JBL’s new Tour Pro 3 wireless earbuds should really be called the JBL Tour de Force. The company’s second-gen Tour Pro were already the most feature-studded earbuds we’ve ever seen, complete with a touchscreen on the charging case, and yet the Tour Pro 3 go further. Much further. The price has gone up too — they’ll cost $300 when they become available for purchase on September 22.
At a glance, the third-gen looks the same as before, whether you get them in black or “latte.” Physically, the shape of the earbuds is unchanged. However, the case is a little smaller, while offering a 30% larger screen. It can also act as a retransmitter of both analog and digital audio when you use the included cables to plug it into computers, smartphones, or in-flight seat-back entertainment systems.
That puts JBL in good company: so far, only Bowers & Wilkins, LG, and Jabra have offered this feature on their wireless earbuds.
Curiously, when the Tour Pro 3 are connected to their case for listening to wired sources, JBL says it doesn’t use Bluetooth at all. Instead, it’s a proprietary 2.4GHz connection with the LC3+ codec providing the audio. “The direct connection between case and earbuds is more stable, and lower latency, than Bluetooth, making it the perfect companion for gaming, calls, movies, and music,” according to the company.
Calls may be significantly better when done via the case instead of Bluetooth: that 2.4GHz connection enjoys a greater bitrate than Bluetooth, leaving more bandwidth for two-way audio. JBL notes that the Tour Pro 3 are Zoom-certified when used with the case.
As before, the case touchscreen can be used to directly control many functions like playback, ANC, and spatial audio.
The earbuds now have both dust and water resistance with an IP55 rating. Inside is a new dual-driver acoustic platform. An 11mm dynamic driver for low frequencies has been paired with a balanced armature driver for higher frequencies, and each is mated to its own digital-to-analog converter (DAC). OnePlus recently announced a similar structure for its Buds Pro 3.
I had criticized JBL for making the Tour Pro 2 hi-res capable (in terms of frequency response) yet failing to include any hi-res codecs. That has been rectified: In addition to the case-based LC3+ codec (which is hi-res capable), the Tour Pro 3 support Sony’s hi-res audio LDAC Bluetooth codec, which is standard on any phone with Android version 8.0 or higher (though not on iPhones).
I had also suggested that Tour Pro 2’s spatial audio feature be upgraded with head-tracking like Apple offered on the AirPods Pro 2, and that has also made its way into the Tour Pro 3.
My calling experience with the Tour Pro 2 also proved to be a weak spot, and apparently JBL has made strides to correct that too: The Tour Pro 3 use a new “JBL Crystal AI” call algorithm, which it claims will enhance clarity even in noisy environments.
Finally, the Tour Pro 3 are JBL’s first full Auracast wireless earbuds. You can use the JBL Headphones app to find and tune into available Auracast broadcasts, and the charging case can also transmit using Auracast — a great way to share a movie or song with others. In fact, when using the case to transmit in Auracast, you’re creating a public broadcast, so anyone within Bluetooth range could conceivably listen in. Something to keep in mind, depending on what you’re sharing.
