JBL Tour Pro 3 review: Best sound in any TWS in India and unique features make it worth picking

India Today

2 days ago

In the last few months, I have tried a number of wireless headphones and buds. While functional, and in some cases exceptionally well, they all fall short on sound quality. This is largely due to their tuning, which is aimed at popular pop music with its emphasis on lows and bass. It is with this context I went into the review of the JBL Tour Pro 3. But when I used them, I was totally blown away. The Tour Pro 3 is not going for a sound profile that boosts bass, it is not pandering to boom boom. It is going for a more wholesome sound signature, which is difficult to achieve with wireless buds. But JBL succeeds. The Tour Pro 3 sounds superb. Well, more or less. At the same time, this is no one trick pony. Beyond the quality sound too, the JBL Tour Pro 3 offers plenty to users.advertisementYou see, we buy a pair of TWS earbuds for two purposes. For convenience and creature comforts, such as taking a call while jogging on a treadmill. And for the sound quality so that we can enjoy our music. On both aspects, JBL has dialled up and has gone full throttle. I mean, the Tour Pro 3 is the first pair of earbuds I have used that comes with a multi-functional charging box with a touch screen of its own.Competing against brands that have better visibility, such as Apple, Sony, Bose and even Sennheiser, in the TWS market, JBL has decided to bring not just a gun to the fight but rather a bazooka. So, the JBL Tour Pro 3 has features that no one else offers in the India market. And these unique features are all part of the charging case. These are also features, that depending on your use and needs, you will find useful or not.
The first big feature is the screen on the charging case. With this touchscreen you can control the music playback as well as other settings of the earbuds. For example, you can toggle spatial mode, right from the charging box without needing to download the JBL Headphone app. The screen is small, and obviously not as contrasty or bright as a phone's screen, but it gets the job done. In use, I found it a mixed bag. Sometimes I preferred using the app or phone to control the Tour Pro 3 buds, while at other times I would pick the charging box and quickly toggle a setting or two. Irrespective, it is a nice convenience.
Beyond the screen, there are two features that the charging case offers and which I find incredibly useful. One is Auracast that has been created by the Bluetooth consortium. This is tailor-made for someone like me who watches TV with earbuds or headphones. You know that problem with dialogues in movies and TV series nowadays? That is precisely why I prefer headphones. The issue is that if I am watching TV with someone, then it doesn't work. The JBL Tour Pro 3 Auracast solves it. I can connect the case to the TV, and then turn on the Auracast feature. Now, the audio will be transmitted to not just the buds in my ears but also to one more Bluetooth headphones or buds I connect with it. Of course, this requires that the other headphone or the buds should support Auracast but nowadays many of them, particularly in the premium segment do. This is super handy!advertisementThe second feature is similar. This one too lets you connect the case to an audio source, say a laptop of a friend, or a sound system in a hotel room, or even the entertainment console on flights, and then play music on your Tour Pro 3 buds without needing to pair it. This is because the charging case acts as a transponder. Again, a cool feature that not just helps you with privacy — Bluetooth is always a privacy risk — but also lets you connect the Tour Pro 3 to almost any sound system, whether it has support for Bluetooth or not. It is extremely nifty.advertisementBeyond these unique features, the Tour Pro 3 comes loaded with goodies. The active noise cancellation, tuned for different scenarios such as a cafe or a flight, is there. Transparency Mode is supported for the moments when you want to quickly talk to your co-worker while wearing the buds. Spatial Audio with 360-head tracking is supported. Ear detection and pause-play is supported. Ability to create a custom sound profile is supported. The ear fit test is supported through the JBL app. Talking of which, the earbuds come with both silicon tips as well as foam tips, which are marginally better at sound quality. Sound profile for both types of tips is custom and can be selected through the app. Personalised sound profile — JBL calls it Personi-fi 3.0 — is supported. It gives you a hearing test and depending on which frequencies your ears can hear, it creates a custom sound profile for you. Hi-Res codecs and Bluetooth 5.3 LE are supported. Robust IP55 rating is there for the moments when you are sweating it out in the gym. You think of a feature and chances are that the JBL Tour Pro 3 supports it.
advertisementBest sounding earbuds, great ANCNow, features are one thing and while they offer convenience, it is the sound quality that truly matters. On this count the JBL Pro Tour 3 is superb, even with the default sound profile that JBL calls Studio in its equaliser.Unlike most wireless headphones and earphones that are tuned for pop music, with emphasised bass, the Tour Pro 3 is tuned in a more general way. The result is that it sounds fabulous in almost all music genres, or at least as fabulous as a pair of general-purpose TWS can sound. As I listened to song after song, I found that the Tour Pro 3 excels at mids, with slightly eager extension into highs. In songs like Sky Full Of Stars by Coldplay and Bohemian Rhapsody, which is rather complex for most TWS to resolve properly, the JBL Tour Pro 3 are excellent. The superb focus on mids also means that vocal-heavy songs like Whitney Houston's I will Always Love you sound great on the Tour Pro 3.advertisementThe clear low-end and bass is definitely there, as I could sense it while I played Bad Guy, but it is not over-emphasised. This is particularly true at lower volume, with bass getting more impactful at volume level above 60 to 70 per cent. At the same time, the JBL Tour Pro 3 resolves enough highs to sound a little exciting without being screechy. The good range across frequencies also means the Tour Pro 3 has a very good soundstage, and instrument clarity, for a pair of earbuds. In fact, the soundstage is so good that you don't need spatial sound on it to truly enjoy the music and mostly I kept its head-tracking and spatial sound switched off while using it.The good soundstage for me was particularly noticeable in Four Seasons and Bolero. I found the Tour Pro 3 to be that rare TWS that can make classical music enjoyable, a difficult task for wireless buds. These were the buds on which I could play Beethoven's Symphony No 9 and enjoy it as much as I do on premium full-size headphones.To give you a better sense of how enjoyable music sounds on the Pro 3, here is a quick table (performance rating based on subjective opinion). This is some of the finest audio performance I have seen from a pair of buds, wired or wireless.
Some songs here are random picks because they are popular while some have been picked because they have complex and distinct sound arrangement that helps evaluate the sound quality of a speaker or a headphone.
Beyond sound quality in music playback too, the JBL Tour Pro 3 offers impressive performance. Its ANC is effective in cutting down noise in all sorts of surroundings. It deals with office chatter credibly and assuredly. And it manages to make Indian roads silent, which is a big achievement.Now as good as the JBL Tour Pro 3 are, I do have a few areas where I feel they could have been better — at least the way I used them with MY ears. Fit of TWS is always a subjective part because everyone has different ears. I found the Tour Pro 3 slightly large in size, and in my right ear the fit was often a tad wonky. This was also because the large size means the buds jut out a little. But I guess there is always some price to pay. The great sound quality obviously needs quality hardware inside the buds, the hardware that probably requires slightly larger casing. One more part that didn't click with me — has never clicked with me with any earbuds or headphones — was the touch control on the buds. On the Tour Pro 3 it was always susceptible to accidental touches. So using the app, I switched off the gesture and touch controls.The build quality of the Tour Pro 3, as well as its charging case, is superb. Both feel solid and have the kind of heft that we see in this segment. In fact, compared to some more expensive buds, the Tour Pro 3 has a better built quality and finishing with their soft matte plastic and flawless finish. The battery life of the Tour Pro 3 is also on the higher side. In my use, once the buds and the case were at 100 per cent battery, they easily lasted around a week before I needed to charge again.
Best sounding earbuds in India?In my opinion, the answer to this question is YES. But even if not everyone agrees with my assessment — you know sense of sound can be extremely subjective just like smell — I am sure everyone will reach the conclusion that the Tour Pro 3 is one of the best sounding TWS in India. And it is definitely the best sounding earbuds under Rs 20,000, the price at which it sells in India.In core areas — sound, noise cancellation, battery life — the JBL Tour Pro 3 are excellent. Then there are additional features, such as the multi-functional charging case, and you can see the value that the Tour Pro 3 offers. It has an MRP of Rs 29,999 but sells for Rs 19,999, or even less if you combine it with a few discounts and bank offers. At these prices, the JBL Tour Pro 3 is a no-brainer. Whether you are looking for a solid pair of premium buds, or want something that can satisfy your discerning ear, you will not go wrong with the Tour Pro 3 in India.- Ends