JBL aims to blow minds and set new standards with the Tour One M3 headphones and PartyBox 520

In addition to a slew of surprisingly affordable new earbuds, JBL has unsurprisingly unveiled a few other wireless audio products at the CES 2025 trade show in Las Vegas as well. Somewhat unexpectedly, these don't include any upgraded low-cost portable Bluetooth speakers, with the Harman-owned brand instead focusing on treating some of its most demanding fans to a groundbreaking new pair of high-end over-ear headphones and a trio of improved "PartyBoxes."

Unfortunately, the JBL Tour One M3, PartyBox 520, PartyBox Encore 2, and PartyBox Encore Essential 2 will all cost you a pretty penny in a few months, but on the decidedly bright side of things, the recommended price points of these four powerhouses are likely to feel largely warranted once you take their super-advanced features and capabilities into account.

Legendary sound, epic battery life, and a first-of-a-kind accessory

Remember when the JBL Tour Pro 2 buds came out with the "world's first smart charging case" a couple of years back and how the Tour Pro 3 made said case even smarter by adding wireless audio transmitter functionality in 2024? 

Well, the over-ear JBL Tour One M3 obviously don't need a charging case of their own, instead including a dedicated wireless audio transmitter with a handy touchscreen in their $399.95 price tag. The JBL Smart Tx transmitter is deemed as a major breakthrough by its manufacturer, helping set the company's new high-end Bluetooth wireless headphones apart from the likes of Apple's AirPods Max or Sony's WH-1000XM5.

This first-of-a-kind (for over-ear headphones) wireless dongle promises to "uplevel your audio experience" by reducing the latency normally associated with Bluetooth technology and improving the overall stability of your connection between the JBL Tour One M3 and such audio sources as an inflight entertainment system, PC, tablet, or TV.

The "groundbreaking" accessory will be optional, but curiously enough, we don't know how much the Tour One M3 are supposed to cost by themselves. The existing JBL Tour One M2, mind you, are typically priced at $300 sans any sort of smart audio transmitting companion, but this next-gen wireless audio flagship comes with a bunch of other upgrades and improvements too, including 70 hours of uninterrupted music playback (up from just 50 hours of maximum battery life on the previous model) and second-gen True Adaptive Noise Cancelling tech.

The JBL Tour One M3 come with a grand total of eight noise-blocking microphones and a four-mic adaptive beamforming system for crystal clear calls, as well as massive 40mm Mica drivers promising (even more) legendary sound than the Tour One M2, spatial audio with head tracking support, and of course, the latest Bluetooth 5.3 standard, launching April 13 in black, mocha, and blue colorways.

What sort of party animal are you?

JBL seems to think there are (at least) three types of wolves among its customers, with the wildest of them all likely to only be satisfied by a $799 new PartyBox 520 speaker with a monumental 400 watts of maximum output power.

The 100W output power-capable PartyBox Encore 2 and Encore Essential 2, meanwhile, are designed for slightly easier-to-tame party animals... on tighter budgets, costing $399 and $299 respectively with many of the same key features and technologies as the super-premium PartyBox 520.

We're talking AI Sound Boost functionality across the board, as well as Bluetooth 5.4 with LE audio support, IPX4 certification for (minimal) water resistance, and multi-speaker Auracast connectivity.

By no means easy to carry around, all of these new additions to the already expansive JBL PartyBox family come with built-in handles for enhanced portability, not to mention large enough batteries to keep your social gatherings going for up to a solid 15 hours before having to hug a wall. The biggest downside here might be that you need to wait until June to purchase these bad boys, which is still perfect for your next summer vacation.