The JBL Tour Pro 2 put a screen on your earbuds case — but are they any good?

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.

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 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.

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. 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.

What we liked about them

A neat and useful on-case display

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.

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. 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).

By 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. 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.

It’s certainly less distracting than pulling your phone out and accidentally getting sucked into another endless TikTok scroll. 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. 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.

Great comfort, sound and noise cancellation

Once you get past the novelty of the Tour Pro 2’s flashy LED case, you’ll find that it houses a very comfortable and nice-sounding pair of wireless earbuds. I’ve been using them as my main buds for a few days now, and their lightweight, snug fit (which you can adjust via the three swappable ear tips) makes it easy to forget they’re even there.

And while I’m not the biggest fan of touch controls, the Tour Pro 2’s are some of the most reliable I’ve ever tested. JBL’s buds responded quickly and accurately to my taps whenever I needed to pause a track or switch between noise modes, and the companion app gives you some flexibility if you’d rather have the option to control your volume on-ear instead. I’m a little more split on the earbuds’ actual looks; while their shiny aluminum frame is appropriately premium-looking, the buds’ contrasting tones and materials combine for a busy aesthetic that’s not nearly as low-profile as my trusty AirPods Pro 2.

To be fair, I wasn’t too worried about how I looked once I actually turned on some music. 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.

When comparing the Tour Pro 2 against the AirPods Pro 2, Apple’s buds sound considerably louder, fuller and bassier out of the box. 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. 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. 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’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. 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. The AirPods had a slight edge whenever I needed to let noise in; Apple’s Transparency mode sounds like I have nothing in my ears at all, whereas the Tour Pro 2’s ambient aware mode still suppresses things a bit. Still, I had no problem staying alert, chatting with neighbors and ordering my coffee with the Tour Pro 2 in my ears, and there’s even a separate TalkThru mode that further amplifies voices for easy conversation.

Tons of features and superb battery life

Even if you opt not to use the fancy charging case display, the JBL Tour Pro 2 come absolutely loaded with features. The JBL Headphones app (available for iOS and Android) is one of the most robust and intuitive audio companion apps I’ve tested, with big, colorful boxes for doing things like adjusting ambient sound, creating your own equalizer settings and customizing the gesture controls. You can fine-tune exactly how much ambient noise, noise canceling or VoiceAware (which amplifies your own voice for calls) you want, as well as customize the Smart Case’s screen brightness and wallpaper. JBL’s buds feature an optional Spatial Sound mode with dedicated presets for movies, music and games, though I admittedly didn’t notice a big difference in dimensionality like I do when I use the AirPods Pro 2’s Spatial Audio.

There are a few neat little extras I haven’t seen on other earbuds, such as a SilentNow mode that lets you create a “silent bubble” — which disables Bluetooth, turns on ANC and wakes you up after a set amount of time — for when you want to catch some zzz’s on a plane. Requisite features like Find My Buds, Alexa and Siri voice command support and a fit test are all accounted for here, and there’s even a Personi-Fi mode that creates a custom sound profile for you based on your gender, age and fit. The JBL Headphones app offers a staggering amount of customization, and just as importantly, its wealth of features are easy to use.

You would think that a pair of earbuds with an LCD case would be a huge battery hog, but that hasn’t been the case in my testing. The Tour Pro 2 are rated for up to 30 hours of total battery with ANC and up to 40 without, which seems like an accurate claim — I’ve been using them heavily for three straight days with a mix of ANC on and off, and I’ve only just gotten a low battery warning on the case. The Tour Pro 2’s maximum battery rating is 10 hours longer than what the AirPods Pro 2 are rated for, something that again seems in line with my anecdotal use.

If you want to stretch that endurance even further, you can lower the brightness on the Smart Case, or enter the Power Saving menu in the app to have them automatically go into standby or power off after a set amount of time. The Tour Pro 2 also support wireless charging (as any pair of $250 buds should), which made it easy to keep them juiced up on the Belkin pad at my desk. Overall, you won’t have to worry about recharging these buds often — which is impressive considering just how much they do.

What we didn’t like about them

They’re bulky

All of the Tour Pro 2’s advanced tech comes with a cost: Its Smart Case is pretty huge. JBL’s charging case dwarfs rivals like the AirPods Pro 2 and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, and while I personally didn’t mind the size, it could be a bit frustrating for folks with extra-tight pockets. That said, I have to give credit where it’s due — the Tour Pro 2 case has remained relatively scratch- and scuff-free after a few days in my pockets, which is not something I can say about even the most high-end earbuds.

How they compare

Bottom line

The JBL Tour Pro 2 are a very good all-around pair of ANC earbuds that happen to have the unique bonus of an LCD display case. My inner teenager had some good fun using the Smart Case as an iPod of sorts, and it has some legitimate benefits for folks who want to make adjustments or simply check the time without having to pull their phone out (and get sucked into a deluge of notifications as a result). At the same time, I can’t say I got into the habit of using the screen regularly, and after a few days, the JBL Tour Pro 2’s case stayed mostly in my pocket just like it would on any other pair of buds.

But even if you completely ignore the LCD screen, the Tour Pro 2 are an excellent pair of $250 wireless earbuds that largely hold their own against — and in some ways eclipse — high-end rivals like the AirPods Pro 2. Apple’s buds still play nicer with iPhones, sound a bit better, have a sleeker design and are constantly on sale these days, and the Sony LinkBuds S (our best wireless earbuds pick for Android) are often a whole $100 less. But if you’re willing to spring for a platform-agnostic pair of earbuds with a ton of great features — or just really miss your MP3 player — the Tour Pro 2 are some of the best in their price range.