{"id":13588,"date":"2026-05-04T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/i-review-headphones-for-a-living-and-id-buy-them-from-sony-bose-or-apple-anytime\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T07:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:28:20","slug":"i-review-headphones-for-a-living-and-id-buy-them-from-sony-bose-or-apple-anytime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/i-review-headphones-for-a-living-and-id-buy-them-from-sony-bose-or-apple-anytime\/","title":{"rendered":"I review headphones for a living, and I’d buy them from Sony, Bose, or Apple anytime"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I’ve been reviewing headphones for a few years now, and every year, the same three names always dominate the conversation: Sony, Bose, and Apple. They are beautiful. I won’t pretend otherwise. But “good” and “best value for money” can be two very different things, and after spending time with a personal pair of JBL Tour One M3, I’m sure the headphone space has a new answer for anyone looking for more from their $400. There’s a reason they made our best list, after all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The battery difference is embarrassing<\/h2>\n

The JBL Tour One M3 delivers 55 hours and 37 minutes of playback with ANC. That’s not a typo: that’s what we measured in our standard tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By comparison, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra lasted 27 hours and 37 minutes in our test. AirPods Max lasted more than 20 hours. Sony’s WH-1000XM6 lasted 37 hours, which is respectable \u2014 but 18 hours behind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If you travel internationally, commute to work every day, or simply hate being tied to a charger, traveling here makes a noticeable difference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It literally connects everything<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Christian Thomas \/ SoundGuys<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More than just a remote, the SMART Tx lets you stream audio to any Auracast-compatible headset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Another area where the Tour One M3 pulls ahead of the competition is in connectivity. The headphones support USB-C lossless audio with cable, analog 3.5mm, Bluetooth with SBC\/AAC\/LDAC\/LC3, and Auracast. Sony’s WH-1000XM6, which costs $50 more, doesn’t support USB-C audio at all. AirPods Max are actually a paperweight if you’re not in the Apple ecosystem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The JBL SMART Tx accessory takes this further. It’s smallremote transmitter that allows you to connect any wired source – turntable, in-flight entertainment system, game console – and stream audio wirelessly to headphones using<\/span> Auracast. You can even share that stream with multiple listeners at once, if they have Auracast-compatible devices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The ANC and sound quality is up there with the best<\/h2>\n

Sony, Apple, and Bose have owned the ANC conversation for years, but I have to say, the Tour One M3 matches them, and our objective testing bears that out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n