In a market already over-saturated with true wireless in-ear headphones (TWH), Danish audio brand Jabra has to come up something to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.
By going back to the drawing board and packing everything that Jabra has to offer, its flagship TWH Elite 7 Pro is here. It is armed with 6mm speakers for optimal audio output and adjustable active noise cancellation (ANC) with HearThrough feature. This feature uses built-in microphones to pick up the sounds around you and play them to you without you removing a single earbud.
SPECS
PRICE: S$318, available in Lazada and Shopee
CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 5.2
WEIGHT: 5.4g (each earbud); 44g (charging case)
The Elite 7 Pro features MultiSensor Voice technology – comprising four microphones, bone conduction and Jabra algorithms – to ensure you are being heard in your important client calls regardless of where you are.
DESIGN
The Elite 7 Pro might look like another pair of true wireless earbuds. But Jabra has scanned 62,000 ears to come up with this design in order to ensure it fits into most ears.
Available in three colours of gold beige, black and titanium black (version reviewed), its design is sleek but yet subtle. It does not feature any stems like those you will find on Apple AirPods Pro. On each earbud, a Jabra logo is sited on an external physical button that looks like a guitar pick. The bulbous body is connected straight to the silicone ear tips.
It is said to be 16 per cent small than its popular cousin, Elite 75t. In fact, when you place it in your ears, it does not protrude out of your ears much compared the likes of Bose QuietComfort Earbuds or Sony WF-1000XM4.
Out of the box, you get three sets of ear tips, or EarGels as Jabra calls them, in different sizes. So, you will definitely find a pair that suits you.
In fact, you can use Jabra’s Sound+ app (available on both Android and iOS) to ensure the earbuds have the right fit. The app will even recommend you to change the EarGels on one earbud to do so.
Weighing only 5.4g, each earbud is really lightweight and very comfortable to wear. I have worn them for hours without any discomfort. And sometimes I even forgot that I am wearing it.
The Elite 7 Pro’s fit is also snug enough for me to use during jogs without worrying about them falling out. Not to mention, the earbuds have a rating of IP57 – indicating a high protection from both dust and water exposure. In other words, you probably will not need to fear the torrential rain when you are out jogging wearing the Elite 7 Pro.
To charge the earbuds, it comes with a pebble-shaped charging case that has a USB-C port in front and supports wireless charging.
PERFORMANCE
Pairing is a cinch. Take the earbuds out of their charging case and look for them in the Bluetooth settings of your mobile device or laptop. Or you can use the Sound+ app for pairing.
Apart for finding the right fit as mentioned earlier, the app also lets you update firmware, adjust on-ear controls, customise equaliser (EQ) settings, choose your voice assistant and personalise the ANC levels.
FOR
+ Great audio output
+ Superb call quality
+ Sleek and comfortable design
+ Customisable ANC and equaliser settings
+ Long battery life
AGAINST
– ANC can be better
– Not cheap
It might take a while to get used to the on-ear controls. By default, tapping the right earbud once answer or end calls as well as play or pause music. Tapping twice skips the track or rejects the incoming call.
For the left earbud, you tap once to toggle through the ANC modes – ANC On, HearThrough and ANC off. Double tap will activate the voice assistant. I find myself always forgetting which earbud I should be tapping in order for it to do my bidding.
The call quality of the Elite 7 Pro is superb. I can be heard loud and clear from the other end, whether I was walking along a busy road from a grocery run or when my neighbours are making home improvement works.
Not to mention, the music sound quality is pretty good too. On the neutral EQ setting, it offers decent bass oomph, pleasing mids and detailed highs. It does not even lose details when the volume was cranked up.
The Sound+ app has 6 EQ presets that you can use. Personally, I find the Smooth EQ preset to be the most versatile for most music genre. Or you can customise a EQ to your liking by tweaking a graphical EQ in the app.
In terms of ANC performance, the Elite 7 Pro is probably a notch or two down compared to the likes of AirPods Pro and Sennheiser MTW2. For example, I can still hear the hiss of my air-con even when I have already increased the level of ANC to maximum in the app. I think Jabra can do better this in this respect.
BATTERY LIFE
The Elite 7 Pro’s battery life is rated at 8 hours of play time with ANC turned on, while its charging case is said to add another 22 hours.
In my tests, I found that the Elite 7 Pro is left with around 50 per cent battery life after 4 hours of music listening with volume level at 75 per cent. This is pretty good, compared to the average 4-hour battery life of most TWH.
Plus, a 5-minute charge will be able to give enough juice for the Elite 7 Pro to last 1.2 hours, according to Jabra.
VERDICT
At S$318, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro is not cheap. While its music output is great and battery life is superb, its ANC performance can be better.
However, if making yourself crystal clear in video conferences or client calls is of paramount importance, the Elite 7 Pro is definitely for you.
RATINGS
FEATURES: 9/10
DESIGN: 9/10
PERFORMANCE: 8/10
BATTERY LIFE: 9/10
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8/10
OVERALL: 8.5/10
