New day, new pair of earphones to review. What arrived in our test lab recently was the Jabra Elite 3. Now, if you consider yourself an audiophile or if you’ve been digging the internet long enough just to find the right pair of earphones for you, you might have a clue as to what sound expertise Jabra brings as an audio brand.
Jabra Elite 3 Review; Got The Essentials Covered |
The Elite 3 joins Jabra’s budget offerings – perhaps one of their most affordable true wireless in-ears – that pack many exciting features. Here’s our take on this pair.
DESIGN and ERGONOMICS:
Although made primarily of plastic, the Jabra Elite 3 somehow brings a premium feel. One won’t even notice the earphones’ plastic build if they don’t take a closer look at them. Ergonomics is key to many things for in-ears, like the Jabra Elite 3 that come with rubber tips. A secure fit will ensure an enjoyable listening experience and amounts to the quality of sound and passive noise cancellation a pair of in-ears bring.
Fortunately, the Jabra Elite 3 ticks the right boxes despite its affordable price. It’s pretty straightforward when it comes to its overall look – just the standard design that’s made to fit in the ears properly. The earphones come with three pairs of extra silicone, so you can choose which ones feel best according to your liking. The Jabra Elite 3 doesn’t come with wingtips of some sort, but despite that, it doesn’t fall off easily. In fact, you can also use the pair during workouts as it comes with an IP55 rating, making it dust- and water-resistant.
The chagrin case of the Jabra Elite 3 – just like the earphones themselves – look familiar. It comes in a common oval-shaped form. It’s also made of plastic, which explains the creaking feel when you close and opens its lid. There’s an LED located on the front to indicate battery status, while at the back is a USB-C port, which is the sole method of charging for the Jabra Elite 3 since it doesn’t support wireless charging.
All in all, in terms of its look and level of comfort, the Jabra Elite 3 gives your money’s worth.
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PERFORMANCE:
Before we go all audio in this review, let’s talk about the Jabra Sound Plus app first. It’s becoming a norm now for audio devices – even budget-friendly ones – to come compatible with an app where users can tweak functions and enhance the listening experience. With this app, you can adjust the Jabra Elite 3’s EQ presets, including bass and treble boost. The app is also where you can update the firmware of the earphones.
Speaking of controls, the earphones have physical buttons with the Jabra label on them for summoning voice assistant, increasing and decreasing volume levels, playing and pausing tracks, and answering or rejecting calls. Another good thing about the Jabra Elite 3 is that its buttons are impressively responsive, and there aren’t any delays in doing their respective functions.
Other good stuff about the Jabra Elite 3 is its special Android features, including the Google Fast Pair, which connects the pair to your Google account, and Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth codec for a more solid audio performance.
With a couple of 6mm full-range dynamic drivers and Bluetooth 5.2 connection on board, the Jabra Elite 3 knows how to do its job properly. Although we would’ve liked it better if the pair’s bass was stronger, we’re pretty satisfied with this device in all other areas concerning audio.
Playing Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ on the Jabra Elite 3 is a delight since the earphones can separate vocals and background instruments enough for Adele’s voice to still be the star of the song. Also, for tracks with lots of guitar riffs like Santana’s ‘Smooth,’ the Jabra Elite 3 can produce audio that’s decent in terms of soundstage, although increasing the volume past 60% brings some sound cracks.
For voice calls, the Jabra Elite 3’s built-in microphones fared well when we used them for more than a week for Zoom and voice calls. Another thing worth mentioning about this pair is that it comes equipped with Jabra’s HearThrough technology, which is basically an ambient listening feature commonly found in higher-end audio devices.
BATTERY LIFE:
Long battery life is another plus point the Jabra Elite 3 brings to the table. Jabra advertised these earphones to last until seven hours of continuous playing time. The said estimate is close enough to the amount of time we spent with the Jabra Elite 3 before it required us to put it in its charging case again – 6 hours and 13 minutes.
The Jabra Elite 3 gets an additional 21 hours of battery life, which from our experience, is good for around three complete charging cycles.
FINAL WORDS:
If you’re a casual listener looking for a pair of earphones that will get you through a busy day with your favorite tracks without breaking the bank, you can never go wrong with the Jabra Elite 3. It’s light, stylish, and comfortable in the ears, plus it has good audio performance and great battery life – all the qualities that one would look for in a dependable pair of in-ears.
The Jabra Elite 3 sells for an SRP of PHP 4,795 on the official Shopee store of Jabra.