I love reviewing modern-day earbuds. With every passing year, they get more feature-rich, offering not only the promise of an amazing acoustic experience but also better ease-of-use and greater comfort. The latest I’ve been plugging into is the Jabra Elite 10, from the Danish brand with a long legacy in the audio tech world, and here’s how it fares.
Design
Cosy and classy — these two words describe the aesthetics of the Jabra Elite 10 best. In the soft-matte cream colour, the case and the earbuds are pleasant-looking, although those who prefer darker colours for better maintenance can opt for black or the cocoa shade. The buds are lightweight enough at 5.7 grams each. While the fit was comfortable, I’ve definitely experienced more secure fits with the other earbuds I’ve reviewed. This fit and comfort aspect of TWS buds, however, is very subjective. The semi-open design though is a relief for people like me who find it difficult to deal with the seal-in effect for long periods of time.
User Experience
To pair, I needed to take the buds out of the case and push the button on each earbud for three seconds. Fast Pair kicks in quite quickly on the Google Pixel 8 Pro I’m reviewing at the moment. A single tap on the left earbud lets me toggle through the ANC and HearThrough modes. An on-device “voice” confirms the same, but when I’m listening to music on the buds, the voice isn’t loud enough for me to discern which mode I’ve activated. I can tell for sure only only when I lower the volume and switch the modes.
A double-press on the bud activates the voice assistant (or Spotify Tap if you configure it) and voice commands were pretty effective. The earbuds also support multipoint connections, so I had it paired with my smartphone and MacBook. The connection on both of them kicked in seamlessly each time I resumed work. What didn’t work smoothly was the auto-pause feature. Designed to pause music/audio streaming when I take an earbud out of my ear, this feature sometimes tends to kick in a little later than I’d expect it to.
Audio
I loved listening to Face, the debut studio album by South Korean singer Jimin of BTS. His silvery tenor came through clearly on the Jabra Elite 10, as did the thump of the percussions on ‘Like Crazy’. The more intense opera-like Set Me Free Pt.2 was also quite impressive with the trumpets and bass drum dispersed throughout the track. Across multiple tracks and genres, the earbuds deliver a fairly well-balanced sound profile neither favouring bass nor treble too much. The Dolby Spatial Sound effect is quite effective, however, I’m not a huge fan of the sound streaming from one ear when I turn to my side to grab a cup or glance at the TV. The music presets - especially Smooth and Energize - are my favourite go-to’s to tweak the sound profile, although I can fully customise my own. Preset soundscapes built into the Jabra Sound+ app are such a comfort to have. Even when I’m not listening to music, I like having earbuds on to keep away ambient sounds. With the sounds of ocean waves, a rainy day, and songbirds built-in I could just tap on one of these and finally finish this article! The ANC on the Jabra Elite 10 does kick in but I wouldn’t say it’s the best I’ve experienced on TWS earbuds, even within this price range. There was minimal difference between ANC and HearThrough modes, wherein I was still able to hear my colleagues catching up more than 4-5 bays away from me. The catch-up was just a little stifled with ANC on, not completely drowned out.
Battery Life
The Jabra Elite 10 promises up to 27 hours of playtime with ANC on, and in my case, the earbuds do live up to the claim. Without ANC it claims to go up to 36 hours, and I can believe that given its performance. However, most of my usage was with ANC on. My daily use is fairly mixed, but on average, I was on voice calls for about 30 minutes, watching video content for an hour or so, and at least an hour or two of streaming music. Except for the first time I unboxed it, I never had to sit around for a full charging cycle. Short periods of charging every 4-5 days and I really didn’t have to worry about the battery ever.
Verdict
What I really like about the Jabra Elite 10 is the design, comfort, and battery life. However, the fact that ANC efficacy isn’t the best that money can buy in this price range, and it makes a lovely device a little harder to recommend as an allrounder.
