JBL Made A Touchscreen Earbuds Case For Its New AirPods Rival
More than a year after JBL launched an entirely new lineup of personal audio products under the JBL Tour Series, the company has decided to give the lineup a much-needed refresh. The first two products from the Tour lineup were the JBL Tour One over-ear headphones and the JBL Tour Pro+ true wireless in-ear headphones. These two products have now found their successors in the JBL Tour One M2 and the JBL Tour Pro 2 models, the company announced in a press release. Being second-generation products in their respective segments, both of these devices boast several improvements and enhancements over their predecessors. Given their near $300 price tag, we expect these products to compete against the likes of the Apple AirPods Pro and the previous generation Sony WH-1000XM4.
Most of the upgrades to the JBL Tour One M2 seem to be incremental, with the product retaining the same general aesthetic as its predecessor. The JBL Tour Pro 2, on the other hand, seems to be a new product from the ground up thanks to a completely new earbud design. Despite this, it's not the overhauled design that you will remember the JBL Tour Pro 2 for. Instead, what does the trick for the device is its smart charging case, which has to be the coolest of its kind made for wireless earphones so far. Unlike most charging cases that serve the rather utilitarian purpose of keeping your earbuds charged, this one amps up the cool factor by letting you interact with it via a 1.45-inch LED touchscreen that displays important information.
The charging case you didn't know you needed
The interface on the Tour Pro 2 model's charging case resembles that of a smartwatch. Apart from displaying standard information like the current time and the battery levels for each earbud, you can play around with most of the earbuds' settings using this screen without ever having to use your phone. Making the charging case even cooler is the fact that you can use it to view notifications and even receive calls without having to take your phone out of your pocket. Of course, JBL expects you to carry the charging case with you everywhere.
Like its predecessor, the JBL Tour Pro 2 supports ANC along with the option to switch to an ambient mode when needed. Powered by 10mm drivers, the Pro 2 also supports proprietary JBL features like JBL Pro Sound and Spatial Sound. The product has a claimed battery life of 40 hours when used along with a fully charged case.
As for the JBL Tour One M2, this product features an improved version of JBL's ANC and ambient sound technology. Featuring 40mm drivers, these headphones also get JBL's Pro Sound and Personi-fi 2.0 technology along with the company's immersive audio algorithm JBL Spatial Sound. The Tour One M2 claims 50 hours of total music playback time without ANC, going down to 30 hours with ANC on. Both these products are expected to go on sale starting January 2023 with prices for the JBL Tour One M2 priced at €299 and for the JBL Tour Pro 2 at €249. There is no word of both these devices ever making it to the United States.