Review: JBL Tour Pro 3

After the highly successful Tour Pro+ and later Pro 2 earbuds with smart case and touchscreen, the time has come for the improved third generation. According to JBL, the Tour Pro 3 is built from the ground up. Still, they are cautious about calling it a revolution, as the design itself is a cautious evolution from its predecessor. The footprint of the charging case is the same, but the special touchscreen is now 30 per cent larger, measuring 1.57 inches. The screen is taller and now has an almost square shape, making it easier to use.

And it’s the screen that makes these earbuds special. It allows you to make many settings without having to take out your mobile phone. For example, you can activate noise cancellation (ANC) or ambient sound, check battery status and choose between different EQ settings. However, frequency adjustments must be made in the mobile app. You can even personalise the screen with your own image.

Connections and ease of use

The case isn’t just a remote control – it can also function as a wireless audio transmitter. You can connect the case to external audio sources via cable and it will then act as a Bluetooth transmitter for the earbuds. This is particularly useful for devices without Bluetooth, such as in-flight entertainment systems. Or if you’re extra cheeky, a record player. It just needs to have a built-in RIAA stage and you need an RCA-to-3.5 mm cable between them.

The case can also be used as a USB DAC. By connecting it to a PC or Mac via USB-C, the case sends the sound to the earbuds with the LC3plus codec. This provides higher bandwidth than regular Bluetooth and better sound for your own voice during conversations. What’s especially smart is that the case is Zoom compatible, guaranteeing clear speech with low latency during digital meetings. You can even game with these earbuds!

For everyday mobile phone use, the LDAC codec is supported, which provides higher resolution for Android users, while iPhone users have to make do with AAC as usual (come on, Apple!).

Auracast features

Recently we’ve heard a lot about Auracast and the exciting possibilities this Bluetooth technology opens up. JBL Tour Pro 3 also supports Auracast. In short, it’s a way to broadcast audio to multiple devices. Imagine you’re at a sports bar showing different TV channels simultaneously. Go into the Bluetooth list on your mobile, select one of the programmes and get the sound directly into your earbuds. Or you can connect to the PA system in an airport so you don’t miss important updates over the public address system. Thanks to multipoint connectivity, you can be connected to both the Auracast broadcast and your mobile phone at the same time, so you can listen to music between broadcasts.

JBL even goes one step further, because the case can also function as an Auracast broadcasting device. This can be useful for lecturers with a large audience, for example. The lecturer wears a wireless microphone and the receiver is connected to JBL’s charging case, which then broadcasts with Auracast. Students can receive the lecture directly into their earbuds.

This is just the beginning, but I predict a bright future for the technology. The Auracast feature works. I’ve tried sending music from my PC via the charging case and the sound arrives quickly and without noticeable delay to the earbuds. It’s impressive how seamlessly it all works and it gives a glimpse of how we will share audio in the future.

Battery life and charging

JBL claims a battery life of up to 8 hours for the active noise cancelling earbuds, with an additional 24 hours in the case. With ANC off, the total battery life increases from 32 to 44 hours, putting Tour Pro 3 at the top end of battery life. The charging case is also quite large, weighing in at over 70 grams.

You also get fast charging, with five minutes of charging giving a full three hours of playtime with noise cancellation enabled.

The sound of JBL Tour Pro 3

JBL has equipped the Tour Pro 3 with two drivers in each earpiece: a 10.2 mm dynamic driver that handles bass and midrange, while a balanced armature handles the treble. This has the advantage of being lighter and faster than a dynamic unit, which should increase the level of detail in the treble range.

Straight out of the box, I found the bass to be juicy and full-bodied, but the midrange a little withdrawn and the treble somewhat sharp. This was especially noticeable on vocals that dragged into the soundstage, while cymbals were a tad too sharp.

Luckily, JBL offers various EQ presets and a 10-band equaliser in the app. It looks like a 10-band graphic EQ, but is actually fully parametric. You can choose the exact frequency and frequency width, but in a slightly different way than you normally associate with parametric EQ. There’s no formula for the best sound, but if you want a more balanced sound, raising the 1 kHz range slightly and attenuating a larger range between 4-8 kHz will go a long way. Not much, just enough to dampen the sharp s-sounds a bit.

Tour Pro 3 reproduces the sound with really good dynamics and a lot of detail in the higher frequencies. After a little tweaking, I’d say the sound is better than anything I’ve heard from Sony and Bose. It’s both natural and engaging, and the earbuds sound great with all types of music. Compared to the Sony WF-1000XM5, the JBL earbuds have better dynamics, and with Sony’s graphic EQ, I have a hard time removing the masking between bass and midrange without making the midrange too thin. The JBL has better separation between instruments and sounds more engaging overall. The bass is also more precise and controlled than the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds, which also have a coarser treble. JBL simply sounds better than both.

If you don’t trust your own EQ skills, you can use the PersoniFi feature, where you are guided through a hearing test and an EQ is automatically customised to your results.

The call audio is also really good. The user’s voice sounds more natural on the other end than is typically the case with hearing aids. The sound is better than both Bose QC Ultra Earbuds and Sony WF-1000XM, although it’s not always easy to tell the difference between s’s and f’s. In USB DAC mode, speech is even slightly clearer.

Noise cancellation and ambient sound

The noise cancellation on Tour Pro 3 is very effective. The system monitors the surroundings in real time with 57,000 measurements per second. In practice, I noticed that the noise cancellation was particularly effective in the bass range, but also in the higher frequencies the sound was attenuated well. The noise cancellation seems smooth and natural.

There are also two ambient sound modes: Ambient Aware, which provides a more natural reproduction of the surroundings, and Talkthrough, which amplifies voice frequencies for clearer conversations. Both work well, but I think Ambient Aware is the best overall.

Conclusion

The JBL Tour Pro 3 is a great pair of wireless earbuds. The innovative touchscreen charging case actually improves the user experience and shows other manufacturers how things can be done. The sound quality is very good, especially after a little EQ adjustment, and the noise cancellation is effective.

However, the price of €300 is high. Significantly higher than the direct competitors from Sony and Bose, which is bold. But for technology enthusiasts who value versatility and innovation combined with excellent sound quality, JBL buds should be high on the wish list.