The Jabra Elite 10 earbuds feel and sound premium. However, Jabra misses the opportunity to correct some shortcomings, which do not significantly detract from the pleasant user experience.

Anyone who travels a lot deserves good wireless headphones. The Jabra Elite 10 earphones are the latest premium product from the specialist Jabra, and when we unpacked them we immediately sense that Jabra wants to deliver a high-quality product for the proud recommended retail price of 250 euros.

Quality and comfort

The packaging the earbuds come in feels high quality and is well made, but it’s the earbuds themselves that steal the show. Jabra opts for a new design with a silicone coating. The little things feel pleasantly soft and a little rubbery at the same time. This gives us more control over the earphones and they still sit very comfortably in the ear. This hold is welcome if we compare it with the Jabra Elite 4, which once dared to fall from our hands.

The case provides greater water resistance. Jabra says the Elite 10 has an IP57 rating for the earbuds, so neither the beach nor a downpour can destroy anything. The housing has an IP54 rating, so you should avoid dropping it in a puddle if possible.

The Jabra Elite 10 are the most comfortable earbuds we’ve tested. They stay in place very well and don’t pinch, even after long listening sessions. Jabra supplies the earphones with four different sizes for the earphones themselves. This is where you need to search and test. While we needed an average to small size for the Jabra Elite 4, these models fit a larger size better with the new fit.

This closure is important because active noise cancellation only works well with a near-perfect fit. The ANC complements the physical closure of your ear canal and can play little role if it doesn’t fit properly.

ANC can do better

The ANC is good but not fantastic. Constant noise, such as an airplane engine or the roar of a fifty-year-old tram 10 through the Antwerp subway, is well filtered out (or, in the case of the tram, at least toned down to a less painful level), but not all types of noise disappear into the background as well. For example, traffic noise is significantly quieter, but we have already started working with products that filter out the noise a little better. We also noticed that the noise suppression has difficulties with high tones. On a tram, for example, the high frequencies remain audible. Jabra claims the ANC is twice as good as that of the Jabra Elite 4, but that’s an optimistic estimate in our experience.

The sound quality is very good. Here we immediately notice the difference to the Jabra Elite 4. You pay more, but get more in return. The warm sound with rich bass is a feast for the ears. Maybe we still lack a little clarity in the highs, but then we’re being picky. You spend more on a product like the Jabra Elite 10 because you want above-average sound, and that’s what you get.

Simply connected

Connecting is easy: open the box, take out the earbuds and press the heads of both for three seconds. A sound makes it clear that you can connect and a voice tells you to go to your device’s Bluetooth menu. The Jabra Elite 10 also supports Fast couple And Fast couple for Windows or Android, so you don’t even have to navigate to the Bluetooth menu on compatible devices: As soon as the connection starts, a message appears that you can click on. Whatever technology you use, the connection is reliable and lightning-fast.

You can connect two devices at the same time, but the implementation is not perfect. When you connect to your computer and receive a phone, you can record automatically. This is useful, but we lack a way to quickly manually switch between connected devices.

Phenomenal calling

When making calls, the sound quality is first-class for everyone you’re talking to. You can talk on the phone on a busy street on a windy day and still be heard well. Conversely, the ANC is good enough to clearly represent the person you are talking to in your ear. During our tests we were clearly audible, which is also reflected in the recordings. Since the microphone is located on the ears, we sound a little quieter when recording directly, but this automatically compensates for itself during conversations.

Jabra Elite 10 (wireless headphones):

Jabra Elite 8 Active (wireless earbuds):

Poly Voyager Free 60+ (wireless earbuds):

Jabra Evolve 75 (wireless headset with mouth microphone):

Dell XPS 13 (2021) (Laptop Microphone):

The earphones themselves are controlled using the previously mentioned buttons. Both earbuds have a single button that you can physically press. It’s easy to find. The right button plays or pauses music (one click), switches to the next song (two clicks) or the previous song (three clicks). If you have a phone, you can answer a call with one click. You can turn off (or turn on) your microphone during a call.

Not learned

The left cap has additional functions. This allows you to activate the optional voice assistant, answer calls again and switch between ANC and Listen through. HearThrough completely allows ambient noise to pass through, so you can talk to someone without having to remove the Jabra Elite 10.

Our criticism here is the same as with the Jabra Elite 4: HearThrough is not useful if the music continues to play, which is the case. Competitors pause the music as soon as you activate a similar feature, allowing you to have a conversation with someone next to you at the touch of a button. Jabra wants you to click on both earbuds to do this, which takes longer, looks sillier, and is just plain inconvenient. Additionally, by default it is not possible to simply disable ANC without enabling HearThrough.

Luckily, the Jabra Elite 10 has a high-quality app that allows you to customize the functionality of the buttons. In this app you can also enable other features such as: Surround sound, whereby the sound sounds slightly different depending on the position of your head. It works, but for us personally it was little more than a gimmick. You can also start with an equalizer, which will allow you to customize the sound even more to your own tastes.

Handwork and skill

The app also includes a shortcut to a handy manual, but like other features, this is strangely only available when the earbuds are connected. In the hypothetical case that someone wants to look up which button to click again to connect things, you can’t access it that way.

Jabra once again relies on some subtle but practical LED lights that allow you to immediately see the status of the earbuds and the box. A light on the front of the case can be green, yellow, or red to indicate high, medium, or low battery levels. When the battery level is critical, it flashes red. This means that you have put the earbuds in the case but they are no longer charging. A light at the top can take on the same three colors, revealing the earbuds’ battery status. Every time you take out or put the Jabra Elite 10 away, you can see the battery status using the lights. This way you can load on time.

Top product

Overall, the Jabra Elite 10 is a top product. You pay a little more for these earplugs in the premium segment, but you get earphones that fit perfectly over a longer period of time. The sound quality is very good, as is the call quality. The ANC is an absolute added value, but despite being an improvement over the Jabra Elite 4, we think it’s still below the level of what we can expect in this price range.

That’s the only real downside. We’ve also described some minor annoyances above, but that’s nothing more. Don’t let this stop you from getting the excellent Jabra Elite 10. Doesn’t it all have to cost so much? Then with the cheaper Jabra models you get relatively more quality and ANC per euro spent.