The JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX is a feature-heavy pair of over-ear headphones. With excellent adaptive noise cancellation, long-lasting battery life, and a punchy, energetic sound profile, they’re built to handle pretty much anything.
They're comfortable enough to wear all day, they have advanced features like spatial audio and hearing profile calibration but the real point of difference here is the included Smart TX transmitter, a pocket-sized touchscreen device that lets you connect wirelessly to anything with a headphone jack, including plane entertainment systems and older gear.
Build quality leans more towards practicality feeling a bit plasticky, and the lack of water resistance limits their versatility outdoors. But for the right user, especially one who’ll make use of the transmitter, these are a very capable option.
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Price & Competition
These are a premium set of over-ear headphones that provide a suite of advanced features, and the price reflects that, costing $565.98 for the Smart TX bundle.
Although on the upper end of the price range, this is a reasonable price with competitors like the Sony WH-1000XM5’s costing $458, the WH-1000XM6’s costing $699, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 costing $487, and the Apple AirPods Max costing $989.
But none of those other options come with a Smart TX transmitter, more about that below.
Design
Weighing 278g, the Tour One M3’s are similar to other headsets, the Sony WH-1000XM5’s weigh 250g, the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s weigh 293g, and the Apple AirPods Max weigh 384g. They’re comfortable and I could easily wear them all day without ever having a problem.
The earcups utilise memory foam material that’s soft and breathable, and the headband provides a snug fit without squeezing uncomfortably. The earcups fold flat and inward, making them easy to store, and JBL includes a hard-shell case in the box that holds the headphones and the Smart TX transmitter for even more security, which is a nice touch.
The outer build is mostly plastic, which keeps things light but it doesn’t feel quite as premium as other options in this category, and they also don’t have an IP resistance rating, meaning they’re not water resistant so you might not want to wear these while exercising.
They utilise a mix of touch and physical controls. The right earcup doubles as a touchpad for play/pause, track skip, and voice assistant, with the power switch and ANC/ambient modes button on the bottom. The volume rocker sits on the left earcup and it’s easy to use. The controls work well, though the touchpad controls do feel a bit finicky at times requiring quite assertive touches, especially when multiple presses are required.
They come in two colours, Black and Brown, with the black version looking just as you’d expect and the brown version adding an optional bit of flair. They look fine.
Sound Quality
Like many JBL products, out of the box the Tour One M3’s generate a punchy, lively sound. Essentially all you need to know is that no matter what you listen to, whether it’s hip-hop, rock, DnB or instrumentals, it will sound good.
The bass is certainly noticeable. It’s warm without being overbearing. Mid frequencies are clean with vocals nicely cutting through the mix, and treble remains crisp across genres, but the highs can sound a tad tinny at peak volumes.
Within the JBL app there’s a 10-band EQ that makes definitive changes allowing you to get the sound exactly as you like it, and for even more personalisation there’s a built-in hearing test called Personifi 3.0. This creates a sound profile tuned to your own personal hearing and it’s not a gimmick, I certainly noticed subtle improvements in clarity after using it. It’s quick, easy and genuinely useful.
Spatial 360 audio is here as well. As you move your head the sound will shift like you’re sitting in front of a TV or a speaker setup. Turn your head left and the sound will play in the right earcup, turn your head right it will play in the left earcup, and so on. It’s good for movies and immersion, but you can turn it off if it’s not your thing as well.
Noise Cancelling & Transparency
The noise cancelling here is excellent. The adaptive ANC adjusts itself in real time, picking up queues from your environment and changing to suit. On a busy bus ride it will kick into full strength, easily cutting out the engine rumble and background chatter. In quieter environments, it backs off a bit so you don’t get that pressure-in-your-ears feeling, which is a nice touch.
Like most headphones these days, there are also ambient modes here. Ambient Aware lets outside noise in so you can stay alert, TalkThru is good for having quick conversations without removing the headphones, massively boosting voices and pausing your music, and there's Smart Talk which automatically pauses your music when you start speaking and resumes when you stop. It’s relatively accurate, but a big laugh or singing along to a song can trigger this.
Smart TX Transmitter
The standout feature here is the Smart TX transmitter. This is a small, separate, rechargeable transmitter with a full-colour touchscreen. You can use it to control the headphones without requiring your phone. You can switch ANC modes, change the EQ, check battery levels, or turn on spatial audio, all from your pocket. It works well but it is quite small so you’ll have to keep an eye on it, fortunately there’s a spot for it in the included carry case.
Where the Tour One M3 Smart TX really sets itself apart is with its Auracast transmission functionality. This clever feature lets you beam a wireless signal from the included Smart TX transmitter to any Auracast-compatible headphones or speakers.
Why does that matter? Because it means you can plug the transmitter into any device that still requires a cable, like a plane’s in-seat entertainment system or a cardio machine at the gym, using the included USB-C to 3.5mm cable, and then listen wirelessly through your headphones. It’s seamless, and frankly, brilliant. Even better, you can connect multiple pairs of Auracast-enabled headphones at once, letting more than one person hear the same audio simultaneously. That’s incredibly useful for families travelling with one tablet or laptop, parents and kids can all listen together without needing to share a single pair of headphones.
Call Quality
For calls, the Tour One M3 uses four beamforming mics just for your voice, and four more for ANC. On Zoom, Teams, and mobile calls, people could hear me clearly, even in outdoor settings with wind or background chatter.
It’s also Zoom-certified when used over USB-C, so if you work from a laptop or dock, you get a reliable wired headset with pro-level clarity.
Battery Life
With ANC off, you can get up to 70 hours of playback. With ANC on, it’s about 40 hours, which is plenty. In real-world use, I didn’t charge them once over a full work week and still had juice left.
There’s also quick charging, with a five minute charge providing five hours of playback.
The Smart TX lasts about 18 hours on its own and charges via USB-C too. Just remember to charge it separately if you’re going on a long-haul flight.
Verdict
The JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX headphones deliver on almost every front: strong noise cancellation, customisable sound, outstanding battery life, and a genuinely useful Smart TX transmitter that expands how and where you can use them.
Comfort is excellent, call quality is clear, and the companion app offers more control than most.
But there are a couple of small downsides? The build doesn’t feel as premium as some competitors, the touch controls can be a little sensitive, and there’s no water resistance for outdoor or workout use.
But for travellers, commuters, and anyone juggling multiple devices, this is one of the most versatile headphone packages currently available, smartly designed, packed with features, and easy to enjoy every day.
