When it comes to headphone reviews we have more in ear over ear, and bone conduction headphones sent to us for our opinion than most other products, so when the new Tour One M3 from JBL arrived I put it alongside a Beats, Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 and a couple of other expensive over ear headphones we had to review.

When I opened the JBL package the first thing to hit me was their colour Blue that coated these headphones.

This was no ordinary blue it was rich and dark and when blended with a hint of nickel it looked super premium.

The box the pair came in, is also a rich blue and what I have found with JBL headphones in the past is the case is easy to travel with as it fits easily into a multitude of bags.

As for the headphones, these are no ordinary headphones.

Firstly they are designed and manufactured by Harman the owners of the JBL brand, as for Harman, who have recently acquire the former Sound United business that includes the Bowers & Wilkins and Denon brands, they are in turn owned by Samsung and this gives them access to capital for R&D and cutting edge processors and technology that works in small places such as a top end smartphone and on devices that need great sound output such as small speakers and soundbars.

And this is most probably why the new Tour One M3 headphones have seriously impressive high-end ANC technology built in along with excellent drivers.

Put these cans on your head switch on the active noise cancelling and you are instantly taken into a new era of ANC technology; in fact, we should have got a hint that JBL had advanced ANC when they released their Tour Pro 3 buds.

After using these headphones for two months and taking in to consideration the $549 price tag these cans are worth every cent especially when you are on board a noisy train or aircraft and want a quiet environment to listen to music or a movie.

These headphones are credible competitor to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, AirPods Max, Bose QuietComfort Ultra, and Sony’s latest offering.

They also as good as any Sennheiser headphones which is a brand that has been going backward in the headphone market for some time.

Featuring 8-Mic True Adaptive Noise Cancelling 2.0 technology, with real-time adjustments and high end signal processing coupled with an internal DAC, and 40mm drivers, the JBL Tour One M3 offering also delivers excellent comfort with the adjustable cups fitting securely without any feeling of clamping similar to other more expensive brands .

Adjustment is via the overhead headband with the light weight design contributing to the overall comfort without compromising performance.

Another plus is the low angled drivers embedded in the side of the cups this unique design where the driver points to the inner ear lobe, deliver an excellent listening experience.

I am however sceptical as to how long the faux leather ear cups and above all the material under the headband would last, as for the cups I would have liked to have had a way to replace them in the future because I suspect that these headphones are going to get heavy use.

As for the nitty gritty of why these headphones are worth the asking price can be found with the inclusion of a SMART Tx remote and transmitter and the overall design of the audio technology.

The SmartX remote is basically a low energy codec that has a charging port on the right of the small LED screen and a USB C input on the left.

When powered on it looks very similar to the screen on the JBL Tour Pro 3 buds.

Using the SmartX remote you can control your headphones’ performance and playback and due to the low-energy codec you can listen to audio without draining the battery.

Also, Spatial Audio, a volume limiter, customisable passthrough and vocal modes, ear detection for auto-pause… the list goes on. For those who need to chill out sometimes, there’s even a set of relaxation tracks that you can play through the app for a pre-set amount of time.

Immersive JBL Spatial 360 sound with head tracking capability is also built in with Harman using a mix of physical buttons and a capacitive touch plate as a means to control these headphones, a simple tap on the right side stops the audio feed.

On the left ear cup is a volume button also on the right is an ambient sound toggle, plus power slider that controls on off and Bluetooth access.

The inclusion of the SmartX remote is convenient because it avoids having to open up a smartphone to access an app.

The transmitter also allows you to pair multiple Auracast-compatible device which means that multiple people can listen to the same content source.

For people who are hard of hearing JBL has added add a personal sound amplification (PSAP) capability and hearing assistive capability.

To activate this, you simply do to the JBL headphone app, and you can turn the transparency mode, and you have access to a connectivity to dedicated PSAP devices or hearing aids.

When it comes to connectivity the headphones have Bluetooth 5.3 built in you can also connect via LC3, SBC, AAC, and DAC.

The JBL Tour One M3 also supports lossless USB-C or analogue audio, because it has an onboard DAC.

What I noticed both with the JBL Buds and their new Tour headphones is that pairing is very fast even to my computer and a TV.

In terms of battery life, these headphones are outstanding making a trip from Sydney to London or New York a simple case of charging the headphones before you leave and then whacking them back on charge when you arrive.

In my case I still hours of battery life left after my 28 hour trip, as for official battery life JBL are claiming 60 hours which makes it an outstanding benefit. I was also able to sleep in my headphones with no discomfort due in part to the shape of the

Conclusion

If great sound output and really good active noise cancelling are critical elements in your choice of headphones, the JBL Tour One M3 are going to be hard to beat especially as they are sub $600. Throw in battery life and their new SmartX remote and you really have a contender for best headphone of the year.

I would also like to qualify what really great sound is all about with a pair of cans like these.

As far as I am concerned headphones have to be practical, on the train, aeroplane, on a computer or simply sitting in a quiet room listening to great sound, these are not for purists even though my Tidal streaming of high res jazz and classical music along with some Miles Davis tracks sounded absolutely brilliant.

If you want to tweak the input simple go to the app and adjust the settings.

As for dislikes, I personally would have prefered a leather for the cups and headband because the headphones I suspect will outlast the faux leather.

Rating 9.5/10