JBL Tour Pro 3 Review

JBL’s latest flagship true wireless earbuds continue their Tour Pro series with the Tour Pro 3. This model boasts a ton of upgrades from the last version of the Tour Pro, with enhanced Bluetooth capabilities and more cutting-edge features that help keep JBL up to date on the latest technology. Let’s dive into the specifics of design, sound quality, connectivity, and battery life that make the Tour Pro 3 a noteworthy contender in the world of Bluetooth earbuds.

What You Get

• JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds
• Smart Charging Case
• USB Type-C to Type-C cable
• USB Type-C to Analog 3.5mm cable
• USB Type-C charging cable
• 5 sizes of ear tips + 1 x set of foam tips
• Warranty / Warning
• QSG / Safety Sheet

Look & Feel

The earbuds’ design has not changed much from the Tour Pro 2 to the 3. They have the same stemmed style with its chrome finish and similar size. It makes the fit simple and ergonomic, giving you a comfortable seal for long hours of listening time. The main change is the bigger screen on the charging case that brings another level of usability to your earbuds. With a bigger screen, important information like battery life and notifications are much easier to read and the display is much cleaner overall.

Design & Functionality

Inside the Tour Pro 3 is a hybrid driver configuration, featuring a 10.2mm dynamic driver and a balanced armature. The output is definitely more substantial than past iterations, leaving you with plenty of headroom to spare. This is good if you are looking for a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that get loud. Having noise-canceling helps with this too, and while the competition might have superior ANC capabilities, the Tour Pro 3 won’t let you down with its effective isolation. It’s also completely customizable in JBL’s companion app, which is full of extra features like spatial audio, EQ, and Personi-FI. JBL is always good with personalization features, and the Tour Pro 3 offers the most options I’ve seen from the brand. Then there’s the very responsive controls. The touch sensors are ear to use and are not too sensitive. Playback controls have a little delay, with even the wear sensors being very reliable.

Bluetooth

This is JBL’s most advanced Bluetooth yet, with support from version 5.3, LE Audio, and Auracast. The pairing process is super quick and easy, connecting right out of the case. It also supports Microsoft Swift Pair which allows you to seamlessly connect to nearby devices and switch between them. If you use an Android device, the Tour Pro 3 offers LDAC, which is a nice advantage over other earbuds in this price range.

Battery Life

The Tour Pro 3 boasts a good battery life for its price. You should be able to get 11 hours off of one charge of the earbuds with ANC off. The charging case adds up to around 44 hours of playtime before needing to be charged fully.

Soundstage

You usually know what you’re getting with JBL earbuds, so I assess most of the soundstage qualities on a basic level. With that said, the Tour Pro 3 shows a good separation between the left and right channels. It spreads out the sound in a way that makes spatial positioning easy to understand. You won’t find the most accurate imaging, but the stereo field gives each performance a clear identity in the mix, however linear the performance might be. What the Tour Pro 3 excels most at is its scale, making sure all the sound elements appear full and engaging.

JBL also implements spatial audio through their app, but the effect takes more away than it adds. It projects the sound out in front of you a bit more, but the tuning takes on a different form that isn’t as smooth as before. Some tracks feel like the effect is adding something, but the timbre feels a lot more dim.

Low End 

JBL headphones and earbuds can always be relied upon for a fun, punchy bass. With the Tour Pro 3, the bass has the colorful consistency you’ve come to expect from the brand, reproducing thick tones that have plenty of meat. With EQ, the bass can take on a few different personalities. You can adjust it however you like, but just using the presets also gives you all the bass flavors you might want. You can use the bass and extreme bass presets to have a completely bass-dominant sound if that’s your thing, but I like how the Jazz preset balances everything out while also adding a ton of rumble.

Mids

Like most JBL products, you can expect the Tour Pro 3 to have a V-shaped timbre in the midrange. Their tuning never feels hollow, but some instruments will still appear a bit underpowered. It’s never a destructive recession of detail though, as you’ll always experience smooth sound elements with warm bodies and slightly crisp tails. The studio preset is actually a good tool to try and even out the response, but I liked to be a bit more surgical with the mids, adding slight increases and attenuations to give certain instruments more pop. Vocals have the best clarity with the default tuning though.

Highs

The treble is always present and smoothed out in a way that most listeners will enjoy. Even when applying a high shelf to the EQ, the frequency response always shows a lot of control. You’ll never hear any pricing textures or saturated brightness. The Tour Pro 3 has a very casual high-frequency response that features a light sizzle. There’s some surprising detail hidden in the ultra-high frequencies, but the consistency is sparse.

Summary

In a market saturated with options, the JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds manage to shine through thanks to their impressive blend of design, functionality, and audio performance. With customizable sound settings, effective noise cancellation, and a long-lasting battery, these earbuds cater to both casual listeners and audio enthusiasts alike. While the spatial audio feature may not fully satisfy everyone, the overall experience and sound quality are certainly commendable. If you’re looking for earbuds that deliver both style and substance without breaking the bank, the JBL Tour Pro 3 is undoubtedly worth considering.

The JBL Tour Pro 3 is available at Audio46.