When it comes to thebest wireless earbuds, there’s not one that’s best at everything. Some come closer than others, but one will be best-in-class for sound quality while another for active noise cancellation (ANC), and another for something else. In the case of the Jabra Elite 10 reviewed, it’s comfort. While a little more subjective than ANC so some people might disagree, I consider these earbuds to be among the best fitting and most comfortable earbuds out there.
Jabra has always done a great job with the fit on its earbuds. Considering that these are too expensive to rank among thebest cheap true wireless earbudsunlike many of the company’s models (theJabra Elite 4come to mind), it’s a good thing they’re as comfortable as they are.
The rest of the package is on point as well. However, the Jabra Elite 10 don’t really differentiate themselves in those areas from other earbuds at the same price point. But, if top comfort is a priority, especially for something you may take to the gym or on the trail, then these are the earbuds for you.
Jabra Elite 10
While the price tag is more than expected, the Jabra Elite 10 are among the most comfortable earbuds out there. They also sound good with similar call quality and have well-implemented active noise cancellation and transparency mode. However, the EQ available through the app is a bit lacking.
Price and availability
Jabra is not doing itself any favors by charging $249.99 for the Jabra Elite 10. They’re certainly worth the price, but one of the things that makes Jabra’s other earbuds so attractive is the relatively low price point for what you get. These are priced the same as the AirPods Pro.
At least these earbuds are widely available so you can get them through your favorite retailer if you don’t want to order directly. Also worth considering is the fact that Jabra has a habit of regularly discounting its products. So, once that new product shine wears off, you can be certain these will be on sale at a more reasonable price.
Design and fit
The Jabra Elite 10 are a good looking pair of earbuds. Not only do they come in an array of attractive colorways – specifically Cocoa, Cream (reviewed here), Gloss Black, Matte Black, and Titanium Black – but they’re petite compared to many earbuds I’ve come across. At 5.7g, they’re very lightweight.
As the earbuds seem to be covered in a textured rubberized material (it could just be textured plastic), they have a soft-to-the-touch feel. That small size, softer feel, and the inclusion of multiple size eartips all contribute to the fit and feel of the Jabra Elite 10. As far as comfort goes then, these are among the most comfortable earbuds I’ve worn. They fill in my ear canals with a snug fit without feeling bulky, so they’re snug as well.
As far as controls go, Jabra sticks with physical buttons instead of capacitive ones, and I’m grateful for it. They’re accurate and react quickly to presses, something I don’t usually experience with the capacitive variety.
The charging case is a little bigger than I’ve experienced with the previous Jabra earbuds I’ve tried, but they’re still easy to slip in the pocket. The case also has an IP54 rating, which is surprising as charging cases usually don’t have dust and water resistance like their accompanying earbuds.
To that end, the earbuds themselves have an IP57 rating. While not billed for the gym, this IP rating means they’re more than capable of brushing off any sweat you might work up. And, if you get caught in the rain, you don’t have to worry about them being affected.
Features and app
When it comes to its feature set, the Jabra Elite 10 has most everything one could ask for. In fact, the only thing missing is some kind of way to generate a personalized EQ that I’ve seen pop up with some other earbuds, something that I often find more gimmicky than not.
As far as the features actually on offer, the ANC is Jabra’s advanced ANC that’s supposedly twice as powerful as the standard one that comes on Jabra earbuds. While I’m not sure exactly what that means, at least it’s pretty good at blocking out sounds, though it does better with lower frequencies. The only real quibble is that there’s no adjustability. It’s just on or off.
The transparency mode, called HearThrough for Jabra devices, is adjustable with up to five levels. Again, it works well. You’re not going to find it materially better than the competition, but it’s as good as one would need.
Jabra’s Sound+ app through which most of these settings are selected is intuitive to use with most of the important stuff on the main page. Here, you’ll find ANC, HearThrough, EQ, and EQ presets. With a little digging, you can remap the button presses on each earbud, turn on “Find my Jabra,” enable Spotify Tap so you can quickly pull up the app with just a couple presses on an earbud, and toggle on/off voice assistant support.
Lastly, multipoint connectivity as well as mono use is on hand as well.
Performance and audio quality
One place I’ve always been impressed by Jabra headphones is in their sound quality relative to their price. Make no mistake: the Jabra Elite 10 sound good. But, considering the price tag, they’re not quite as good as I was expecting. In fact, they remind me a lot of theBeats Fit Proinsofar that there’s plenty of bass, solid and balanced mid-range and a somewhat soft high-end that makes audio pleasant if not exactly the most detailed. Basically, you probably won’t have any complaints with sound here, but won’t find them to outclass the competition.
Of course, you can fine-tune the audio thanks to the EQ settings in the app. Unfortunately, that five band EQ is rather subtle, so you won’t be able to make drastic changes if you want a lot more bass or high-end.
At least the call quality is pretty good. It can sound a little echoey, but the voice comes through loud, clear, and fairly uncompressed. And, since almost all earbuds seem to sound worse than just holding the phone up to your face, having just a little echo on the voice is not a big deal. When it comes to thebest earbuds for calls, the criteria is often which one sounds the least bad.
Battery and charging
The battery life on the Jabra Elite 10 is good, but has unfortunately been surpassed by quite a few other recent releases. The eight hours of juice without ANC (six hours with) would be stellar just a few years ago, yet earbuds like the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, a cheaper pair of earbuds, lasts two hours longer. With the charging case, you’ll get a good 36 hours of battery life. you may find other options with longer battery life, but overall the results are more than adequate with the Jabra Elite 10.
On the charging front, since these plug in via USB-C, fast charging is on hand. Specifically, five minutes plugged in will net an hour of extra battery life. Also, if you have the capability, the case is compatible with wireless charging.
The competition
Generally, when discussing Jabra, I would compare the various earbuds from its product line to other great-for-the-price, punch-above-their-weight brands, such as Soundcore or OnePlus. Since these go for $249.99, I can’t make that comparison.
It’s unfortunate since possibly the best earbuds out there right now, theSony WF-1000XM5, are just $50 more and come with some of the best ANC out there, not to mention superior sound quality. And, though the Jabra Elite 10 have knocked it out of the park when it comes to comfort, the Sony’s are pretty comfortable themselves.
That said, they stack up nicely to theApple AirPods Pro (2nd gen). Not only are they less tied to a phone’s ecosystem the way any Apple earbuds are, but the Jabra Elite 10 offer better life and, of course, have that great fit that sets them apart.
Should you buy them?
While the Jabra Elite 10 are a bit harder to recommend compared to other Jabra earbuds I’ve tried, that’s strictly due to their surprisingly high price. They’re still very capable in just about every way. It’s just they’re not remarkable except in one and that’s comfort. Considering how people are starting to use earbuds as an almost permanent earpiece – here’s looking at you, AirPod users – comfort is a pretty significant factor when choosing earbuds. So, if you care about comfort, these should definitely be in the conversation for your next earbuds.
