Have These Earbuds Gone Too Far?

There's a lot happening in tech right now but JBL got ahead of the techtober madness by announcing the JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds that feature a touchscreen case. Marques and Andrew discuss whether this is a good idea or not.

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[MrAkella]

JBL should put a microSD card reader into that case and make it a small portable MP3 player

[bashirsfar]

I think a major use of this feature could be the elimination of a companion app. I find almost every headphone companion app is really buggy and annoying to connect. This case could allow for a much more easy connection process to your phone while managing all your settings and profiles directly on the audio hardware.

[janemba]

I don't see why they don't go all in and start making full blown mp3 players like this. It's great to have music that isn't on your phone.

[technologyisawesome]

That's a crazy idea. Is good to see companies thinking outside the box and bringing in new features like these.

[RenAigu]

Couldn't care about the notifications. However it's interesting to me to put controls on the case, especially for those times you have your phone in a bag and have a hard time with the gestures. But I'd rather have physical buttons / switches (so you could control it blindly too) and at that point you don't need the screen anymore, just labels and indicator leds.

[gianlucagaming]

I think having a eq built in to the case would be great.

[gokuljosh]

Chances of them sticking an entire os driven ui there is low. The photos show toggle switches that require animation.
Either it's going to be a poor Java ui or it might be an lcd template based display like those on cheap hotspots.

[t_ylr]

My immediate thought was, "this is silly", but I thought about. It's worth it if this is replacing an app I would have to download. It's really annoying that just to use my galaxy buds I have to download another app.

[thelearner]

I think even with my phone in my pocket, this is shortcutting many steps, I don’t have to pull out my phone, I don’t have to unlock, go to accompanying app and control from there. Having this screen is actually really good. Shocked Apple hasn’t stolen this idea 😋

[MansWUT]

I think it's really cool. On my nothing's buds I find it impossible to swipe for volume, and I sometimes don't know which sound mode I'm on, and I end up changing from transparency mode all the way back to transparency mode lol. It takes forever, sometimes it takes a while to load. I also like to stand out, so I really like this idea if they can implement it well. maybe they can add more features to make it really worth it.
Jeez, I wrote an entire essay

[BN]

It depends how they implement the screen. Some earbuds have equalizers and other settings that are only active when paired to a smartphone, using the proprietary app, so when you switch the earbuds to using them with a laptop or a PC, you don't get the equalizer because it didn't save on the earbuds. I've always hated earbuds that work this way. If the case is able to change these settings on the buds and then retain those settings no matter what the earbuds connect to, then that would be amazing. End of the day though, these earbuds better sound good and feel comfortable.

[Wiggywatup]

Can see it being useful only really for quick action right as your putting your headphones on and before you put your case away. Saves you a few steps like opening the app on the phone. Still sorta gimmicky though

[MarkMark]

I’d love some EQ controls on my earbuds, and the case could be a good place for that.

[BetterLifeReviews]

The biggest reason for me would be battery percentages of the buds and the case. This is only obvious if you have AirPods and an 📱 iPhone. It is also quicker and more obvious for things like I could noise cancellation in my opinion, since sometimes you’re not entirely sure whether it’s on or off, and a phone app takes more time. It could also be used to select a Bluetooth device. I short; yes, I can’t believe no one has done this yet.

[glydstudios]

I actually see this as a super useful thing. I hate having to take my phone out open my phone jus to make an adjustment to the settings on my earbus. Like adjusting my ANC or what ever.

I HATE the touch controls they ALWAYS SUCK.

[SimarSingh]

Fantastic idea. Hate going through the phone companion app for small things.

[s_shake]

A problem I have with tapping on small earbuds is getting that triple or double tap down. That constant quick three taps sometimes is a pain when your body is too filled with energy, or people with adhd or anything alike. Those quick little actions can be missed easily.

[dennischow]

I personally it’s could be a great idea. Let say if you are using the TWS earphones with laptops/desktop/computer there is not option to twist the sounds or feature to the earphone itself, because most of these TWS on the market only provides a mobile app IOS/Android.

[kshitijjoshi]

I'm curious as to why nobo has mentioned the gym. This is a blessing in a gym.

[sldshinigami]

This is way ahead of its time, in few years from now. It will be a trend