With the JBL Tour Pro+ earphones, the brand brings affordable bluetooth in-ears to the market with noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient mode. Moreover, JBL dares not to copy the design of the AirPods. All pluses in the intro. Are the JBL Tour Pro+ earphones worth buying?
JBL Tour Pro+
Recommended retail price € 199,-
Colour black
Link Bluetooth 5.0
Battery 55 mAh (earpiece), 510 mAh (charging case)
Weight 7 grams (earpiece), 55 grams (charging case)
Features microphone, noise reduction, ambient sound mode
Load USB-C, wireless
Website www.jbl.nl
6 Score 60 
- Pros
- Luxury design and app
- Call quality
- Negatives
- wearing comfort
- Sound lacks power
- Noise reduction and ambient mode
The JBL Tour earphones are wireless in-ears, which resemble the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ in appearance. The design is a cap that you put in your ear cup. What is striking is that the JBL Tour Pro+ earphones look incredibly luxurious. The same goes for the oval-shaped charging case, with a matte black finish with shiny accents. LEDs are subtly incorporated in the box, so you can see whether the earphones are connected and what the battery status is. You charge the charging box via the USB-C port or via a wireless charger.
Wearing comfort problematic
The JBL Tour Pro+ have a somewhat peculiar shape, where the cap goes quite deep into your ear canal. In my case without really getting stuck. This fit causes my ears to become a bit sore over time and the headphones fall out of my ears when moving. During work or on the road, the in-ears stay in place perfectly. Not with movement such as (hard) walking. Although this experience varies from person to person, or even from ear to ear, it was a nuisance for me.
The rubber tips, which go fairly deep into your ear canal, are replaceable. In the box you get the tips in three sizes. So it may just be that the JBL earphones fit you better. Fortunately, thanks to the appropriate tips, the earphones were able to close my ear canal well, so that the sound experience and other features could be tested well enough.
JBL Tour Pro+ Features
The JBL Tour Pro+ are the most luxurious earphones the brand offers. This explains the luxurious design, but JBL has also pulled out all the stops in terms of features. For example, there is noise suppression and an ambient mode, which allows sound to pass through (useful for traffic or at work). There is also a beautifully designed app available for Android and iOS, with which you can set up and update your JBL Tour Pro+.
All that luxury comes with a price tag: the earphones cost about 200 euros. Such a price creates expectations for the sound quality and battery life, because for less money you can buy excellent bluetooth in-ears such as the Jabra Elite 85t, Apple AirPods Pro and the Oppo Enco X. Unfortunately, the JBL Tour Pro+ knows the battle with these competitors not to win. The noise reduction and ambient mode are not noticeable enough.
The sound experience is also not very convincing. While the sound scores well on clarity, which is beneficial for phone calls, podcasts, and audiobooks, the sound isn’t very powerful. Music sounds quite soft and if you turn up the volume, the bass sound gets distorted. So I couldn’t really get into the music with the JBL Tour Pro+ earphones, because if you want to enjoy the details or go along with the full bass, you have to choose between a low volume or distorted sound. A shame, because the adjustment of middle, high and low tones seems fine.
The built-in microphones do an excellent job, making the earphones (in combination with the sound quality) great for phone calls and video chats. If desired, you can also use the microphones for voice control.
Battery life
The battery life of the JBL Tour Pro+ headset naturally depends on the listening mode you use. If you have ambient mode or noise suppression turned on, the battery life will be shorter. An hour or four. If you use the normal playback mode, the earphones will last about five hours on a fully charged battery. The charging case has enough capacity to fully charge the earbuds almost five times.
Conclusion: buy JBL Tour Pro+?
Everything about the JBL Tour Pro+ exudes luxury. From the earphones to the charging case and the app. However, the competition is fierce and JBL’s headset loses out to the AirPods Pro, Oppo Enco X and Jabra Elite 85t. The sound lacks just a bit too much power and the playback modes don’t make a difference. I was also disappointed with the wearing comfort.
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