Perhaps reacting to the newfound holiday spirit and our tentative returns to longhaul travel, Harman Australia has opened up the JBL Tour range to Australia, making available both the Tour One overear headphones and the Tour Pro TWS (True Wireless) earbuds that originally debuted to some acclaim at CES 2021.
Both feature adaptive noise-cancelling that adjusts noise-cancellation strength according to your surrounds, also an Adaptive Ambient Aware mode to pipe some of that outside activity in, and TalkThru, which accentuates the voices of people around you without turning off your music (a bit rude during your own conversations, but excellent for listening to other people’s).
Now that we’re back in the air, users of the overear Tour Ones will be able to make use of JBL’s ‘SilentNow’ feature, which activates noise cancellation without having to turn Bluetooth on – perfect for sleeping off the inflight dining or or for cabled listening to in-flight entertainment through the supplied 1.2-metre cable and double-pin adapter.
When using the cable, the Tour Ones are high-res capable, JBL quoting their frequency range out to 40kHz. Via Bluetooth this drops to 22kHz, with JBL offering a ‘Smart Audio Mode’ selector to optimise the Bluetooth connection for ‘normal listening’, a higher fidelity ‘music mode’ or a low-latency ‘video mode’ (exactly how it is switching codecs or changing bit-rates to do this is unclear).
For calls, there are four microphones, including two adaptive-beamforming mikes for clear voice detection. These also allow Android device users to enjoy Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant hands-free voice capability.
The Tour Ones charge via USB-C, promising up to 50 hours of playback in Bluetooth mode, up to 25 hours with noise cancellation on. The inclusion of hard case and in-flight accessories confirms the focus for the Tour range noted by
Marcus Fry, General Manager at HARMAN AUNZ — “professionals in mind who are constantly on the go and taking work calls”, he says. “The Tour Series is dedicated to consumers looking for the best in noise-cancelling technology, and by launching two different models we’re ensuring that all consumers’ preferences are met, whether they prefer the comfort of over-ear cushions, or the ease and minimalism of true wireless in-ear buds.”
So while the overear Tour Ones have 40mm drivers, those in the in-ear JBL Tour Pro+ True Wireless buds are just 6.8mm in diameter, fitted into 15g earpieces which themselves offer eight hours of Bluetooth battery life or six with their active noise-cancelling activated, while the Qi-compatible wireless charging case can be used to deliver three refills from a single master charge, for a potential 32/24 hours total. A speed charge quickly adds an hour of playtime.
The JBL Tour Pro+ TWS are IPX4-rated (sweatproof) and a “Check My Best Fit” option allows users to check the ear fit by app; five ear-tip options and two stabilisers are included. Both Tour models are compatible with the JBL Headphones App.
The Tour One overears sell at AU$369.95 and the JBL Tour Pro+ TWS at AU$329.95.
