Forget AirPods 4 — these new earbuds have all the features we wish Apple had

Apple’s AirPods Pro 4 is reportedly launching as soon as next month, but the rumors point to a mostly similar design coming in two versions: one affordable model and one with active noise cancellation. The JBL Tour Pro 3 could blow it away — at least in terms of features. 

When JBL released the Tour Pro 2 wireless earbuds last year, the audio company brought innovation to, of all places, the charging case. The addition of a touchscreen on the case is something we described in our a JBL Tour Pro 2 review as a creative game-changer that changed the way we interacted with wireless earbuds.

While JBL hasn’t made our list of best wireless earbuds yet, the JBL Tour Pro 3 could. And the company has somehow crammed even more features into the new model. 

Even larger touch display

Releasing on September 22 for a lofty $299, the third-generation of JBL Tour Pro earbuds appear externally the same as the Tour Pro 2. Coming in black or “latte” the earbuds look the same, but JBL says the case has become smaller while offering a 30% larger display.

Additionally, according to JBL’s announcement they’ve made the case a wireless audio transmitter enabling audio from USB or analog sources like an inflight entertainment system. This is a similar feature to one available in Bowers & Wilkins PI series and LG’s Tone Free T90 earbuds.

Strangely, JBL claims this feature doesn’t utilize Bluetooth, but their press release declines to explain how the earbuds and case are directly connecting USB or analog sources. “The direct connection between case and earbuds is more stable, and lower latency, than Bluetooth,” they say.

Like the Tour Pro 2 case, the new touchscreen case can be used to control playback functions and features like active noise-cancelling without needing to pull your phone out.

Spatial audio, ‘Crystal AI’ calls 

JBL’s Spatial Audio 360 has been added, too, which includes head-tracking, device-agnostic immersive audio, meant to make movie watching or game playing more in depth. 

The features list keeps coming as JBL has added support for Sony’s hi-res LDAC Bluetooth codec, standard in any phone with Android version 8 and up. Additionally, JBL has apparently improved calls with JBL Crystal AI, which the company says will enhance clarity even in noisy environs.

Under the hood, The Tour Pro 3 is getting a hybrid dual driver system in each bud with 11mm dynamic drivers that are supposed to provide cleaner bass and “vivid” vocals. 

While the charging case and last year’s feature list were cool, we did find that the sound was okay but paled in comparison to Bose and Apple. “Vocals sounded distant and there is noticeable echoing on most tracks,” we said in our review.

Hopefully, the upgrades that JBL is bringing to the table in the Tour Pro 3 earbuds improve the sound quality to match the innovation in the case.

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