Jabra Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active Review: They're Different -- Mostly In a Good Way

Speaker 1: So over the last couple of years, Jabra has released a lot of earbuds that were a little hard to tell apart from each other. I'm not only talking about the Elite 3, 4, 5 and seven Pro, but there are also active versions of some of those same buds actually told Jabra. I didn't think it was such a great idea to put out so many models because it created confusion. Well, it now appears it's come to its senses or sort of Anyway, I've got the $200 Elite eight active here in my left hand and in my right the flagship [00:00:30] $250 Elite 10, but at least there will be no Standard Elite eight or an Elite 10 active. This is it, job assured me. So let's get right into what I think about them. Speaker 1: [00:01:00] I am going to start with the Elite Eight active because they're more straightforward. They look, feel, and perform like a modestly upgraded version of the Elite Seven Pro with six microphones instead of four. Slightly improved adaptive noise canceling and wind reduction technology, along with a higher durability rating. If you're more interested in the elite tent, feel free to jump ahead. But the Elite Active eight does have some appealing features. Like the Elite seven Series, they have a noise isolated design with the same eart tips. They fit my ears quite well and I do like [00:01:30] that they have physical control buttons for controlling music playback, answering and ending calls and toggling between noise canceling and hear through transparency mode. The new charging case has rounded corners and does offer wireless charging. There are ear detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you remove a bud from your ears and you can use a single bud in mono mode while the other chargers in the case jobbers. Speaker 1: Active earbuds have always been billed as being slightly more durable than their standard elite counterparts. But for the elite Active eight Jabra has really leaned in [00:02:00] the whole durability factor and it's barking these as the world's toughest earbuds. They're fully waterproof and dustproof with an IP 68 rating, and their charging case is dust and splashproof with an IP 54 rating. Jabra also says they're drop proof and have passed nine durability tests to meet the military spec standard for ruggedized electronics. While I didn't do any extreme cold tests, I did drop them a few times on the pavement, fully submerged them in water and wore them around in 90 degree heat in the streets of New York City and they came [00:02:30] out no worse for the wear. If you're looking for rugged buds, that would be a key reason to buy these, but they also are lightweight at five grams each and compact sitting fairly flush with your ears. Speaker 1: They have Java's Shake grip rubber coating that gives them an added bit of grip and most people should get a very secure fit in my test. They worked well for running and have both adaptive noise canceling and an adjustable hear through transparency mode that lets you hear the outside world. Neither the A N C or the transparency are quite up to the level of the AirPods Pro two, which [00:03:00] when they're on sale retail for about the same price, but the noise canceling seems slightly improved from the Elite Seven Pro. For both of these earbuds, Jabra has moved away from using Qualcomm chips, so they don't support the Aptex audio codec for Android devices, but they do support the a c audio codec and are also compatible with the new audio standard that includes the lc three Audio Codec. LE Audio features will supposedly be available via a firmware upgrade sometime in the future. Speaker 1: Though it's unclear exactly when [00:03:30] multi-point Bluetooth pairing is available from the get-go and Android users get hands-free Google Assistant, you just have to say the wake word to access the assistant if you get a tight seal. I think these sound very good equipped with six millimeter drivers. They deliver punchy base, good clarity and pleasant sound overall that has an open quality enhanced by Dolby's spatial sound mode that tricks your brain into thinking the sound is more outside your head. They lack a little bit of refinement and accuracy compared to even more expensive earbuds, including the Elite 10 and Sony [00:04:00] WF 1000 x mark five. But all in all, there isn't a whole lot to complain about. You can tweak the sound a bit in the app with some preset EQ options or create your own custom EQ and you can turn off spatial sound in the Jira Sound Plus app. While I did feel they had some small shortcomings in their performance, particularly their voice calling performance more on that in a minute, I did come away feeling that these were really solid earbuds. Overall, battery life is rated up to eight hours with a N C on and 14 with it off. Good numbers for sure, [00:04:30] but ultimately their standout features are their sound design and apparent durability. Speaker 1: The Elite 10 are a completely different set of earbuds. If they have a ascendant, it's the Elite 85 T, [00:05:00] which also had a semi-open design. Some people really like those earbuds. I was less of a fan compared to the Elite 85 T, the Elite 10 offer. Not only a more comfortable fit and better design, but also better sound and significantly better noise canceling performance along with impressive Dolby spatial audio with head tracking. The Elite Tent are designed for people who don't like having eart tips jammed in their ears. You're still dealing with silicone eart tips, but they have a unique oval shape and are designed to nestle in your ears. They certainly are among the most comfortable [00:05:30] earbuds that have silicone eart tips. Interestingly, they sometimes felt like they were sitting in my ears a little too loosely, but I actually had a more secure fit than I thought. Speaker 1: While the Elite eight active have a higher durability rating, these still have an IP 57 rating, which means they offer both good dust resistance and also can be fully submerged in water. In other words, you can use these for running if you get a secure enough fit, but I felt more confident that the Elite eight actives would stay in my ears while running with them. The Elite 10 of all the same features [00:06:00] I just described in the Elite Eight Active, but they add head tracking for doubly spatial audio and have different noise canceling technology called Jabra Advanced A N C. They also have larger 10 millimeter drivers that help deliver richer and more accurate sound than the Elite eight active in a quieter environment. Anyway, these have sound that ranks up there with the best sounding wireless earbuds. It's clean, nicely detailed and open with well-defined base. Speaker 1: These sound a little more natural than the Elite eight actives, particularly in the mid range where vocals live. They just have [00:06:30] a little more depth and texture. I was impressed with the spatial audio on these buzz. It's right there with Apples spatial audio and some might argue it's even slightly better. It works with music and can enhance the listening experience with some tracks or at least give you a different listening experience, particularly those remixed with Doby Atmos. But like with Apples spatial audio, it can enhance video watching, creating a virtual surround experience with dialogue fixed at the center of your smartphone or tablet screen. It works with both Apple and Android devices. The one [00:07:00] issue with semi-open earbuds is they do allow some sound to leak in and that creates challenges for noise canceling performance. As I said, these do a better job than the older Elite 85 T at reducing ambient sound, but I would not buy these expecting them to muffle the outside world as well as the AirPods Pro two, Sony WF 1000 x mark five, or the Bose Quiet Comfort Two Earbuds. Speaker 1: In other words, they're able to reduce ambient sound better than I thought they would, but they can only do so much, and you really only get at about [00:07:30] 50% level compared to some of those other earbuds in terms of noise canceling. Also, on a side note, I did notice that the sound quality changed a bit when I switched from active noise canceling to hear through mode and off each mode made the earbuds sound slightly different. The Elite 10 don't have as good a battery life rating as the Elite Eight active, but it's still not bad. They're rated for up to six hours at moderate volume levels with a N C on compared to eight hours for the Elite eight active. That's about the same as what you get with the AirPods [00:08:00] Pro two. I'll finish by talking about the voice calling performance for both the Elite 10 and Elite Active eight. Speaker 1: It's the one thing I was slightly disappointed with. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but with both Buds now featuring six microphones and improved wind noise reduction technology, I expected a little more. Also, this is jobber. It's done headsets for a long time and done them well, so I'm not sure what's going on, but headset performance for these was a little mixed with callers telling me they didn't reduce background noise or pick up my voice quite as [00:08:30] clearly as some competing models like the AirPods Pro two. Here's a test call I recorded with the Elite 10. That gives you a sense of the call quality. Though note, the call is recorded via the internet, so you lose a little bit of fidelity in my voice. Speaker 2: Alright, I'm here on the test call with scene editor John Falcon. John, I'm in the Speaker 3: Streets of New York here. Very noisy environment. This really is a torture test. Got a lot of cars going by, little bit of wind. How do I sound overall Speaker 4: So I can hear you, but it gets pretty difficult as [00:09:00] the noise ramps up and there is also a lot of background noise including a whoosh during the entire call. Speaker 3: Alright, well, I'm going to keep talking a little bit so you can hear as our traffic's going by. My I, I've got a big gust of wind there, so that is the best call. Thanks a lot, Speaker 1: John. In the past for earlier earbuds, Jabra has delivered firmware updates that improve voice calling performance. That will probably happen here as its engineers tweak their software algorithms. But if the voice calling performance was leveled [00:09:30] up a bit, the Elite 10 buds would probably be an editor's choice territory. They're still really good earbuds, not only comfortable to wear for long periods, but they also sound excellent. As always, let me know what you think in the comments section and hit me with any questions. I'm David Conner for cnet. Thanks for watching.