Jabra may have rebranded its wireless earbuds line two years ago, but the company hasn’t really developed a device to succeed its previous flagship earbuds, the Elite 85t. In comes its latest high-end earbuds, the Jabra Elite 10, which may be a contender.
The Elite 10 brings many flagship features to the table, like active noise cancellation (ANC) and Dolby Atmos support, which includes Dolby Head Tracking. My experience with the new wireless earbuds has been good — outstanding, in fact. But the device does come with some deficiencies that keep it from being among the best of the best.
Design
The Jabra Elite 10, like the other devices in the Elite line, share a common rectangular design with curved edges for the charging case to allow for more comfortable holding. The case itself is made of soft plastic, which may give off a cheap feeling, but the build otherwise feels sturdy to hold — I’ve also accidentally dropped the case a few times, and it has handled itself ably without so much as a scratch or dent.
Notably, the material enables the case to be lightweight. I barely feel it when I have it in my pocket, and it has been great whenever I bring out the earbuds outside.
My only nitpick with the case is that the earbuds don’t fit inside as easily as other wireless earbuds devices do. Yes, there is a magnet to pull the earbuds into the holder, but it doesn’t always fit in properly and sometimes requires you to readjust the positioning — you can’t just casually throw them in and expect them to be in place all the time.
The earbuds themselves are similarly light in weight and feel remarkably comfortable when using them. Jabra says that it has scanned 62,000 ears to ensure that the oval EarGels fit snugly into any ear, and it is evident. They’re the most comfortable wireless earbuds I’ve worn yet, with them being so lightweight and securely fitted in my ear. That combination also makes the earbuds perfectly usable for active use, even if they aren’t specifically designed with that in mind.
Contributing to the comfortability of wearing the earbuds is the Jabra Elite 10’s semi-open design. It removes the “plugged in” feeling that some other earbuds have and relieves some of the in-ear pressure. On some occasions, I’ve worn the earbuds for several hours at a time and didn’t get ear fatigue from wearing them for so long.
In terms of colour options, the Jabra Elite 10 comes in four variants: Titanium Black, Gloss Black, Cream, and Cocoa. These are rather dull choices in my personal opinion (why are there even two black options?). Still, otherwise, they are inoffensive aesthetically — the Cream variant we got, for instance, visually gets the job done.
Features and Performance
With this being Jabra’s flagship wireless earbuds, there is an expectation that the sound performance garnered from the device is of high quality and largely delivers.
The earbuds feature larger 10mm drivers inside, and in their default settings, the mids come with lots of clarity, and the vocals sound clean on the earbuds. Bass tends to lean towards a little bit more subdued but still packs some punch — Billie Eilish fans will definitely like what the Elite 10s provides (some repeats of ‘bad guy’ may be needed). The audio profile can also be further customised in the EQ settings within the Jabra Sound+ app, and luckily the changes can get pretty minute if you’re picky with your audio.
My only issue with the sound performance — albeit a small one — is that the volume doesn’t get as loud as other earbuds. Music listening isn’t an issue, but I’ve noticed that even the maximum volume isn’t enough when watching shows on Netflix.
If you want to compare its overall audio quality to other premium wireless earbuds available though, the Elite 10 isn’t as good. String instruments are crisper, and the sound is generally fuller on other devices like the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2. But it comes mightily close for quality; I suspect general listeners won’t be too fussed about the difference, especially with the trade-off in comfort level.
The biggest feature of the Jabra Elite 10 is Dolby Spatial Sound, which includes head-tracking for audio. When toggling it on within the app, the earbuds provide a different sound profile for the audio, which applies to any type of media you play.
My experience using it is somewhat mixed. For some songs, it does elevate the experience with added soundstage, but for others, it sounds unnatural and out-of-place. It certainly does not sound great when you’re watching a show with it; an echoey effect comes through, which is very distracting. Head-tracking works, but while it does provide a different listening experience, it’s not something that I feel improves upon the default mode.
Jabra Elite 10 also provides ANC. The key thing about the feature is that it actually cancels the noise from the device itself rather than being simulated through the app like some older models. The ANC performance isn’t the best — I still get ambient noise sneaking through like the rumble from the train, especially when listening to podcasts — but it does cut out a good amount of sound from the outside, which is pleasantly surprising considering it uses a semi-open design. For the most part, many people should be generally happy with the ANC.
However, you can’t adjust the ANC level for the earbuds. Jabra auto-adjusts it instead, depending on the environment you are in. But honestly, I’ve not noticed it having a pronounced effect whenever I change to a noisier setting. I just find it peculiar that you can adjust the levels for the hear-through functionality but not the ANC.
Another great feature of the Jabra Elite 10 is the Bluetooth Multipoint, which works great. Switching audio from one device to another is seamless and fast, but you need to manually pause whatever is playing before it can make the switch.
Moving away from audio to how it functions for calls, Jabra Elite 10 is a capable performer. It is built with 6 separate mics and uses noise-reducing algorithms to improve call quality. Besides one instance where the other end had trouble hearing me when I was on a moving bus, call performance has been good, and my voice is clearly picked up even in different noisy environments — I’d chalk off the bad experience as a one-off.
Battery
Lastly, I wanted to highlight the battery life of the Jabra Elite 10, which is exceptional. Jabra touts 6 hours of use with ANC on, which is up there with the highest-end wireless earbuds available. I’ve mentioned that I’ve used the earbuds for several hours at a time, and not once have I gotten a low battery alert from them — it’s been great for flights in that regard.
The charging case adds another 21 hours of use, but getting it down to red also takes some doing. Charge times take around 3 hours from a flat battery, but it offers wireless charging if you routinely place devices on a charging pad after use.
Verdict
Jabra’s latest premium wireless earbuds may not provide the absolute best audio performance, but they most certainly are the most comfortable ones you can get right now. You hardly notice them when in use, and they last hours without causing your ears fatigue. ANC is also good, while call performance is also commendable.
And there’s more to be excited about in the future with the Jabra Elite 10 as Jabra promises support for the LC3 codec (which provides higher audio quality than the current SBC codec). However, no date has been announced for its arrival.
Overall, the Jabra Elite 10 provides one of the best all-rounder user experiences for a wireless earbud device — sometimes, a jack of all trades may be better than a master of one.
Looking to purchase the Jabra Elite 10? Grab it directly from Jabra’s official website or their official stores on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada!
Photos by Russell Loh of the DANAMIC Team.
