JBL Tour One M3 Smart Tx – A new strong contender in the higher-end noise-canceling headphones

The headphones connect to your phone effortlessly via Bluetooth and are immediately ready to use and listen, but in practice you can only get the most out of the headphones with the JBL Headphones app, which you download to your phone. This is actually the case with many other headphones as well.

The application has a lot of different settings and adjustments, and it's worth getting to know them over time. The most important adjustment in terms of sound is the 10-band equalizer, which allows you to modify the sound in a variety of ways. And it's worth it.

With the Flat setting, i.e. no correction, the sound is quite ok and pleasant in itself, but there is a bit too much bass (a matter of taste, of course) and the overall tone is a bit darker. The equalizer has six different presets, of which Studio offers the most balanced sound. But why isn't there a so-called Harman Target Curve setting that gives the absolute best results? That is, one whose playback result has been repeatedly assessed in studies as neutral and generally pleasant for as many listeners as possible? The reason is probably commercial and practical: manufacturers want to differentiate themselves with their sound profiles and at the same time offer ready-made and “easy” presets that are suitable for bass lovers, for example. Many users find the emphasized bass and treble more impressive at first – although in the long run it usually starts to sound burdensome.

It's strange that the manufacturer doesn't even offer an optional "Reference" or "Harman Target" preset. Especially since the "Harman Curve" is the product of JBL's own research.

More information about Harman target response in AVPlussa's article: With EQ, €20 headphones give €200 sounds?

Playback can be brought closer to optimal response with the following equalizer settings:

The mid and high frequencies are emphasized at 2000 Hz by +2-3 dB and at 4000 Hz by +4-6, perhaps a small -1-2 dB attenuation at 8000 Hz. The low frequencies can be left as is or attenuated by a couple of decibels at 32 and 64 Hz and a couple more decibels at 259 Hz, respectively. According to your taste. And of course you can emphasize the bass if you feel like it.

After a little fine-tuning, the sound can be described as musical and it places itself at the top of its price range, or at least close to it.

The app's numerous other features include Ambient Aware, speech mode, disabling touch controls, and a Personi-Fi hearing test, which JBL says optimizes EQ based on your hearing – in practice, however, this hasn't really been found to have much of an impact, and there's no strong evidence of significant improvement elsewhere. The app also lets you control Spatial 360 mode, which adds a sense of space to the sound by tracking head movements, but the effect is quite subtle and not everyone thinks it adds any significant value to listening.

The JBL Headphones app also does not have a separate widget function that allows you to adjust noise cancellation or equalizer settings directly from the phone's home screen.

While many Android phones still use Qualcomm's aptX, aptX HD, and aptX Adaptive codecs, the JBL Tour One M3 doesn't support them at all. Instead, the headphones offer LDAC support, which allows for higher bitrates and potentially better sound quality, especially when listening to higher-resolution music. This has become more common in recent years, as LDAC is built into the operating system of many Android devices, while aptX profiles require separate licensing.

In practice, this means that if you have a phone that primarily uses aptX codecs (such as older or certain mid-range Android models), the Tour One M3 will not be able to use them, and will instead switch to SBC or AAC. However, LDAC offers a higher bitrate option for most modern Android devices, replacing the need for aptX in many cases. This reflects a broader trend where manufacturers are favoring LDAC or preparing for the upcoming LE Audio/LC3 standard, although aptX is not completely disappearing from the market.

The sound quality was already noted as excellent, but what about the noise cancellation?

The previous Tour One M2 was quite decent in this respect, but didn't quite measure up to its competitors. The M3 proved to be more advanced than its predecessor right from the start: The low-pitched growls of a bus were dampened commendably well, which also promises proper noise cancellation in airplane use. In some situations, changing head position caused a slight "pumping" in the attenuation. Simply turning on the noise canceling function without an audible signal can often cause an unpleasant feeling of pressure, but the JBL came out of this test with a clean slate. What's nice is that the noise canceling function doesn't seem to affect the playback balance much; something that still bothers some headphones. 

JBL is now very competitive in terms of noise cancellation for this model. JBL's noise cancellation works excellently in practice: it effectively attenuates low-frequency sounds in particular and makes the headphones usable even in noisy environments, such as on an airplane or in an open-plan office. In addition, the cups passively isolate quite well even without active noise cancellation. Transparency mode allows you to monitor a conversation or your surroundings without having to take off the headphones. Overall, noise cancellation is clearly a strong feature in this price range.

The headphones work well for calls: the sound is clear and the microphones filter out background noise effectively, which makes the headphones very useful for calls and remote meetings even in busier environments. However, in some very noisy situations, the noise cancellation can be too aggressive, causing part of your speech to be cut off or sound choppy to the other party. Overall, hands-free is also a clear strength of the Tour One M3 headphones.

The headphones come with a separate JBL Smart Tx box, the size of a matchbox and equipped with a small touchscreen, which acts as both a controller for the headphones' functions and a wireless audio transmitter. It can be connected to any audio source, such as a TV, computer or in-flight entertainment system, via USB-C or 3,5 mm, and transmits audio to the headphones via JBL's own low-latency wireless connection. The touchscreen allows you to adjust music, noise cancellation and EQ, and answer calls without having to pick up your phone. The transmitter also supports new Auracast technology, which allows you to share audio to multiple compatible headphones or speakers at once.

The sound was good with USB-C, but for some reason the sound quality when fed through the analog 3,5 mm connection was clearly worse than expected. Downright bad. Therefore, it cannot be recommended for TV or airplane use. Especially since the headphones can be connected directly to the USB-C output and a USB-C/3,5 mm cable is also included. Although perhaps a little too short and stiff.
Overall, Smart Tx seems like a somewhat unnecessary feature. Fortunately, you can buy the headphones without it for 50 euros less.

The JBL Tour One M3 left a positive impression. The sound quality after a little adjustment was quite high quality and pleasant. The lightweight headphones also sit comfortably on the head. The noise cancelling technology is also clearly better and more effective than its predecessor. Simply good. The possibilities provided by the application are abundant and actually useful. When the listening time is also among the best on the market, it can be said that JBL has managed to create a quite competitive product in a very competitive series. On the other hand, the competition is fierce and JBL's quality impression is not quite up to the level of, for example, Sony. The benefit of the Smart Tx unit was also questionable. It might be worth buying the headphones without it.

Good sound quality, effective noise cancellation, comfortable on the head, long operating time, versatile adjustment options.

Plastic construction for its price range, poor sound quality of the Smart Transmitter when transmitting analog audio, and the need for it in general.

All information provided by the manufacturer.

(*) From the manufacturer's website, JBL prices vary widely between retailers.