tour pro 2 jbl review

JBL Tour Pro 2 review

Effective anc, gorgeous sound, and a case with a touchscreen — what more could you ask for.

Tom's Guide Verdict

The JBL Tour Pro 2 true wireless earbuds boast solid ANC, a premium build and design, gorgeous sound that’s consistent across a range of genres, and an innovative smart charging case. But there’s no support for advanced codecs and spatial audio falls short.

Effective ANC

Innovative smart charging case

Premium looks, build and features

Consistent sound quality across songs

User-friendly companion app

No support for advanced codecs like LDAC and aptX

Spatial audio isn’t great

Smart case unlocks in pocket

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• Cheat sheet
• Price & availability
• Design & comfort
• Connectivity
• Controls & app
• Sound quality
• Active noise cancelation
• Battery life

Price: $249 / £199

Colors: Black, champagne (off-white)

Battery life (rated): 8 hours (ANC on), 24 hours (charging case); 10 hours (ANC off), 30 hours (charging case)

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC, SBC

Weight: 0.42 ounces (each earbud), 2.6 ounces (charging case)

Durability: IPX5 rated

Here at Tom’s Guide, we’ve tested hundreds of contenders for the best wireless earbuds . We’ve also reviewed and raved about a lot of JBL products , but they’re often bested by premium brands like Sennheiser, Sony and Bose . Could the JBL Tour Pro 2 wireless earbuds change that?

The Tour Pro 2 boast an impressive feature set, all packaged in a sleek and premium design. With effective active noise cancelation (ANC), a handy TalkThru mode, various equalizer presets, an innovative charging case and a good battery life, these earbuds pack enough specs to rival high-end products in the price range. But there is no support for advanced codecs like LDAC and aptX for higher-quality audio handling over Bluetooth, and spatial audio isn’t the greatest. So are these worth the steep price tag?

For the full breakdown, read our full JBL Tour Pro 2 review.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Cheat sheet

• A very comfortable drop stem design
• Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC and SBC codec support, but advanced codecs like LDAC and aptX are not supported
• Smart charging case that doubles as a controller, but is prone to unlocking when in your pocket
• Wear detection for automatic pausing and resuming
• Great and consistent sound quality across a variety of genres
• Spatial audio doesn’t work well

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Price & availability

The JBL Tour Pro 2 have a retail price of $249 / £199, and we’ve seen them drop to $195 at Amazon U.S. and £180 at Amazon U.K . At this price point, these wireless earbuds have some serious competition from the likes of the Apple AirPods Pro 2 (also $249) and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ($299). The Tour Pro 2 earbuds are available in two colors: black and champagne (off-white).

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Design & comfort

The JBL Tour Pro 2 look like a pair of ordinary earbuds, although the long stem design is sleek and looks more sophisticated than many of the best noise-canceling earbuds available. Both earbuds have a glossy, matte finish, and the black model we tested looks premium. They’re quite light, with each earbud weighing 0.42 ounces. The long stem design is handy, too, as it prevents accidental taps when you’re adjusting the fit.

The Tour Pro 2’s smart case is something to behold and it feels innovative. The robust smart case weighs only 2.6oz, and it easily slips into your pocket. With a 1.45-inch display, the touchscreen is generally responsive but given its small size, those with large hands may struggle to get a reaction from it. The case doubles as a controller, allowing you to cycle between 13 settings, so you don’t need to open up the JBL app on your smartphone every time you want to alter the equalizer or enable/disable active noise cancelation. You can even turn the LCD screen into a flashlight (albeit nowhere near as effective as a smartphone’s). Nifty!

A downside of the smart case, though, is that it unlocked twice while it was in my jeans’ back pocket. I realized this only when I heard random beeping coming through the earbuds as the alarm had somehow been triggered. This is a bit annoying as, if the case is locked, only swiping to the right should unlock it.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Connectivity

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds use Bluetooth 5.3 to seamlessly connect to your laptop and smartphone, and they support AAC and SBC codecs. However, there is no support for LDAC and aptX — advanced codecs for higher-quality audio handling over Bluetooth — which is surprising given the $249 price tag. The Tour Pro 2 lose a couple of points here as similarly priced earbuds, such as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 and the Sony WF-1000XM5 (both priced at $299), support these advanced codecs.

These earbuds also support multipoint connectivity, so having them simultaneously connected to my MacBook Air and Google Pixel 7 Pro was handy as I could use both systems to play music or watch videos. I’ll give the Tour Pro 2 a point here as this is a feature missing from the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 .

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Controls & app

While you can control the JBL Tour Pro 2 with the smart case, the earbuds also have touch controls. Tapping the left earbud swaps between Ambient Aware, ANC and TalkThru, while you can go to the next/previous track or pause by tapping the right. Holding either down will mute the mic. All the touch controls were highly responsive during my testing, and the protruding touch panels are handy as they provide improved touch accuracy.

These earbuds also feature wear detection, so if you remove an earbud, the media will pause and then resume when it’s put back in.

The Tour Pro 2 earbuds are compatible with the JBL Headphones app, available for free on iOS and Android . Even though you can change pretty much every setting via the charging case, the app isn’t completely redundant. Personally, I used the app to remove a few widgets from the touchscreen and kept only the ones I knew I’d be constantly using. You can also customize the EQ and change the controls on the earbuds.

The app also conducts a test to check how the earbuds fit for the best seal, and an extensive test to help create a personalized EQ which can be applied to every song you listen to.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Sound quality

For the purpose of this review, I listened to a playlist on Spotify Premium, which is one of the best music streaming services , on my Google Pixel 7 Pro . With new upgraded 10mm drivers (up from 6.8mm in the JBL Tour Pro+), the JBL Tour Pro 2 offer an excellent listening experience, especially when it comes to the bass. As a bassist, I’m prone to noticing the bass in every song I listen to, so I was thrilled with the Tour Pro 2’s ability to amplify the bass without sounding overbearing. I’ve been playing One Pilots’ new album Clancy on repeat, and these earbuds fed into my obsession. The basslines in ‘Navigating’ and ‘At the Risk of Feeling Dumb’ sounded exceptional with the EQ set to bass.

I was also pleased with the vocal EQ, as was proven by how wonderful Paris Paloma’s vocals sounded in ‘Labour’ and the ‘Cacophony’ where the Tour Pro 2 highlighted the several singing voices in all their glory. These earbuds work so well that I noticed something new in Mitski’s ‘Brand New City’ (a song I’ve probably listened to 100 times). About 15 seconds into the song, a haunting instrument akin to an out-of-tune violin plays in the background — how had I never heard that before?!

While the overall sound is great, I found the spatial audio a bit lacking. On live albums, it works well at separating audience cheers from the artist’s vocals and guitar riffs. Give Green Day’s live performance of ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ a spin and you’ll see what I mean. But it doesn’t work with studio recordings, adding what feels like a tinny EQ.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Active noise cancelation

I rank the JBL Tour Pro 2 ANC highly. When you wear them for the first time, the app will conduct an ear canal test (you need to be in a noisy environment for this) to check for good sealing which makes ANC more effective. It also adjusts in real time based on how loud your environment is, and it works well. When someone was building shelves in the office, I could barely hear the hammer loudly striking the nails, preventing me from getting a headache. However, the ANC wasn’t as effective when traveling on a train — I could still hear the loud hum of the engine. Having used the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 in the past, I have to say Bose’s ANC is better than the Tour Pro 2’s. I’ve been able to easily fall asleep on airplanes while wearing the QuietComfort Earbuds 2, but based on my testing, I doubt the JBLs would be up to the task. but the same can’t be said for the Tour Pro 2.

In addition to ANC, the Tour Pro 2 offers two other modes: Ambient Aware, and TalkThru. TalkThru works especially well as, when toggled, you can have a conversation without needing to remove the earbuds. You can then switch back to ANC or your preferred mode via the smart case or tapping the left earbud.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Battery life

JBL claims the Tour Pro 2 earbuds give 10 hours of playback time, with the charging case giving an additional 30. With ANC on, this falls to 8 hours of playback and 24 hours from the case. I found these claims to be fairly accurate, as with ANC on, the earbuds died after 7 hours. This is better than the (6 hours with ANC on), but worse than the $219 Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 (10 hours with ANC on).

If you’re on the move and desperately need your earbuds, charging them with a 30W USB-A to USB-C adapter for 15 minutes gives you 4 hours of playback. The Tour Pro 2 also support wireless charging.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Verdict

It feels like JBL has struck gold with the Tour Pro 2 wireless earbuds. I now wish all earbuds came with this smart charging case. Its touchscreen is fairly responsive and it doubles as a controller, negating the need to pull out your phone and open the app every time you want to change any settings. With effective ANC that blocks out most noise and a consistent sound across a range of genres (especially ones with heavy bass), the Tour Pro 2 warrant a recommendation.

However, there is no support for advanced codecs like aptX and LDAC, which many similarly priced earbuds do (looking at you, Sony WF-1000XM5 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ). Also, while features like TalkThru are appreciated and work well, spatial audio doesn’t perform nearly as well, and it feels like listening to music with a tinny EQ.

But the Tour Pro 2 are still worth the steep $249 price tag, especially if you value effective ANC, an innovative case, excellent sound quality, and a premium build.

Nikita is a Staff Writer on the Reviews team at Tom's Guide. She's a lifelong gaming and photography enthusiast, always on the lookout for the latest tech. Having worked as a Sub Editor and Writer for Canon EMEA, she has interviewed photographers from all over the world and working in different genres. When she’s not working, Nikita can usually be found sinking hours into RPGs on her PS5, out on a walk with a camera in hand, at a concert, or watching F1. Her work has appeared in several publications including Motor Sport Magazine, NME, Marriott Bonvoy, The Independent, and Metro.

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JBL Tour Pro 2 review: the screen-toting case is fun, but the sound is just fine

With a touchscreen case and lots of settings these buds are fun to use but not fantastic.

TechRadar Verdict

The JBL Tour Pro 2's touchscreen is a winner. We enjoyed using it and so will most of your train carriage. There are lots of settings on offer here and the JBL app is fun to use. We thought ANC was pretty good and enjoyed listening to them, but they don't feel worth the price tag and some genres definitely sound better than others.

Touchscreen case is great

Various fit tests/EQ profiles add value

Good battery life

Sound could be better for the price

ANC is average

Rivals offer more

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

• Two-minute review
• Price and release date
• Sound quality
• Should you buy them?

Also consider

Jbl tour pro 2: two-minute review.

JBL is famed for its rock-solid audio products, the kind of shiny but affordable gems which reveal themselves as diamonds in the rough more often than not and almost always, always sound excellent for the money. So what happens when the company veers off its successfully navigated low-cost path to go all-in on a flagship set of all-guns-blazing, active noise-cancelling, uniquely screen-toting earbuds? Is our best noise-cancelling earbuds guide about to welcome a new arrival? 

The JBL Tour Pro 2 sit above (way above) the brand’s other earbuds – including the splendid JBL Live Pro 2 – which feature possibly the best active noise cancellation at the level I've ever experienced. But the huge upgrades are easy to see from the off; there's a whacking great color touch-screen on the front of the case for starters. 

This, dear reader, is a thing of beauty. It is delightful. It's fun, it lets you accept calls with ease (how many times have we tried our best to touch the correct earpiece in the right way, succeeding only in hanging up on our friendly caller?) and it provides simple, scrollable access to ANC profiles, alarms, spatial audio and other perks. During daily use, we find ourselves playing with EQ profiles and useful extras which might have seemed unworthy of the hassle had they been squirrelled away in an app, requiring our phone. Then again, the screen did lose its sparkle, so to speak, after a few days.

Because of said screen, we worried that the battery-life might be a little on the anaemic side. Not so – the total claim of up to 50 hours of playtime (or 30 hours with ANC activated) and a very good 10 in just the buds themselves before they need charging stood up to scrutiny. Fast charge means 10 minutes plugged in will get you five hours of playtime too, which is a smart trick. 

So off they go to our best true wireless earbuds guide then? We love the design; we love all of the sound tests and special customizations – including Personi-fi, which is one of the most thorough audio tests within a set of earbuds we've taken to date. We also think the JBL Tour Pro 2 sound good and ANC works well. But that's it. We didn't find the sound stellar, and we wouldn't rate the ANC as fantastic. 

Listening to music with the JBL Tour Pro 2 is a pleasant experience for the most part. Instrumental music, jazz, easy listening and soulful tracks sounded smooth. But bassy tracks, rock music and even some vocals didn't sit well with us. Vocals, at times, were a little tinny – especially with the built-in EQ profiles, which we didn't enjoy using – and it was hard to pick out the detail in powerful instrumental tracks, making for a muddy listen at times. 

To us it feels a little like JBL nailed it with the JBL Live Pro 2 and tried to go all out with the Tour Pro 2 – slapping a screen on the case, bumping up the specs, improving the sound – when really they're excellent buds and at times it feels like the Tour Pro 2 are a little overcooked somehow.

Don't get us wrong here, the JBL Tour Pro 2 are good. In fact, if you don't have many top-performing buds to compare them to like we do, you might find them great. But are they premium price tag, top-of-the-range great? We're not sure.  

JBL Tour Pro 2: price and release date

• Launched January 2023
• Coming to the US in Spring 2023
• Cost $249.95 / £220 / AU$350 

The JBL Tour Pro 2 launched in January 2023 in most regions and will be coming to the US in Spring 2023. The buds cost $249.95 / £220 / AU$350 in either champagne or black finishes. 

This price puts them slap bang into competition with the likes of Apple's AirPods Pro 2 ($249 / £249 / AU$399) and the Bose QuietComfort 2 ($299 / £279 / AU$429), some of the best true wireless earbuds you can buy today, a category in which the Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Earbuds also feature among the best, at $279.99 / £250 / AU$449.95 – although this particular set of earbuds is now available for quite a bit less than the original MSRP. 

In case it needs to be mentioned, this pricing puts the JBL Tour Pro 2 out of contention for our best budget earbuds buying guide, where the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus , Beats Studio Buds and Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0 rule the roost (although they aren't as fully featured of course). 

For this money – and toting the smart screen no other audio outfit has offered to date – the JBL Tour Pro 2 are on to a winner, provided the sound is up to snuff. 

JBL Tour Pro 2: features

• Excellent app adds scope to tailor the case
• Sound and fit tests add value
• ANC efficacy is easily beaten by AirPods Pro

You can customize the sound by telling the buds which sonic profile sounds best to you, in the Personi-fi 2.0 software. It starts out with an environment noise check (you need to be in a relatively quiet spot), then a wearing status check (you need to have a good seal betwixt ear canal and earbud). It then plays you nine chirpy sounds per ear, and you remove your finger when the sound is imperceptible. We take this test twice, and receive a different pictorial result each time. That said, the second time, the sound augmentation did feel more to our liking. 

However, other members of the team weren't as impressed and there was no discernible difference in the audio sample that plays after the test, no matter how many times they tried.

Still, we're not done. The Ear Canal Test (which must be done in a noisy environment) plays another music clip. After it, you can relax as the hybrid True Adaptive ANC does the rest. We note a slight hiss after completion, but toggling 'Leakage Compensation' and 'Ear Canal Compensation' within the 'Customize ANC' tab largely nixes it. We sit under an office heater at work and find it is quashed by the Tour Pro 2 ANC, but certain low-level sounds (cars passing outside, heeled footsteps on concrete) do creep in. Switch to the Apple AirPods Pro 2 and it's a different story – the bottom drops out of the room. With the Tour Pro 2, low-level sounds are diminished, but still, we can hear some extraneous background noise. 

The six-mic setup does promote crystal-clear audio during our tests – and the advanced built-in voice recognition can react to your voice, pause music and enable Ambient Aware, then resume the tunes once your conversation is over. This is really good, (it can be set to low, mid or high, depending on how loudly you and your colleagues speak) and we also find call-handling a breeze. But those are just two of a slew of perks, including an EQ tab with five different presets (or create your own), Spatial Sound profiles for music, movies or games, 'smart' audio and video modes, SilentNow (which aims to create a no-music silent bubble by turning on ANC but disconnecting Bluetooth – ideal for naps, because it can be set on a timer with an alarm at the end), Personal Sound Amplification (which can amplify situational sound from your surroundings – and between each ear) adding a volume limit and a Find My Buds feature, if one goes missing. All of this, and we've yet to talk about the features afforded by the case… All in good time. 

Before that, the buds: they feature a capacitive touch panel at the very top of the stem. You can switch noise cancelling on and off with a tap on the left stem, double tap for TalkThru and tap and hold to trigger Siri. All of these are customizable – at least to a point. You can’t decide which gestures do what, but you can select which gets priority on each bud. If you want on-ear volume control (which most of us do) you have to sacrifice either ambient sound control or playback options, which is a shame – but a relatively small gripe. 

We need to stress that the case helps in a big way, but we do think this experience could be subjective. The screen built into it never fails to acquiesce to our taps first time, quickly becoming a joy and a pleasure we wonder how we ever lived without. For example, we find ourselves scrolling straight to the volume tile (you swipe across) to alter volume rather than even attempt to use the buds. It's a brilliant addition – and within the JBL Headphones app, you can alter the screen brightness, choose one of five screensavers, toggle on message notifications and select which of seven further feature shortcuts you'd like to have access to on-screen. We toggle off SilentNow, since it's a feature we'll rarely use (we don't get to sleep on the job!) but for some that may be a priority. It's also very handy that notifications appear on this screen too – it really is like a smartwatch on your charging case – like calls and messages. 

Although we were excited by the case – and do think it could be game-changing for some – it's worth mentioning we did use it less and less once the novelty had worn off. If you find yourself forever opening apps that control your earbuds or headphones, it'll make a big difference. If you don't need to tweak settings much, it may be more of a gimmick.

• Features score: 4.5/5

JBL Tour Pro 2: sound quality

• Easy-listening, jazz and instrumental genres sound good
• Not for those who prioritize detail and dynamic breadth
• Doesn't have the punch or power we were expecting

These buds sound good, they really do. But they're not fantastic and that's what we expected with their price tag. Having said that, with lots of settings we did find a sound we enjoyed and think they definitely suit some genres more than others. 

We experimented with the different EQ profiles on offer and settled on leaving these off in favor of Harman's revered curve (the company's own heavily researched target sound signature, said to produce the best sound quality that most listeners prefer). That's because we found the EQ sound profiles to be a bit of a disappointment, especially vocals which were tinny and studio, which sounded far away. We didn't notice much of a difference in the others. 

We most enjoyed the JBL Tour Pro 2 for easy listening and soulful tracks. Proxima Parada's Musta Been a Ghost was smooth and the balance felt perfect here. The same can be said for instrumental and ambient music, like Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury's score for Devs. We like to listen to that while working and it provided an enjoyable soundtrack to our day. Having said that, instrumental music only sounded good to a point. Hildur Guðnadóttir's Joker soundtrack lacked the detail and the power we're used to from other buds. We had just been using the LG Tone Free T90Q buds so compared the two and the LGs felt more expansive, more powerful and enjoyable to listen with.

It's worth mentioning that spoken word sounded great and, strangely enough, the not-totally-perfect-but-fine ANC coupled with this fact made these good buds to wear outside if you like walking and listening to audiobooks and podcasts. We don't like feeling completely isolated from the world when we're listening on-the-move, so these did seem like the best of both worlds.

Tracks with more bass or rock music didn't sound as rich or powerful as we'd have liked. For example the 2023 Remaster of Iggy & The Stooges' Search and Destroy was a little muddied and we couldn't differentiate between instruments and vocals as much as we'd have liked, meaning there was an overall flat effect. Likewise, the Dead Weather's Treat Me Like Your Mother lacked detail, resulting in a muddied listen that wasn't altogether pleasant. 

Wondering if this was just something to do with rock music than the buds themselves, we listened to BANKS' Waiting Game and found the vocals more tinny than we expected – that's usually such a smooth listen – and the bass was powerful, but it had a fuzzy-sounding effect. Look, all of these examples sounded objectively fine, but we're used to trialling a pair of new earbuds at this level and being blown away by the new things we discover from our favorite tracks, that didn't happen here. Instead, we were underwhelmed.  

If you want buds for music while you're working or podcasts, we like these. If you're after audiophile quality or like powerful tracks – whether that's classical or rock – we think you might be disappointed here.

• Sound quality score: 3.5/5

JBL Tour Pro 2: design

• Smart case is really fun to use
• Battery life is surprisingly good 
• Some will struggle to achieve a seal

As with Apple's AirPods range, the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro , Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 and Nothing Ear (1) to name just a few, the JBL Tour Pro 2 sport little stems. Despite thinking that the driver housings look a little on the bulky side at first glance, some of the team with smaller ears downsize once and find the earpieces fit well very little fiddling. That said, those with larger ears may struggle – only three ear tips are provided, and one of the team couldn't achieve a seal good enough to pass any of the fit tests (more on these in a moment) even with the largest set, despite several minutes of adjusting them. At this level, a few more ear tip size options – and in different materials – is desirable. 

JBL has added its own more angular, look-at-me take on the AirPods' ice-white, no-sharp-edges design though. Here, there are lips and notches in various materials and finishes, including the rubberised driver housings, matte top plate and mirror-finish accents on the stems. There's even a little 'TOUR' embellishment written on the circumference of each bud, as well as JBL's branding on the tails. These are every inch JBL's top-tier offering and the design choices reflect that. 

Let's bypass the touchscreen for a second. The underside of the case hasn't been forgotten. This has a rubberized portion which adds traction and means you won't inadvertently swipe it off your desk – a small detail, but the gestural among us will love it. 

The 10mm dynamic drivers represent a significant leap up from the 6.8mm drivers found in the JBL Tour Pro+, and they're listed as Bluetooth 5.3 LE audio-compatible, too. So, it seems a shame that no higher-resolutions codecs are supported – no LDAC, no aptX (standard, HD, Low Latency or otherwise). 

With up to 50 hours of playtime (or 30 hours with ANC activated) and a very good 10 in just the buds themselves before they need charging, they also trounce most of the competition at the level for stamina. For comparison, the Sony XM4s have 8 hours in each bud, but only 16 in the case, and the latest Apple AirPods Pro 2 offer 6 hours in the buds and a further 30 hours in the case. Fast charge means 10 minutes plugged in will get you five hours of playtime too, but the case can also charge wirelessly. 

The JBL Tour Pro 2 have an IPX5 water and dust-proof rating. Interestingly, the case itself has a rating of IPX2 (just make sure you close it). So the whole package is splash-proof, but not waterproof. Many earbuds at the level offer at least an IPX4 certification (which means they'll survive a sweaty gym session) but certain options go much further. The Jabra Elite 7 Active carry an IP57 rating, which means they're dustproof and can be submerged in water at up to one meter in depth, for up to 30 minutes, and survive.

There’s a feature in the JBL Headphones app called 'Check My Best Fit', which plays a short clip of music to ensure you’ve got a good seal in each ear. It's no slouch either, telling us to alter the bud in our troublesomely-shaped right ear until we're good to go. We pass this test, but some of the team fail time and time again. To speak plainly, this is why we removed a star from the design score – if they don't fit, it's impossible to get the best sound from them. And that's not the end of the story when it comes to aural tests! We'll get to grips with further features below. 

• Design score: 4/5

JBL Tour Pro 2: value

• The screen is currently unique – and thus, hard to quantify
• Myriad extra fit and hearing tests 
• Audio and ANC can be beaten at the level

We don't hate these buds, far from it. If you want that case, you can't currently buy anything like it from anyone else. It's almost akin to adding a smartwatch to the front of an earbuds case. And if you're wondering whether it's fun to use, it is. We really enjoy the unique feature but know this is bound to be a matter of personal taste. The novelty did wear off after a few days. 

Despite some of our issues, the JBL Tour Pro 2 also sound good and we're always singing the praises of JBL's plethora of settings within its user-friendly app. But for us it's a question of value. Are they worth the premium price tag? Unless you're completely swayed by the screen, we think you can find a better sound and fit elsewhere.

Even noise cancellation, which we enjoyed, can be bested. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 , Sony WF-1000XM4 and AirPods Pro 2 outshine the JBL Tour Pro with relative ease – and although those first two options are priced close-to and a little more than the JBL proposition, the Sonys are now quite a bit cheaper.

• Value score: 3/5

JBL Tour Pro 2: should you buy them?

Buy them if….

You want that look-at-me smart screen Rarely have we looked at an earbuds case and been so wowed. You'll love pulling it out of your pocket and amazing your friends. 

You care about calls, especially when commuting The fact that you can just tap the touchscreen on the case to accept phone calls saves a lot of effort (and stress), especially when your phone's in your bag and you struggle with on-ear touch controls. 

You like a whole host of customizations If you like to know for certain whether your buds fit correctly and the hearing tests sound interesting (they certainly are) the JBL Tour Pro 2 remain a compelling option.

Don't buy them if…

You want the best sound money can buy JBL's top-tier buds will not satisfy the audiophile. Want the best sound quality possible for this money? You will find better performances from Apple and Sony (see below for this).

You don’t like a "toothbrush head" design Many wireless earbuds have a stem these days, (thanks to Apple's ubiquitous AirPods) but plenty don’t, so shop around if you want a more rounded or teardrop-shaped style.

You want the ultimate ANC experience The ANC here is acceptable, but look to the AirPods Pro 2 or the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 if you want the best noise-nixing earbuds on the market.

If our JBL Tour Pro 2 review has you considering other, non screen-toting true wireless earbuds, then take a look at these three alternatives.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 Own an iPhone? Want the best ANC experience from a set of earbuds? Look to the AirPods Pro 2 – their H1 chip allows you to seamlessly pair them with other Apple devices and the difference in terms of 'blank canvas' active noise nixing is quite startling. 

Sony WF-1000XM4 The Sony XM4s are at the top of our best earbuds list for a reason. Sound performance and noise cancelling here is excellent, as is call quality. And although their launch price was high, they're now available for far less than the JBL Tour Pro 2. 

Bose QuietComfort 2 The master of noise-cancellation tech is back on top here, taking the competition right to Sony – and these second-gen. buds sound even better than before. Battery life is nothing to write home about (at only six hours from the buds) but still, for similar money to the JBL Tour Pro 2, these are arguably the best noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds around right now. 

Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW If you don’t have top-tier JBL kind of money, consider the minimal, cubist look of these Audio-Technica buds that deliver great sound. Unfortunately, there’s no ANC (or screen), but the price is fantastic at only $79/£79/AU$129…

• First reviewed: December 2022
• How we test: explore TechRadar's review guarantee

Becky became Audio Editor at TechRadar in 2024, but joined the team in 2022 as Senior Staff Writer, focusing on all things hi-fi. Before this, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing and reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 22-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance starts with a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo and The Stage. When not writing, she can still be found throwing shapes in a dance studio, these days with varying degrees of success.  

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JBL Tour Pro 2 review

Jbl’s flagship wireless earbuds have high ambitions tested at £250 / $250 / au$330.

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

JBL’s Tour Pro 2 are a solid pair of wireless earbuds, but you can find far better sound at this price elsewhere

Fun, innovative on-case display

Well-made and smartly designed

Packed with features

Sound is merely OK

Middling ANC

Serious competition at this level

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

It’s shameful to admit that we spent much of the time before composing this review trying to think of puns revolving around the word “case”. After all, there’s no escaping the exciting novelty that JBL’s Tour Pro 2 bring to the party with their cute display that gives full touchscreen functionality from the front of the earbuds’ charging case. Gimmick or not, it’s something unique to JBL .

Time will tell if that sort of thing catches on, and while such an innovation may be the first thing to grab your attention, we’re more concerned about high-quality sound than a touchscreen in a place we’ve never seen before. There’s little use in recommending a pair of wireless earbuds for sporting pretty patterns or fun gimmicks if they make your music sound like it was recorded at the local swimming pool.

This is the standard that the JBL Tour Pro 2 must live up to, and it’s a high one. At this price, there’s serious competition from the likes of Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds II , Sony's WF-100XM4 and of course Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 , so a fancy charging case isn’t going to be enough to stave off such heavyweight rivals if JBL can’t deliver genuinely outstanding audio. Let’s find out if the new Tour Pro 2 are up to the task.

Comfort & build

The JBL Tour Pro 2 are as stylish and comfortable as you’d expect at this price. Some of our team had a little more trouble making a full seal, while others found these new earbuds nestled happily in their ears after a little perseverance. If you don’t manage to get a perfect fit first time, you may find yourself limited by the fact that JBL only offers three choices of ear tips to accompany its latest pair of wireless buds.

General build quality, though, is good, and while the earbuds themselves aren’t particularly remarkable to look at, their ridged edge pattern and neat, short stems are far from offensive to the eye. That case is a lovely item, robust and sturdy while never straying into the realm of bulky or obtrusive. The coveted touchscreen, meanwhile, is relatively responsive and usually pretty precise, even if it can take a few attempts to get a reaction from some of the display’s fiddlier commands.

JBL’s latest pair of earbuds are well-furnished in the features department, boasting a large stable of tricks for an impressive wireless experience. The buds themselves are call-enabled, with a substantial 40 hours of total playback (if you’re a very frugal user) with the case. On a single charge on the buds, you'll get eight hours of play with ANC on (or 10 hours with ANC off), while a 15-minute charging session can bolster battery life by around four hours. For comparison, Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II offer around 24 hours in total, whereas Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 manage roughly 30.

As you’d expect, JBL has also brought active noise cancelling (ANC) to the Tour Pro 2 party, with the JBL app and smart case both offering access to the standard Noise Cancelling, Ambient Aware or Talkthru modes, and while there’s certainly a difference between these three options, none of these settings is especially remarkable. Standing next to a moderately busy road with Noise Cancelling activated removes the general rumble of traffic, but the louder wooshes and bumps of individual cars, not to mention other intrusions, still filter through.

Bluetooth 5.3

Codec Support AAC, LC3, LC3+, SBC

Noise-cancelling? Yes 

Battery Life Up to 8 hours (single charge in earbuds with ANC on), up to 10 hours (ANC off); total 40 hours (with charging case)

Finishes x2 (Black, Champagne)

Weight 6.1g (each)

Most of these functions, including spatial audio, ANC and JBL’s onboard equaliser, can be set and adjusted via the charging case screen as well as through the app itself. In a further attempt to justify its own existence, JBL’s novelty display also allows for your smartphone’s notifications and alerts to come through, as well as allowing control of VoiceAware settings to let you choose how much of your own voice you hear on calls, autoplay and a very handy Find My Buds feature. There’s even a case flashlight, but it’s so limited in its brightness that you’d struggle to light up a mouse’s cupboard with it.

The question, though, is whether that display on the case is really needed. Sure, it’s nice to be able to make adjustments on the fly from a new interface, but considering that you’ll likely be playing music from your phone as a source (and therefore always have it handy wherever your buds go), there isn’t much of a necessity to also have a case display in addition to your phone and the detailed JBL app. Maybe we’ll be proved wrong, but this feels more like Google Glass than Google Earth.

All of this agonising over novel charging cases shouldn’t distract us from the main event: sound. Considering the superb sense of refinement and balance offered by Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II, not to mention the effortless dynamic quality of the AirPods Pro 2, there’s some serious competition to be had at this flagship price level. Our expectations, frankly, were high.

Sadly, the Tour Pro 2 don’t quite meet them. There’s nothing actively wrong with JBL’s game effort, but little truly grabs us as we work our way through our favourite tunes. Few tracks are coloured by a predominant or overbearing sonic bias, but whether you’re wanting to groove to Noisette’s Never Forget You or rock out to Wig Wam’s In My Dreams, there’s just a slight lack of dynamism, detail or personality on display throughout.  

Cranking up Kanye West and Jay-Z’s No Church In The Wild should be an invigorating experience, but the Tour Pro 2 always feel as though they’re holding back somewhat. That primal, driving drumbeat just doesn't thump like you feel it should, and there’s a limit to the expression and feeling from the track’s charismatic performers. It’s far from an unpleasant listen, it’s just not quite an essential one, either.

Smoother, more chilled efforts fare a little better. Pick out a softer track from De La Soul’s seminal 3 Feet High And Rising album and you may find the JBL’s more muted presentation better suited to tracks like Eye Know or The Magic Number, even if heavier, punchier offerings just don’t feel as thrilling as you’d like. 

Spatial audio compatibility is one of the Tour Pro 2’s flagship features, adjustable via the JBL app and case to accommodate three different modes: Movie, Music and Game. Setting the Tour Pro 2 to Music before loading up Apple Music and digging out sections of Gorillaz’s Cracker Island sees the technology working respectably, with voices and instruments somewhat separated into their own distinct areas with relative conviction. However, the JBL’s implementation of this spatial audio tech pales in comparison to the AirPods Pro 2’s more assured performance; during the album’s title track, Thundercat’s upper-range vocals envelop you in an echoey fog, while the funky piano on Silent Running has a far more distinct personality all of its own when played on Apple’s wireless buds. The difference is stark.

Ultimately, then, the listening experience offered by the JBL Tour Pro 2 feels a little thin, limited by a lack of excitement and dynamism that rivals are able to offer at this level. The Tour Pro 2 aren’t a bad listen, but they fail to truly thrill on a sonic level. 

JBL had its work cut out if it wanted to muscle in on the action against some seriously impressive rivals. Hovering around this price are some of our favourite earbuds, be they the Award-winning Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II or Apple’s superb AirPods Pro 2, both exceptional performers that would have taken something seriously special to be knocked from such lofty perches. 

JBL’s latest don’t quite have the firepower to dethrone such worthy rivals. Yes, that case is a fun novelty and yes, everything’s well-made, well-designed and easy to use, but there’s something missing from the ensemble when it actually comes time to getting stuck into your catalogue of favourite songs. The Tour Pro 2 buds sound fine, but fine just isn’t going to cut it when you’re coming up against the best in the business. 

Read our review of the Apple AirPods Pro 2

Also consider the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II

Read our Sony WF-1000XM4 review

Best in-ear headphones: budget to premium

JBL’s smart case is a fun innovation – but I can’t see it catching on

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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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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.

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

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. 

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. 

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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JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Welcome to the smart case era

The company jam-packed these earbuds with features of varied utility..

When it comes to earbud innovation, these days advances typically come in reduced size, longer battery life and improved audio. Rarely does a company offer something truly unique. But JBL seems to think there’s room for improvement in the charging case . With the Tour Pro 2 , JBL has installed a touchscreen display , giving you access to settings and tools without having to dive into its app. On top of that, these are a feature-packed set of true wireless earbuds, with a ton of options for sound customization, hearing assistance and more. But with everything the $250 set offers, JBL might’ve been too ambitious.

JBL’s product range features a mix of “traditional” earbuds, stick buds and sport models with an over-the-ear loop. The Tour Pro 2 fits in that middle category with a design akin to Apple’s AirPods. These certainly have a more refined look, though, with a mix of matte and gloss black plastic. The shape of the inner part of the earbud is ovular which, again, is similar to the AirPods Pro.

JBL Tour Pro 2

JBL threw a ton of features in the Tour Pro 2 earbuds, but some of them work better than others. The most interesting tool is the touchscreen smart case, but it’s not necessarily any quicker than reaching for your phone.

• Smart case works well
• Loads of features
• Smart case utility is debatable
• ANC can struggle
• Some features work better than others
• Sound leakage at high volumes

The curves here combine with lower weight to make for a comfy fit. The Tour Pro 2 are one of the few sets of true wireless earbuds I can wear for hours at a time without it becoming a chore. There’s a touch panel on the outside of both buds that can accept single, double and triple taps, in addition to long presses, for a variety of on-board controls. Plus, you can reconfigure those to your liking inside the JBL Headphones app.

The headline feature, though, is undoubtedly the case. Most earbuds come with a charging case, the feature list basically ends at charging. Some companies have added wireless transmission for use on planes, but nothing too crazy. The Tour Pro 2 comes with a “smart case,” complete with a touchscreen on the outside. As you might expect, it’s larger than what we typically see, but it’s not huge by any means. It’s equipped for wireless charging and there’s a USB-C port on the button for wired top-ups.

Software and features

The Tour Pro 2 offers a ton of features for audio setup, convenience and customization. All of which are accessible inside the JBL Headphones app and some are available via the charging case display. When you pair the earbuds to the app for the first time, the software will prompt you to complete a few steps for initial setup. Those include an ear tip fit and ear canal tests for ANC performance, voice assistant setup and a quick feature tour. The main section of the app displays battery status for both earbuds individually and the case right up top.

Everything else is situated on that main screen, accessible with a simple scroll. Ambient Sound Control is up top, giving you the ability to choose between active noise cancellation, Ambient Aware (transparency mode), TalkThru for IRL conversations and off. There’s the option to further tweak ANC by opting for Adaptive, automatic adjustments or by enabling leakage and/or ear canal compensation. Ambient Aware allows you to adjust the level of environmental sound the earbuds pick up with a slider.

Next on the list is Personi-Fi. This is JBL’s take on personal audio profiles. After completing a hearing test, the app creates a sound profile that also takes into account your listening preferences. Personi-Fi considers gender, age and more to build its custom preset. Before completing the process, the audio on the Tour Pro 2 was… fine. After the five-minute bout with tones at various volumes and frequencies, my sound profile produced improved bass response from the earbuds and what felt like a slightly wider soundstage. However, the tailored setting did lose some detail in things like softer background vocals, guitar distortion and subtle noise.

Sound options follow Personi-Fi. Here, JBL gives you a collection of audio presets as well as the ability to manually adjust the EQ curve. Any tuning you create can be saved for future use. You also have the option of enabling Spatial Sound on the Tour Pro 2, JBL’s take on spatial audio. Once you turn it on, the company offers three options based on what you’re listening to: movie, music and game.

The app gives you the ability to change the gestures for the on-board controls from this menu too. There’s a limit to the fine-tuning here as JBL has grouped all the options under Ambient Sound Control, Volume Control or Playback & Voice Assistant Control. Those are self-explanatory and you can choose to put one on the left and a different one on the right. The only consistent behavior is that a long press will summon your voice assistant on all three gesture options.

Three of the most useful features on the Tour Pro 2 are VoiceAware, SilentNow and Personal Sound Amplification. VoiceAware is an adjustable tool that allows you to tweak how much of your voice you hear during calls. JBL describes SlientNow as a quiet bubble, a feature that disconnects Bluetooth and turns on ANC. The company goes a step further by allowing you to schedule when the mode will turn on, how long it will be active and if you want an alarm when it ends (in case you’re planning to nap). Personal Sound Amplification is designed for hearing assistance, boosting environmental sound by 15 to 20dB and helping with conversations. When it’s enabled, you can adjust left/right balance and gain to fit your needs.

The smart case

While the main purpose of the smart case is to give you easy access to the Tour Pro 2’s features. I’m happy to debate the utility of putting everything on the charging accessory instead of leaving it in an app – software that takes only a couple more taps to open. But, if you find the entire concept convenient, I’m pleased to report that the touchscreen works well. You swipe from side to side to scroll through the myriad options available on the case and that panel is receptive to taps without issue. Plus, JBL decided to put battery levels, a clock and handy icons on the top edge, giving you crucial info at a glance. What’s more, when you’re on a call, those controls pop-up on case too.

The JBL Headphones app includes a section for customizing the smart case. Here, you can adjust the display brightness, select a screensaver, enable message notifications/previews and choose which features will be accessible on the touch screen. By default, the case shows Ambient Sound Control, Spatial Sound, EQ presets, VoiceAware and auto play/pause (when you remove the buds from your ears). That’s in addition to the lock screen wallpaper selector, screen brightness, timer, volume, playback controls, flashlight and Find My Buds that can’t be removed. The only additional feature that isn’t enabled by default that you can add to the case is SilentNow.

Sound quality and noise cancellation

The default tuning on the Tour Pro 2 is pretty average. There’s some decent clarity and detail, but the soundstage feels compressed despite a good amount of bass and a smidge of punch in the treble. Overall, things converge on the midrange, leaving the extra oomph on the table with tracks like Better Lovers’ “30 Under 13” and boygenius’ “$20.” Personi-fi helps open things up a bit, but as I mentioned, it comes at the cost of lost detail. You lose some of the texture of the vocals and guitars in that boygenius song, for example.

Another prime example of the lack of space in the sound profile is on Nickel Creek’s Celebrants. That album was recorded in a way that sounds like you’re in the room getting a private performance. Guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bass surround you with vocals sprinkled around to complete the vibe. On the Tour Pro 2, you lose the sense of the virtual room, so the songs just become music in your earbuds instead of capturing the atmosphere and energy of the tracking session. Personi-fi makes no noticeable difference here.

While there are a number of audio customization options in JBL’s app, they don’t do much to improve things. In fact, some make the sound worse. Spatial Sound’s effectiveness can vary depending on the genre. Sometimes there’s a noticeable improvement in the immersive nature of the audio. But with some content, like that Nickel Creek album, it seems like positioning is just moved up slightly, like it's trying to simulate up-firing drivers in a soundbar. In those cases, the sound is just relocated, not improved. I found it best to leave Spatial Sound off.

JBL threw a ton of features in the Tour Pro 2 earbuds, but some of them work better than others. The most interesting tool is the touchscreen smart case, but while it offers quick access to a lot of features, it’s not necessarily any quicker than reaching for your phone. Sure, everything is on the outside, but the company might’ve been better off fine-tuning transparency modes and ANC performance – among other things.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review

In terms of ANC performance, the Tour Pro 2 does a solid job in most circumstances. They’re very good at blocking the constant roar of a dishwasher, clothes dryer or white noise machine – things that conspire for the daily droning at my house. However, the earbuds struggle with human voices, especially if the person is close by. Listen to anything relatively quiet and you’re sure to hear the chatty person behind you.

One note on noise isolation that’s worth pointing out. Despite the ear tip fit test determining that all was well with the Tour Pro 2, there was a lot of sound leakage so the people around me could clearly hear what I was listening to. My wife was the first to notice, and while she says it happens occasionally while I’m testing, it has never been this bad. Sure enough, when she popped in the earbuds, I could clearly hear the tunes at volumes above 60 percent or so. It’s something to consider if you like to blast heavy metal in the office.

For calls, the Tour Pro 2 is a mixed bag. Confusingly, the TalkThru option in the Ambient Sound Control menu can’t be activated here. You can enable ambient sound mode, but that doesn’t pick up a considerable amount of your chatter. Instead, there’s that separate VoiceAware feature and it only works during calls. Again, it’s adjustable, so you can select the amount of your speech you want sent back through the earbuds. It works okay, but it’s nowhere near as natural sounding as what you get on the AirPods Pro . While TalkThru is meant for in-person conversations, it doesn’t pipe in much more of your voice than the transparency mode Ambient Aware. So, even if you could use it for calls, it’s not a great option for them. In the end, it just feels like different features here do variations of the same thing. Overall, call quality is just okay here, despite JBL’s promise of “perfect calls” via six on-board mics.

Battery life

JBL says you can expect up to eight hours on a charge with ANC on, plus another three full charges in the case. Turn noise cancellation off and you could muster two additional hours on both the buds and per charge in the case. During tests consisting of “normal” use – a mix of ANC, transparency mode, calls and leaving the buds to power off automatically – I got seven hours before having to dock the Tour Pro 2 in the case.

Oddly, I started getting low battery notifications when the case was still showing 25 percent left on both earbuds. Power plummeted quickly from there and after less than 30 minutes the pair was dead. I mention this to point out that the battery estimates on the case don’t seem to be entirely accurate, especially when you hit 25 percent. If you unexpectedly encounter a faster-than-expected drain, there is a 15-minute quick-charge tool that will give you up to four hours of use.

The competition

When it comes to premium true wireless earbuds, Sony’s WF-1000XM4 are the best you can buy right now. The company includes just as many features as JBL, if not more. You won’t find a smart case, but you will find handy tools like Speak-to-Chat automatic pausing when you start talking and the ability to automatically change sound settings based on location or activity. Plus, the M4s offer better sound quality and more effective noise cancellation on top of all the conveniences. They’re starting to get some age on them as they debuted in mid-2021, but that means you’re currently privy to a discount: they’re currently going for $200.

JBL threw every feature it could at the Tour Pro 2 . And that’s without even considering the smart case. That touch-screen-enabled accessory is the main draw but I’m not sold on the concept just yet. Sure, there’s something to be said for easy access to settings, but that only works if you leave the case sitting out on your desk. Otherwise, you can probably get your phone out just as quickly. JBL isn’t the only company putting a display on a charging case, so who knows, maybe it will become standard. Tour Pro 2 do offer handy tools like VoiceAware, SilentNow and Personal Sound Amplification. But overall they’re an average set of earbuds with okay sound, decent ANC and so many features you might not use some of them more than once.

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JBL Tour Pro 2 review: totally tricked-out wireless earbuds

“They're easily the most feature-rich wireless earbuds you can buy.”

• Tons of features
• Very good ANC
• Solid sound quality
• Strong battery life
• Custom EQ and controls
• So-so call quality
• No high-quality codecs
• Smart case doesn't add a lot of convenience

Rumors began to swirl that Apple might be considering the addition of a touchscreen to the charging case of the AirPods Pro 2. This was followed up by a rendering that imagined what such a touchscreen case might look like. Reactions to the concept were varied, from enthusiastic, to deeply skeptical. Digital Trends’ own Christine Chan was among the latter, claiming it was the worst thing she had seen that week .

Most of the objections, including Chan’s, were simply about the utility of adding a touchscreen to an object that really only exists in order to charge and protect a set of earbuds when not in use. Does it really make any sense? We may never know for sure — Apple’s patent applications rarely see the light of day as actual products — but we’ve got a very good idea thanks to JBL’s new $250 Tour Pro 2 wireless earbuds .

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Among the many enhancements to JBL’s second-gen Tour Pros, the most notable by far is the inclusion of a touchscreen on the charging case, which is almost exactly what the Apple patent appears to describe.

JBL’s version of the smart charging case lets you perform a wide variety of actions without removing your phone from your pocket. Ordinary things like playback and volume control, less ordinary things like changing how the earbuds respond when you remove them from your ears, and even some really extraordinary things like using the built-in screen as a flashlight. It can even flash a notification and the first dozen or so characters from an incoming email.

Some functions are always present on the case (e.g. playback) and some are optional — you can decide how many of the optional ones are included using the JBL Headphones app for Android and iOS.

The case itself is a bit bulky, but not much bigger than the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II or Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2, so JBL still deserves props for keeping things relatively compact.

The screen is surprisingly responsive and with the included brightness control (yet another function) it’s easy to read even in relatively bright light. You unlock it with a single swipe from left to right. But the question remains: is it easier to use your charging case than your phone? Most wireless earbuds — the Tour Pro 2 included — come with plenty of controls built into the actual buds, making several of the case-based options mere duplicates (triplicates if you include your phone). Of the remaining options that can’t be performed with the buds, how often do you really need to access them?

I definitely enjoyed playing with it — there’s a real novelty factor to it — but I mostly use my earbuds when I’m out for a walk or going to the gym and in both situations, I leave my charging case at home. For me, that makes it hard to develop a habit where I’d reach for the case instead of my phone (or the earbuds).

Most of the features are only relevant when the buds are connected to your phone, like playback, volume, spatial sound (I’ll get to that in a moment), and EQ settings. However, some remain useful even with no connection at all, like ANC, reminder timers, find my buds, and the flashlight.

In fairness, the whole case versus phone choice may be a red herring. If you’re using the Tour Pro 2 with a computer or tablet (or even a second phone) that doesn’t have the JBL Headphones app installed, the case can give you access to nearly every one of the app’s settings — that’s pretty handy.

Still, I can’t help but wonder about the other phone-less features that JBL could have included that might have made the Tour Pro 2’s smart case even more useful. It could act as a Bluetooth transmitter for times when you need to plug into a physical headphone jack (airplanes) — the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 does this — or it could have a small amount of built-in music storage for times when you don’t want to bring your phone with you, like an Apple Watch.

Those examples will likely never come to pass, but here’s one that might: With support for Bluetooth 5.3 and LE Audio , the Tour Pro 2 will probably be Auracast -compatible when this clever Bluetooth broadcast technology rolls out. At that time, you may be able to use the case to discover and connect to Auracast streams, with no phone needed.

For the Tour Pro 2, JBL abandoned the round, all-in-one earbud style it used on the original Tour Pro+ in favor of a more AirPods-like stem design. That was a good move in terms of comfort — the Tour Pro 2 don’t make your ears feel as full as the first version — I’ve worn them for hours with no problems. However, it’s not as easy to get a super-secure fit. So while the IPX5 water-resistant rating makes them robust enough to survive sweaty workouts or runs, you may find they don’t stay put through high-impact activities.

Speaking of Apple’s buds, the Tour Pro 2 offer a compelling alternative to the AirPods Pro 2 when it comes to sound quality. Depending on your settings, the two models can sound very similar, but JBL has a big advantage here: a highly customizable 10-band equalizer with factory presets and the ability to create and save your own custom recipes.

When pushed, these tweaks can give the Tour Pro 2 a big, commanding bass response, or they can be used to give the mids and highs greater presence. Admittedly, without any advanced Bluetooth codec support (they’re SBC/AAC only), these earbuds can’t live up to their full potential, but JBL goes a long way to make them sound great. Not only do you get adjustable EQ — but you can also leverage some new tools like Personi-Fi, which attempts to personalize the EQ based on your age, sex, and ability to hear various frequencies.

I’ve used lots of these systems over time and sometimes they produce impressive results, and other times, not so much. Personi-Fi accurately assessed my slightly diminished high-frequency sensitivity, though when I flipped the personalization setting on and off, I couldn’t hear much of a difference.

The Tour Pro 2 also attempt to compete with the AirPods Pro 2 in the realm of spatial audio , but in this case, I think the Tour Pro 2’s approach is less effective. Enabling spatial sound will take whatever you’re listening to and apply one of three digital signal filters: music, movies, or gaming. Each accentuates a different aspect of your sound — movie mode goes for a cinematic effect, music tries to create a greater sense of realism, while gaming enhances the precision of high-frequencies so you can develop a better idea of what’s happening inside your game.

You should think of them as three more EQ presets that you can play with. If you like them, great — go nuts. If you don’t, leave them turned off. But they are not the same thing as listening to an actual spatial audio source, like Dolby Atmos for movies, or Dolby Atmos Music . Moreover, they do not perform the same trick as Apple’s head-tracking for spatial audio, which alters the presentation of spatial audio based on your head movements.

I liked the sound of JBL’s filters — movie mode was my favorite — but I still prefer the sound of Dolby Atmos content. The good news is that missing head-tracking aside, these buds will still let you hear Dolby Atmos and Dolby Atmos Music as long as your smartphone and apps support it.

And that’s just the start of a startling list of tech tools that JBL throws your way via the Headphones app. You can perform a fit test, an ear canal test that ostensibly improves active noise cancellation (ANC), and there’s even an option for leakage compensation. Uh, pardon me? It’s sound leakage. ANC requires a strong seal to do its best work, but getting a perfect fit can be hard to achieve let alone maintain, so leakage compensation attempts to correct for those changing seal conditions. It’s the flip side of adaptive ANC, which adjusts itself based on how outside noises change from moment to moment. The Tour Pro 2 has this, too, and you can turn it on and off in the app.

I found ANC on the Tour Pro 2 very effective at blocking a variety of sounds from traffic to the whine of a vacuum, and it even helped reduce the intrusion of nearby conversations as I was trying to write this review. It’s at its best when you’re listening to podcasts, preserving the sound of hosts’ voices even in very noisy environments. It also works well as a tool for diminishing unwanted sounds when you’re not listening to anything at all, although in this situation, you’ll get the best results by using the Silent Now option. This disconnects the Tour Pro 2 from Bluetooth entirely and leaves ANC mode on. You won’t get any notifications or distractions. You can set the duration for Silent Now and the buds will automatically reconnect when the time is up.

This not only preserves battery life but also deals with an anomaly in how the earbuds work with audio connections to your phone or computer. When you’re not listening to any audio, the Tour Pro 2 still react to small changes in your device’s activity — like an incoming text message notification — which can affect how ANC works. It usually presents itself as a slight hiss that sticks around for a minute or two and then goes away until the next notification. Silent Now eliminates this.

The Tour Pro 2 has four versions of transparency. Ambient mode lets in as much outside sound as you want, TalkThru does the same thing but also dips the volume of any audio that’s playing so you can have a conversation, VoiceAware (sidetone) lets you adjust how much of your own voice gets piped back into the earbuds during phone calls, and Personal Sound Amplification is designed to make conversations easier in busy environments.

All four do an excellent job of bringing the outside world in, for greater awareness of your surroundings, but even at their maximum settings, my voice did not sound natural to me — nowhere near as truly “transparent” as the AirPods Pro 2. This diminished the value of TalkThru, VoiceAware, and Personal Sound Amplification.

Call quality on the Tour Pro 2 is surprisingly poor. Not poor in the sense that it’s bad — it’s not. Compared to many other wireless earbuds, it’s on par. I mean poor in the sense that it’s worse than on their predecessors, the Tour Pro+, and much worse than the similarly-priced AirPod Pro 2. Background noise is very effectively canceled, but my voice paid the price for this aggressive processing, becoming warbly and compressed-sounding in anything but the quietest of locations. If you’re primarily using them indoors, it won’t be a problem, but when outside, your callers will be aware of it.

Unbelievably, we still haven’t touched on all of the Tour Pro 2’s features. So before your eyes completely glaze over, let me give you the broad strokes. The charging case will charge wirelessly on any Qi charger, or you can plug it in with the included USB-C cable. When fully charged, it can recharge the earbuds three times from empty.

Battery life on the buds themselves is decent when using adaptive ANC, at a claimed six hours, better when you use non-adaptive ANC (eight hours), and very good when turning ANC off (up to 10 hours). Under ideal conditions, that means you can get as many as 40 hours of play time without needing a power source.

Keep in mind, these numbers all assume a 50% volume level, which may not be loud enough in all situations.

The earbuds have wear sensors and they can be turned on or off depending on whether you want auto-play/pause when you insert or remove them from your ears. I found it was very responsive when turned on.

You can use each earbud independently, and they support Bluetooth Multipoint for connecting two devices simultaneously — a very handy feature for jumping between a phone and a computer. It worked very well, with one exception: when connected to an iPhone and a Mac, the JBL Headphones app wouldn’t always recognize the earbuds. The fix was to disconnect the Mac, open the app, then reconnect the Mac. I didn’t have the same problem with two simultaneous smartphone connections (e.g. iPhone/Android).

Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair are both supported, for one-tap/click pairing on compatible devices.

The Find My Buds feature is rudimentary — there’s no Bluetooth location tracking in the app — but it can still be effective: one or both earbuds can be forced to emit a very loud tone to help you find them. It does not work if the buds are in the case, and unlike the AirPods Pro 2, you get no help in locating a misplaced case.

The notifications on the case — for texts or emails, etc. — is only moderately useful. If the case happens to be located where you can see it, you may notice the very quick, one-line message pop up, but if you miss it, there’s no way to get it back. A small envelope icon in the corner of the screen is your only clue that you missed one.

The lock screen art can be customized in the app. In the accompanying photos, you can see the Digital Trends logo that JBL preloaded onto our review sample, but you can use almost any image you like.

Your phone’s default voice assistant can always be triggered from the earbuds, but Amazon Alexa is also an option on both iOS and Android.

Finally, JBL even gives you some choices when it comes to controls. It’s not nearly the level of customization offered by Jabra or Sennheiser, but each earbud can be assigned one of three function groups: ambient sound control (for all ANC-related features), volume control, and playback/voice assistant control. Unfortunately, you can’t have all three at once, so some tradeoffs must be made.

If there were a prize for the most tricked-out set of wireless earbuds, the JBL Tour Pro 2 would win by a mile. No contest. It’s hard to think of a single feature JBL has left us wanting, with the possible exception of better Bluetooth codecs like LDAC or the aptX family. They’re comfy, they sound very good, and their ANC is more than capable. With excellent battery life and a charging case that is undeniably unique, I was only really let down by the Tour Pro 2’s handling of my voice both on calls and generally when using transparency modes.

Still, for the price, JBL’s latest flagship earbuds offer a ton of value.

Editors' Recommendations

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It's been a surprisingly quiet CES 2024 for new headphones and earbuds, but Audio-Technica (A-T) hasn't disappointed us. It launched its ATH-TWX7, a new set of hi-res, noise-canceling wireless earbuds that fill a big gap in the company's product lineup. The ATH-TWX7 come in black, white, or grey colors and are available starting January 9, for $199.

The ATH-TWX7 share a lot in common with A-T's flagship ATH-TWX9, but at $199, the TWX7 are a lot more affordable than the $299 TWX9.

Sennheiser's latest wireless earbuds aren't just built to withstand the physical rigors of a tough workout -- they're also designed to help you track and optimize it. The Momentum Sport are the company's first wireless earbuds to integrate heart rate and body temperature sensors, and they're compatible with some of the most popular fitness apps, including Apple Health, Garmin Connect, Strava, Peleton, and Polar.

Sennheiser debuted the Momentum Sport at CES 2024 and says they'll be available April 9 for $330 in three different colors: Polar Black, Burned Olive, and Metallic Graphite.

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.

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JBL Tour Pro 2 Review – Objective Perfection

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JBL’s Tour Pro 2 boast a pretty graph that masks the sheer lack of dynamism in the sound.

Score Breakdown

Click the label to navigate to the section.

• Battery ⓘ 98% good
• UX ⓘ 100% outstanding
• Design ⓘ 100% outstanding
• Portability ⓘ 50% average
• Battery ⓘ 100% outstanding
• Design ⓘ 80% good
• Mic ⓘ 75% good
• Sound ⓘ 41% substandard
• Connectivity ⓘ 90% good
• Waterproof ⓘ 75% good
• Carrying case allows a lot of customization without opening up the app
• Very good battery life
• Comfortable to wear for longer periods
• Good microphone performance
• Very good ANC performance
• BT multipoint
• Academically “well” tuned with no harshness
• No LDAC/AptX support; L3 support is still scarce
• Display on the case ends up being a party-trick
• Heavy, bulky carrying case
• Compression in the microphone
• Sound lacks dynamics
• Severely falls behind in terms of resolution, imaging, and staging

Unboxing and First Impression

Where to buy.

JBL has a long history attached to its name, with the legendary L-series of speakers being a mainstay of many households and recording studios during the 70s and 80s. Since then, JBL has transitioned into the mainstream and has lately been mostly focused on portable speakers.

The Tour Pro 2 are somewhat of an oddball offering from JBL. These flagship TWS IEMs intend to differentiate themselves through an interactive carrying case display. It’s a novel idea that might border on ridiculous for some, but let’s not be too rash to judge.

However, more than having a novelty is needed in this cut-throat market, as sound quality is the prime parameter – one where the Tour Pro 2 have to prove their worth.

Battery 98% ⓘ

• Battery Life: 30 hours (no ANC), 24 hours (ANC)
• Connector: USB Type-C
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Battery Capacity: 850 mAh

Battery life is outstanding, with the case holding 24 hours of extra charge. This takes the total battery life to about 32 hours (with ANC on). I have to charge the JBL Tour Pro 2 once a week.

The Tour Pro 2 support Qi wireless charging . So, the type-C port is not the only option for a quick top-up.

• Can be opened easily with one hand: Yes
• Pass the shake test: Yes
• Display: Shows detailed battery levels, customized functions

The case can be easily opened with one hand. The earbuds themselves are held with strong magnets.

The front capacitive touch display is the star of the show here.

The screen indicates detailed charging stats about the case and each earbud. Moreover, you can choose ANC modes, select EQ presets, and enable/disable a litany of other features without ever opening the app. Nifty indeed.

Design 100% ⓘ

• Shape of the case: Rectangular with rounded edges
• Material: Plastic
• Build Quality: Premium

The case is built really well. The lid shows no creak or wobble. The added weight makes the case feel denser, resulting in a sense of robustness rarely found in TWS cases.

Portability 50% ⓘ

• Weight: 73g (case only), 97g (with earbuds)
• Volume: 6 cm x 6 cm x 3 cm = 108 cm cu
• Portability: Average

The carrying case has noticeable weight, and it’s not one to disappear in your pocket. I am not a big fan of such bulk, but given the large battery and the front display, the extra weight is understandable.

Earbuds 74% ⓘ

Battery 100% ⓘ.

• Battery Life: 8 hrs (with ANC), 10 hrs (without ANC)
• Charge Time (15 mins): 240 mins playback time

The earbuds last about 8 hours before they run dry (with ANC on). You can turn off the ANC and get 10 hrs on a single charge.

The JBL Tour Pro 2 need about 2 hours to charge fully (with the case), but you can get up to 240 minutes of playback time with just 15 minutes of charge.

• Control Mechanism: Touch
• Touch Accuracy: Reliable
• Control Symmetry on both earbuds: Yes
• Mono Use: Yes, both sides

The stem has a fairly responsive touch-sensitive panel built-in. Accidental taps and activations are minimal. The various touch controls can be remapped to whatever you prefer via the app.

Design 80% ⓘ

• Profile: Low
• Comfort: Outstanding
• Fit: Outstanding

The JBL Tour Pro 2 have a bland, unremarkable design language.

The build is all plastic, resulting in a look that doesn’t befit the price tag. There is also a wear-detection sensor on the inside, which works well in practice. At the bottom, there are the charging pins.

Fortunately, the fit is great. The earpieces fit snugly and are stable even when working out.

There is one vent near the nozzle. I did not notice any pressure buildup when wearing the Tour Pro 2.

• Noise Cancellation: Good
• Voice Pick-up: Outstanding

Thanks to six dedicated microphones, the mic has exceptional voice pickup in a quiet environment.

In very noisy environments, the very aggressive noise cancellation results in some break-up. However, such extreme cases should not arise in a day-to-day situation.

The VoiceAware feature allows you to reroute your voice back to the earpiece for a more natural sound during calls.

• Jbl tour pro 2 quiet
• Jbl tour pro 2 noisy

Sound 41% ⓘ

• Driver : 10mm single dynamic driver
• Sound Signature: Neutral with sub-bass boost
• Bass: Average
• Mids: Average
• Treble: Substandard
• Sound Detail: Substandard

The JBL Tour Pro 2 utilize a single dynamic driver. Unfortunately, that’s all the details about the internals from the promotional materials.

The JBL Tour Pro 2 follow the Harman target closely, with some deviations in the treble region.

Taken in isolation, the graph is excellent if you are one of those “academically inclined” listeners who prefer their IEMs to hit a specific “target” curve.

Unfortunately, the sound is only “good” on paper. During actual listening, the Tour Pro 2 turn out to be dull, lacking in texture, detail, and dynamics.

The bass is slow and nebulous, with the strong sub-bass rumble being the only saving grace. Fast basslines are not rendered well, as the bass notes bleed into each other.

The mids sound correct for the most part, though there is some haziness in the lower-mids. The upper-mids are not shouty and mostly pushed to the front, resulting in well-articulated female vocals.

The treble is elevated more than the Harman target, but tends to sound very compressed and “low resolution.” Given the otherwise “perfect” frequency response, it’s a strange phenomenon. The upper-treble extension is also lacking, furthering the lack of overall resolution.

Staging is intimate, while imaging is mostly left and right with no sense of frontal projection or ordinal placement of instruments.

The macrodynamic punch is decent in the bass region but sounds compressed overall. Microdynamic shifts are imperceptible, resulting in subtle changes in volume not being picked up at all.

Overall, the sheer lack of resolution and other “technical” parameters make the Tour Pro 2 a severe letdown, especially at the given price point. They do not sound “bad” in terms of tuning, far from it, but there is no engaging factor in the sound. A shame, really.

ANC performance is very good overall as it reduces low-frequency noise drastically, whereas high-frequency sounds are dampened to a degree.

Connectivity 90% ⓘ

• Audio Codec : AAC
• Bluetooth Version: 5.3
• Bluetooth Chip: N/A
• Auto-connect when: Case lid opened
• Average drop-outs in an hour: 0-3 times
• Multi-point connection: Yes

Multipoint support is present, and it is seamless to switch between an Android phone and a Windows PC. The latest Bluetooth 5.3 and class 1 support is here, resulting in a long connection range and exceptional stability.

Waterproof 75% ⓘ

• IP Rating: IPX5

The IPX5 rating means that the JBL Tour Pro 2 are secure from minor splashes and water sprays, but there is no dust protection.

Software 100% ⓘ

• Available on: Android & iOS
• 10-band EQ and Personi-fi 2.0 .
• Spatial sound.
• Customizable gesture and ANC modes.
• Auto-Pause: Yes.

The ANC can be customized with specific levels of “feedback” from the environment that the user can dial in via settings. Many of the app functionalities can be accessed via the display on the case, so you don’t have to pick up your smartphone for a quick EQ preset change, for example.

The EQ is fairly comprehensive, offering 10 bands of adjustment. The Personi-Fi feature is a variation of the “sound personalization” feature that many competing TWS IEMs offer. It tended to boost bass consistently for me, so it’s probably not a good audiophile solution, but your mileage may vary.

The Spatial Sound presets worked well, with a convincing expansion of the stereo image without sacrificing details or imaging. The upper-treble was boosted too much at times, so I found myself turning this feature off for music.

In short: class-leading companion app with a dizzying array of customizability.

The JBL Tour Pro 2 get nearly everything right apart from the sound. The ANC performance is excellent, rivaling the best in class. The microphone array is competent, while the app is the most comprehensive I have come across.

Also, let’s not forget that display on the case, though it was nothing short of a gimmick for me in the long run.

Sadly, the Tour Pro 2 sound unrefined, and the lack of resolution for the asking price is a deal breaker. As such, I cannot recommend them since they fail at the most fundamental aspect – sound quality.

The current predicament might be a combination of poor quality driver, sub-optimal acoustic chamber design, and codec compression. I hope JBL can focus on refining the tuning and finding an engaging signature in the next release instead of relying on cool gimmicks.

• JBL official  store

💬 Conversation: 6 comments

Quality good sound

What spinfit eartip model did you manage to fit in the Tour Pro 2? Do they fit snuggly well? Spinfit does not list this buds model on their website.

The Spinfit CP-1025 worked for me (it’s also added as a note in the review). The tips fit well and there were no issues placing the earbuds in the case.

Probably late to the party, but what EQ preset are your measurements taken with? Is it the default jazz profile? Thanks

It was the default profile, yes.

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Related articles.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: pretty much as good as wireless earbuds get

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds are futuristic – but that doesn't stop them being some of the best wireless earbuds right now

It would be easy to disregard the JBL Tour Pro 2 as a gimmick. It would also be foolish, and short-sighted. The screen on the case is genuinely useful, and the sound quality is as good or better than 95% of the competition. A top pick for your ANC earbud needs.

Great battery life

Powerful EQ

Strong sound

Spatial sound is hit-and-miss

Screen is sometimes slow

Why you can trust T3 Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

If you're looking for a pair of the best wireless earbuds , it's fair to say competition is fierce. There are a whole host of options out there, from high-end luxury devices, to more affordable units that still boast strong specs.

Even if you narrow it down to a pair of the best noise cancelling headphones , the waters are muddied. That causes brands to try new things in a bid to stand out.

That's evident of the earbuds I'm testing here. The JBL Tour Pro 2 packs a touch screen on the front of the charging case. That allows users to make adjustments on the case itself, without having to grab your phone and go into the app.

But, the question is, is it any good? Let's take a closer look.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Price and Availability

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds retail for £249.99 in the UK. They currently aren't available on the US JBL website.

You can purchase the JBL Tour Pro 2 from the JBL website. It's also available at other retailers like Currys , Very and AO.com .

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: What's new?

If we compare these buds to the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS which came before it, it's clear this is pretty much all new. The driver is now a whopping 10mm, up from 6.8mm on the previous generation.

The case is slightly heavier than the older one, but – crucially – the buds are lighter. They're 0.42g per bud, shaving off 0.08g compared to the previous generation. The battery life is also given a fairly substantial upgrade. JBL rate the total change time for case and buds at 40 hours, up from 24. The maximum time for with and without ANC also gets boosted, up to 8 and 10 hours, respectively.

Of course, the biggest change here is the screen on the front. It's fully touchscreen and – though no official dimensions are listed – measures just shy of an inch and half across. Users can use it to control playback, EQ and more. It can even display notifications you receive.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Design

In order to accommodate the touch screen, the Tour Pro 2 doesn't have the bullet-style case. Instead, it's more squared, with a taller, bulkier profile. It's definitely not the most pocket-friendly pair of earbuds I've ever reviewed.

That being said, it's not unattractive. The case sides are rounded, while the bottom is just about flat enough to stand upright. My review unit comes in a dark grey finish. It's nicely matted, with gentle flecks that give it a metallic appearance. The band of gloss around the catch breaks things up nicely, too.

The buds themselves are nicely designed, too. Sure, they aren't going to take home any prizes, but they're sleek and inoffensive. The stems feature a concave glossy material, with the matte JBL logo set on top. The bud portion features some concentric ridging where it meets the stem. It's a neat little nod, reminiscent of the ribbing on a speaker cone.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Performance

Let's start with the performance of the touch screen. It's a lot better than I'd expected. Everything is laid out in a really intuitive way, with large buttons to make selections easy. It is sometime a little janky. There's sometimes a bit of lag when swiping or pressing buttons, which does make it feel less useful. When it works right, though, it's a breeze.

I guess the real question is, would I opt to use that instead of the app on my phone? Personally, I definitely would. Don't get me wrong, the JBL app is one of the better ones I've used. It's effortlessly simple, and clean to look at. But I'd still prefer not to take my phone out at all if I can.

One last thing on the screen. It does give notifications, but don't get your hopes up. You'll get the first ten or so words of the notification and that's about it. You'd probably see more on a smartwatch .

Okay, now let's talk sound. In short, these earbuds sound gorgeous. As stock, you'll find a nicely balanced profile, which lets through a brilliant amount of detail. Sound is nicely spaced, making it easy for more complex audio to sound clear and defined.

If you only run the stock profile, though, you're getting about 30% of what these can do. Dive into the app and you'll find a host of powerful sound-sculpting tools. Chief among them is the Graphic EQ. The stock profiles suit a range of scenarios, and do a fairly good job. You can also add in your own curves for precise, personalised tuning.

It also features spatial sound. This, I found to be a bit hit and miss. It works really nicely on live albums, where the separation between audience noise and artist is welcome. On other tracks though, it just seemed to add an odd EQ setting. Sometimes it works, but most of the time I preferred it switched off.

They're also noise cancelling. It's hard to quantify how good the ANC is, but this is as good as any I've tested yet. Outside noise is capped and you're left to enjoy your own personal bubble of musical goodness. The ambient setting works nicely too, allowing external sounds in without overshadowing the music. Plus, the extra TalkThru setting dips the level of your music so you can have a conversation without having to remove your earbuds.

Battery life is also every bit as good as they say. I was averaging 10 hours from the buds and about 40 with the case, just as the spec sheet suggests. In regular use – around 40 minutes of commuting, plus a few hours at work and the gym – these were easily lasting 10 days before they needed topping up. And when they need a charge, they're pretty snappy. I found it was a shade quicker than the 2 hours rated by JBL – a fine showing, indeed!

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Verdict

It would be easy to look at this device and think it was just a gimmick. That's not a fair assessment, though. The screen is innovative and it really is useful.

But beyond all of that, these are just a really great pair of earbuds. You're getting great sound quality, powerful sculpting possibilities, and great ANC and ambient sound profiles.

There are only a handful of earbuds that offer better sound than these, and even then it's close. Unless you're a real audiophile on the hunt for studio-quality sound, you're unlikely to spot the difference. 

Online news writer at T3.com, Sam has five years of experience in online and print journalism, with work featured in publications like Metro and Last Word on Sports. After years writing about music and football, Sam now turns his hand to bringing you news about new phones, smart home products, smart watches, laptops and TVs. Sam is a longtime fan and user of Apple products, including iPhones, MacBooks and Apple Watches.He’s also T3’s resident football expert, bringing you everything you need to know about the big games, including how to watch them. In his spare time, Sam is a keen guitarist, watch lover and (very) amateur golfer. 

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Jbl tour pro 2 review: smart earbuds, smart case.

No gimmicks here, the case should be a template for premium buds going forward

It’s refreshing to see a company experimenting with something different in the sea of wireless earbud homogeneity. JBL’s Tour Pro 2 breaks new ground for premium earbuds by pairing them with a touchscreen-equipped charging case. While they’re not cheap and have some bugs and half-baked aspects, JBL did a great job on its first time out.

JBL Tour Pro 2

JBL’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds come with the first case equipped with a built-in touchscreen, which offers access to player controls and settings without reaching for a smartphone. The buds are also excellent, thanks to top-notch ANC, long battery life, great audio, and many useful features. There’s so much packed into these buds that it’s easy to see why they carry one of the higher price tags.

• Highly functional touchscreen case
• Exceptional active noise canceling
• Great audio quality
• Lots of useful features
• Expensive compared to comparable earbuds
• Earbuds are a little hard to seat in the case
• Multipoint connectivity is not fully baked
• Audio codecs are somewhat limiting
• No low-latency mode

Price and availability

There are only two colors, Black and Champagne, and no configuration or packaging variations. You can get the earbuds and case for $249.95, available through JBL’s website and authorized retailers.

Hardware and design

The earbuds are average in size and shape, and the design looks premium with a mix of glossy and matte finishes. The JBL logo is printed on each bud but fairly subtle. I was happy with the fit and comfort. It takes about an hour before fatigue sets in, slightly longer than usual for my ears. The buds do work themselves slightly loose after a while, but haven’t fallen out of my ears, even with heavy activity.

Popping buds from the case with just a thumb is precarious because they tend to fly out, but they can be lifted out with a two-finger pinch. Returning them to the case is a bigger challenge because the stems must slide into narrow slots, but there’s very little groove to guide them in. It takes some focus each time. Oh, and the magnet holding the buds in place is strong enough that it takes a very hard shake to knock them loose.

The highlight of the Tour Pro 2 is a touchscreen covering half of the case, which, combined with an above-average battery, means the case is a bit chunkier than usual. However, it’s still fairly normal in size and shape, and the edges are gently rounded, so it still easily slides into most pockets. And let me allay some fears now; there’s a small lip just above the display that lifts it enough to avoid direct contact with flat surfaces. That should cut down on scuffs and scratches.

The touchscreen experience reminds me of a Fitbit, but with more functionality. There are about a dozen screens to swipe through with different controls or settings, and they all look pretty modern. It’s usually very responsive, though some settings are a little laggy.

Controls range from the obvious playback and volume buttons to more advanced settings for things like switching ANC and EQ profiles. In fact, most of the settings available in the app can be toggled or modified from the case. There’s even a tiny picker for the lockscreen wallpaper. While the app is necessary for setting up the buds, installing firmware, and creating EQ curves, everything you’ll need for day-to-day use can be done through the touchscreen.

There are a few extra functions available, including a Find My feature for sounding a loud tone through either bud or SilentNow for disconnecting Bluetooth while running ANC for a notification-free time period. There’s even a Flashlight mode that turns the screen white. It’s too dim to fill a room, but bright enough to spot nearby obstacles. It has come in handy more times than I expected.

I’m sure many people will see the case as a gimmick, and I can’t blame them. It’s certainly not a necessity, and I’m not sure most people will get enough from it to justify the premium price tag. However, I appreciate that it’s a purpose-built set of controls, and they’re generally a little more convenient than reaching for the phone and opening an app just to change sound profiles.

While my impressions are generally positive, there are plenty of ways to fine-tune the experience. At a minimum, I’d like to remove any screen from the carousel, and the lockscreen should also show some information like the clock and battery levels.

Audio and ANC

Audio quality is technically very good with a wide dynamic range, but it might not deliver the experience most people have become accustomed to. Out of the box, JBL tuned these to produce a fairly flat studio sound, which leans very neutral. If you’ve been listening to bass-heavy cans from companies like Beats, or budget earbuds tuned the same way to cover up weak mids, the Tour Pro 2 buds may leave your ears confused.

This is where JBL’s Personi-Fi feature comes in, and it’s crucial to adding back a lot of the vibrance. The app performs a series of hearing tests to build a custom sound profile for the listener. I’m not convinced the test is more than technological theater, but it unlocks an enriched sound profile that targets the Harman curve.

There is also an impressively flexible equalizer worth spending some time to tune. It includes five presets, most of which are nearly useless. Custom curves can also be created, and trust me, you’ll be happier creating some of your own.

Low-end frequencies come through with excellent clarity, making every beat and drum hit feel tight. There’s no muddiness or distortion, and bass notes stand out nicely, just not with a ton of strength. Even a bass-heavy EQ curve produces barely any tangible rumble or shake, which may be a deal-breaker for bass lovers.

The mids are something of a wild card. Before activating Personi-Fi, they sound a little loose and underpowered. It’s not bad, but vocals and some instruments feel muted and lacking emphasis. With Personi-Fi active, the mids gain more depth and character. Combined with a well-tuned EQ curve, the sound is pretty remarkable. The lower-mids can get muddy and conflict with the bass tones, but a carefully tuned EQ curve can keep this in check and bring out a ton of great flavor.

Likewise, highs have plenty of interesting character and range. They’re a little restrained at the top, which limits the shrill tones from excessive treble. Nevertheless, they stand on their own and still play nicely with the mids. All told, these might be the best earbuds I’ve ever listened to, but they’re finicky and require more work to perfect than I think most people will put into them, and I still feel like I’m not done.

The soundstage is fairly expressive to the sides and angles, but frontal projection is a bit lacking. I also don’t get a sense of spaciousness, and instruments sound like they’re just over my shoulder. Spatial Audio doesn’t add much to the depth, especially for music, though I wasn’t impressed with it on movies either. If anything, it sounds like a basic filter to add echo.

ANC performance is sometimes really good; other times, it’s exceptional. No other earbuds or headphones I’ve listened to have been so effective at eliminating ambient noise. They effectively mute my obnoxiously loud desk fan, including the sound of wind buffeting the buds. It even makes a fairly loud CostCo sound like a library. Nearby voices and other distinctive sounds cut through, just as I would want them to, but the din of casual conversation and machines drop to a faint whisper.

The algorithm can still be inconsistent, sometimes only turning down the noise rather than eliminating it. Even when it’s not as aggressive, the ANC still beats anything I’ve ever tried. I haven’t had the opportunity to use the latest earbuds from Sony or Bose, but JBL may be on track to take on the champions soon.

Codec support is a little disappointing, particularly for the price. There’s no support for any aptX variants or LDAC. As you would expect, SBC and AAC are supported, the latter of which will appease most listeners. LC3 is also purportedly supported and will someday be a great alternative to aptX, but it doesn’t seem to work on my Pixel 7 Pro, which doesn't support it. JBL also plans to add LC3+ in a future firmware update.

Call quality is comparable to most of the Bluetooth earbuds I’ve tried, but noise reduction can be overly aggressive and chop up speech in some instances.

Battery and charging

JBL rates earbud battery life at eight hours with ANC and ten hours without. While I never ran the buds down entirely, this seems to be fairly accurate.

The case is supposed to provide up to three full charges to the buds. That would probably be true if not for the touchscreen, which also sips power while it’s active. In my experience, it’s actually too thirsty, so it would only carry about two and a half chargs, at most. That’s still really good given the lifespanThat'sch bud. Wireless charging is also supported.

App and features

Google Fast Pair is supported for that first connection and works great. However, there’s no way to initiate pairing from the touchscreen or button, which makes it more difficult for devices without Fast Pair, like my laptop. The only way to enter pairing mode is by making sure the currently paired device is out of range or has Bluetooth turned off.

At least this effort reveals that multipoint support is present. JBL doesn’t advertise multipoint as a feature on the Pro 2, probably because it’s not quite fully baked. Core features are fine, like getting notifications from the phone while listening to my laptop or having one source take over for another. However, it can take several seconds for sources to switch, and the playback controls may stick to one source after switching to a different one. It can even switch sources after pausing, so tapping to resume seconds later may activate the other source. Hopefully, a firmware update can sort this out someday; it’s such a valuable feature.

The case takes a lot of control over the earbuds, but there are still things that can only be done from within the JBL Headphones app. For example, it’s necessary for the Personi-Fi setup, creating custom EQ curves, and configuring touch actions for each earbud — mostly setup steps.

Initial setup and Personi-Fi training take about 10-15 minutes. After that, there’s not much reason to open the app unless you install firmware updates and configure the EQ. This is thanks to the case, which can easily switch ANC and Spatial Audio modes, EQ profiles, and more.

It’s a modern-looking app with a clean design, and the few bugs I’ve spotted are mostly innocuous. My only complaint is that it takes a painfully long time, about six seconds after selecting the paired buds, to load their settings screen. That’s too long to watch a frozen screen with no animations to show it’s working.

Competition

At this time, the Poly Voyager 60+ is the only other pair of earbuds with a smart case, but the two products have little in common. The Voyager 60+ is aimed at enterprise customers, focusing on video calling and working at a desk. JBL designed the Tour Pro 2 to be prettier and more portable. Both products still boast great audio quality and ANC, and each has its individual advantages to justify the high asking price of $250 and $330 for the Tour Pro 2 and Voyager 60+, respectively.

If the case doesn’t warrant an extra $100, other upper-tier earbuds are available for around $150 that offer similar features and audio quality, like the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 . Alternatively, if the price isn’t an obstacle, but the case still doesn’t interest you, it may be worth spending a little more to pick up the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds.

Should you buy them?

JBL has done a remarkable job building the first smart case for true wireless earbuds. It’s a clever extension to the listening experience and offers handy features in a way that’s pleasant to use. There is still a lot to work out, but The Tour Pro 2 is an incredible template to build upon.

ANC is among the best in the game, and audio quality can be very good, although it might require more work than casual listeners want to put in. The same goes for multipoint support, which still needs some TLC. I’m mostly impressed with the Tour Pro 2 and would recommend them to anybody comfortable with the price who can deal with the quirks, but a part of me eagerly looks forward to JBL’s next attempt.

JBL Tour Pro 2 True Wireless Earbuds Review

Jbl’s intriguing new tour pro 2 earbuds face tough competition.

May 5, 2023

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About the JBL Tour Pro 2

What we like, what we don’t like, should you buy the jbl tour pro 2, related content.

Comfortable

Unique charging case with LED screen

Packed with utility

Sound doesn’t stack up to competition

Good, not great ANC

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The JBL Tour Pro 2 are available in both champagne (pictured) and black.

Here’s a look at the earbuds we tested:

• Price: $250
• Battery life: Up to 10 hours, up to 40 hours total with case
• Drivers: two 10mm drivers
• Wireless charging: Yes, Qi-compatible case
• Colors: Black, Champagne
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3
• Water-resistance: IPX5
• Ear tips: Small, medium, large
• Weight: Earbuds, 12.2 grams (0.42 ounces), case, 73 grams (2.6 ounces)

They are surprisingly comfortable

Contrary to their bulky look, the Tour Pro 2 are incredibly comfortable and secure, even during workouts.

The reality is quite the opposite. The Tour Pro 2 fit nicely in my ears, bolstered by a feature in the JBL Headphones app that tests the seal of each earbud to help determine optimal positioning and placement. Beyond the pleasantly snug fit (they held up well in both the gym and during jogs around my neighborhood), the Tour Pro 2 stayed comfy for as long as I wore them. Ear fatigue was not a factor whatsoever, which is an expected, but vital perk of this price range of true wireless earbuds.

They feature a unique charging case

The LED display allows for control of a multitude of features.

There isn’t a lot of variation in charging cases these days, but JBL aims to lead the charge in changing that trend. The case is adorned with a 1.45-inch LED display on the front that offers all kinds of control features. You can accept or decline incoming calls, adjust active noise cancellation or spatial sound, enable a Find my Buds feature, access messages, and more. The goal, JBL suggests, is to be able to control earbud settings without having to reach for your phone.

Inherently, I had concerns about how useful this case would actually be. After all, I don’t often carry charging cases with me once I pop in earbuds. Plus, I figured I would instinctively grab my phone to swap a track or tinker with a setting before even pondering the idea of pulling out the charging case. All that said, it was apparent that this case isn’t meant to be a complete replacement for your phone and the JBL Headphones app. Rather, it shines as a nifty second option for accessing the earbuds’ settings, especially when you’re first pulling the buds out of there case and need to quickly toggle something on or off.

They offer solid utility overall

For being high-end earbuds, the Tour Pro 2 are remarkably versatile for everyday use. To start, they have the coveted true wireless trifecta: comfort, good battery life (up to 10 hours per charge, though it’s closer to 7 or 8 with ANC turned on), and great water resistance (IPX5). Earbuds that can nail all three of those features tend to be incredibly functional in tons of different settings, and the Tour Pro 2 are no different.

The JBL Headphones app adds an additional layer to the versatility of it all. On top of the usual headphones features such as Ambient Sound Control options and an adjustable 10-band equalizer, the app has plenty of options for optimizing the Tour Pro 2 to your lifestyle. For instance, the app’s Person-fi feature analyzes information about you and data from sound tests to create a sound profile meant precisely for your ears. There’s also tabs for Spatial Sound settings, choosing which gestures correlate to which controls on the earbuds, separate audio and video modes for further optimizing sound, and even a SilentNow feature that JBL says is meant to help create the ideal setting for catching some sleep on a plane or during travel.

In all, it’s a wonderfully handy app that, when packaged with a pair of earbuds that feel great, last for long periods of time and are water-resistant, you’re met with a final product that excels in a wide variety of situations. The JBL Tour Pro 2 are those earbuds, a stark contrast from expensive earbuds of the past that were predominantly one-trick ponies and relied on their sound quality alone.

Their sound is good, but the competition sounds better

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds sound great, but don't measure up to similarly priced options.

Let me be as clear as I can: the Tour Pro 2 sound good, and oftentimes lean towards exceptional. They feature healthy amounts of bass when needed (“White Walls” by Macklemore comes to mind), and are undoubtedly detailed. I spent a lot of time listening to instrumental music while reviewing these buds (wedding stuff), and I was impressed with the clarity that the Tour Pro 2 displayed. They’re even solid on the call quality side of things, thanks to a 6-microphone setup that sets the stage for solid audio on both ends of the call.

Noise cancellation is effective, but not outstanding

The Tour Pro 2 find themselves in a similar boat when it comes to active noise cancellation. They are effective in what they do, blocking out a reasonable amount of noise in loud settings like the gym or the grocery store. Plus, in the JBL Headphones app, you can customize your ANC experience by toggling on things like Leakage Compensation, which monitors the seal the buds have in your ears and adjusts ANC in real time to make up for any noise that is getting through.

The moral of the story is, the Tour Pro 2 don’t do a bad job when it comes to noise cancellation. They just bear the unfortunate burden of living in the same price range as the best noise-canceling earbuds in the game. For $50 more, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II deliver unrivaled levels of ANC. Even at a more even cost, earbuds like the Sony WF-1000XM4 and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 simply block out more noise.

Yes, if you value well-rounded buds over sound and ANC

If you're looking for a versatile, flexible earbuds, the JBL Tour Pro 2 are worth the look.

The glaring hiccup is that, compared to those three adversaries, the Tour Pro 2 don’t match up when it comes to audio quality and ANC. The Momentum True Wireless 3 are some of the best sounding earbuds you can buy. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are the best noise-canceling earbuds you can buy. It's a harsh competition. But if you’re spending a lot on true wireless earbuds and are after the best in either sound or ANC, the Tour Pro 2 aren’t the move.

The good news is, if the total package is more of a factor to you than world-class sound or ANC, then you’re in luck. The JBL Tour Pro 2 (and their quirky, smart charging case) have a plethora of perks waiting for you to explore.

JBL’s Tour Pro 2 are versatile earbuds that face strong competition from high-end flagship alternatives.

best-right-now

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Meet the tester

Nick Woodard

Contributor

Nick Woodard is a tech journalist specializing in all things related to home theater and A/V. His background includes a solid foundation as a sports writer for multiple daily newspapers, and he enjoys hiking and mountain biking in his spare time.

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Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Review: JBL Tour Pro 2

Big sound from jbl.

The JBL Tour Pro 2 is the pure multi-performer of a pair of wireless earbuds. There's almost nothing they can't do!

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When I tested the Tour Pro+ , I was very excited, especially about the EQ settings. It was possible to adjust the frequency curve just enough to achieve the desired sound.

The ease of use, on the other hand, is so similar on most good earplugs that it was difficult to distinguish the Tour Pro+ from other earplugs on the market. You plugged in and pressed the earbuds to manoeuvre through playlists, answer calls, activate noise cancelling and audio replay, and summon the voice assistant. Nothing new there, in other words.

JBL has thought further with Tour Pro 2

The new Tour Pro 2, on the other hand, takes the user experience to new heights. Often, only minor upgrades are made when a new heir is introduced. A slightly better battery, maybe marginally better sound, and sometimes – but certainly not always – a smaller size of the earbuds themselves.

But JBL has gone a step further with the Tour Pro 2. In addition to longer battery life (up to 10 hours in the earplugs themselves) and also smaller size, JBL has done something completely new. This is the first time I’ve seen a screen on the charging case itself. And even a touch screen.

The touch screen on the case has a function

The screen turns out to be anything but a gimmick. It lets you adjust volume, scroll through music lists in a much more user-friendly way than tapping the little earplugs, and there are more options. You can turn EQ on and off and scroll through several different sound settings. Or turn on 360 audio for movies or games for a more immersive audio experience.

The best thing about the display is that you can access EQ functions even when you don’t have the app within reach. Like when the plugs are connected to a PC or TV.

Multipoint and better audio codec

Tour Pro 2 can connect two devices simultaneously, thanks to Bluetooth with multipoint. This means, for example, that you can be connected to both your phone and PC at the same time and listen to music from one source while answering a Zoom call on the other.

In addition, the earbuds support the new audio codec LC3 (also known as LE), which arrived with Android 13. This will eventually take over from the much inferior SBC codec, and once the standard is more established, the idea is that proprietary codecs like aptX and LDAC will become redundant.

But we’re still in the early stages, and although the JBL apps have been made ready for LC3 and LC3+, the codec wasn’t yet opened up during testing. But JBL promises it’s on the way, and then you’ll be able to get even better Bluetooth audio. For now, I’ve had to test with the AAC codec, which is a good deal better than SBC. If you have an iPhone, you’ll have to rely on the AAC codec anyway.

Personal listening test

In the app, JBL also has a personal listening test that maps your hearing and then adjusts the sound from the earbuds. I have to admit that I never got it to work because I got an error message that the left hearing plug wasn’t sealed well enough. I tried swapping tips, and checked again and again.

I didn’t experience any leakage myself because the sound and bass response felt the same between the left and right ears both when listening to music and when ambient sound was let into the plugs. In the end, I had to give up on the calibration, but at least here you have an option to get better sound tailored to your own hearing.

Noise reduction and sound leakage

The noise reduction now has the option to set the level, and if you select Adaptive ANC, the earbuds will automatically select the strength. They can also compensate for sound leakage in case of poor sealing in the ear. It works well, especially indoors on a train or plane, while wind noise is a challenge as with most others.

The SilentNow feature, by the way, lets you use noise cancellation for as long as you want without music playing.

There are two types of ambient sound: Ambient Aware takes in as much of your surroundings as possible, with a wide frequency range. TalkThru , on the other hand, lets through more midrange and less bass to emphasize human voices in a conversation. This feature works well in most situations, and I personally use it most when I want to hear my surroundings.

The JBL Tour Pro+ supports the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants, and in the app you can choose whether to press the right or left earbud to activate the assistant.

Engaging sound

Right out of the box, JBL Tour Pro 2 delivers an engaging audio experience. The bass in particular is both big and physical, just as I would expect from JBL. If at all costs you want the sound as linear as possible, the bass is probably a bit overdone, although it’s more balanced and tuned than the more bass-oriented earbuds in JBL’s Live range.

The midrange is a bit restrained, meaning the bass drowns out the vocal midrange a bit. Yes, it’s popular, and it works. But for acoustic gigs, I need a little tweaking. There are preset EQs, but I’m not crazy about any of them.

Better sound with EQ

Fortunately, the EQ has really good adjustability. I pull the midrange up a bit with a soft filter curve that covers a pretty wide frequency range. Then I lower it a bit at 5 kHz, where it can otherwise get a bit sharp. It’s a setting that I find works very well on many JBL props from JBL. The same is true on the Tour Pro 2. There are also good fine-tuning options here.

Vocals open up more, the different timbral textures of an acoustic guitar can now be better distinguished from each other, and that without compromising the engagement of electropop and hiphop. Whether it’s Ed Sheeran’s melodious F65 (you have to force yourself through his tame attempts at rapping) or the dramatic piano ballad Love You in a Dream by Elsie Bay, the music comes through in the best possible way.

Call quality

The earbuds work well for phone calls and video conferences, the receiver hears me just fine. It’s not easy to get good dialogue sound through a pair of small earbuds, which need microphones with good beamforming for the sound from your mouth to be picked up by microphones placed in your ears. Without picking up all sorts of other noises.

The JBLs do a good job, it doesn’t sound quite as good as through some good headphones, but it’s certainly among the best I’ve heard from a pair of earbuds.

Every time I test JBL earbuds or headphones, I’m reminded of how far ahead of the competition they are when it comes to sound settings in the app. And with the all-new touch screen on the charging case, you no longer have to deal with the app on a daily basis. Simply choose from different EQ filters, set audio levels, and move around playlists right on the case. It’s especially handy when you’re connected to a PC or phone where the app isn’t downloaded.

Noise reduction is particularly good, as is call quality. With all the features, the excellent sound, and considering the price, I would dare to call the Tour Pro 2 outstanding.

Specifications

• Type: Fully wireless earbuds
• Bluetooth: 5.3
• Multipoint: Yes
• Protection: IPX5
• Active noise cancelling: Yes
• Codecs: AAC, LC3, LC3+ ( upcoming), SBC
• Battery life: 10 hours + 30 hours from case (u. ANC)
• Weight: 2 x 6.5 g + 73 g (case)
• Charging: USB-C
• Web: jbl.com

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Very good I like jbl

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JBL Tour Pro 2

A touch-screen charging case isn't quite a must-have.

Bottom Line

• Powerful bass balanced with sculpted highs
• Long battery life
• Screen on charging case seems unnecessary

JBL’s products never seem to skimp on features, and the Tour Pro 2 noise-cancelling true wireless earphones are no exception. For $249.95, they offer reliable active noise cancellation (ANC), an adjustable, bass-forward sound signature, and long battery life. But the innovative touch screen on their charging case would benefit from a more streamlined approach. Overall, we prefer the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro for the same price because they sound just as good, cancel noise more effectively, and work more seamlessly if you have an iPhone.

A Secure Fit and Good Battery Life

The stem-style Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which are available in black or champagne models, fit securely and ship with three pairs of silicone eartips. Their somewhat chunky enclosures house 10mm dynamic drivers that deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz, with an impedance of 16 ohms.

They are compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and work with just the AAC and SBC codecs . JBL claims that they will eventually support LE Audio via the LC3 or LC3+ codecs, but didn't specify an exact date for that rollout. For the price, we would have liked to see AptX or even LDAC (which the $279.99 Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds use), but neither the $299 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II nor the AirPods Pro do better here. At least you get support for Google Fast Pair.

Each earpiece features a capacitive touch control panel and you can adjust the functions to a degree via the companion app. By default, a single tap on the left earbud switches between the ANC and Ambient Aware modes (you can add an Off option to this cycle), while the same gesture on the right controls playback. A double-tap on the left side toggles the TalkThru ambient mode or takes you to the next track on the right. Triple-taps don't do anything on the left earbud out of the box, but on the right it takes you to the previous track. A tap-and-hold on either earpiece summons your device's voice assistant.

The controls felt mostly responsive in testing, but we occasionally had to tap multiple times for an action to register. The bigger problem, however, is that the default layout doesn't seem intuitive. For instance, it's confusing that the Ambient Aware and Talk Thru modes aren't part of the same gesture cycle. Both are transparency modes after all, with the latter emphasizing conversations. A full set of controls is generally ideal, but the odd groupings of some features here make the standard layout feel a bit chaotic.

Their IPX5 weatherproof rating is fairly standard for noise-cancelling earbuds. Essentially, the earphones can withstand light splashes from any direction, which means that neither light rain nor sweat should pose an issue. I don't recommend rinsing them off under a faucet or getting the case wet, though, because that's pushing the limits. If you need more durable earbuds for exercise , consider another pair from JBL, such as the IP68-rated Reflect Aero earphones ($149.95).

JBL estimates that these earbuds can last roughly 10 hours per charge and that the case holds an additional 30 hours of battery life. If you enable the noise cancellation mode, those numbers drop slightly to eight and 24 hours, respectively. Of course, your results will further vary based on your typical listening volume. The company claims that the earphones can recharge completely in around two hours and that 15 minutes of charging gets you four hours of playback time.

A Smart Case That Tries a Bit Too Hard

The Tour Pro 2's charging case is a bit bulky, but that's necessary to accommodate its unique built-in touch screen. Otherwise, a USB-C port on the back enables charging via the included USB-C-to-USB-A cable. Alternatively, you can also drop the case on a Qi wireless charger to replenish the battery.

The case’s screen defaults to a custom wallpaper and, near the top, shows the battery life for each earphone and the case, as well as the time and Bluetooth status. JBL sent our review unit with the PCMag logo preinstalled, but you can choose between several default wallpapers or upload a custom image.

You can swipe across a total of 13 screens here, which mostly mirror the functions you get in the companion app. Some screens have practical controls for playback, volume, noise cancellation, and screen brightness, but you can also enable the audio-based Find My Buds feature and toggle notification mirroring. Of course, some functions are a bit more limited here than in the app. For instance, although you can switch between EQ presets, you can't create custom curves. That's not a complaint though, because doing so would be impractical. Other features do feel wholly unnecessary, however, like the toggle for the auto play/pause function and a flashlight mode (in which the case's screen simply turns white).

It wouldn't surprise me if other manufacturers jump in on this touch-screen case trend (the enterprise-focused Poly Voyager Free 60+ has one too), but I hope to see improvements to the concept. Using this current iteration feels a bit like trying to operate the tiny touchpad on the 6th-gen iPod nano from 2010—something about the experience just feels a bit dated and it can be more inconvenient to swipe through 13 screens rather than to simply open up the companion app on your phone. True, there's some utility in the case as a remote for the earbuds, but that's not enough to make up for some of the navigation challenges it poses.

JBL Tour Pro 2 App Experience

The ever-evolving JBL Headphones app (available for Android and iOS) is as cluttered as ever, which is disappointing because there are some genuinely handy and well-designed functions within it.

The main screen shows an image of the Tour Pro 2 earphones, along with battery life readouts for both them and the case. Below that, there's an ANC section that lets you switch between the ANC On, Ambient Aware, and Talk Thru modes. That last option includes a volume slider for the ambient mics. You can further customize the ANC experience by toggling the Adaptive setting (on by default), as well as by turning on the Leakage Compensation and Ear Canal Compression settings (both are off by default). Additionally, you can initiate an ear canal fit test here.

Further down, a Personi-Fi section lets you take a hearing test. The app claims to use those results to adjust the audio, but you can just as easily use the EQ section to customize the sound. For its part, JBL claims to store the unencrypted hearing test data locally on the device and that it won't share any details with third parties.

Next up is an EQ section with lots of presets. If you prefer more control, you can create a custom curve with 10 bands or simply draw one. Scroll down to reach the Spatial Sound area where you can toggle JBL’s various spatial audio effects for movies, music, or games. I recommend leaving these off because it's a poor approximation of surround sound that ends up just adding a layer between you and the audio.

A Gestures section allows you to switch between a few different preset control layouts—Ambient Sound Control, Volume Control, and Playback & Voice Assistant Control. I would prefer the ability to simply assign functions to various gestures, but some degree of customizability is better than none.

Rounding out the app are Voice Aware (which controls how much of your voice you hear on calls) and Smart Audio (which switches between a low-latency video mode and regular audio mode) tiles, both of which you can turn off completely. And there are several additional tiles that really belong in a traditional settings menu: AutoPlay/Pause, Left/Right Audio balance, Voice Assistant (which you can assign to Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri), Find My Buds (an audio-based feature that helps you locate a lost earpiece), Power Saving, Notifications (which you can set up to sync to the case's screen), and Smart Case (which lets you take a photo, upload an image, or choose between existing wallpapers for the screen's background).

The app is brimming with features and some are necessary (like the Support tile that enables you to install firmware updates) while others (like the Silent Now tile that helps you take timed breaks) are less important and some just seem to be in the wrong place. For example, I'm not quite sure why the Personal Sound Amplification option (which lets you control the volume level and ear-to-ear balance for the ambient listening mode) is not a part of the general noise cancellation section. Apple and Bose are far ahead in terms of their mobile device integrations; Apple's earbuds seamlessly interface with your iPhone's built-in settings, while Bose's companion app is refreshingly simple and effective.

Decent Noise Cancellation

The Tour Pro 2's four noise-cancelling mics served them well in our tests. We found the Adaptive mode most effective for the noises we were trying to reduce, but your results might differ.

The pair substantially cut back the deep, low-frequency rumble you hear from engines and appliances, and reduced the lows and mids from a recording of a crowded restaurant scene. That said, a thin band of highs from the latter audio sample made it past the circuitry. That's not a huge concern, however, because most noise-cancelling models struggle with the same frequencies. The Apple AirPods and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are notable exceptions to that rule and perform better in both scenarios.

But there's good news: Neither the ANC nor the Ambient Aware modes greatly impact the audio performance, a quality that not all competing models can claim. The Ambient Aware mode is useful overall and adds just a bit of hiss to an otherwise transparent signal of your surroundings. You shouldn't have any issue tuning in to your environment without removing the earpieces.

Sculpted Sound With Emphasized Low End

For evaluating the audio performance of the Tour Pro 2 earbuds, we turned off all the EQ customizations and enhanced audio modes. On tracks with heavy sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the drivers push out an impressive low-frequency response. The rumble is palatable at moderate volumes and I didn't detect any distortion at maximum output settings.

They also didn't have any trouble reproducing the sub-bass elements at the 34-second mark of Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty.” The sub-bass line here progressively descends and the final, deepest parts are still audible despite trailing off a bit. The various vocals on the track come across with excellent clarity and never cede ground to the enhanced lows.

Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with less low-end emphasis, better demonstrates the sound signature. The drivers present the drums with a pleasing thump that never seems unnatural. Callahan’s baritone vocals get an ideal blend of low-mid richness and high-mid crispness, while the acoustic strums are bright and clear. Boosting and sculpting are present throughout the frequency range and the mids suffer a bit for it, but you can use the in-app EQ to recover some of that detail.

On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary , the earbuds push the lower-register instrumentation forward in the mix. Purists might not like this approach, but the boosting isn’t egregious and there's plenty of higher-frequency sculpting to keep everything in balance. Transparency takes a bit of a hit, however.

A six-mic array offers strong intelligibility for phone calls. I had no issue understanding every word from a test recording on an iPhone, but the AirPods Pro captured a slightly clearer signal. Neither pair should be an obstacle to phone conversations over a strong cellular connection.

Features Over Function

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earphones offer an energetic sound signature and reasonably effective noise cancellation, but the features that set them apart from the competition don't do quite enough to warrant the high price. The touch-screen case and companion app both offer useful functionality, but end up feeling overbearing because of the sheer number of features. Overall, the AirPods Pro earn our Editors' Choice award for offering more effective noise cancellation—and their appeal only increases if you use an iPhone thanks to their seamless integration with Apple devices.

More Inside PCMag.com

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• The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for 2024
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About Tim Gideon

I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.

More From Tim Gideon

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JBL Tour Pro 2 review: It’s all about that case

The JBL Tour Pro 2 stand out from the crowd thanks to an innovative LED touchscreen charging case but disappoint in other areas

• Charging case has a touchscreen
• Loads of features
• Impressive battery life
• Average sound quality
• Noise cancellation could be better

JBL has historically focused its efforts on entry-level and mid-range headphones but is taking on the premium true wireless earbuds market with the JBL Tour Pro 2.

And, in an attempt to differentiate its new earbuds from the prestigious competition, JBL is bringing something unique to the table: a charging case with an LED touchscreen that provides access to the Tour Pro 2’s extensive feature set.

It’s a well-executed idea with some useful applications but, ultimately, doesn’t feel essential to the true wireless experience. The Tour Pro 2 also fall short in areas where you’d expect high-end earbuds to excel, namely sound quality and noise cancellation, so unless you deem the fancy case a must-have, you’ll find better options elsewhere.

Buy now from JBL

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: What you need to know

First revealed ahead of IFA 2022, the Tour Pro 2 are JBL’s new flagship earbuds and its first venture into premium true wireless territory. They’re also the first earbuds to come with an LED touchscreen on their charging case, a novel idea that I can see other manufacturers copying. Complementing that is a well-specified pair of earbuds with a suite of features befitting their flagship status.

Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity enables support for the new LC3 and LC3+ audio codecs in addition to SBC and AAC; noise cancelling, “Ambient Aware” and “TalkThru” modes provide multiple ways in which you can control the level of ambient sound; while EQ presets, a graphic equaliser, three spatial audio modes and Harman’s Personi-Fi technology mean you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to audio customisation. Various other convenience features and customisation options can be found in the JBL Headphones app, which remains one of the most fully featured we’ve seen.

With the most power-hungry of the Tour Pro 2’s features (noise cancellation) on, you can expect up to 30 hours of total battery life, while switching off ANC bumps that impressive figure up to 50 hours. On paper, at least, the JBL Tour Pro 2 are more than a match for most of the wireless earbuds in their price bracket.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Price and competition

The JBL Tour Pro 2 cost £250 and their biggest competition comes from the AirPods Pro 2 , which cost  £249 . Apple’s ubiquitous white buds got a second-generation update last September and, while not the last word in sound quality, have a huge share of the true wireless market owing to how nicely they play with the brand’s iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. They also happen to cancel external sound extremely effectively.

Other standout options include the Sony WF-1000XM4 , Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II , all of which can be picked up for between £200 and £280. Sony’s buds lead the way when it comes to smart features thanks to their use of Adaptive Sound Control, which automatically adjusts settings based on where you are and what you’re doing.

Sennheiser’s Sound Zone feature offers similar location-based features but sound quality is their biggest strength, with the Momentum True Wireless 3 demonstrating beautiful balance across the frequency spectrum. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are strong performers in the audio department too, while also delivering the best noise cancellation of any earbuds we’ve tested. They’re the most expensive of the trio, with a list price of £280, although they were available for £249 at the time of writing.

READ NEXT: The best true wireless earbuds

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Design and features

As the charging case merits its own section, here I’ll just be discussing the design of the buds, which look rather smart. There are two finishes available: the black reviewed here and champagne, both of which are embellished with metallic details to help bolster their aesthetic appeal.

Their stems are long enough to accommodate an easy-to-access touch surface without protruding too far out of your ears, while the main housings are angled towards your eardrums for an ergonomic fit. JBL supplies three pairs of eartips to create that all-important in-ear seal but, while I found the buds matched the contours of my outer ears very nicely, the seal in my right ear could have been better.

The Tour Pro 2’s touch controls are executed via a raised strip on the stems and these picked up my commands accurately throughout testing. The sensors are a little over-sensitive, though, to the point where actions were triggered when I was chewing gum while wearing a beanie. If this happens to you, it is possible to turn the controls off in the JBL Headphones app.

You can also choose to assign various groups of actions to each bud, although you can’t customise the commands individually. The way things are set up means you’ll always have to live without either ambient sound controls, playback controls or volume controls, which is a little frustrating. Regardless of which you ditch, you can hail your voice assistant by touching and holding either bud’s outer surface.

The buds pause and play automatically when removed from or inserted into your ears, and there are a few more unusual features present, too. “SilentNow” lets you use the Tour Pro 2’s noise-cancelling capabilities without a Bluetooth connection, meaning you can enjoy some peace and quiet without fear of interruption and save a bit of battery capacity while you’re at it. This could potentially be used while sleeping – you’re able to set a timer and have an alarm ring at the end – although the design of the buds doesn’t lend itself especially well to kipping.

There’s also a “Max Volume Limiter” that sets the volume below 85dB, and “VoiceAware”, which lets you choose how loudly you can hear your own voice while on calls. Finally, a “Find My Buds” feature plays a high-pitched sound to help you locate the earbuds if you’ve misplaced them nearby.

While none of those inclusions are gamechangers, they’re all welcome and contribute to a suite of features that’s more comprehensive than many of the Tour Pro 2’s rivals.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Charging case

The main event here is the smart charging case, complete with its LED touchscreen. It’s larger than your average case, but not gigantic at 58 x 26 x 55mm (WDH) and the 1.4in screen is big enough to display information clearly.

It has three levels of brightness and I found that “Low” worked fine for viewing in most situations. All of the Tour Pro 2’s key functionality can be accessed via the screen, with left and right swipes navigating you through different pages of settings.

Some of these pages are “hardwired” and always present. These include play/pause and track skipping, volume controls, an alarm, screen brightness, the lock screen wallpaper, notifications, Find My Buds and the flashlight.

The remaining options – ambient sound control, spatial sound, equaliser, VoiceAware, auto play and pause, and SilentNow – can be added or removed using the smart case settings in the companion app. The process seems buggy at present, however, as I found features were added back onto the case shortly after I’d deselected them in the app.

This problem aside, though, I found the case intuitive to use. JBL was wise to keep things simple by only including horizontal swipes and taps and I found the screen pleasingly responsive.

But how useful is having all of these features available via the case? The answer here is not straightforward. The case certainly saves time if you’re looking to do something not covered by the touch controls, such as change the spatial sound mode. It took me around eight seconds to get the case out of my pocket and do this, compared with the 16 seconds it took executing the same change on my phone. We’re only talking eight seconds difference but those small savings do add up.

Being able to check earbud and case battery life and have messages previewed on the screen is handy too but, unless you’re at your desk with it in front of you, you’ll still need to fish the case out of your pocket as you would your phone. Aside from saving yourself a bit of time, there are a couple of other benefits. Taking calls using the case is a very efficient process, and the case does allow you to watch YouTube or read an article on your phone uninterrupted while being able to change your earbuds’ settings.

There’s potential for expanded features further down the line, too. JBL has said you’ll be able to personalise the lockscreen wallpaper from March, and who knows what other tricks it might be able to incorporate in the future.

It’s undeniably clever but, ultimately, I didn’t find myself using it much anywhere other than at my desk. More often than not, I was able to do what I wanted using the Tour Pro 2’s touch controls and, when I couldn’t, my phone was typically in my hand anyway, so I instinctively used that. And, while notifications are useful, you can’t respond to messages or access your social media using the case, so you’ll find yourself digging out your phone soon enough anyway.

These limitations would be easier to overlook if the Tour Pro 2 delivered stellar sound quality and super-effective noise cancellation, but that’s not the case, either.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Sound quality

If you’re spending £220 on a pair of earbuds, the expectation is that they’re going to sound superb. But despite offering various modes and lots of options, I found the Tour Pro 2 unable to match most of their similarly priced competitors.

They don’t sound terrible, but the default sound signature proved a little too bright for my tastes and lacked body. The guitars and vocals on the Pigeon Detectives’ “I Found Out” sounded harsh, particularly when I pushed the volume up, and this presentation became fatiguing during longer listening sessions.

The ten-band graphic equaliser in the companion app helped rectify the issues I had to a certain extent by bumping up a couple of the bass bands and dropping the 1KHz, 4KHz and 8KHz bands down a few notches. But I was never able to settle on an EQ that felt perfectly balanced across a wide range of genres. I wouldn’t recommend the majority of the EQ presets either: “Vocal” is tinny, “Bass” is muddy and “Studio” is a little distant, though that may be the intended effect.

The other key audio customisation option comes in the form of “Personi-Fi”, a hearing test technology created by JBL’s owner, Harman, to optimise audio based on how well you hear specific frequencies. It’s a similar principle to that used by Nura headphones, but here it’s a more manual process.

You hold your finger down on a button in the app and a frequency is played at decreasing volume levels. When you can’t hear it, you remove your finger from the button. This is repeated for a number of frequencies across both your left and right ear before you receive a test report stating the results. I ran the test a number of times and received the same result on each occasion: “bass sounds are largely boosted”, “a considerable amount of compensation for mid is added” and “treble is greatly enhanced”. Applying the profile made no difference to the sound whatsoever.

Spatial audio is becoming a more commonplace inclusion for premium wireless earbuds and, here, there are three different modes: Movie, Music and Game. JBL says these deliver a more immersive experience when listening to stereo content but I found the Music setting off-puttingly artificial when listening to songs. The Movie mode actually worked better for music, adding breadth and a greater sense of space, and was definitely worth switching on when watching cinematic video content. The Game mode was a bit of a mixed bag: it was effective for open-world games with lots of environmental effects but was not very well suited to titles with more musical soundtracks.

READ NEXT: The best headphones money can buy

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Noise cancellation

Cheaper JBL buds such as the Live Pro+ and Live Pro 2 deliver impressive noise cancellation for the money, so I was expecting the Tour Pro 2 to perform strongly in this department. But, perhaps because I was testing them directly after the class-leading Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II , I was left a little disappointed by how they attenuated external sound.

In terms of settings and options, they’re hard to fault. You can choose between adaptive noise cancellation or your own level of ANC from a seven-point scale, and there’s real-time adjustment based on the shape of your ear canals and sound leakage from your ears. Additionally, there’s an Ambient Aware transparency mode and TalkThru mode that decreases the volume of audio while amplifying speech around you.

With both ear canal and leakage compensation on, the adaptive noise cancellation did a decent job of dampening low-end frequencies. It cut a significant chunk out of the bassline of dance tracks pumping out from a portable speaker I was testing in my home office and the rumble of the Elizabeth line was reduced pretty effectively, too. But they were no match for the Bose QC Earbuds II across all my tests, and the disparity between the two pairs of earbuds was most apparent in the office, where chatter and keyboard clatter were more noticeable.

Similarly, the AmbientAware mode didn’t filter in noise as clearly or naturally, although the seven levels of adjustment do provide a welcome degree of control. The final ambient sound control mode – TalkThru – reduces the volume of what you’re listening to so dramatically that you’ll struggle to hear it at all, but it does at least facilitate clear conversations without having to take the buds out. You may prefer, however, to pause your music by taking a bud out to avoid missing anything.

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: Verdict

The Tour Pro 2’s touchscreen case looks flashy and works as intended apart from some minor bugs. However, I see it as solving a non-issue at the expense of audio quality and noise cancellation.

Given how glued to our phones we are these days, I’m not convinced people are desperate to add yet another digital interface to the mix for the sake of saving a few seconds, and that’s coming from someone who spends more time than most rootling around in audio companion apps.

With the odd exception, I’ve never found having to load such apps on my phone a particularly laborious task or felt the burning desire for a quicker method of accessing certain modes or features. I’m not against such expediency but I’d rather not see it prioritised over audio balance and effective ANC.

Review: JBL’s new Tour Pro 2 ANC earbuds channel iPod vibes with an onboard screen

Earlier this year, JBL came out with some of the most unique pairs of true wireless earbuds on the market. The new JBL Tour Pro 2 don’t set themselves apart with industry-leading battery life or unmatched ANC but, instead, arrive with the headlining feature of an onboard touchscreen display .

Hands-on with the new JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds

While the whole story for the JBL Tour Pro 2 may not be entirely summarized by the unique charging case, it is where the tale starts. It’s the one feature that really does make these stand out from virtually 99% of all other earbuds that have come before them and ultimately what makes these worth considering at all. Even Apple has been toying around with the idea of imbuing its AirPods with an onboard touchscreen, JBL just happened to launch a pair first.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The new JBL Tour Pro 2 arrive in a typically sized charging case . It fits in the palm of your hand and ultimately isn’t that much larger than the likes of some other third-party earbuds out there. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But open up the charging case, and the pint-sized touchscreen display on the front will light up and lure you in with the suggestion to swipe to the right. That’s when you’re greeted with a mini operating system for the earbuds, fully opening the bizarre can of worms that is these earbuds.

The onboard screen, in its simplest use case, can effectively be seen as a more modern take on the inline microphone remote and its controls. There’s the ability to adjust volume and even switch songs, like you’d expect, just with a little extra flare thrown into the mix. But JBL keeps going, adding even more into the interface, like being able to switch between ANC or the other two transparency modes.

The novelty even goes as far as to include an onboard find my earbuds feature, as well as a flashlight that cranks the brightness up to full blast. You can set a listening timer, change the screen’s brightness, and even choose from an assortment of lock screen wallpapers too. Really fascinating stuff.

But circling back to something actually useful, EQ settings are just a few taps away too. I never really found myself switching any of the equalizer preferences once I get things set up with a new pair of buds, but having the option so readily available did have me actually changing settings based on what I was listening to.

Underneath the charging case next to the USB-C charging port is even a little button you can click to manually lock the touchscreen.

Alongside the novel charging case, JBL surprisingly does deliver a robust pair of true wireless earbuds. I really was expecting to pick up the new JBL Tour Pro 2 and largely have all praise begin and end at the fact that there’s a screen on the charging case. But the company goes the extra mile to ensure that there’s more than just the bells and whistles – delivering the core features you’d expect from a pair of $250 earbuds .

Active noise cancelation is another headlining feature that really delivers. I’ve run these through the usual gauntlet of busy city streets and crowded subway trains here in New York City, and the JBL Tour Pro 2 have managed to deliver a very reliable performance. To much the same tune, battery life is also very solid. Not only is monitoring how much juice you have left super easy from the charging case’s screen, but the up to 40 hours of usage really does seem to be in line with my experience so far.

When you do need to recharge, there’s, of course, the wired option of USB-C we mentioned above. But JBL also includes Qi support, so you can drop these into a wireless pad too.

One feature that I thought wouldn’t make use of was wear detection. But once again, JBL has surprised me with the Tour Pro 2. The feature doesn’t work as perfectly as you’ll find on AirPods Pro, but being able to take the earbuds out and have your music automatically stop is a nice inclusion.

Straying from what I love about the earbuds a bit, sound quality is easily the area that suffers the most with the comprises made here. Prior to checking out the JBL Tour Pro 2, I had been spending the past few weeks rocking out with Sony’s new XM5 earbuds – so my hearing is a bit more tuned to the finer side of the market. It isn’t to say that these earbuds sound bad because they certainly don’t! But for the price range, you are looking at some serious competition from other models that do deliver far more balanced sound signatures.

The high end isn’t super crisp, and the lower end of tracks is a bit muddy. Instruments aren’t as distinct as you’ll find on some higher-end listening experiences, either. But I really do have to at least give these credit because the earbuds do ultimately sound a lot better than some other models out there. It’s just that anything in the $250 price point is going to sound noticeably better.

But the worst part about these earbuds for me has to be the silicone that JBL used for the ear tips. Normally, my ears are pretty adaptable when it comes to finding various earbuds comfortable, but these JBL Tour Pro 2 did take a little more getting used to than I’ve found with other models out there. I wouldn’t really say that this changes my overall opinion about the earbuds, but it’s at least worth noting that there is an area JBL phoned it in a bit.

And speaking of low points, the transparency and ambient sound modes also aren’t very good. There’s not a lot to say on that front, other than that these are a long way away from winning away awards for the audio passthrough – even with six onboard microphones.

9to5Toys’ Take

I’ve been using the JBL Tour Pro 2 for the past few weeks now and really have come to one conclusion. It’s nothing shocking by any means, but you really are buying these earbuds for the unique charging case. There is so much to like about the buds in all other facets, but what is really going to justify that steep $250 price tag is the onboard touchscreen.

And to be quite honest, I don’t think you’d be crazy to do that. Maybe my use case has been a little niche, but I have been loving my time with the Tour Pro 2. I wear a lot of skirts and dresses that either have no pockets or some tiny ones, and being able to keep the charging case in hand while commuting has been great for just putting my phone away a bit. Some will say that the last thing that they want is another screen in their life, but I have found that it actually just gives me a chance not to be glued to my iPhone while still having playback controls around.

These really just have me dreaming of what the next step down the JBL Tour Pro 2 path leads us to. It feels like we’re right on the cusp of getting a pair of earbuds that have built-in MP3 player capabilities. Maybe this is as close to that vision. And if that is the case, at least JBL was able to deliver a compelling pair of earbuds that manage to beat the gimmick allegations.

Buy the new JBL Tour Pro 2 direct from JBL as well as Amazon

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Serious Insights

Research and reviews from strategist, futurist and analyst Daniel W. Rasmus

JBL Tour Pro 2 Review: Excellent Headphones That Crush With Their NextGen Case

December 20, 2023 by Daniel W. Rasmus Leave a Comment

JBL Tour Pro 2

Very good headphones in an innovative case that moves most control from the app to the case (though the app still works too). Excellent ANC audio and noise reduced quality calls, and a long battery life.

JBL Tour Pro 2 Review

JBL continues to offer one of the widest ranges of earbuds on the market, from $50 stocking stuffers to innovative entries like the JBL Tour Pro 2 . Not only do the chrome-accented black or champagne earbuds look good in the ear, but they also charge in a case that brings full control to the listening experience through a high-resolution display. Some reviews see the display case as a gimmick, others as redundant to the app. Those are valid opinions. All I know for me is that every time I wear the Tour Pro 2s, I tweak my experience using the charging case.

Specifications

Adaptive Noise Cancelling (ANC)

Ambient Aware

Number of Microphones

Touch Control

Active Noise Cancelling

Bluetooth ® Version

Bluetooth ® Profiles

Codecs Supported

Fast Charging

Driver Size (mm)

Weight Case/Earpiece (oz)

Play time (ANC OFF/ON)

A2DP V1.3.2, AVRCP V1.6.2, HFP V1.7.2

SBS and A2DP

What we like

• Charging case with a display and user interface moves control from phone to case
• Great sound
• Solid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
• Clear calling with noise reduction
• Silent Now to mask out the audio of the world
• Smart Ambient feature to amplify nearby voices

I’m going to start with the charging case first. It’s not that the JBL Tour Pro 2s aren’t good earbuds, but they are just earbuds, regardless of how good they are. The case proves the immediate differentiator for the Tour Pro 2 experience.

The 1.45-inch touchscreen LCD offers a number of features. Its eye-catching brightness suggests why JBL went with an LED rather than an alternative such as eInk. While eInk might save battery, it just isn’t an exciting, responsive interface technology.

The case display experience begins with a swipe over a screen saver. The app (not the case) supports uploading custom logos. My now sports a Serious Insights logo. The swipe accesses several control features.

So, what exactly does the display do? A lot!

• 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: determines voice detection sensitivity
• SilentNow: enables ANC for a preset amount of time even without music
• Automatic play/pause ear detection
• Notifications (messages and mail)
• Find My Buds

I don’t think any of these items require additional explanation, but I do have a few notes for JBL. They all fall into the “I like it with qualifications” category.

Volume . Who decided 16 was the maximum value? That’s some interesting audio math I haven’t seen before.

Card inclusion. Users should be able to delete or hide any cards from the case app. I never use the equalizer because I default my Apple iTunes to Dolby and let it worry about the sound profile. I’m never going to use the equalizer, so I hide that card and reduce the number of swipes. Along with the equalizer, ambient sound, spatial sound, VoiceAware, Auto Play & Pause, and SilentNow can be turned off. Others cannot be hidden. I think JBL should allow all cards to be hidden.

Reducing the number of cards focuses on the UI’s more important frequently accessed functions, making it even more useful.

Card order. The first swipe opens to Playback. But maybe I want sound mode first. I would like to see the card order. Along with the card-hiding feature, I would like the ability to reorder the cards on the case.

On a further positive note, the case also supports wireless charging.

This case is a start, as is the one from the Poly Voyager Free 60+ reviewed here . I think Poly primarily aims at conferencing applications, while JBL focuses on consumer use. But both point toward a more integrated listening experience, perhaps even the return of music to something other than a phone. I do not, however, look forward to a future with ads on my earbud case or a full-tilt competition between screens.

With memory size and prices continuously shrinking, however, and display technology also getting cheaper and less power-hungry, we will likely see many more earbud cases with displays moving into the market. At some point, they will stop looking innovative, and then the market will need to decide where exactly they fit into the ecosystem of user experiences.

Now, what about the audio?

The sound is very good, as would be expected from $250 earbuds. Using the volume limiting feature constrains the sound stage. That feature protects hearing. It also protects a full-bodied audio experience.

Turned off, the JBL Tour Pro 2s hold their own against the best earbuds in my collection, which include the Sennheiser Momentum 3 s and the Tozo Golden X1s . Dua Lipa’s vocals seduce above the deep base. SZA does anything but snooze as she undulates through her toons. Miley Cyrus’s raspy tones bloom on “Flowers”. And Taylor Swift scorches on her confessional “Anti-Hero.” Toosii reinvents the concept of the singular song with “Favorite Song” in the tradition of Elton John’s classic “Your Song.”

The JBL Tour Pro 2s produced the sound I expected for the track I was listening to—plenty of bass, clear vocals and never a muddying of the two. From the ethereal, mournful but uplifting detail of Hamilton’s “It’s Quiet Uptown” to the sonic beats of the Beastie Boys on “Brass Monkey,” the Tour Pro 2s performed exceptionally well regardless of genre.

Calls are also clear, as is the owner’s voice, thanks to six microphones and noise reduction, coming in from those microphones.

I have no complaints. Just lay back and chill to Billie Eilish and learn why she thinks and concludes that, “Therefore I am.”

JBL checked most of the boxes when it comes to features, with the case being the icing on the audio cake.

The JBL Tour Pro 2s, of course, support all of the features that can be controlled from the case, like ANC, transparency and hear-through, all of which work effectively. I have not tried the JBL Tour Pro 2s on a plane yet, but if my opinion changes on my trek to CES in January 2024, I will update the review. A unique attribute on the JBL “True Adaptive Cancelling” comes from its four microphones dedicated to sensing the environment and adjusting to exactly the sounds detected rather than a more general algorithm.

JBL offers its own Spatial Sound. In conversations with various headphone manufacturers, they suggest not using on-ear modifications to the audio if the audio service provides its own way to amp up the experience. For those on Apple Music, for instance, with lossless audio and Dolby/Apple’s Spatial Audio set as a default, songs that leverage those mixes will control the listening experience. Turning on another sound-expanding feature may defeat the advantages of both. My ears attest to the cleanness of this choice when listening to the Beatle’s “In My Life” in its 2023 mix. It’s just gorgeous.

Depending on ANC settings, the JBL Tour Pro 2s deliver between 10 and 30 hours of playback. Speed charging converts 15 minutes of waiting into 4 hours of listening.

For those who want to go through the process, JBL offers personalized listening profiles and ear fit tests to maximize the auditory experience.

And BTW, if you’ve heard enough of everything, the JBL Tour Pro 2s offer what I think is a unique feature: SilenceNow, which just cranks up the ANC, placing the owner in an audio bubble. And if you want to hear a nearby conversation better, their Smart Ambient feature identifies nearby voices and amplifies them.

Bluetooth® 5.3 includes Windows and Google rapid pairing.

JBL Tour Pro 2s also support touch controls on the earbuds, with the left earbud mostly concerned with ambient sound and noise cancellation, while the right bud manages playback and voice assistance. Both earbuds respond to a double-tap for accepting a call. Unlike some earbuds, the touch controls are fixed. And like all earbuds, owners will need to master the taps and holds to get the most out of their purchase. The Tour Pro 2s, however, make many of these features available through the case, which makes forgetting which taps do what less of an issue in the moment.

Not only do the JBL Tour Pro 2s, which come in black or champagne, sound great, but they are fun to use. While some may dismiss the case, I think it offers a hint at how to create “sticky” products that are usually passive once people start using them.

What could be improved

• Sketchy Bluetooth® connection to laptop
• No support for Apple’s AAC codec or Qualcomm’s aptX
• Needs to be put into the JBL sustainability program

When attached to my Apple MacBook Pro, I found that, on occasion, I receive garbled audio. I did not experience that with the iPad Pro. I thought there was some relationship between the case receiving updates and the garbled audio, but I turned off notifications and still experienced the issue. It’s very intermittent but annoying when it happens.

Bluetooth note : If you ever have an issue with pairing, make sure to look for the JBL Tour Pro2-LE items listed as a Bluetooth device. I had an instance where the app would not recognize the earbuds. I tried repairing, resetting and reloading the app. No joy. I then remembered the JBL Tour Pro2-LE. I had my iPhone “forget” that item, and the app immediately recognized my earbuds upon repairing.

I would also like to see a wider range of Bluetooth codecs supported to enhance audio quality.

The plastic hang tag doesn’t complement the otherwise paper-based packaging. Unlike some JBL “eco” products, the Tour Pro 2s make no claims toward sustainability so I rate them as average for the general lack of package plastic.

JBL Tour Pro 2: The bottom line

I don’t find the smart charging case a gimmick. I find it useful, but also a 1.0 version. I am interested to see other feedback on the case, and how adaptive JBL’s firmware is in terms of updating features without waiting for the Tour Pro 3s.

JBL provided the Tour Pro 2 for review. Images courtesy of JBL unless otherwise noted.

Serious Insights is an Amazon Affiliate. Clicking on an Amazon link may result in a payment to Serious Insights.

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Home / Reviews / Audio / Headphones / JBL Tour Pro 2 review: case study

JBL Tour Pro 2 review: case study

Smart case stands out, but is it a sonic slam dunk?

There’s a fine line between groundbreaking and gimmicky. JBL is aiming for the former with the new Tour Pro 2: these true wireless earphones are the first to take smartwatch-style notifications and controls off your wrist and cram them onto a charging case via a tiddly touchscreen. They don’t skimp on other features, either, with active noise cancellation, customisable EQ and spatial sound upmixing.

That clever little display pushes them into properly premium territory, which isn’t JBL’s usual stomping ground. You can buy some very capable rival buds for £250 – ones with dumber cases, but an unwavering focus on sound quality or effective ANC. Can the Tour Pro 2 compete, or have the audio essentials taken a back seat?

Design & build: case in your face

Making space for a screen means the Tour Pro 2’s charging case is undeniably on the chunky side. It’ll likely live in a different pocket to your phone, and is no featherweight either. Still, it’s perfectly palm-friendly, and the 1.4in LED panel is big enough that its menus are easy enough to read at arm’s length. The flip-top cover that reveals the buds lurking inside gives us major Star Trek Tricorder vibes, too.

It looks suitably premium, whether you go for the Black model tested here or the fancier Champagne option. Branding is subtle and the metal accents not too blingy. The glossy display bezel up front is quick to pick up fingerprints, though – and you’ll also have to think twice before throwing the case in a bag with your keys, in order to avoid scratching it. A rubberised back to stop it from sliding around on a desk, and a flat bottom lets it stand vertically, too.

The buds are more standard fare, with AirPods-style stems and tiny blue activity LEDs that aren’t an especially useful inclusion. They’re relatively small, but sit quite deep in your ears, so you’ll need to experiment with the bundled silicone ear tips to find a firm fit. The flattened stems give a large surface area for activating tap gestures, and means you can grab a bud at the sides to reposition it in your ear without accidentally skipping tracks or pausing playback.

With an IPX5 rating, the buds are able to survive sweaty workout sessions and brief rain showers, but nothing more. The case is only IPX2, so is best kept in a pocket when the clouds open.

Features & battery life: swipe for sound

So what does that screen actually do? Its main purpose is to tweak the earbuds’ settings on the fly, without having to reach for your phone. After tapping to wake the case up, and sliding to unlock it, you can swipe through a bunch of pages to adjust the level of active noise cancellation, enable spatial sound effects, tweak the EQ presets, and turn on sidetalk to hear more of your own voice while making voice calls. It responds quickly enough to each tap and swipe.

It’ll also flash up any calls coming in to your paired smartphone, with options to answer or reject, and display incoming app notifications. The basic envelope icon that appears doesn’t make it clear which specific app is demanding your attention, though. You can change the lockscreen wallpaper if you like, but only from a limited selection; there’s currently no way to add your own.

Naturally you can control volume and music playback too, but it’s limited to play/pause and track skip. There’s no playback scrubber, no album art, or even a line of text to tell you what track you’re listening to. That means you’re just as likely to reach for your phone when skipping through shuffled playlists, which sort of defeats the object of having a screen in the first place.

It does at least show each bud’s remaining battery life, as well as how much juice is left in the case itself, the Bluetooth connection status and the current time. What you don’t get are any smartwatch-style widgets, like a calendar, weather report or timer. There’s a flashlight function, but it simply turns the screen white and is useless in anything other than total darkness.

Putting the various ANC modes at your fingertips might encourage you to experiment, but you’ll still need to head into JBL’s smartphone companion app to perform an ear fit test, or turn on the Adaptive setting that varies strength based on how loud your surroundings are. It’s the same with the other settings: the case can handle the basics, but it can’t completely replace your phone.

That’s partly because the Tour Pro 2 is absolutely stuffed with features. A Personi-Fi personalised sound test tweaks frequency response based on what you can and can’t hear (with modest gains at best in our testing), the buds’ gesture controls are fully customisable, and the equaliser is about as extensive as it gets for a pair of mainstream in-ears. You can create a curve based on exact frequency and decibel levels if you want to properly geek out over sound.

You can choose which voice assistant gets triggered (Google, Alexa, Siri or your phone’s native assistant – say Bixby on a Samsung Galaxy S23 ). In-ear detection automatically pauses tracks when taking the buds out of your ears, and never got confused while we were walking about. There’s even an option to amplify the sound around you for the hard of hearing. Basically if you like to fiddle, the Tour Pro 2 has got you covered.

It’s not a great choice for anyone wanting hi-res Bluetooth though, at least right now. JBL says LC3 codec support will be added in an update, but at the time of writing it just had basic SBC and AAC. No aptX or LDAC is a disappointment at this price.

Battery life is pretty good, though. The buds themselves are good for about eight hours of listening with ANC enabled, which is a solid showing among high-end earbuds. A few trips to the charging case adds a further 24 hours, assuming you’ve not spent too much time swiping through the screen’s menus. If you can live without noise cancelling those figures jump to 10 hours and 30 hours respectively.

Fast USB-C charging means 10 minutes should be enough for a further five hours, and it supports wireless charging like all true wireless earbuds at this price should.

Sound quality and noise cancelling: leaves you wanting

The Tour Pro 2’s 10mm dynamic drivers put in a decent enough performance – but not one we feel matches the £250 price. There’s not as much expression or dynamism as you’ll find from similarly-priced rivals, which leaves more energetic tracks feeling a little flat. We were left wanting a more expansive soundstage, with the Studio EQ preset merely giving the impression of distance.

The amount of low-end detail puts cheaper, boomier buds to shame, but we were still left wanting a little more impact. At the other end of the frequency range, instruments could sound overly bright. Crank up the volume and hi-hats, guitar strings and vocals can lean slightly into harsh territory. One personalised listening test later and things calmed down a bit, but only a little.

Having EQ presets so easily accessible through the case encourages you to experiment more than a phone companion app might, swapping between modes based on the currently playing track rather than picking a “best all-rounder” setting. Which is handy, as even after a lot of experimenting we couldn’t find a balance that worked perfectly across multiple genres.

The Tour Pro 2 fares better when it comes to noise cancelling, muting the low rumble of public transport quite effectively. That said, certain voices would still cut straight through, even at the highest setting, and it wasn’t particularly skilled at stripping out office chatter or keyboard clatter. Again, this is the sort of performance that would impress in JBL’s more affordable models, but here it comes up just a little short.

JBL Tour Pro 2 verdict

JBL is definitely on to something with the Tour Pro 2. Adding a screen to the charging case shines a light on the more advanced features that would otherwise be buried in a phone companion app, and is simpler to control than the touch gestures built into the buds themselves. It doesn’t come at the expense of battery life, either – but without more smartwatch-style widgets and interaction, its usefulness is limited.

Sound quality is merely OK for the money, with the Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 both offering more oomph. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II and Sony WF-1000XM4 remain the gold standard for noise cancellation, too.

Until there’s more incentive to keep the case out of your pocket, it’s just not worth paying a premium for the screen.

Stuff Says…

Score: 3 /5

A novel twist on true wireless earphones, but one that doesn’t quite reach its full potential. Sound quality and noise cancelling don’t deliver at this price, either.

Touchscreen gives the case more purpose

Respectable battery life with and without ANC

Lots of audio customisation

Average sound quality for the money

noise cancelling could be better

Screen is under-utilised

JBL Tour Pro 2 technical specifications

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming

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JBL Tour Pro 2 - Review

Smart case..

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds have a neat trick: they come in a smart case. The case provides some useful features, but most of its functionalities seem a little unnecessary. It did enhance its design and look though, so I’d love to see it amped up with better features in the next model. Either way, these buds are ideal for you if you’re into bass or if you’re looking for a good pair of noise-canceling earbuds .

JBL Tour Pro 2 – Design and Features

Priced at $249, these earbuds really do stand out because of their innovative charging case. Unfortunately, the case needs a little more work to feel like more than a marketing gimmick. While it is definitely attractive and amusing, it lacks a bit of purpose and depth to it. We’ll get into specifics in a moment – for now I’ll just say that the functionalities it offers don’t make up for the increase in both the case’s weight and size and the price of the product. 

JBL’s flagship buds ship with three ear tips of varying sizes (small, medium, and large) and a Type-C charging cable. Aesthetics-wise, the buds do look like they’re mid-range. Not only is the case attractive, but the buds exude sophistication too. They feature a glossy and matte exterior, a ridged interior, and an overall good-looking body. Weighing 6.1g each, the buds aren’t exactly what you’d call lightweight, but their weight is far from a dealbreaker as well.

The stems on the Tour Pro 2 are short. Like, really short. While this didn’t bother my small hands a lot, I can completely imagine someone with large hands getting very irritated by these. Not only do longer stems make using the touch controls easier, but they also allow you to conveniently adjust the buds in your ears without resulting in accidental taps.

Apart from the potential issues featuring short stems would cause, the buds are pretty comfortable. The various tip sizes are quite helpful and, when plugged in, the buds form a nice seal around your ears with some degree of passive noise isolation. Don’t expect complete cancellation, of course, but the seal was good enough to considerably silence the whirring sound of the construction site next to my house.

The controls on the buds are fairly straightforward. And they’re remappable with JBL’s mobile app for iOS and Android, so you can always tweak them if you don’t find them straightforward. By default, the right bud controls media playback, accepts/declines calls, mutes/unmutes your mic, and activates your phone’s voice assistant. The buds also feature both Google and Alexa as built-in assistants. The left bud allows you to do the same except it replaces controlling media playback with cycling between ANC, Ambient Aware, and Talkthru modes.

JBL Tour Pro 2 – Smart Case

When I mentioned the smart case may be lacking, I didn’t mean it doesn’t offer enough features. In fact, it offers quite a lot. Maybe a bit too much. However, most of what it offers is unnecessary or redundant.

Here’s a full list:

• Media playback (Pause, play, rewind, forward)
• Volume control
• Switching between ANC, Ambient, and Talkthru modes
• Equalizer presets
• Spatial sound
• Screen brightness
• Setting a lock screen wallpaper
• Turning Voiceaware on/off
• Turning autoplay and pause on/off
• Displaying message previews
• Find my buds

Cycling between 13 modes can feel like a chore. The good news is that you can tweak what shows up for you and keep the ones that you need often. Still, many of these options are controls that are easily accessible with the buds, so it does feel a little redundant to have them on the case as well. If you’re someone who always carries the charging case on you, you might love this concept. But for folks who don’t always wish to stay glued to their case and are comfortable with the bud controls, the smart case doesn’t add much value. And one of the few things the buds can’t do, the message previews feature, doesn’t actually display your messages on the case. It just notifies you by saying “New message on mobile device”, which isn’t terribly helpful.

This isn’t to say that all the controls are useless. It is definitely more convenient to change your equalizer preset with the case rather than heading over to the JBL mobile app. Features such as timer and flashlight are also always welcome, as is the Find My Buds feature. I also like the idea of getting to set a wallpaper as it personalizes the experience. My review unit came with a preloaded IGN wallpaper which I thought was a cute gesture by the company.

JBL Tour Pro 2 – Performance

One thing’s for sure. The bass on the Tour Pro 2 is excellent. I can’t say the same about its treble, though. While the latter isn’t non-existent, it doesn’t come at you the way the bass does. If you’re a big fan of treble, definitely pass on these. It isn’t rich, clear, and vibrant as you’d like it to be. It also sounds a bit clustered and doesn’t have a separate layer of its own. I put on many songs, particularly treble-heavy ones, too, and I still didn’t get to enjoy the high-end. The mids are quite good, and I didn’t hear any flaws in them. They feature clarity and depth and sound pretty rich.

The bass is the real winner on these buds. JBL has found a way to make the bass sound amazing without overdoing it too much. The power that the low-end packs is the first thing that’s going to stand out to you. It is extremely noticeable – even by non-audiophiles. Though, I must add, the Bass EQ setting on the smart case didn’t add much value. My songs sounded pretty much the same. While we’re at it, except for the Jazz and Vocal presets, none of the other presets changed a lot for me. My personal favorite was the Vocal one; it did a brilliant job of putting the artist’s voice on another layer and was very helpful when I listened to my favorite podcast on these, too.

Another feature that really impressed me was the buds’ ANC. There is an incredibly loud pedestal fan at my local library that is impossible to be silenced. You might think a library is not the best place for testing ANC, but this fan’s sound was what I really wanted to test with. It might be interesting to note that I sat right next to it on the testing day. To my surprise, it muted it entirely . I couldn’t hear even the faintest whirring sound; it was too good to be true. The ambient mode could have been much better, though. It produced that weird hiss that’s common on the ambient mode of many buds. This hiss was too loud and, coupled with the sound of the fan, was quite bothering. The Talkthru mode was very different from what I expected. It claims to reduce the volume enough for you to have a conversation with someone. However, the volume was reduced so much that it sounded as if you’d paused your music. I didn’t really see a point in the feature because I can easily use the pause option to achieve the same outcome.

I called my friend and was told that my voice came through crisp and clear. I also asked about noise reduction, and they reported it’s doing a pretty neat job considering I was out on a very busy street in Manhattan. They said that the mic did a better job at canceling low-end sounds, as compared to high-end ones. The sound of the car engines whirring was significantly muted, but the high pitched horns and a shrill chirp from a nearby bird was more audible.

JBL claims that the buds rate at 10 hours of battery life and the charging case at 30 hours. That’s more than the average for true wireless earbuds and is pretty impressive. Enabling ANC will reduce the battery life by two and six hours respectively. The actual battery life of these buds is ultimately dependent on your listening volume.

The Verdict

The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds offer excellent bass and decent mids, but comparatively unclear highs hold them back from an all around excellent sound profile. They have a good-looking body, are comfortable to wear, and have excellent ANC that you can count on for travel or your everyday commute. The smart case meanwhile is a neat innovation – with features such as a timer, flashlight, and Find My Buds that are appreciated – but ultimately doesn’t add enough useful functionality to be worth the price premium.

JBL Tour Pro 2

Jbl tour pro 2 review.

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