JBL Tour One M2 vs Tour One M3

JBL announced the Tour One M2 on 30 August 2022 and the Tour One M3 on 6 January 2025, and on paper the newer pair gets more battery from a smaller cell: 850 milliamp-hours at 3.85 volts, against 920 at 3.7 volts in the M2.

Battery and charging

The M3 is rated for up to 70 hours of Bluetooth playback with noise cancelling off and 40 with it on; the M2 for 50 and 30. Talk time moves the same way, 38 hours with noise cancelling off and 34 with it on for the M3, against 30 and 21. These are JBL’s ratings for each model, and JBL doesn’t explain how the smaller cell lasts longer.

Both charge fully from empty in 2 hours over USB-C. The quick charge got quicker: 5 minutes gives about 5 hours on the M3, where HARMAN says the M2 needs 10 minutes for about the same 5 hours.

LDAC on the M3, LC3 on both

The M3 plays SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC over Bluetooth 5.3, and JBL names LE Audio and Auracast for it. LDAC and LC3 still need a phone or source that can send them. Its profiles are A2DP 1.4, AVRCP 1.6.2 and HFP 1.8, and it pairs two devices at once and switches between them, with Google Fast Pair and Google Audio Switch.

The M2 launched on AAC and SBC, also over Bluetooth 5.3, with LE Audio promised in the 2022 and 2023 announcements. JBL’s support notes put Auracast in firmware 5.6.0 on 29 November 2024 and LC3 for LE Audio unicast in firmware 6.1.0 on 30 May 2025, so an updated M2 can do LC3, but not LDAC. Its profiles are A2DP 1.3.2, AVRCP 1.6.2 and HFP 1.7.2, with Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. Neither model has aptX.

Two-device pairing on the M2 depends on which JBL page you trust: the global site lists Multi-Point Connection, while the feature list in the English specs leaves it out. If you need it, confirm it for the exact model you’re buying.

Noise cancelling and microphones

The M2 uses True Adaptive Noise Cancelling with Smart Ambient, driven by four noise-sensing microphones that adjust in real time. Calls use a four-microphone setup with VoiceAware, Smart Talk switches you into TalkThru when you speak, and Personal Sound Amplification boosts what’s around you by about 15 to 20 dB.

The M3 moves to True Adaptive Noise Cancelling 2.0 with eight microphones, four on and in each earcup, and HARMAN calls it an advanced eight-microphone system. Calls add four adaptive beamforming microphones and VoiceAware, and HARMAN says the M3 is Zoom-certified over a wired connection. Ambient Aware, TalkThru and Smart Talk are in the JBL Headphones app.

JBL’s global site gives different totals, 7 microphones for the M2 and 10 for the M3, which don’t match the noise-cancelling and call counts above. The noise-cancelling counts, four against eight, are the useful comparison.

A new driver and a USB-C DAC

The M2 is a Hi-Res certified JBL Pro Sound headphone with a 40mm dynamic driver (1.58 inches). The M3 has a newly developed 40mm mica-dome driver (1.57 inches) and a built-in 192-kilohertz, 24-bit USB-C DAC for lossless listening from a computer or phone over the cable.

The electrical figures changed too. Impedance drops from 32 ohms on the M2 to 18 on the M3, sensitivity rises from 117 to 122 dB SPL at 1 kHz, and maximum SPL goes from 93 to 94 dB. JBL lists the M2’s frequency response as 10 hertz to 40 kilohertz passive and 10 hertz to 22 kilohertz active, and the M3’s as 10 hertz to 40 kilohertz.

Personalization moved up a version. The M2 has Personi-Fi 2.0 and Immersive JBL Spatial Sound. The M3 has Personi-Fi 3.0, with an in-app hearing test, a 12-band equalizer and separate left and right balance, plus Spatial 360 with head tracking. In April 2026, firmware 4.8.0 brought the Harman Curve sound update to the M3, and HARMAN announced a green edition alongside it.

The M2’s JBL Headphones app covers Personi-Fi 2.0, the equalizer, adaptive noise cancelling, touch controls, audio and video modes, and a voice assistant, and JBL says you can say “Hey Google” or “Alexa”. The M3’s app adds Personi-Fi 3.0, the 12-band equalizer, Smart Talk and Auracast; JBL doesn’t list a voice-assistant button for it.

Weight, fold and water

There’s nothing to choose on weight: JBL’s English specs give both 278 grams, though HARMAN’s earlier feature lists put the M2 at 268.

HARMAN calls the M2 a comfortable, compact, foldable design. JBL makes no fold claim for the M3, though it also comes with a carrying case. JBL gives neither pair an IP rating for dust or water.

The M2 comes in Black and Champagne. The M3 launched in Black, Mocha and Blue, with the green edition added in 2026.

SMART Tx, the box and price

In the US, HARMAN launched the M3 at $399.95 with JBL SMART Tx, a wireless transmitter with a touch display, USB-C or analog input, equalizer and call controls, and Auracast broadcast. The M3 went on sale on 13 April 2025. JBL Europe priced it at €399.99 with the transmitter and €349.99 without, and the box list in JBL’s English specs doesn’t include it, so check that a used M3 comes with one before comparing it with the $399.95 bundle.

That box list has a 1.2-meter USB-C to USB-C cable, a 1.2-meter USB-C to 3.5 mm cable, a USB-C to USB-A adapter and a carrying case. The M2 comes with a 3.5 mm audio cable, a flight adapter, a USB-C charging cable and its case.

The M2 went on sale in Europe from January 2023 at €299 and £279.99, and HARMAN’s CES announcement on 4 January 2023 put it at $299.95 in the US. Those are launch prices; check JBL for today’s.