JBL Tour One headphones are a tour de force

JBL Tour One.

JBL are one of the leaders in audio products and I’ve been testing their latest and greatest Tour One over-ear headphones for the last few weeks. These stylish cans have an impressive list of features and sound quality to match and sometimes better the best of what’s out there.

Design

The JBL Tour One have a mostly soft rubber finish with accents of chrome in places. They look sleek and stylish and although not revolutionary, they have a fresh and contemporary look that most will find pleasing.

Each earcup can be rotated by 90-degrees and folded in on itself which makes it compact. They come with a hardshell case that should protect them from damage. The case also comes with an aeroplane adaptor, 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable and a USB-C charging cable.

Features

The Tour One comes packed with high-end features including ANC, up to 50 hours of battery life and built-in support for Google, Siri and Alexa voice assistants. With accurate voice call technology, you may activate your voice assistant of choice with only a tap or a hot word for easy access. Voice prompts come in a choice of 11 languages including English.

Hi-res audio certification means the Tour One can reproduce the sound frequency range available in hi-res music. It has a frequency range of 10 Hz - 22 kHz (active) and 10 Hz - 40 kHz (passive).

The Tour Ones also feature what JBL calls True Adaptive Noise Cancellation, which monitors the environmental sound and adapts the level of noise cancellation accordingly. This is surprisingly effective and means less messing around with different ANC modes. There’s also SilentNow that lets you engage ANC without activating Bluetooth. 

I’ve used this feature way more than I thought I would. I know it might seem strange that you’d want to wear headphones and not listen to audio but it’s great being able to simply quieten the environment around you. Peace and quiet is gold to me and because SilentNow doesn’t make a Bluetooth connection it also saves on battery.

A welcome feature I’m seeing more often now is Google’s Fast Pair technology that essentially makes headphones like the Tour One automatically available to pair with an Android device that’s in close proximity to it. This makes the pairing process simpler and fast especially if you pair it with multiple devices.

Other features include Adaptive Ambient Aware and TalkThru, which help you navigate through your environment as needed.

The voice call quality is excellent. Callers could not hear the sound of loud fans or lawnmowers in the background — just my voice.

Comfort and fit

The earcups and headband have super-soft faux leather which makes them incredibly comfortable. There’s a good range of adjustability in the headband and the clamping force is just right for my head. The cups did get pretty warm and a little sweaty on days when it was really warm but in general, I had no issues with comfort while wearing them for long periods of time. They never felt heavy on my head thanks to a respectable 268 g and good overall fit.

Controls

The left earcup has a dedicated button that can be used for either the voice assistant or ambient sound control. On the right are the volume up and down buttons as well as a slider power/Bluetooth pairing button. Touch controls are for playback and ambient features but for those who don’t like touch gestures, there’s no option to turn it off.

Battery performance

The Tour One takes up to two hours to fully charge and can last up to 50 hours with ANC off or 25 with it on. A USB-C port on the left ear cup provides the means of charging and 10 minutes of change should provide up to 3 hours of playback.

Sound quality

The Touch One has a distinctive JBL sound signature and that’s a good thing. You can use the JBL Headphone app to choose a preset EQ or customise and save your own. The bass is rich and punchy with great clarity in the treble. The dynamic 40mm drivers produce a lot of power without distorting at high volumes but you can still hear the details at low volumes too.

JBL Tour One headphones are hi-res audio certified, supporting frequencies up to 40kHz but you’ll need to use the wired connection and a compatible hi-res device to get the most from these headphones.

Another innovative feature is Smart Audio Mode, which lets you optimise the Bluetooth connection for high fidelity in Music Mode or lower latency in Video Mode. This is also available on other JBL headsets and comes in handy.

Using the wired connection and a decent DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) I could hear a big improvement in low and higher frequencies while streaming from Qobuz Studio with hi-res audio. That being said, the sound is already so good via Bluetooth I generally preferred the convenience of wireless. 

Verdict

The JBL Tour One are easily one of my favourite headphones so far in 2021. They offer exceptional performance and features at a price that makes them difficult to beat.

Retails for €299 at JBL