JBL is taking its concept of putting a screen on the charging case of a pair of earbuds and running with it. The new JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds are the latest in its Tour Pro lineup. These earbuds are built to offer advanced features and high-end audio while competing with the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM5 and Apple AirPods Pro.
But while these earbuds compete with alternatives on things like sound quality and noise cancellation, there is one thing that’s totally unique about them. That’s the screen that’s built straight into the charging case. JBL has made a few different pairs of headphones with this charging case display, and I’ve personally tested some of them, finding that while the display is cool, it doesn’t quite replace built-in controls or using any smartwatch that you might have to control your music instead.
That doesn’t make the display useless, though, and on the Tour Pro 3 earbuds, it’s more useful than before. The display on the case is now 30% larger while being built into a smaller and more portable case. Through the screen, you can control music playback, phone calls, and headphone settings without needing to pull out your phone. Of course, it’s not really that much easier to pull out a charging case than simply getting your phone, but at least with the case, you won’t have to unlock your device and navigate to the JBL app.
The charging case offers another neat feature too, though. That’s the ability to plug into an audio source for wired listening. So you could be on a plane and wanting to watch a movie. All you’d have to do is plug the included 3.5mm to USB-C cable into the case and the audio output on the plane, after which the case will wirelessly stream audio straight to the earbuds.
Even if you didn’t care all that much about the display, the earbuds are pretty high tech. The Tour Pro 3 earbuds introduce JBL’s new dual drivers and offer 360-degree audio with head tracking, adaptive noise cancellation, and more. As mentioned, I’ve tested previous iterations of these earbuds, finding that display aside, they offer excellent audio quality and a solid feature set.
The noise cancellation is a particular focus for JBL this time around. JBL calls the ANC tech on these earbuds True Adaptive Noise Cancellation 2.0 technology, and it essentially involves measuring noise levels over 50,000 times per second to adapt to your environment. It does so through six microphones dotted around the earbuds and a wind-proof design, which not only impacts ANC quality but also helps make for clear audio on a phone call. The earbuds are JBL’s first true wireless buds to support Bluetooth Auracast technology, which allows users to share audio with any Auracast-enabled device or join an existing cast easily.
The new JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds come in at $299.99 and are available in Black or Latte via the JBL website.
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