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- JLab's Go Air Tones are available in seven different shades designed to match your skin tone.
- Priced at $20, the earbuds deliver shockingly good value.
- The JLab Go Air Tones are a budget alternative to the Beats x Kim skin-colored Fit Pro earbuds.
Ever since Beats and Kim Kardashian released the Beats Fit Pro in three natural-looking skin tone colors, the special edition collaboration has been a lot of hype, and not enough stock. The earbuds quickly sold out on Apple's online store, and have been hard to track down (they're currently still available on Amazon).
While Kardashian will tell you she's never seen a "tech product, especially headphones, be in neutral colors," Beats isn't the first audio brand to launch skin-colored earbuds. Looks like ol' Kimmie has never seen JLab's Go Air Tones.
Before Beats x Kim, there was the Go Air Tones from JLab. The company partnered with nail care brand ORLY to curate seven different Pantone shades covering a wide range of neutral shades, all designed to blend in with its wearer. The most intriguing part of all? JLab's Go Air Tones are only $20.
The JLab Go Air Tones are available in seven different shades that are designed to blend in with your skin. With a comfortable fit and over 30 hours of total battery life, they’re one of the best budget earbuds you can buy.
To call the Go Air Tones a "dupe" of the Beats x Kim collaboration would be unfair. After all, they were released several months earlier. However, it's no secret that you'll get better sound and build quality with the Beats Fit Pro, which costs 10 times the price.
But don't count out a pair of $20 earbuds. Beyond the colors, the Go Air Tones offer the same specs as the Go Air Pops, which are one of the best value earbuds we've tested. The matte plastic buds are surprisingly comfortable and do a decent job isolating outside noise. The punchy, bass-forward audio lacks depth and richness, but the overall sound quality is surprisingly adequate.
There are even three EQ presets you can cycle through via the touch-sensitive controls, which is a real wonder for earbuds this cheap. The most impressive aspect about the Go Air Tones is its total battery life of more than 30 hours, which rivals what you'd get with the Beats Fit Pro.
Before the Go Air Tones were on my radar, flesh-colored earbuds were not something I particularly wanted. As long as earbuds have the latest audio codec and a form factor that works with my ear canals, the way they look is secondary. Up until now, it's been either traditional black or white. Simple.
But maybe it doesn't have to be simple.
I wear earbuds basically all day, every day. And it's easy to forget that earbuds are as much self-expression as they are a means of hearing or a mode of communication. I use the 1615 C color, which is the third to darkest shade. It's not a perfect match — it's not supposed to be — but it's close. The sense I get when I wear them is akin to the freedom I feel when I post an emoji in a shade that represents me.
We've learned that it's important to improve skin tone representation across the internet, but we haven't yet learned the power of that inclusionary message in the world of tech accessories or wearables. Given the popularity of the Beats x Kim collaboration, it seems that earbuds are the perfect place to start.
If skin-colored earbuds intrigue you, the Go Air Tones are available in seven shades, which accommodates a wider range than the three offered by the Beats collaboration. If you're not sure what color will be the most flattering for your skin tone, JLab offers a virtual try-on service to help you decide.