The ANC quality of JBL’s latest buds was extremely comparable to that of the AirPods Pro 2 when I tested them side-by-side on my noisy Queens street - in fact, the Tour Pro 2 seemed to be a tiny bit more suppressive when it came to construction noises. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the Tour Pro 2’s excellent active noise cancellation, which significantly dampens the loud construction and constant chatter I encounter on my daily walks and subway rides. You shouldn’t have much issue using the Tour Pro 2 for calls while the AirPods Pro 2 proved to be a little clearer when comparing voice recordings, JBL’s buds still picked up everything I was saying just fine. I still find Apple’s earbuds to sound a bit clearer overall, but the Tour Pro 2 aren’t far behind, and have the unique advantage of dedicated profiles such as jazz, club, bass and studio. That said, once I played around with JBL’s sound equalizer - something you won’t get on the AirPods - I was able to find a profile that sounded pretty comparable to the AirPods Pro’s stock settings. When comparing the Tour Pro 2 against the AirPods Pro 2, Apple’s buds sound considerably louder, fuller and bassier out of the box. JBL’s new high-end buds made an excellent complement to my daily playlist of loud emo jams and mellow indie tracks, pumping out crunchy power chords, booming basslines and breathy vocals with impressive clarity. To be fair, I wasn’t too worried about how I looked once I actually turned on some music. Regardless, swiping around the Tour Pro 2’s screen felt smooth, intuitive and refreshingly simple, and could be just the thing for folks who want a more minimalist (or simply more fun) way to adjust their earbuds on the fly.
I only wish the Tour Pro 2 went one step further and let you browse your music library directly from the screen (something that would truly replicate the iPod experience), but that seems like it’d require a more advanced interface and cooperation from the big streaming players. It’s certainly less distracting than pulling your phone out and accidentally getting sucked into another endless TikTok scroll. I can’t say that I’ve gotten in the habit of relying solely on the case just yet, but there’s a fun and nostalgic feeling that comes with being able to control my music from a tiny little brick - it’s like I’m back in 2007 playing with my iPod, blissfully ignorant of anything that wasn’t my expertly curated pop-punk playlist.
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The screen can even alert you to mobile notifications, trigger a “find my” buzz if one of your buds goes missing and technically double as a flashlight (which really just makes the screen go all-white in the event you need some illumination in a pinch).īy giving you full control of your earbuds right from the case (not to mention the ability to check the buds’ battery life and even the time at a glance) the Tour Pro 2 should theoretically cut down how frequently you need to take your phone out of your pocket when you’re on the go. Once the Tour Pro 2 are paired to your phone, you can swipe between widgets dedicated to things like music playback, volume, ambient sound control, equalizer and a sleep timer - if you can do it on the JBL Headphones app, there’s a good chance you can do it here. I never thought I needed a pair of earbuds with a screen on the case (in fact, I still don’t), but there’s no denying that the Smart Case’s LCD display is pretty novel - and just fun to play with. But are all those perks worth $250? Here’s what I think after using the JBL Tour Pro 2 as my main headphones for close to a week. They’re also a pretty great pair of premium earbuds in their own right, with sound quality and battery life that more than hold up to rivals from Apple and Samsung, as well as a huge selection of features you won’t find on many other competing buds. It effectively turns your earbuds case into a standalone music player, and while it may seem gimmicky, JBL’s touchscreen case can be surprisingly practical - particularly if you’re trying to cut down on distractions. JBL says that the Tour Pro 2 are the first wireless earbuds to offer a “smart charging case,” which packs a roughly 1.5-inch LED display that lets you do everything from control your music playback to switch between sound modes without ever having to touch your phone. It’s pretty hard for a pair of earbuds to stand out to me these days, but when I unboxed my JBL Tour Pro 2 and noticed the case’s tiny touchscreen - which immediately flashed a CNN Underscored logo as soon as I turned it on - I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
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