JBL Tour Pro 2 review: These earbuds have their own screen

It’s fairly exhausting for a pair of earbuds to face out to me lately, however once I unboxed my JBL Tour Professional 2 and seen the case’s tiny touchscreen — which instantly flashed a CNN Underscored emblem as quickly as I turned it on — I couldn’t assist however be intrigued.

JBL says that the Tour Professional 2 are the primary wi-fi earbuds to supply a “sensible charging case,” which packs a roughly 1.5-inch LED show that allows you to do the whole lot from management your music playback to change between sound modes with out ever having to the touch your telephone. It successfully turns your earbuds case right into a standalone music participant, and whereas it might appear gimmicky, JBL’s touchscreen case may be surprisingly sensible — significantly if you happen to’re making an attempt to chop down on distractions.

They’re additionally a reasonably nice pair of premium earbuds in their very own proper, with sound high quality and battery life that greater than maintain as much as rivals from Apple and Samsung, in addition to an enormous number of options you gained’t discover on many different competing buds. However are all these perks value $250? Right here’s what I believe after utilizing the JBL Tour Professional 2 as my principal headphones for near every week.

A neat and helpful on-case show

I by no means thought I wanted a pair of earbuds with a display screen on the case (in actual fact, I nonetheless don’t), however there’s no denying that the Good Case’s LCD show is fairly novel — and simply enjoyable to play with.

As soon as the Tour Professional 2 are paired to your telephone, you possibly can swipe between widgets devoted to issues like music playback, quantity, ambient sound management, equalizer and a sleep timer — if you are able to do it on the JBL Headphones app, there’s an excellent probability you are able to do it right here. The display screen may even provide you with a warning to cell notifications, set off a “discover my” buzz if one among your buds goes lacking and technically double as a flashlight (which actually simply makes the display screen go all-white within the occasion you want some illumination in a pinch).

By supplying you with full management of your earbuds proper from the case (to not point out the flexibility to test the buds’ battery life and even the time at a look) the Tour Professional 2 ought to theoretically reduce down how regularly you should take your telephone out of your pocket while you’re on the go. I can’t say that I’ve gotten within the behavior of relying solely on the case simply but, however there’s a enjoyable and nostalgic feeling that comes with with the ability to management my music from a tiny little brick — it’s like I’m again in 2007 enjoying with my iPod, blissfully unaware of something that wasn’t my expertly curated pop-punk playlist.

It’s actually much less distracting than pulling your telephone out and unintentionally getting sucked into one other limitless TikTok scroll. I solely want the Tour Professional 2 went one step additional and allow you to browse your music library straight from the display screen (one thing that would really replicate the iPod expertise), however that looks like it’d require a extra superior interface and cooperation from the massive streaming gamers. Regardless, swiping across the Tour Professional 2’s display screen felt easy, intuitive and refreshingly easy, and could possibly be simply the factor for people who desire a extra minimalist (or just extra enjoyable) option to modify their earbuds on the fly.

Nice consolation, sound and noise cancellation

When you get previous the novelty of the Tour Professional 2’s flashy LED case, you’ll discover that it homes a really snug and nice-sounding pair of wi-fi earbuds. I’ve been utilizing them as my principal buds for just a few days now, and their light-weight, comfortable match (which you’ll modify by way of the three swappable ear ideas) makes it straightforward to neglect they’re even there.

And whereas I’m not the largest fan of contact controls, the Tour Professional 2’s are among the most dependable I’ve ever examined. JBL’s buds responded rapidly and precisely to my faucets at any time when I wanted to pause a monitor or change between noise modes, and the companion app offers you some flexibility if you happen to’d reasonably have the choice to regulate your quantity on-ear as a substitute. I’m a little bit extra break up on the earbuds’ precise seems to be; whereas their shiny aluminum body is appropriately premium-looking, the buds’ contrasting tones and supplies mix for a busy aesthetic that’s not almost as low-profile as my trusty AirPods Professional 2.

To be truthful, I wasn’t too fearful about how I appeared as soon as I really turned on some music. JBL’s new high-end buds made a wonderful complement to my day by day playlist of loud emo jams and mellow indie tracks, pumping out crunchy energy chords, booming basslines and breathy vocals with spectacular readability.

When evaluating the Tour Professional 2 in opposition to the AirPods Professional 2, Apple’s buds sound significantly louder, fuller and bassier out of the field. That stated, as soon as I performed round with JBL’s sound equalizer — one thing you gained’t get on the AirPods — I used to be capable of finding a profile that sounded fairly akin to the AirPods Professional’s inventory settings. I nonetheless discover Apple’s earbuds to sound a bit clearer general, however the Tour Professional 2 aren’t far behind, and have the distinctive benefit of devoted profiles equivalent to jazz, membership, bass and studio. You shouldn’t have a lot challenge utilizing the Tour Professional 2 for calls; whereas the AirPods Professional 2 proved to be a little bit clearer when evaluating voice recordings, JBL’s buds nonetheless picked up the whole lot I used to be saying simply high-quality.

I’ve gotten a variety of mileage out of the Tour Professional 2’s glorious energetic noise cancellation, which considerably dampens the loud building and fixed chatter I encounter on my day by day walks and subway rides. The ANC high quality of JBL’s newest buds was extraordinarily akin to that of the AirPods Professional 2 once I examined them side-by-side on my noisy Queens avenue — in actual fact, the Tour Professional 2 appeared to be a tiny bit extra suppressive when it got here to building noises. The AirPods had a slight edge at any time when I wanted to let noise in; Apple’s Transparency mode feels like I’ve nothing in my ears in any respect, whereas the Tour Professional 2’s ambient conscious mode nonetheless suppresses issues a bit. Nonetheless, I had no downside staying alert, chatting with neighbors and ordering my espresso with the Tour Professional 2 in my ears, and there’s even a separate TalkThru mode that additional amplifies voices for straightforward dialog.

Tons of options and very good battery life

Even if you happen to decide to not use the flamboyant charging case show, the JBL Tour Professional 2 come completely loaded with options. The JBL Headphones app (accessible for iOS and Android) is among the most strong and intuitive audio companion apps I’ve examined, with massive, colourful bins for doing issues like adjusting ambient sound, creating your personal equalizer settings and customizing the gesture controls. You possibly can fine-tune precisely how a lot ambient noise, noise canceling or VoiceAware (which amplifies your personal voice for calls) you need, in addition to customise the Good Case’s display screen brightness and wallpaper. JBL’s buds function an elective Spatial Sound mode with devoted presets for motion pictures, music and video games, although I admittedly didn’t discover a giant distinction in dimensionality like I do once I use the AirPods Professional 2’s Spatial Audio.

There are just a few neat little extras I haven’t seen on different earbuds, equivalent to a SilentNow mode that allows you to create a “silent bubble” — which disables Bluetooth, activates ANC and wakes you up after a set period of time — for while you need to catch some zzz’s on a aircraft. Requisite options like Discover My Buds, Alexa and Siri voice command help and a match take a look at are all accounted for right here, and there’s even a Personi-Fi mode that creates a customized sound profile for you primarily based in your gender, age and match. The JBL Headphones app gives a staggering quantity of customization, and simply as importantly, its wealth of options are straightforward to make use of.

You’d suppose {that a} pair of earbuds with an LCD case can be an enormous battery hog, however that hasn’t been the case in my testing. The Tour Professional 2 are rated for as much as 30 hours of complete battery with ANC and as much as 40 with out, which looks like an correct declare — I’ve been utilizing them closely for 3 straight days with a mixture of ANC on and off, and I’ve solely simply gotten a low battery warning on the case. The Tour Professional 2’s most battery score is 10 hours longer than what the AirPods Professional 2 are rated for, one thing that once more appears consistent with my anecdotal use.

If you wish to stretch that endurance even additional, you possibly can decrease the brightness on the Good Case, or enter the Energy Saving menu within the app to have them routinely go into standby or energy off after a set period of time. The Tour Professional 2 additionally help wi-fi charging (as any pair of $250 buds ought to), which made it straightforward to maintain them juiced up on the Belkin pad at my desk. General, you gained’t have to fret about recharging these buds typically — which is spectacular contemplating simply how a lot they do.

The entire Tour Professional 2’s superior tech comes with a value: Its Good Case is fairly enormous. JBL’s charging case dwarfs rivals just like the AirPods Professional 2 and Galaxy Buds 2 Professional, and whereas I personally didn’t thoughts the dimensions, it could possibly be a bit irritating for people with extra-tight pockets. That stated, I’ve to provide credit score the place it’s due — the Tour Professional 2 case has remained comparatively scratch- and scuff-free after just a few days in my pockets, which isn’t one thing I can say about even probably the most high-end earbuds.

The JBL Tour Professional 2 are an excellent all-around pair of ANC earbuds that occur to have the distinctive bonus of an LCD show case. My inside teenager had some good enjoyable utilizing the Good Case as an iPod of types, and it has some legit advantages for people who need to make changes or just test the time with out having to tug their telephone out (and get sucked right into a deluge of notifications in consequence). On the similar time, I can’t say I bought into the behavior of utilizing the display screen often, and after just a few days, the JBL Tour Professional 2’s case stayed principally in my pocket similar to it might on another pair of buds.

However even if you happen to utterly ignore the LCD display screen, the Tour Professional 2 are a wonderful pair of $250 wi-fi earbuds that largely maintain their very own in opposition to — and in some methods eclipse — high-end rivals just like the AirPods Professional 2. Apple’s buds nonetheless play nicer with iPhones, sound a bit higher, have a sleeker design and are continually on sale lately, and the Sony LinkBuds S (our greatest wi-fi earbuds choose for Android) are sometimes a complete $100 much less. However if you happen to’re keen to spring for a platform-agnostic pair of earbuds with a ton of nice options — or simply actually miss your MP3 participant — the Tour Professional 2 are among the finest of their worth vary.