We’re used to Jabra headphones and earbuds being there-or-thereabouts at their price point. But what we’re not quite as used to is Jabra headphones and earbuds being quite so aggressively priced – the Jabra Elite 3 are the most affordable true wireless earbuds the company has ever delivered.
When you’re talking about this sort of money for a product such as this, of course, it’s about the compromises that have been made. Are the Jabra Elite 3 compromises sensible? Predictable? Acceptable? Let’s find out…
Price
The Jabra Elite 3 launched at a deeply competitive £79 / $79 / AU$119, but you can find them at a good deal price now, if you're willing to do a bit of online digging – we've seen prices as low as £60 / $50 at Currys (UK) and Target (US), but be aware that some deal stock is running low.
Competition at this sort of budget price is, inevitably, feral. The main contender is the outstanding, Award-winning Sony WF-C500, which are now hovering around the £59 / $75 mark, while the Sony WF-C700N (which adds ANC into the mix) is yours for only a bit more at under £100 / $120 / AU$200. Those two five-star (and Award-winning) Sony models are the ones to beat, and just like any brand sticking its head over this particular parapet, Jabra has its work cut out.
Features
As far as specification goes, it’s difficult to get too worked up about the omissions Jabra has made here, given the low price. If, for example, you want active noise-cancelling at this sort of money, well… Panasonic’s staggeringly impressive RZ-S500W and the newer Sony WF-C700N are your only choices at anything like this price.
And besides, the Elite 3 properly hold their own elsewhere. Wireless connectivity, for example, is via Bluetooth 5.2 – and there’s support for Qualcomm’s aptX codec too. Once on board, sound is delivered by a couple of 6mm full-range dynamic drivers.
Bluetooth 5.2
Audio codecs aptX, SBC
Battery life 7 hours (buds), 28 hours (charging case)
Waterproof rating IP55
Dimensions (buds, hwd) 27 x 20 x 21mm
Weight 4.6g per earbud
The Jabra can keep the music coming for a very competitive 28 hours, all-in – that’s seven hours in the earbuds themselves plus another three full charges in the tidy little case. But even if you’re negligent enough to let them run completely flat, they can be brimming inside four hours – and ten minutes on the mains will buy you another hour of playback.
What else? Well, there are a total of four mics ready to deal with your telephonic requirements, while an IP55 rating suggests reasonable protection against moisture and dust, beating the Sony WF-C500 and even the more premium WF-1000XM5's IP ratings of just IPX4.
Control is available from the push/push button on the surface of each earbud (between them they can handle ‘play/pause’, ‘skip forwards/backward’, ‘volume up/down’ and ‘summon voice assistant’ – even Amazon Alexa is available). Or there’s the good-looking, stable and frankly not-all-that-much-use Jabra Sound+ control app.
Design
As long as you keep the asking price uppermost in your mind, there’s not too much to take issue with where the design and finish of the Elite 3 is concerned. No, they don’t feel especially luxurious and no, the earbuds aren’t as easy to grip as you might hope, but they’re solidly put together, and their charging case is equally so. Jabra would point you towards their Elite 4 Active (£199 / $119 / AU$179) if you were after a sports-focussed earbud, but we're not entirely convinced as there aren't any wings or fins to keep them securely in place.
At just 27 x 20 x 21mm (hwd) and 4.6g per earbud, the Jabras are among the tidiest and lightest around. This, in conjunction with the selection of eartips in the packaging, means it’s easy to position them comfortably – and they’ll stay that way pretty much indefinitely. Or until you use the physical control on either earbud, which can affect the fit a little.
The charging case is a similarly manageable 33g and 29 x 64 x 35mm (hwd), and it’s an understated looker. Only a discreet ‘Jabra’ logo and a single LED offer any visual excitement.
No, if you want to express yourself where your true wireless in-ears are concerned, as far as the Elite 3 go it’s in the colour you select. Choose between black, beige, lilac or navy blue.
Sound
In a decisive break with the true wireless norm, the Jabra Elite 3 don’t sound their best when EQs are left ‘flat’ or ‘off’. Instead, the judicious listener should engage the ‘Smooth’ preset – it doesn’t result in an especially smooth sound, to be honest, but it’s the most convincing and likeable balance available.
With a nice chunky Tidal Masters file of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition playing, the Elite 3 are an uncomplicatedly engaging listen. They’re pretty decent where rhythmic expression is concerned, and can organise the fairly busy ‘drums/guitars/bass/keyboards/horns/vocal’ mix into something that’s expansive, well focused and easy to follow. Timing is good, and there’s a good level of insight and detail across the board.
The lowest frequencies are nicely managed, and controlled enough to demonstrate a nice straight edge where the attack and decay of individual bass sounds is concerned. They can sound rather remote from the rest of the frequency information, it’s true, but they at least fight against the overconfidence that can unbalance quite a few of their price-comparable rivals.
Up in the midrange, that peerless vocal is loaded with detail and, as a result, this is quite a thrilling listen. The top of the frequency range is just slightly edgy, but there’s plenty of substance and drive to treble sounds, rather than the ill-defined presentation some alternatives indulge in.
Switching to a 16bit/44.1kHz digital file of John Grant’s Queen Of Denmark doesn’t undermine any of these positives, but it does highlight a slight flatness in the dynamic response of the Elite 3. They just don’t seem to breathe deeply enough to put significant distance between the more contemplative sections of the recording and the big shouty choruses. And where smaller-scale dynamic variations are concerned, too, the Jabra aren’t all that attentive.
Call quality is perfectly acceptable, as is the amount of passive noise-isolation provided by the snug and comfortable fit. Add these to the (fairly extensive) list of things the Jabra Elite 3 get right and it’s made apparent (yet again) that being less than perfect doesn’t automatically make you less than competitive.
Verdict
In some ways the Jabra Elite 3 are nigh-on ideal. Light, comfortable, decently specified and with a very acceptable battery life, they’ve got a lot going for them ergonomically, and the way they organise a recording is most agreeable too.
If it wasn’t for the rather inhibited dynamic response and slightly disjointed bass presence (not to mention staunch Sony rivals), they’d be on everyone’s shortlist.
- Sound 4
- Features 4
- Build 4
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