The advent of wireless earbuds served as a jumping-off point for the likes of Apple and Samsung to enter the space, which has been incredibly profitable for them. But there are also companies that have a whole lot more experience in the headphone game, like Sony and Jabra.
The new Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds, according to Jabra, are built to be the “world’s toughest earbuds.” But toughness isn’t necessarily enough. The earbuds also have to fit well, sound great and offer some decent smart features. Do they do enough to stand out?
Here are the best (and worst) things I’ve found about the Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds after testing them.
If you’re looking for a durable pair of wireless earbuds for working out, running or just kicking back at home — complete with solid active noise cancellation (ANC) and lots of features — the Elite 8 Active are one of the best options we’ve tested for the price.
What we liked about it
Well-built design
As mentioned, Jabra is marketing these earbuds as the “world’s toughest earbuds.” That’s a little hard to corroborate, but I can definitely vouch for the build in general.
The earbuds are built with a strong, rubberized material, and I found them to feel much stronger than other earbuds that are usually built out of a simple plastic. What does that translate to? Well, it will likely only help in edge cases, but that’s still a good thing. I can’t recall a time that I broke a wireless earbud; they can usually survive falls perfectly fine.
But the big advantage may be in the water. The earbuds are built to survive being submerged up to 1.5 meters, so if you accidentally drop them in the pool, they should remain usable. Unfortunately, the same does not go for the case: You can’t accidentally drop the whole case in the pool, just the earbuds. Jabra also notes that the earbuds can survive extreme temperatures and high humidity, and they’re rated at the Military Standard 810H when it comes to withstanding environmental conditions.
Great audio quality with high-end ANC
The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds aren’t the highest-end in Jabra’s lineup — that title goes to the new Jabra Elite 10. You wouldn’t be able to tell just by listening to them, though, as they sound great.
In general, the earbuds offer a deep bass that gave the kick drums in Foo Fighters’ “Dear Rosemary” a nice boost, and there’s great detail in the high-end, which helps give those cymbals a little more shimmer. The audio is a little scooped, which means it prioritizes bass and high-end by taking out some of the mids, but you can tweak the frequency response in the app, if you choose.
The earbuds also support Dolby Audio Spatial Sound, aimed at offering a more immersive listening experience. It worked fine, but I don’t usually like using surround-sound formats while listening to music.
The noise-cancellation tech on the earbuds is good too. I tested the earbuds on a flight on my way to Germany and found that they were almost as good at cutting out engine noise as the AirPods Pro — though not quite there. Still, the AirPods Pro are among the best in this arena, so rest assured that you’ll still get great ANC.
Good fit
The earbuds offer a good fit, at least for me, ensuring that they stay in the ears decently well during use. That’s good news for a pair of earbuds that are being marketed as ideal for sports and that may take the reins from the previous-generation Elite 7 Active earbuds, which are one of our favorite pairs of earbuds for exercising.
In general, I found that the earbuds stayed in the ears during a run, and they weren’t so big as to be uncomfortable while wearing them. Like with any earbuds, I do recommend experimenting with the three pairs of included ear tips to get the best fit.
Some great smart features
The earbuds work quite well with the Jabra app, and I found it easy to switch between noise modes and tweak the EQ profile.
The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds also support Bluetooth multipoint, which means that you can connect them to up to two devices at a time. It’s not quite the AirPods’ automatic switching, which works across iCloud-connected devices, but it still worked pretty well. And they support Swift Pair, making it easy to quickly connect them to other devices that support Swift Pair.
Long-lasting battery and versatile charging
The Elite 8 Active offer a battery life of up to eight hours with ANC turned on, which is quite good, and means that you likely won’t run into a dying battery unless you use the earbuds on a long flight, for example. The charging case brings the total listening time to 32 hours, which again, is quite good.
The AirPods Pro earbuds get up to six hours of continuous listening or up to 30 hours with the charging case, while the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds get eight continuous hours or 24 hours with the battery case. In other words, the Elite 8 Active battery life doesn’t change the game, but it’s definitely on the high side.
It’s easy to charge the earbuds too. They have a USB-C port on the bottom of the charging case, but they also support wireless charging and will work with your charging mat of choice.
What we didn’t like about it
Minor comfort issues
If there’s one pet peeve I have with wireless earbuds, it’s when you have to push earbuds deeper into your ears just to press the buttons. This is why I love the stem squeeze controls on the AirPods so much — but even high-end touch controls are better.
Now, to be fair, it’s entirely possible that Jabra wouldn’t have been able to include alternative controls given the rugged approach. But the effect still remains the same: Any time you press the buttons on the earbuds, you’ll be pushing the earbuds into your head.
Bottom line
The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds have a lot going for them. They sound excellent, boast a range of smart features and offer great battery life. They’re also cheaper than the higher-end Jabra Elite 10, and for $200, they’re more than good enough for most.
They do, however, go up against tough competition like the Beats Fit Pro, which are our best wireless earbuds pick for working out and preferable for Apple users, considering features like automatic switching and spatial audio support. But if you’re an Android user and you’re looking for a pair of wireless earbuds under $200, then these are one of your best options out there right now.