It's official! Jabra has unveiled the Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active flagship earbuds at IFA 2023. As suggested in my recent news story, it's been confirmed that both new Jabra noise-canceling earbuds are equipped with Dolby support and have a host of upgrades that look set to rival some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds around.
I, for one, couldn't be more excited about Jabra's potential to shake things up in the best wireless earbuds category, and it looks as though it's setting new standards in the best sport headphones category too.
Prices for the Jabra Elite 10 are $249 / £229 / AU$379, putting them right in line with AirPods Pro 2 ($249), while the Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds are set to cost $199 / £199 / AU$329, pitting them against the Beats Fit Pro ($199).
Jabra Elite 10: What to expect
The Jabra Elite 10 is the company's new flagship active noise-canceling earbuds. They're the most stylish-looking model we've seen from the brand so far, and the teardrop shape is said to factor into their comfort and fit.
There's class-leading tech too including 2x active noise cancellation over the Elite 7 Pro predecessor. It uses new Jabra Advanced ANC tech to deliver a bespoke sound experience no matter how loud the ambient noise is in your surroundings, which could see it challenge category titans like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 and Sony WF-1000XM5.
Dolby Atmos spatial audio support with headtracking, seamless Bluetooth multipoint thanks to Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio add to the wealth of facilities. There's no aptX or LDAC support mentioned though, which would have been the icing on the cake for high-quality music streams at the price, but I guess you can't have everything.
The Elite 10 earbuds are said to rated to IP57 for dust and water ingress, but there's no mention about durability for the charging case. The Elite 10 claims 6 hours with ANC on, which is pretty standard. Turning it off extends battery life to 8 hours. This isn’t far off from what the AirPods Pro 2 give at around 5.5 to 7 hours, but it’s noticeably lower than Sony's latest WF-1000XM5 flagship at 8 to 12 hours. As far as the wireless charging case goes, it can hold up to 36 hours, and a 5-minute quick charge generates 1 hour of listening time.
Jabra Elite 8 Active: What to expect
The all-new Elite 8 Active take over the reins as Jabra’s true sporty flagship and claim to be the toughest models around. In fact, Jabra is so confident that it told Tom's Guide that there's nothing tougher in the active lifetsyle earbuds market. They are built using military-standard materials that claim to offer unbreakable protection. Jabra’s ShakeGrip technology factors into the Elite 8 Active’s appearance and sustainability, which is described as a “liquid silicone sock” wrapped around the buds to prevent corrosion and produce a comfy and secure fit.
Jabra says that the upgraded adaptive ANC provides 1.6x more noise cancelation than the company’s standard version, which is better that the previous versions of the Elite Active series. Dolby Audio support is onboard, but not full Dolby Atmos support with headtracking. Codecs run to SBC and AAC, but there's no aptX or LDAC support high-quality audio streams.
The Elite 8 Active have an IP68 certification for dust- and waterproof protection, meaning they can survive huge dust clouds, as well as 1-meter drops and 1.5-meter submersion. The charging case is IP54-rated for dust and water resistance.
Battery life translates to 8 to 14 hours of listening time, depending how you use the buds, compared to the Beats Fit Pro which deliver 6 to 7 hours. The charging case holds up to 56 hours, and a 5-minute quick charge is said to generate 1 hour of listening time.
Once again, the Jabra Elite 10 cost $249 / £229 / AU$379 and are available in Titanium black, matte black, gloss black, cocoa, and cream. The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds are available in dark grey, black, navy, and caramel, and are set to cost $199 / £199 / AU$329. The Elite 8 Active are available to buy now at the Jabra store, while the Elite 10 can be pre-ordered and are expected to arrive in September.
With such a wealth of features on both new models, these could easily be contenders to rank as some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy. Look out for our full Jabra Elite 10 and Jabra Elite 8 Active reviews coming soon.
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