So you've ended up comparing the JBL Tour Pro 3 and the Valco NL25. Good. This means you have taste – or at least enough patience to read comparisons online instead of buying the first pair of AirPods you come across. Let's go through what you get and what you pay for.
Two different philosophies
JBL Tour Pro 3 is JBL's flagship. It costs around €250–300 and its case comes equipped with a touchscreen. With that screen you can change EQ settings, check the time, and show people at the bus stop that you have a touchscreen on your earphone case lid. Is it useful? Sometimes. Is it necessary? No.
NL25 costs about half. The case doesn't have a screen. The case has a button, a USB-C port, and wireless charging. It does what a case is supposed to do: charges the earbuds and fits in your pocket. Jasse's tuning handles the sound quality, Jussi Timonen's design handles the looks. You've got money left over.
Sound quality – the thing you actually buy earbuds for
JBL Tour Pro 3 has 10mm drivers and JBL's own tuning. The sound is good. No complaints there.
NL25 has tuning by Jasse. Jasse is the man whose ears are insured – though we won't tell you the amount, because Henri needs that money for his Alfa Romeo repairs. aptX Adaptive support means Android users get better quality than basic SBC or AAC. JBL offers the LC3 codec, which is also perfectly decent.
In practice: both sound great. NL25 sounds ridiculously good for its price.
ANC – an honest comparison
JBL Tour Pro 3's ANC is good. It's a more expensive earphone from a big manufacturer, and they've put money into the noise cancelling tech. If you sit on a plane or in an open-plan office every day and ANC is your number one thing, JBL does well in this comparison.
NL25's ANC works. It dampens airplane hum, air conditioning noise, and office background chatter. It doesn't create a vacuum around you – but no in-ear earphone does. The only thing that helps with screaming kids is leaving the room. Transparency mode is handy at the checkout so you don't have to rip the buds out of your ears.
Battery and practical stuff
NL25 gives you 4.5 hours with ANC on, 6 hours without. JBL promises around 6–8 hours depending on settings. JBL wins here – partly thanks to a bigger case and battery. That touchscreen eats power too, mind you.
Both charge via USB-C. Both support wireless charging. NL25's Bluetooth 5.4 is the latest and greatest. It comes with both memory foam and silicone tips, so regardless of your ear shape you'll find a good fit.
Repairability – this is where the difference shows
JBL's earbuds break. Valco's earbuds break. All electronics break eventually. The difference is what happens after.
With JBL, you google "JBL warranty claim", fill out a form, wait, maybe get a new pair, maybe don't. The old ones go in the e-waste bin.
With Valco, you send us a message, Jasse or one of the other repair guys in Kajaani fixes the device, and you get it back. 24-month warranty. Even after the warranty, a repair kit exists. We fix things, we don't chuck them in the bin. This saves the planet and funds the Death Star – both equally important projects.
Who should pick JBL?
By all means, buy the JBL Tour Pro 3 if:
- You absolutely need a touchscreen on your earphone case lid
- ANC is absolutely critical to you and you're willing to pay double for it
- You want LC3 codec support
- Longer battery life is a dealbreaker
- You don't care about repairability
These are perfectly valid reasons. We're not bitter. Just poorer.
Who should pick NL25?
NL25 is for you if:
- You want excellent sound quality without paying for a touchscreen on the case
- aptX Adaptive support interests you (Android users, this one's for you)
- You value the fact that your device can be repaired instead of ending up in a landfill
- You like the idea that a 14-person Finnish company gets your money instead of a corporation whose CEO's name you don't know
- You want wireless charging, memory foam tips, and good ANC at half the price
- Vincent van Gogh mode (one earbud at a time) sounds like a lifestyle
Summary
JBL Tour Pro 3 is a good earphone. It's expensive, it has a screen on the case, and the ANC works brilliantly. If those things are worth an extra €150 to you, go for it.
NL25 sounds just as good or better, costs half, can be repaired, and every purchase funds 0.000001% of our Death Star. The case doesn't have a screen. The case has earbuds. That's enough.
Henri promised that when the Death Star is complete, all NL25 buyers get a guided tour. Then again, he promised the same thing about his Alfa Romeo service intervals, so let's take that with a grain of salt.
