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  • Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Headphones Review

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Picture

The JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless are in-ears designed for business professionals. They have an active noise cancelling (ANC) system that offers good overall performance, especially if you're trying to block out chatting coworkers. They also have a neutral sound profile, and while they lack a bit of low-bass, you can customize them to your liking using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets. On the downside, their roughly four hours of continuous playback time is fairly short, and their integrated mic offers a sub-par recording quality.

Our Verdict

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are good for neutral sound. They have a very neutral sound, although they lack a bit of low-bass. A dip in the mid-mid also pushes vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. However, they have a less-than-immersive passive soundstage due to their closed-back, in-ear design.

  • Comfortable and well-built design.
  • Parametric EQ and presets available.
  • Bad passive soundstage.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are good for commute and travel. Thanks to their ANC, they can block out a fair amount of noise like the low rumble of bus or plane engines. They also have a comfortable, well-built design, and their small size makes it easy to put them in most pockets or bags. However, their roughly four hours of continuous playback time may not be enough for long trips.

  • ANC with good noise isolation performance.
  • 4.2-hour continuous battery life.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are great for sports and fitness. They have a comfortable, breathable fit, and thanks to their stability fins, they should stay in your ear during moderate physical exercise. They also have an IPX5 rating for water resistance, but we don't currently test for that.

  • Stable fit.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are decent for office use. They have a comfortable, breathable fit, and their ANC can block out office chatter around you. However, their continuous playback time of just over four hours may not be enough to get you through your shift without pausing to recharge them.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus aren't recommended for wireless gaming. While you can connect them to a Bluetooth-enabled PC, the latency is likely to be too high for gaming. They also aren't compatible with PlayStation or Xbox consoles.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are Bluetooth-only headphones that can't be used on a wired connection.

The JBL Tour Pro TWS are fair for phone calls. Their integrated mic does a sub-par job of recording your voice, so you sound unnatural. The mic also struggles to separate your voice from moderate background noise, which may be a problem if you're taking a call from a busy street. Luckily, their ANC cuts down a good amount of noise so that you can focus on your call.

  • Sub-par recording quality.
  • Mic struggles to separate your voice from ambient noise.
  • 7.5 Neutral Sound
  • 7.8 Commute/Travel
  • 8.2 Sports/Fitness
  • 5.9 Wireless Gaming
  • 5.8 Wired Gaming
  • 6.5 Phone Calls
  • Updated Aug 10, 2021: Updated information regarding IP rating in 'Build Quality' box.
  • Updated Jul 14, 2021: Review published.
  • Updated Jul 07, 2021: Early access published.
  • Updated Jun 30, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
  • Updated Jun 29, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
  • Updated Jun 19, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

The JBL Tour Pro Plus come in one color variation: Black, and you can see our model's label  here . If you come across another variant of these headphones, please let us know in the discussion section below, and we'll update our review.

Compared To Other Headphones

The JBL Tour Pro Plus are in-ears designed for business professionals. They're similar in overall performance to the JBL CLUB PRO+ TWS True Wireless but now come with five differently-sized ear tips and stability fins. They can block out a good amount of ambient noise around you, although their passive capabilities outweigh their ANC system beyond the bass range. On the downside, their continuous battery life of just over four hours is short and probably won't get you through a long day at work without recharging them again.

If you're looking for more headphones, check out our recommendations for the  best true wireless earbuds , the  best earbuds and in-ear headphones , and the  best wireless earbuds for Android .

The  Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless  are better in-ears for most uses than the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable and well-built, the Apple's ANC can block out significantly more ambient noise around you, and the Apple have a longer total battery life. Their H1 chip also allows you to seamlessly pair them with your Apple devices. However, the JBL have a more customizable sound, thanks to their companion app's parametric EQ and presets. 

The JBL CLUB PRO+ TWS True Wireless and the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless are similarly performing headphones. Both headphones are comfortable, well-built, and their ANC systems both offer comparable performances. However, the CLUB PRO+'s microphone offers a better recording quality and a better overall battery performance.

The JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless are better overall headphones than the JBL Tour One Wireless . The Tour Pro+ are in-ears that are better built, have more consistent audio delivery, and have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. Their ANC also does a significantly better job of blocking out background noise. However, the Tour One support multi-device pairing and longer continuous battery life.

The JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless are slightly better headphones than the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Truly Wireless . While both headphones are comfortable, the JBL are better-built, have a more neutral default sound profile, which some users may prefer, and their ANC can block out a bit more background noise. They also have a better battery performance, and you can customize their sound profile using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets. However, the Samsung's integrated mic has a better recording quality.

The EarFun Air Pro True Wireless are slightly better in-ears than the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable, the EarFun have a somewhat v-shaped sound profile that some users may prefer, and their ANC can block out a lot more ambient noise around. They also have significantly better battery performance. However, the JBL are better built, and you can adjust their sound to your liking using their companion app's parametric EQ and presets. 

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless are slightly better headphones than the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless. While both headphones are well-built, the Bose's ANC system does a significantly better job blocking out background noise, and they have longer continuous battery life. Some users also may prefer their sound profile's touch of extra bass. However, the JBL are more comfortable.

The JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless are better headphones than the Beats Solo Pro Wireless . The JBL are more comfortable, have a more neutral default sound profile, which some users may prefer, and their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. However, the Beats have a better noise isolation performance and a longer continuous battery life. They also have an H1 chip that allows you to seamlessly pair them with Apple devices.

Test Results

perceptual testing image

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have a plain and non-descript look. They're round with a silver brand logo on each earbud. There's also the word 'Tour' on the side of the bud. They only come in black.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Comfort Picture

The JBL Tour Pro TWS are comfortable. Like the JBL CLUB PRO+ TWS True Wireless , they don't put pressure on your ear. They also come with five sets of ear tips to help you get the best fit. However, the buds are bulky and stick out.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Controls Picture

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have fair controls. To connect them via Bluetooth, you can touch either bud once and hold. There's an audible tone when pairing. With the right bud, you can tap once to play or pause audio, tap twice to skip the track forward, and tap three times to skip to the previous track. The left earbud allows you to turn ANC on, off, or access ambient mode, and there's an audible tone when switching between modes. A double-tap activates talkthough. You can also tap twice to answer or reject a call, hold to mute and unmute your microphone, or hold either bud to activate voice assistant. There's even a Silent Now feature you can access by holding both buds for five seconds that keeps the ANC on but turns off Bluetooth and music.

If you prefer, you can customize the controls using their companion app. However, you lose access to some controls if you're only using one earbud. Ambient Sound controls can also only be adjusted while you're wearing them. There's no audible feedback when you double or triple press either.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Breathability After Picture

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have outstanding breathability. Thanks to their in-ear design, they don't really cover your outer ear. You shouldn't notice a temperature difference when you're wearing them, and you shouldn't sweat more than normal.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Portability Picture

These headphones are incredibly portable. Like most truly wireless headphones, they have a small and lightweight design that should easily fit in most pockets or bags. Their carrying case is also fairly small.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Case Picture

The carrying case is good. It's plastic, and there's a magnet to hold the buds in place. There's an LED light near the charging port that lets you know its charging status and two LED lights inside the case for each bud. These two lights turn off a few seconds after opening the case.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Build Quality Picture

Update 08/10/2021: Following reader feedback, information regarding the headphone's IP rating has been added. The score hasn't been changed, but the text has been updated.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have a great build quality. They're mostly made of plastic but feel sturdy and solid. They come with stability fins and five different pairs of ear tips, but the ear tips seem potentially weaker than other parts of their design. The buds themselves are rated IPX5 for water resistance, but we don't currently test for that.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Stability Picture

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have a stable fit. They come with a variety of differently-sized ear tips and have stability fins to stay put in your ears while you're moving.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Angled Picture

  • JBL Tour Pro Plus headphones
  • 5x ear tips
  • Stability fins
  • Charging case
  • USB-A to USB-C charging cable

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Frequency Response

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have a very neutral sound profile, making them suitable for lots of audio content. That said, if you want to customize their sound, their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Consistency L

These headphones have outstanding frequency response consistency. Like most in-ears, once you achieve an airtight seal, they should deliver audio very consistently each time you use them.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Raw FR L

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have outstanding bass accuracy. They're a little underemphasized in the low-bass range, so your mixes lack a touch of thump and rumble. That said, the rest of the range is very flat and neutral, resulting in a warm bass.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Mid

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have great mid accuracy. There's some underemphasis in the low to mid-mid, so vocals and lead instruments are thinned out a bit and pushed to the back of the mix. The high-mid is very neutral, though, which helps their clarity and intensity.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Treble

These headphones have excellent treble accuracy. It's very slightly underemphasized, but it shouldn't be too noticeable. Vocals and lead instruments are present but lacking a touch of detail, while sibilants like cymbals are slightly dulled.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Peaks/Dips Graph

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have great peaks and dips performance. The slight peak in the low to mid-bass adds extra thump and rumble to your mixes, while a dip in the mid-mid pushes vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. Another peak in the high-mid can harshen vocals and lead instruments a bit. The uneven mid-treble can make sibilants like S and T sounds alternatingly dull and piercing.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Group Delay

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have fantastic imaging. Their weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble. The L/R drivers of our unit are also well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency. It's important for accurately placing and localizing objects like footsteps and instruments in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, so your results may vary.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have a terrible passive soundstage. To create a speaker-like soundstage, the outer ear has to be activated with sound. However, since they have an in-ear design, they bypass the outer ear altogether, resulting in sound being perceived as if it's coming from inside your head. Their closed-back design also means that their soundstage doesn't seem as spacious as headphones with an open-back enclosure.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Weighted Harmonic Distortion

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. The entire frequency range falls within good limits, which results in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the JBL Tour Pro Plus, and our results are only valid in this configuration.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Noise Isolation

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have good noise isolation. They have an active noise cancelling (ANC) system that does a fair job of cutting down the low rumbles of bus or plane engines. However, their passive noise isolation capabilities are slightly better than their ANC when it comes to the mid to treble range. That said, they can still block out office chatter and the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Leakage

The JBL Tour Pro Plus' leakage performance is excellent. Leakage is mostly concentrated in the treble range, which sounds thin. However, if you like to listen to your audio at high volumes, people around you shouldn't be able to hear it.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Microphone Frequency Response

The integrated mic has a sub-par recording quality. Your voice sounds full but muffled and unnatural.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless SpNR

The microphone has okay noise handling. It struggles to separate your voice from moderate background noise, so you may have some trouble being understood if you're calling from a busy street.

The JBL Tour Pro have an okay battery performance. Although they're advertised to have roughly six hours of continuous battery life, we measured just over four. However, battery performance can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may vary. They have roughly three additional charges in their carrying case and have an auto-off timer to help conserve battery life while not in use. You can also use one bud while the other one charges.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless App Picture

The JBL Headphones app is great. It has a parametric EQ and presets so that you can customize their sound to your liking. You can also remap the button layout to set volume controls or to adjust the layout of other controls. You can also set the auto-off timer or turn it off if you prefer, as well as turn on or off auto-play/pause when they're in your ear. The app also has an ear tip fit test to help you get the best possible fit.

The JBL Tour Pro Plus have fair Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. Their latency is also high on PC, iOS, and Android, which could be disappointing if you like to stream video. However, some apps compensate for latency, so your real-life experience may vary.

JBL Tour Pro+ TWS True Wireless Cable Picture

These truly wireless headphones can't be used with a wired connection. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge their carrying case.

These truly wireless headphones can only connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs.

These headphones come with a portable carrying case that charges via USB-C.

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JBL Tour Pro+ review: Another excellent AirPods Pro alternative

JBL Tour Pro+.

“With tons of features and great sound, the Tour Pro+ are easy to recommend.”
  • Elegant design
  • Very good sound quality
  • Excellent call quality
  • Good battery life
  • Hands-free voice assistants
  • Awkward controls
  • Mediocre noise canceling
  • No wake-word support in iOS

Looking for a set of noise-canceling true wireless earbuds that don’t look like small golf tees protruding from your ears? JBL’s $200 Tour Pro+ are your latest option. They’re slickly designed, compact, and they let you speak to Alexa or Google Assistant without needing to tap an earbud — a trick that even Apple’s AirPods can’t manage.

  • What’s in the box?

Comfort, controls, and connections

Sound quality, battery life, noise cancellation and transparency, voice assistant access, call quality.

But do the rest of the Tour Pro+’s features measure up, and should you add them to your shortlist? Let’s find out.

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What’s in the box?

JBL’s soundbar team has definitely read the sustainable packaging memo — the new JBL Bar 5.0 Multibeam is a perfect example of how to make a box and its contents fully recyclable. But apparently, the earbuds team missed that email. The Tour Pro+ come in a heavily coated box with magnet closures and lots of hard-to-recycle foam and plastic.

Inside, you’ll find the earbuds, their charging case, a USB-C charging cord, five sizes of eartips, two sizes of wing tips, and several printed quick start guides.

JBL’s Tour lineup, which consists of the Tour Pro+ earbuds and the Tour One ANC headphones, possesses an understated yet sophisticated design. Satin-finish plastics, subtle logos, and just a few high-polish accents give the Tour Pro+ a very high-end vibe.

The earbuds use touch-sensitive surfaces, so there is very little to interrupt their clean lines. Size-wise, they’re similar to Jabra’s Elite 75t , sticking out from your ear just enough to make them easy to insert and remove. An IPX5 rating offers very good protection from sweat and water (just don’t immerse them).

Their charging case, which can be charged wirelessly or via the included USB-C cable, isn’t quite as compact as the AirPods Pro, but it’s still highly pocketable. The lid opens and closes smoothly and the hinge keeps the lid open until you’re ready to close it — something many cases can’t claim. The case can stand vertically if you’re careful, but it’s really meant to lie flat on its back, which lets it charge wirelessly while also exposing the charging status LED on the bottom, next to the USB-C port.

The Tour Pro+ snap in and out of their charging sockets with ease thanks to their slightly angled position, but take care when re-docking them: They can sometimes fail to align perfectly with their charging contacts. Each socket has its own LED indicator so it’s easy to tell if something’s not quite right.

I found that the default medium cone-style silicone ear tips were perfect for me. Once nestled in my ear, the Tour Pro+ were very comfortable and secure. Going for a jog or pavement or pounding away on a treadmill shouldn’t budge them at all.

The Tour Pro+ come with a tiny set of wing tips installed, though that term seems inappropriate. They’re really more like mini-fins. But regardless of what you call them, they didn’t do much for me in terms of extra stability. I think they’re designed to fit just under the antihelix — that fold of cartilage in the outer ear — but I guess my antihelixes are too big (weirdest brag ever). If they actively get in the way or they’re uncomfortable, you can swap them out with flat silicone bands.

Bass response is excellent without being overbearing, and there’s plenty of detail through the midrange.

Inside the JBL Headphones app, which you will definitely want to download to get the best from the Tour Pro+, there’s a fit test that helps you figure out if you’re using the best ear tips for your ears. It’s worth doing: A poor fit will compromise both the active noise cancellation (ANC) and sound quality.

Though I still prefer physical buttons, the Tour Pro+ has very responsive touch controls, which provide audible feedback tones when you tap them. I wish all touch controls did this — there’s nothing worse than not knowing if your tap was recognized or not.

Unfortunately, JBL has somewhat kneecapped these great touch controls by enforcing a very limited set of customizations. Instead of letting users assign one function per gesture per earbud, each earbud must be assigned a function “group.” The playback control group gives you play/pause and track skip forward/back. The volume control group lets you turn the volume up or down. Voice assistant lets you trigger your chosen assistant with a gesture (more on this later), and ambient sound control lets you switch from ANC modes and toggle TalkThru on and off.

The ambient sound control group might be the most confusing of them all. With a single tap, you can switch between ANC, ambient sound, and off (no ANC or ambient). But a double tap lets you turn TalkThru on and off. Since TalkThru and ambient mode are almost indistinguishable, I think JBL should have simplified this, making the single tap all you need to switch between ANC and ambient.

You can have any two of these groups active at once, which means choices must be made. If you want playback control (and who doesn’t?) that means you need to decide which of the other four matter most. Want to control ANC and volume? You can, but only if you give up playback control. These are not choices we should be forced to make.

Built-in wear sensors automatically pause music when you pop an earbud out and play when you put it back in. The feature works really well, pausing and playing quickly in response to changes, but oddly, it only worked on the left earbud. You can also disable this in the Headphones app.

Calling on the Tour Pro+ is very good. My voice was clear as a bell.

You can choose to use just one earbud at a time, but make sure you assign the controls you need to the earbud you’re using. Don’t worry about call answer/end — these functions work on both sides, regardless of which control group you choose.

Bluetooth connection quality is excellent. Indoors, I was able to put three stories between my iPhone 11 and the Tour Pro+ without dropping the signal, and that will likely translate into very good outdoor performance too.

Out of the box, and with the right size of ear tips installed, the Tour Pro+ have a very balanced sound signature. Bass response is excellent without being overbearing, and there’s plenty of detail through the midrange. Highs are a little muted, but still very enjoyable.

But the JBL Headphones app really allows you to dramatically alter how the Tour Pro+ behave, with several presets and one custom option. My favorite is the Club One EQ, which boosts bass and treble a lot and gives a smaller bump to the midranges. It really woke these earbuds up, increasing the energy and seemingly expanding the already fairly generous soundstage. Vocals received the biggest boost, with much better clarity.

The Tour Pro+ aren’t going to shake your teeth loose with their bass — if you want that, try the JBL Reflect Mini NC — but the low-end is warm, resonant, and more than punchy enough to let you enjoy bass-forward tracks like Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy or Hans Zimmer’s Time .

They’re better balanced than Jabra’s similarly-priced Elite Active 75t and even compare favorably to Sennheiser’s CX400 BT for overall sound quality.

JBL claims six hours of playback per charge for the Tour Pro+ earbuds and I found that to be almost exactly what I got when playing music at 50% volume. If you turn ANC off, you should get eight hours, but I didn’t test this. That handily beats Apple’s AirPods Pro (4.5 hours with ANC on).

The charging case holds three full recharges, giving you a total of 24 or 32 hours before needing to find a wireless (or wired) charging spot.

Whether in Ambient Aware or TalkThru modes, it was easy to listen to conversations and stay aware of traffic.

Speaking of wireless charging, I found the charging case was very picky about its location on my charging mat. If it wasn’t dead-center, it wouldn’t charge and even then, my charging mat occasionally lost its connection. That’s not something I’ve run into very often, so it’s possible it was just my particular review unit.

ANC on the Tour Pro+ is calibrated heavily in favor of low-frequency sounds. It works best for counteracting engine and tire sounds from traffic, or the vibrations of machinery that might work their way through walls.

I found that higher frequencies, like the sound of a bathroom fan, weren’t blocked out as effectively, and there’s no way to adjust the intensity of the ANC feature to increase the amount of noise it deals with.

JBL has packed so many features into the JBL Headphones app, I’d say it’s mandatory.

It’s what I’d call a general-purpose ANC. It takes the edge off, but doesn’t really go for that cone-of-silence effect. If that’s what you want, both the Jabra Elite Active 75t and the Sony WF-SP800N proved more capable of blocking a full range of frequencies.

I do like the fact that JBL includes what it calls a “silent now” mode: Hold the two touch surfaces for five seconds and the Tour Pro+ keep ANC engaged, but turn off Bluetooth so you can get some extra peace and quiet without killing your battery.

Transparency (or ambient mode) works really well. Whether in Ambient Aware or TalkThru modes, it was easy to listen to conversations and stay aware of traffic.

One of the coolest features on the Tour Pro+ is their ability to not only work with both Alexa and Google Assistant (there are several earbud models that already do this), but also give you wake-word access to them so you don’t have to continually reach for an earbud.

Just say, “Hey Google,” or “Alexa,” and your chosen assistant is at the ready, waiting for you to speak a command.

You have to choose which one you want as your active assistant in the Headphones app, but switching from one to the other only takes a few seconds.

I found both assistants responded effortlessly in a variety of situations.

There is one very unfortunate caveat: Wake-word access only works on Android devices at the moment.

If you want wake-word access on an iPhone, you’ll need Apple’s AirPods or the Amazon Echo Buds .

Whether on a busy street or in a quiet location, calling on the Tour Pro+ is very good. Some occasional very loud sounds would overpower my voice, but for the most part, it was clear as a bell and surprisingly full-sounding.

When indoors or in a quiet outdoor location, I suspect your callers won’t even know you’re using a set of earbuds for your calls.

Normally headphone apps don’t do a whole lot, but JBL has packed so many features into the JBL Headphones app, I’d say it’s mandatory for Tour Pro+ users. It enables:

  • Find my earbuds
  • Custom controls
  • Eartip fit test
  • Battery life indicators
  • Voice assistant selection
  • Audio mode selection
  • My Alarm (which lets you set an amount of time for music to play before switching the earbuds to Silent Now mode for sleeping)

With the Tour Pro+, JBL delivers a well-priced, elegantly designed set of true wireless earbuds. They sound great, have very good battery life and call quality, and their wake-word access for voice assistants (on Android) is a rare and helpful feature.

Their mediocre ANC and awkward control options are drawbacks, but definitely not deal-breakers.

Is there a better alternative?

I’m hard-pressed to find a set of true wireless earbuds at the same price that goes toe-to-toe with the JBL Tour Pro+ in terms of features and quality, except for maybe JBL’s own Club Pro+. They’re the same price, and while they lack wake-word access to assistants, some folks will prefer their more bass-heavy sound signature.

For a more workout-friendly option, Sony’s $199 WF-SP800N have great battery life, great sound, and better ANC than the Tour Pro+. But they’re not as good for phone calls and lack wireless charging and wake-word assistant access. However, they’re compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant.

JBL’s own $150 Reflect Mini NC are also solid contenders for fitness fanatics. Sound quality is once again more bass-heavy, but these earbuds share many of the same features as the Tour Pro+.

How long will they last?

JBL builds very good products and the Tour Pro+ are no exception. High-quality materials and excellent fit and finish abound. They come with a one-year warranty from JBL and I expect they’ll last for many years of use.

Should you buy them?

Yes. Despite their weird controls, the Tour Pro+ are a feature-rich set of great-sounding ANC earbuds.

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Simon Cohen

Sennheiser has revealed its latest flagship wireless earbuds at CES 2024: the Momentum True Wireless 4. Though the company claims there are over a dozen upgrades and future-facing technologies onboard -- like lossless, CD-quality audio -- it has conspicuously side-stepped the spatial audio trend embraced by its biggest competitors.

The Momentum True Wireless 4 (MTW4) have been priced at $300 ($50 more than the previous generation) and will be available for preorder on February 15 in three colors: black copper, metallic silver, and graphite.

JBL Live 770NC in white. JBL

JBL always brings tons of new products to CES, and CES 2024 is no exception. In addition to new wireless earbuds and Bluetooth speakers, the Harman-owned brand has debuted six new Live and Tune wireless headphones models in both on-ear and over-ear designs.

JBL's smart, touchscreen-equipped charging case is coming to the company's latest generation of Live wireless earbuds. JBL says that the $250 Tour Pro 2 -- the wireless earbuds that debuted the smart charging case in 2023 -- rapidly sold out after they went on sale, proof, perhaps, that there's an untapped need that the touchscreen case meets.

The Live 3 were announced at CES 2024 alongside JBL's new Bluetooth speakers, wireless headphones, and party speakers and will sell for $200 when they're released in summer 2024. Like previous JBL Live wireless earbuds, the Live 3 come in three versions, but JBL has changed the naming convention to match its Tune family of wireless earbuds. The new models are the Live Flex 3, the Live Beam 3, and the Live Buds 3. Each comes in a choice of two colors: black and silver.

jbl tour pro 3

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JBL Tour Pro 2 (Black) - True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds, Small

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About this item.

  • Smart Case for seamless experience: Control the earbuds' settings, manage calls and playback, control your audio setting and battery level and set your alarm without taking out your phone, through the screen of the charging case. Enjoy a truly seamless experience thanks to the JBL Tour Pro 2 unique smart charging case without using your phone or the JBL Headphones App.
  • True Adaptive Noise Cancelling with Smart Ambient: Enjoy the soundtrack of your life no matter where you are. True Adaptive Noise Cancelling technology automatically uses 4 noise sensing mics to adjust to your surroundings in real-time, minimizing distractions when you need to focus and optimizing the JBL Tour Pro 2's performance for a superior audio experience—all while you adjust ANC mode control with the JBL Headphones app.
  • 6-mic perfect calls with voice control: The 6-mic crystal call algorithm of the JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds allows you to have better conversations even in loud or windy environments or to get help from your preferred voice assistant. And with VoiceAware, you can choose how much of your own voice to hear by controlling the amount of mic input routed back into your earbuds.
  • Smart Ambient technology: Stay alert to the sounds of the world around you while enjoying your music with Smart Ambient. Control either feature with a simple touch of a button and fine-tune them with the JBL Headphones app.
  • Legendary Pro Sound: Thanks to extensive global research and testing, the superior JBL sound curve delivers precise, accurate audio and less distortion with all the music you love at any frequency or volume, even in noisy environments. Enjoy deep-dive bass thanks to the 10mm dynamic drivers powered by JBL Pro Sound.

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Jbl tour pro 2.

The JBL Tour Pro 2's True Adaptive Noise Cancelling technology tunes out distractions so you can enjoy your favorite audio—or even the sound of silence—all powered by legendary JBL Pro Sound and experience seamless, superb sound on the go. The unique smart charging case allows you to control the earbuds' settings without using your phone or the App. Immerse yourself in spatial audio for up to 40 hours on a single charge.

smart case; control earbud settings; charging case screen

Smart Case for seamless experience

Control the earbuds' settings, manage calls and playback, control your audio setting and battery level and set your alarm through the screen of the charging case. Enjoy a truly seamless experience with JBL Tour Pro 2's unique smart charging case without using your phone or the JBL Headphones App.

true adaptive noise cancelling

True Adaptive Noise Cancelling with Smart Ambient

True Adaptive Noise Cancelling technology automatically uses 4 noise sensing mics to adjust to your surroundings in real-time, minimizing distractions and optimizing the JBL Tour Pro 2's performance for a superior audio experience—all while you adjust ANC mode control with the JBL Headphones app.

6-mic perfect calls with voice control

The 6-mic crystal call algorithm of the JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds allows you to have better conversations even in loud or windy environments or to get help from your preferred voice assistant. And with VoiceAware, you can choose how much of your own voice to hear by controlling the amount of mic input routed back into your earbuds.

smart ambient technology; stay alert while enjoying music

Smart Ambient technology

Stay alert to the sounds of the world around you while enjoying your music with Smart Ambient. Control either feature with a simple touch of a button and fine-tune them with the JBL Headphones app.

JBL In-Ear/Earbud Headphones

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JBL Tour Pro 2 Earbuds: These Have it all!

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  • JBL Tour Pro 2 Earbuds; Charging Case; USB-C Charging Cable; 3 sizes of Eartips; QSG; Warranty

Product information

Warranty & support, product description.

The JBL Tour Pro 2's True Adaptive Noise Cancelling technology tunes out distractions so you can enjoy your favorite audio—or even the sound of silence—all powered by legendary JBL Pro Sound and experience seamless, superb sound on the go. The unique smart charging case allows you to control the earbuds' settings without using your phone or the App. Immerse yourself in spatial audio for up to 40 hours on a single charge.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers like the quality, fit, sound quality and battery life of the headphones. For example, they mention that it's very well made, stays put and doesn't irritate their ears. That said, opinions are mixed on value and performance.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers like the sound quality of the headphones. They say the noise cancelling is phenomenal, and the adaptive control through the phone app is very good. They also appreciate the trademark JBL bass sound, and say the music quality is good. However, some customers have reported issues with call quality and video watching quality.

"...the firmware update and setting up the custom eq, the Tour Pro2 sounds amazing so far ...." Read more

"...are pricey but are by far the highest quality sound, best base, best noise canceling , etc. Excellent battery as well. Will NOT try anymore...." Read more

"Great sound quality for music. Clear vocals and instrumentals . Nice ambient settings. True noise canceling. Touch commands are precise. Perfect fit...." Read more

"...The sound quality is really good. I'd say the bass is rich and punchy but not heavy. If you're a heavy bass fan maybe these aren't for you...." Read more

Customers like the appearance of the headphones. They mention that the case is neat, the earbuds look cool, and the material used feels high. Some are amazed at the design and touch screen on the case.

"...The smart case is good , I'd wish it would show the artist and track and the flashlight function is silly. Couple of things i have to get..." Read more

"Having a screen on the case is awesome . The hinge for the lid seems a little weak. Mine creaks a little when closed if I hold it tightly in my hand...." Read more

"...Earbuds:Other than the pairing issue, they're very nice . For earbuds, the sound quality is very good...." Read more

"These are really cool . Love the case! They sound very close to my Samsung buds pro 2. ANC works well ambient a little iffy, but not bad...." Read more

Customers like the fit of the headphones. They say it fits nicely and comfortably in their ears. Some customers also mention that the buds stay put and don't irritate their ears at all.

"...True noise canceling. Touch commands are precise. Perfect fit . Very fast charging." Read more

"...I have small ears and these buds stay put and don't irritate my ears at all...." Read more

"...The fit is good , functions are great, and there’s not much I would change about them except I wish they had a longer battery life but these last..." Read more

"...I just received my JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds and am in heaven. They fit perfect and the sound is better than the more expensive options...." Read more

Customers are satisfied with the battery life of the headphones. They mention that it has an excellent battery life, and connects quickly to their iPhone. Some appreciate the touch screen feature.

"... Excellent battery as well. Will NOT try anymore. These are it!..." Read more

"...The battery life is amazing so far ...." Read more

"...ANC works well ambient a little iffy, but not bad. Battery life is outstanding (much better than Samsung)!" Read more

"...But only when the seal to your ear is perfect.2. The battery life is great .3...." Read more

Customers like the quality of the headphones. They mention that it's very well made, has great sound, and is versatile. Some say that the box was unopened and not damaged at all.

"Biggest plus I have with these is how well they are made .. makes the price worth it.. u see I've gone threw like 20 pairs of ear buds...." Read more

"I'm glad that I Purchase these JBL Tour Pro 2 , very will made , fits in my ears nicely/ comfortably, screen on device is not a gimmick/ work great,..." Read more

" Amazing quality , and great sound as always." Read more

"...side, they are ok for regular modern music if you don't mind the somewhat weak ANC but for classical music they are virtually useless, JBL should..." Read more

Customers like the customization features within the app. They mention that the app lets them customize and adjust the EQ, different settings, and adaptive control through the phone app. Some appreciate the different modes and the adaptive control. They also mention that these buds literally customize to your ear.

"...The touch screen is perfect, the options with the app have technology that I didn't even know existed..." Read more

"...That was not possible with my cheaper JBL earbuds. The app lets you customize and adjust the EQ which is essential. Presets are not good at all...." Read more

"...Noise canceling is phenomenal, and the adaptive control through the phone app is very nice, so much so that I get annoyed when I can’t adjust..." Read more

"...The noise cancellation is on point, and the different modes are immersive . They may be meant for a great musical experience...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the performance of the headphones. Some mention that the on device is not a gimmick and works great, while others say that it's nearly unusable.

"...These JBL's are pricey but are by far the highest quality sound, best base , best noise canceling, etc. Excellent battery as well...." Read more

"...The fit is good, functions are great , and there’s not much I would change about them except I wish they had a longer battery life but these last..." Read more

"...2. The touch controls are not great. Almost unusable . If the volume is at all loud, you just can't hear the touch control feedback...." Read more

"...in my ears nicely/ comfortably, screen on device is not a gimmick/ work great , the JBL Tours Pro 2 sounds awesome and loud. I will buy them again." Read more

Customers are mixed about the value of the headphones. Some mention that it's a worthy investment in your ears, with good sound quality that's worth the cost. However, others say that they're not bad for the price and not worth the money.

"Biggest plus I have with these is how well they are made.. makes the price worth it .. u see I've gone threw like 20 pairs of ear buds...." Read more

"...These JBL's are pricey but are by far the highest quality sound, best base, best noise canceling, etc. Excellent battery as well...." Read more

"...I certainly think they are worth the money . A very different experience than any other earbuds that I've owned...." Read more

"...Compared to the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra this is way cooler. Worth the money . Has a excellent battery life and Bluetooth range connectivity." Read more

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  • Headphone Reviews

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: these earbuds have a screen

The touchscreen offers quick access to earbud settings along with extras like timers and even a flashlight. it’s not a super compelling addition right now, but this is only the beginning of what’s sure to become a trend..

By Chris Welch , a reviewer specializing in personal audio and home theater. Since 2011, he has published nearly 6,000 articles, from breaking news and reviews to useful how-tos.

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A photograph of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds and smart case with a built-in touchscreen.

Am I holding the future of wireless earbuds in my hands? Or are JBL’s Tour Pro 2 buds — with a charging case that has its own built-in display — a parlor trick negated by the smartwatch? Do you need these controls directly on the physical product when they’re all easily accessible via an app on your phone? I’ve been testing the new $249.95 noise-canceling earbuds for a couple weeks now, and strangely enough, it’s a difficult question to answer.

The Tour Pro 2 are the first to come to market with an interactive case; HP has announced something similar (albeit focused on enterprise customers), and Apple patent filings suggest that the AirPods maker is at least exploring this concept. But JBL’s earbuds are here now and start shipping today in the US after launching in other markets earlier this year.

Look, I know we’re all in this together for the zany case-with-a-screen experiment. So let’s get the earbuds part of this equation out of the way first. The Tour Pro 2 include an exhaustive, well-rounded list of features. Their adaptive noise-cancellation, which adjusts in real time based on the loudness of your environment, is impressively strong and comparable to the upper tier of competition. Battery life is another highlight and rated at up to eight hours of continuous listening with ANC on or 10 with it off — plus another 24 or 30 hours from the case, respectively. That outlasts the AirPods Pro, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, the Nothing Ear 2, and other premium options. 

According to JBL, the sound signature from these 10-millimeter drivers follows the revered Harman response curve , albeit with some extra bass tacked on. And while the Tour Pro 2 sound perfectly good, I still prefer the audio fidelity from the second-gen AirPods Pro, Samsung’s flagship buds, and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds. To my ears, those earbuds have more depth, greater dynamic range, and just lend more definition to whatever music is playing. The Tour Pro 2 don’t fully sound like $250 earbuds to me, so yeah, the case is factoring into that price. You get several equalizer settings to pick between, and JBL’s Personi-Fi feature can further tune the audio output frequencies based on your own hearing traits and preferences. 

The company also piles on other tricks like multipoint, proprietary spatial audio profiles (music, movie, games, etc.), an earbuds locator utility, and speech detection for automatically activating ambient sound mode. That transparency / ambient sound mode was where I was least impressed; it just sounds very stuffy, inarticulate, and lags modern competitors quite substantially. Voice call performance is clear and satisfactory, however, and the earbuds are rated IPX5 for water and sweat resistance. 

To sum it all up, the Tour Pro 2 are comfortable, sound good even if not great, and they pack plenty of battery endurance. JBL also notes that the earbuds are ready for LE Audio spec and will be updated to enable it once the spec goes mainstream. That could lead to more efficiency and even better battery performance. For now, Bluetooth codec support is limited to AAC and SBC.

A photograph of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds and smart case with a built-in touchscreen.

Now for the main attraction: that case. It’s pretty large by today’s standards thanks to the built-in 1.45-inch touchscreen LCD on the front. But there’s support for wireless charging, at least, which isn’t always guaranteed , even for the bulky ones. Do I wish the screen used something cooler like OLED or even E Ink? Sure. As is, you can adjust between three different brightness levels, but even the lowest setting isn’t particularly dim. Unlike the buds inside, the case only offers the slightest amount (IPX2) of water protection, so you’ll want to keep it dry. JBL tells me it might offer standalone replacement cases down the line since “I dropped my earbuds and broke the screen” is a dilemma that now exists, but it will likely replace both earbuds and the case in the event you damage any of them individually.

When you tap on the display, your chosen wallpaper appears. (There are presets, but you can also use custom images. JBL preloaded The Verge’s logo onto our review unit.) Slide your finger to the right, and you’ll start cycling through the different functions. And there are more than you might think:

  • Playback controls
  • Sound mode (ANC, transparency, etc.)
  • Timer: the earbuds will power down after your chosen time elapses
  • Spatial audio 
  • Screen brightness
  • Wallpaper selection
  • VoiceAware: this determines how sensitive the voice detection is
  • SilentNow: you can enable ANC even without music playing for a preset amount of time
  • Automatic play/pause ear detection
  • Notifications
  • Find My Buds

A photograph of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds and smart case with a built-in touchscreen.

That’s a lot of widgets to constantly be swiping between. You can (and should) remove the ones you don’t want through JBL’s mobile app for Android or iOS and cut that list down to a more manageable five or six screens.

Track controls and volume adjustments work well enough, although you’re never shown what song is currently playing; it’s just the controls. (You can’t fast forward or rewind by long-pressing the buttons, either.) Other core tasks like switching audio modes or EQ modes also pose no issue. But even here, I’m already questioning whether the display is necessary and how much convenience it adds. You can perform several of these functions through the remappable earbud gesture controls with the case stowed away. And yes, they’re all present in JBL’s app on your phone. 

I’m doing my best to ignore the possibility of ads on an earbuds case someday

But some inherent benefits do come with the screen. For one, there’s never any mistaking whether or not your earbuds are charging or how much battery remains. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve wound up with one fully charged AirPod — insert any earbud brand here, honestly — and the other fully depleted just because the contacts needed cleaning or didn’t align perfectly. But with the Tour Pro 2, that information is always visible in a small font at the top of the display. And since it’s the most pressing data for earbuds, it remains there as you swipe through the other widgets. 

A photograph of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds and smart case with a built-in touchscreen.

There are even some rudimentary, super basic smartwatch-like features tossed in: the case lets you see and answer / reject incoming calls, and it can show an alert whenever you receive messages on your phone. When I say an alert, it literally just says “new message on mobile device” most of the time, so don’t expect much context. The message notifications disappear so quickly that they’re rarely helpful, so I left them off.

Does the case make life easier overall? …Perhaps ? Technically it’s faster to grab the case and change some random setting than it would be to pull out your phone, unlock it, find and open the JBL app, and go hunting for the same toggle. And it’s nice to have the Find My Buds tool right there if you open the case and discover one or both buds to be missing. 

But all of these “benefits” come with a big assumption: do you really carry your earbuds case on your person at all times? More often than not, I leave mine in my backpack or my coat’s chest pocket. If that’s you, the advantages of this interactive case go out the window unless you change your habits and keep it within reach. 

The earbuds case needs to be within reach often for the display to be useful

I can’t imagine anyone who routinely wears a smartwatch will see much to get excited about with the Tour Pro 2, either. Apple, Samsung, and Google all provide deep controls over their respective earbuds right from their wearables; hell, the Apple Watch can now tell you how much noise the AirPods Pro (or Max) are canceling in real time. There’s only more synergy growing in these walled-off gardens. But JBL doesn’t have a horse in that race. Many companies don’t. So if you think about it that way — a platform-agnostic audio brand trying to stand out — the Tour Pro 2 make a bit more sense. 

Agree to Continue: JBL Tour Pro 2

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

By using JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds, you’re agreeing to:

  • JBL / Harman terms of use
  • Harman privacy policy statement

The final tally is two mandatory agreements.

And they’ve definitely got me pondering what’s to come. How long will it be before earbuds are a fully independent source of entertainment? It’s not hard to imagine some company building flash storage into an earbuds case and letting you sync music to it from your phone. You can already do so with a smartwatch; why not just extend that to the actual listening device? Maybe several years from now, we’ll be using AirPods with an iPod nano crammed into the case. 

A photograph of JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds and smart case with a built-in touchscreen.

I haven’t uncovered any singular compelling reason that will keep me using the JBL Tour Pro 2 in place of my favorite wireless earbuds. The surefire battery status is handy, but I’m too set in my ways to give earbuds valuable pocket space. That’s true for this first try, at least.

This concept isn’t going to begin and end with JBL — or HP, for that matter. I predict we’ll see others try their hand at “smart” earbud cases. Truthfully, no idea has ever struck me as more Samsung, but I suppose the Galaxy Watch lineup covers similar bases. Maybe someone will figure out a brilliant reason for earbuds to have a screen. For now, this feels like one screen too many.

But I can’t knock creativity and an attempt at something new. The Tour Pro 2 don’t measure up to the best earbud contenders when it comes to sound, but they definitely have a unique gimmick. They’re offbeat and weird. Let’s keep getting weird. Something good has to come out of that.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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