JBL Tour One M2 review: what can the current JBL over-ear flagship do?
A TEST REPORT from Jonas Wilhelm 
on August 27, 2023, 12:00 pm | Write a comment
Some time ago, JBL introduced new premium over-ear headphones with the Tour One M2. These are the successor to the popular JBL Tour One and are the current top model in the JBL over-ear line-up. I found out for you whether it is worth buying the over-ears.
Even if the design of the Tour One M2 has hardly changed compared to its predecessor, the sound and the ANC have been improved. You can read below what the headphones can do and whether I can recommend them to you.
Jump to section
tl; dr
Overall, I really liked the JBL Tour One M2 in everyday life. They offer pretty good sound, a sleek design that's comfortable to wear, and really good noise cancellation. The battery life is also at a very high level. The operation and the app are also very well implemented, which is typical for JBL. I would place the Tour One M2 slightly below the Sony WH-1000XM5, both in terms of sound and noise cancellation, which, however, also cost around 70 euros more. I can recommend the JBL Tour One M2 to anyone who is looking for really good over-ear headphones for everyday use that have a very good price-performance ratio. You can buy them from JBL itself, or in any common consumer electronics store for around 260 euros.
Unboxing & scope of delivery
Like the other headphones in the Tour range, the One M2 come in dark gray packaging with orange accents. In addition to the headphones themselves, some of their features are shown on the box. In addition to the headphones themselves, the scope of delivery also includes a case, a 3,5 millimeter audio cable, an airplane adapter and of course a USB-C charging cable, as well as the usual paperwork. The scope of delivery is very lavish, which I think is very good.
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
Design, workmanship & wearing comfort
I really like the design of the headphones. The design language here is very similar to that of the in-ear equivalent, the Tour Pro 2. In my opinion they look chic and modern at the same time. They are mostly made of matte plastic with glossy accents. The ear pads and the top part of the headband are very softly padded and covered with some kind of soft faux leather which not only looks good but is also very comfortable. Fortunately, the hinges of the headphones are made of metal, which is much more solid and can be adjusted in many stages. In general, everything looks very high quality and well made, which I think is great. Of course, plastic isn't the highest quality material, but it does help with the weight.
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
-
- Picture: TechnikNews
At 278 grams, the weight is average for over-ear headphones in this class. Thanks to the weight and the soft padding, the wearing comfort is at a very high level. Even when wearing it for a long time, I hardly ever had pain or an uncomfortable feeling on my head. Of course, the headphones also offer wear detection, which reliably stops and continues the music when you take off and put on the headphones. Once you are done using the headphones, you can fold them up and store them in their case. This looks very high quality and is covered with a kind of velvet on the inside.
Picture: TechnikNews
Operation, connection & voice quality
The JBL Tour One M2 is operated using the buttons on the underside of the ear cups and the touch field on the right earphone. To turn it on, you push a small switch to the side and to turn it off, you push it back to the other side. If you hold down the switch, the headphones go into pairing mode. The media playback can be controlled via the touch field and the voice assistant of the smartphone or Alexa can be activated by holding it down. The buttons can then be used to change the volume and the sound modes. I think it's good that you can easily operate all the functions of the headphones here.
The headphones can be connected to devices in several ways. Either you connect them wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.3 or you plug them in using the supplied 3,5 millimeter audio cable. JBL has also thought of people who like to fly, because an airplane adapter is included so that the headphones can also be connected to the entertainment systems in them. If you want to make a call with the headphones, that's not the case either Problem, thanks to the built-in microphones, which really don't sound bad, but could be a bit clearer.
Sound quality, noise cancellation & transparency modes
I liked the sound of the headphones. JBL relies on a 40 millimeter driver each, which is intended to provide a dynamic sound. The over-ears offer a lot of bass and also get pretty loud. Unfortunately for me the clarity just compares to the JBL Tour Pro 2 or to the Sony WH-1000XM5 something was missing. Still, I like the sound. With their ANC, however, the Tour One M2 were able to score again. They reliably filter out and suppress most noises. The headphones only struggle a bit with very high frequencies and wind noise. But I think the noise suppression is very good and a bit better than with the Tour Pro 2.
Like most premium JBL headphones, the Tour One M2 also offer two transparency modes. Ambient Aware mode is the classic transparency mode as you know it and it worked pretty well. You don't feel like you're not wearing headphones, as everything sounds a bit muffled, but you can pretty much hear everything around you. The other mode is called TalkThru and ensures that voices are emphasized. This also worked pretty well and is mostly useful for conversations.
Charge the battery
The headphones have a 920 mAh battery. This ensures a runtime of around 30 to 40 hours with activated noise cancellation, which is a pretty good value. If the wearer switches off the ANC, the headphones last up to 50 hours. I don't think anyone will wear the headphones for so long in a row, but long battery life also means charging less. If the headphones then have to be charged, this is done via the built-in USB-C connection in about 2 hours, which is also a good value.
JBL Headphones app
Like almost all other JBL headphones, the Tour One M2 have an app called JBL Headphones here. You can manage all the settings and functions of the headphones via the app. For example, the noise modes can be selected, a personal sound Profil and control the sound via the equalizer. In addition to the ready-made equalizers, there is also the option of creating your own equalizer, which I did. The app is very well implemented and I personally like the look of it quite a lot.
Picture: TechnikNews
Prices & Availability
The RRP of the Tour One M2 is 329 euros, which, however, they do not cost more. You can now get them for about 260 euros. I think the price is really very good for what is on offer. The headphones are of course available from all major electronics stores, as well as from JBL itself.
- Buy the JBL Tour One M2 at JBL
- Buy JBL Tour One M2 at MediaMarkt
- JBL Tour One M2 buy at Saturn
- Buy the JBL Tour One M2 from Amazon
