IFA 2023. Jabra announced its most premium (and most durable) headphones yet
By ForGeeks The Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active are Jabra’s latest flagships as the company continues to forge its own path against Apple, Samsung and other big brands.
With Apple and Samsung offering headphones with great sound quality and interesting ecosystem options, it’s getting harder for mainstream headphone makers to stand out. Even mainstays in the category like Jabra sometimes get lost in the crowd, despite their extensive lineup. That’s why today Jabra is announcing two new premium headphones, each designed for a completely different purpose. The flagship Elite 10 ($249) should be the company’s best-sounding and most comfortable pair of headphones, while the Elite 8 Active ($199), designed for fitness, has reached a new level of durability (as evidenced by relevant ratings and certifications). In addition, both models mark Jabra’s move into spatial audio.
In a recent preview of both products, Jabra told me that consumers consider comfort to be the most important factor when choosing headphones. This led the company to rethink design when creating the Elite 10 headphones, which feature a semi-open design that avoids the feeling of ear blockage or uncomfortable occlusion. This sets them apart from the rest of Jabra’s closed earbuds. The Elite 10s also feature oval-shaped, super-soft silicone ear pads that don’t dig into your ears at all. But despite the comfortable shape and semi-open style, Jabra claims these headphones deliver the most powerful active noise cancellation to date. «Using scanning technology, the headphones measure noise leakage and play infrasonic sound waves to determine the individual shape of the ear canal», —the company claims. «The ANC filter is then applied dynamically, automatically switching to the most effective ANC level».
An ANC filter is then applied dynamically, automatically switching to the most effective ANC level.
The Elite 10 features new 10-millimeter drivers that are larger than the Jabra Elite 7 Pro or Elite 85ts. The size of the drivers — that’s not all, but Jabra claims this upgrade will result in more detailed and richer sound reproduction. The company is also working with Dolby to add head-tracking spatial audio to its latest flagship headphones. Some people will never be convinced that the head-tracking feature — is nothing more than a parlor trick, but at least the feature is now available to those who believe it adds some immersion and expands the sound field in music and movies. Both Elite 10s feature a six-microphone system designed to deliver the clearest sound of any Jabra headphone and reduce wind noise. Jabra claims up to six hours of battery life (or 27 hours with the case included). That’s slightly less than the Elite 7 Pros, but in return you get a more powerful ANC system and better sound.
There’s also the Elite 8 Active model, which the company calls «the world’s most durable headphones». They’re IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, which is higher than the status quo IPX7 rating that most premium headphones have. But apparently Jabra didn’t stop there: they also meet the military’s 810H standard for rugged electronics, which means they’ve withstood extreme temperature tests, shock and impact, pressure drops, salt water and total submersion in water.
To successfully prove corrosion-resistant properties, the headphones must pass 11 complete test cycles, including enduring 2 hours at 104 degrees and 93% humidity, passing a 15-minute saltwater splash test, and enduring a 15-minute drying test at 104 degrees. That’s a lot of testing. The tips of the Elite 8 Actives earbuds feature Jabra’s proprietary ShakeGrip coating, which keeps the earbuds securely in place during intense workouts without requiring «wings» or other additional measures to maintain a stable fit. Adaptive ANC is more powerful than in the Elite 4 Active and Elite 5, and the Elite 8 Actives support spatial audio (though this time without head position tracking). Battery life is 8 hours of continuous playback, or 32 hours including case recharging.
Battery life is 8 hours in continuous playback mode, or 32 hours including case recharging.
Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active have a lot in common: They support wireless charging, Bluetooth, standalone monaural mode for both headphones, and both support LE Audio. A future firmware update will add compatibility with LC3 and LC3 Plus codecs, but only AAC and SBC are available in the base package. Both pairs of earbuds also support Fast Pair on Android and Swift Pair on PC.
The headphones also support Fast Pair on Android and Swift Pair on PC.
