JBL Tour Pro 3

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The $299.95 JBL Tour Pro 3 noise-cancelling true wireless earphones enter a market segment crowded with excellent options from Apple, Bose, and Sony. The Tour Pro 3s produce wonderful audio, cancel noise competently, have good battery life, and come with a feature-rich case that allows you to switch noise cancellation modes, change up the EQ profile, adjust the volume, and stream audio from sources like an in-flight entertainment system. Despite these strengths, the $249 Apple AirPods Pro 2, the $299 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, and the $299.99 Sony WF-1000XM5 each slightly outperforms the Pro 3 in one way or another, and all three are Editors' Choice winners. If there's any reason to pick the JBL earbuds over these class leaders, it's their advanced charging case, which makes them more flexible than the competition for connecting to your favorite sources.

Design: More Features Than Most

The JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds look and feel premium. The buds themselves have a stem design that is flatter than competing models and features the JBL logo. The design is attractive and helps the earphones stand out.

By default, the right earbud controls playback. Tap to play or pause, double-tap for the next track, and triple-tap for the previous track. On the left earbud, tapping cycles between active noise cancellation (ANC) modes, with ANC and Ambient Aware as the defaults, though you can choose to add an option to turn both off via the app. The left bud also enables/disables TalkThru mode with a double tap. Both earbuds can activate your phone's digital assistant with a tap-and-hold gesture, and both can control calls: a double-tap answers/ends a call, and a tap-and-hold rejects an incoming call.

The controls can be customized to a degree. You can select groups of controls for each earbud. For example, one earbud can exclusively control volume, playback, noise modes, or a combination of all three.

The earbuds are generally comfortable. JLB includes a generous six pairs of eartips in the box, one of which is made of foam. Even after trying all six sizes, however, I couldn't get them to fit as securely as I like. Consequently, while running, they dislodged at times, and though they didn’t completely fall out before I could wedge them back into my ears, I found myself correcting their fit more often than I wanted.

JBL's latest charging case is its most capable yet. It has a touch display that lets you quickly and easily control media playback, see the battery level, and control settings like the EQ and ANC modes. While it's easier to access EQ settings using the case than pulling out your phone and finding the app, most other controls can be handled using the earbuds themselves or your phone.

Thanks to a Bluetooth transmitter in the case, you can stream content from almost any audio source to the buds. You connect the case to your source (a record player, an in-flight entertainment system, etc.) using a USB cable or a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter. The charging case then sends the audio to the earbuds. This allows you to listen to sources wirelessly that don't have their own Bluetooth radios—something the Apple, Bose, and Sony earphones cannot do.

Otherwise, the earbuds connect to your phone via Bluetooth 5.3. They support Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, and Bluetooth multipoint pairing with up to three simultaneous connections. They also support Auracast, a newer Bluetooth technology that allows a source to broadcast audio to an unlimited number of Bluetooth devices.

Each earbud has two drivers: a 10.2mm dynamic driver and a 5.1-by-2.8mm balanced armature driver. The earbuds support the AAC, LDAC high-resolution, and SBC codecs and have a frequency response of 20Hz to 40kHz. They are rated IP55 for water resistance, which makes them durable enough for use in the rain or during sweaty workouts. The case does not have an IP rating.

The battery lasts up to 7 hours with ANC on and up to 11 hours with it off. The charging case provides three additional charges for a total of 28 hours with ANC on or 44 hours with ANC off. You can charge the case via USB or wirelessly. JBL says the buds need 2 hours to recharge in the case and that the case itself needs 3 hours to recharge.

The box includes a USB-A-to-USB-C cable, a USB-C-to-USB-C cable, and a USB-C-to-3.5mm cable for wired listening.

JBL App: Comprehensive and Elegant

The JBL app (available on Android and iOS) is nicely designed and offers access to most controls and functions. From the main screen, you can select your preferred ANC mode, tweak controls, and perform a fit test. Swipe over to the audio tab to access the EQ, the ability to enable spatial audio, and call sound settings (essentially an EQ for incoming calls and how your voice is captured through the microphone). The final tab offers access to additional controls like Find My Buds and Power Saving modes. All the controls are well laid out and easy to access.

The EQ is powerful. There are six preset EQs to choose from, and you can create your own using JBL’s infinitely adjustable EQ tool.

Noise Cancellation: Competitive Quieting

The active noise cancellation performance here is impressive but doesn’t equal the best-in-class Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, though it's pretty close to the AirPods Pro 2 and about on par with the Sony WF-1000XM5.

JBL's earphones are able to eliminate a decent amount of the noise from an airplane engine, including much of the low-end rumble. They don’t cut quite as much as the AirPods Pro 2, but they get close. This is true of bus noise, too, where the earphones reduce most of the engine noise and tamp down the higher-frequency scrapes and rattles common on buses. In a busy cafe, the earphones dial back a large portion of the background noise and excel at reducing the low-mid frequencies that voices inhabit. The Tour Pro 3s aren’t as good at cutting the high-end frequencies as the AirPods Pro 2, and they introduce some masking hiss.

The transparency mode isn’t quite as impressive, but it is acceptable and makes it easy to hold a conversation without removing the buds.

Sound Quality: Simply Superb

The JBL Tour 3 Pro earphones produce splendid sound. They offer deep bass with clear highs that put them in the same league as some of the best consumer models available—which we expect at this price.

On a track like The Knife's “Silent Shout," the earbuds deliver deep bass synth tones while offering enough oomph from the kick drum. The higher-register lead synth has a clean presentation, and the percussion is detailed and rich without being overbearing.

The kick drum in Bill Callahan's "Drover" has a nice thump to it, and Callahan’s vocal is as rich and full-bodied as ever. There does seem to be a dip in the mid frequencies, which means the acoustic guitar isn’t quite as rich as it should be, though this doesn't detract from the experience. This song is particularly clear, with crisp guitar string noise and vibrant percussion.

On “Loyalty.” by Kendrick Lamar, the excellent high-end response makes for a strong-sounding snare drum, while the deep bass response means all but the deepest of the song's sub-bass is faithfully reproduced.

Orchestral tracks like the opening theme from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary are simply stunning. The higher-register strings have ear-pleasing clarity, and the lead vocal shines through the mix. The bass strings have plenty of body, while the brass instruments are bright and clear.

The earphones support spatial audio, and the effect works well. It doesn't sound as natural as spatial audio does on the AirPods Pro 2, but the head-tracking is accurate. If you like spatial audio tech when listening to music, you’ll appreciate what’s on offer here.

The microphones are dependable. They capture a solid frequency response, and while there is some Bluetooth signal noise, it doesn't detract much from the overall experience. You’ll find whomever you’re speaking with can hear you clearly.

Verdict: JBL's Best Buds Yet

The Tour Pro 3 earbuds are a highly competitive showing from JBL, but they face tough competition. We appreciate their high-end design and intuitive controls, advanced charging case with streaming features, solid battery life, and, most importantly, outstanding sound quality. The noise cancellation isn't quite up to the level of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, but it's on par with the AirPods Pro 2 and the Sony WF-1000XM5. The $299 price puts the Tour Pro 3 in direct competition with all three of these Editors' Choice winners, and our recommendations remain unchanged. Go with Bose if you want the best noise cancellation, pick Apple for tight iPhone integration, and choose Sony for audiophile-quality sound. The Tour Pro 3 earphones don't earn our Editors’ Choice award, but they're an exciting competitor that we can easily recommend if you appreciate the flexible connectivity of their charging case.