Whenever a discussion about audio products with noise canceling technology (ANC) takes place, the Sony, Bose or Sennheiser brands will be in the spotlight until other brands fall off the radar. One of these brands is JBL with the JBL Tour One M2 headphone set sold in Malaysia.
JBL is popular with their speaker offerings such as the JBL Bar 1000 home theater set which is expensive but the greatness is comparable to the price and we have reviewed this product. The JBL Tour One M2 headphone set (a rather long name) is sold at a price of RM1699 which is more expensive than the Sony WH-1000XM5 or the Bose QuiteComfort series. The question is, is it worth it and better than the competition?
SPECIFICATIONS
Type of Closed Headphone Set
40mm drive
7x microphone
ANC
Smart Talk Smart Features
TalkThru
Bluetooth 5.3 connection
50 hour battery without ANC
30 hours with ANC
2 hours of charging
Control Android, iOS
JBL Headphones
Price RM1699
DESIGN AND USE
If you feel that Sony or Bose audio products are plastic and feel cheap, this JBL Tour One M2 is also plastic but feels more solid. Because it is sturdier, the extra weight can be felt on the head after prolonged use. This I can accept again because the Tour One M2 is designed to be folded to be stored in the hard storage case provided.
The ear cup on the left has a button to control the listening mode as well as a USB-C port for charging. While on the right cup there is a connection switch, a 3.5mm audio jack port and a volume adjustment button. One thing I really like about the Tour One M2 is the touch panel on the right cup which is easy to use.
Back to feeling heavy after long-term use, where it still feels comfortable and there is no desire to stop listening to music. I have the same problem using the Tour One M2 as I did with the WH-1000XM3 a few years ago, i.e. I would easily sweat and feel hot even in a fairly cool room.
AUDIO QUALITY
The JBL Tour One M2 uses a U-shaped audio profile. This means that JBL emphasizes the bass as well as the treble and at the same time pays attention to balance. Each individual frequency is well separated so vocals also have nice clarity.
Just like the JBL Bar 1000, the Tour One M2 also has booming bass. It's not too resonant, has enough punch and is controlled and doesn't interfere with detail. One problem I feel is that it is not wide enough and the bass boom seems to be in one place only.
The vocal ability as I said earlier is clear. But it's actually a bit thin with the male voice better and deeper while the female voice again K-Pop or J-Pop songs will be a bit loud. Treble sounds crisp and not too sharp, where for a pair of headphones it is quite wide and wide as if using a set of semi-open headphones.
For audio staging, the separation of each instrument is quite good. The immersive listening experience is almost there, but in the head the audio performance is not on a wide stage and it is as if a first-time concertgoer has a distant viewing angle. Audio resolution and detail preservation are not perfect but adequate.
ANC IS THE BEST!
To this day I still agree, Sony is the manufacturer of audio products with the best ANC technology. But, best does not mean perfect. For example, in my opinion the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 has better ANC quality than the Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Jabra Elite 10 is the best I've ever used. The Tour One M2 has just fine ANC. The sound of the air conditioner is still heard when in the office, it only has a moderate ANC capability. It's also clean and comfortable with no hissing or extreme tightness.
CONTROL AND APPLICATION
This set of headphones does not have many buttons compared to some other sets of headphones. So, finding and pressing a button to adjust the volume or control the Ambient Sound is quite simple and straightforward.
The touch panel is only on the right cup panel which supports gestures of one tap play/pause, two tap skip, three tap back and summon the digital assistant Google Assistant or Alexa with tap and hold. It's easy to use and not too sensitive, it's a bonus feature that I love. If there is a volume control knob like the AirPods Max – it's the perfect set of headphones for me.
The JBL Headphones application to control the Tour One M2 is very easy to use. EQ controls, Spatial Sound and more can be set in a very user-friendly interface. One feature that I didn't think JBL could provide is Smart Talk like the same feature on the Sony XM5 series – the music stops when someone wants to talk. Only, the difference on the JBL is that the music is not stopped completely but the volume is lowered, then the TalkThru sound-through feature is activated and you can set the time for how long this feature is active.
The Tour One M2 also has an ambient light sensor for auto pause/play when the headset is removed. The problem is, the sensor used is not very accurate. Music can automatically play suddenly even if it is not worn. I can just pause it again on the phone or move the ear cups a little. Scary nights weyh!
BATTERY
Over the several months I've had this set of headphones as my daily audio product, the battery life has been satisfactory. Without ANC it can operate for 50 hours and can last around 30 hours with ANC. The disappointing thing is that this expensive set of headphones does not support fast charging. It takes almost two hours from 0% to 100%.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
The JBL Tour One M2 is ready to fold and store in the storage case when removed from the box. Inside the case is a USB-A to USB-C cable, a 3.5mm audio jack cable, an adapter for airplanes and a manual. This is a common package for most headphone sets with ANC for prices above RM1000 (except Apple). The container is hard which helps prevent the contents from being easily crushed.
CONCLUSION
The JBL Tour One M2 is a good set of headphones. It brings the same bass capabilities as their home theater sets, offers sufficient audio resolution, user-friendly apps, and is portable as it can be folded and stored in a relatively small hard bag. But with slightly thin vocals, good ANC but not full noise canceling and a bit heavy – the price of RM1699 is quite expensive compared to competitors. ANC for headphone sets still deserves to be held by Sony, with JBL still needing to have better algorithms, microphones and sensors to compete with this Japanese brand.
PROS/ADVANTAGES
Fun bass.
Good audio resolution.
Good ANC - just good with Smart Talk feature.
Easy to use app with many features.
Foldable and easy to carry anywhere.
CONS/DISADVANTAGES
A slightly thin vocal.
ANC that doesn't completely cancel noise.
Although comfortable, the feeling of heaviness is still there.
Quite expensive, especially when compared to Sony.