with AI noise reduction are specified to cut 96.5% of background noise up to 15 mph.
• Best for customization and controls → Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK. App EQ plus on-cup media, call, volume, and touch controls.
• Best for warranty length → Generic S10. A 2-year warranty beats the JBL's 90-day limited coverage.
If I were buying one of these for myself, I'd take the Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK. It covers the widest range of everyday situations — commuting, working, watching, listening for hours — and its 76-hour battery and app-tuned Pure Bass sound are the features most people actually notice day to day. In my opinion, it's the stronger all-rounder unless your life happens in a pool or on a bike. If you swim or need to stay aware of your surroundings, flip the decision and go with the Generic S10 — its open-ear design, waterproof build, and wind-resistant mics are made for exactly that, and the 2-year warranty is a genuine plus.
Non-in-ear headphones sit outside your ear canal instead of inside it. The Generic S10 uses bone conduction to send vibrations through your cheekbones plus air conduction for bass, while the JBL T720BTBLK is a traditional over-ear design that rests cups around your ears and pipes sound in through dynamic drivers.
How to wear in ear headphones?
They're usually called open-ear or over-ear headphones. Open-ear covers bone conduction designs like the Generic S10, while over-ear describes the JBL T720BTBLK's full ear-cup style. Both avoid putting anything inside your ear canal.
That's subjective, but the Generic S10's specs make a strong case for sports and swimming: dual bone and air conduction drivers, a Ni-Ti memory-wire hook fit at 30.3 g, a 33-foot Bluetooth range, and a 2-year warranty. For indoor, isolating listening, the Amazon Renewed JBL T720BTBLK is the better fit.
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