The Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds are an innovative marvel in the world of wireless earbuds. With no more wires to tangle, users can enjoy true wireless connectivity and a host of other cool features for work and play. Combining all great benefits of a heart-rate monitor and true wireless freedom from cord-free bluetooth earbuds. As a workout monitor, the Jabra Sport Elite is definitely the little earbud that gets the job done.
What are the Jabra Elite Sport Earbuds?
Both earbuds are truly wireless- each functions as an independent unit. You can wear one or both. By completely eliminating the wires, users don't have to worry about anything getting in the way of a great workout. Designed specifically for people that are concerned about fitness, Jabra has added health monitor features. Track your heartrate, VO2 calculations, overall fitness and more. It includes a powerful fitness app that gives other apps a solid run for their money.
Whether for music or voice calls, Jabra's superior sound system makes clarity easy. Automatic noise cancelling features cut back ground clutter. Each earbud has two microphones, meaning you'll hear more of what you want. For the times when you need to be aware of outside sounds around you, the "hear through" feature allows noise to bleed through with the touch of a button.
Other cool, noteworthy features are that they're waterproof. This means not only are they insulated from sweat, but if you drop them in less than a meter of water, they'll still function just as great as before. The company guarantees it. Jabra Sg didn't slack on the battery quality either. The earbuds will last 3 hours stand alone, or up to 9 hours connected to a portable charger. You'll never run out of juice when you need it most.
Fit and Comfort
At first glance, the sport elite looks like any other earbud, except without wires or cords tethering them. They are somewhat bigger, but exceptionally snug and comfortable due to their unique wearing style. They come with a variety of silicone gel tips and wingtips to customize the fit. Thanks to the ergonomic design, they stay put, even through the most rigorous workouts.
The wingtips come in small, medium and large. I chose the small size and wore them for both running and my gym workout. They stayed securely in my ears, both bouncing along the roadway and rotating through the gym equipment. Even though they are a little bigger than standard earbuds, they didn't stick out or look awkward in any way.
Jabra Singapore also incorporated another unique wearing function. One earbud serves as the primary, housing all the control functions. Wearing just this one, you can play music, answer or place calls, and access the fitness app for real time tracking. The music plays back in mono mode, leaving the other ear free in case you are running in traffic or just need more situational awareness.
Add the second earbud and foam tips, and all outside sound will be completely blocked unless you select "hear through." It also controls the volume and music playback features. Communication between the earbuds is through magnetic field induction. When the second one is within distance of the primary, it will automatically turn itself on and connect. In order to use the bluetooth feature, your phone will automatically detect them and pair, depending on the settings you choose.
Key Features
- Wireless
- Dual Microphones (on each earbud)
- Noise Cancelling
- Hear-Through Technology
- Fitness Monitoring and App
- Good Battery Life
- Waterproof
- 3 Years International Warranty from either Jabra Singapore and Jabra Global
Sound Quality
The dual microphone setup on each headphone means that you're listening through four microphones total. I was pleasantly surprised by how great they sound. There's a good automatic mix of bass and treble, making it suitable for different music genres. As someone who prefers to mix it up depending on my mood, I liked that hip hop and hard rock sounded equally great without one being out of whack from too much or too little bass.
There is an odd delay in the earbuds pairing seamlessly when first turned on. The primary bud plays music first, and there's a pause of a couple of seconds before the secondary one kicks in. It seems like this brief gap is the time it takes for the secondary earbud to pair with the first one. It only occurs at the very start of turning them on, so it isn't a deal breaker for me.
The "hear-through" feature is very cool, allowing incoming calls even during music play. It uses the microphone array to control how much noise is allowed through. It allows the user to set whether the music should be paused and outside sound transmitted or you can hear sound over the top of the music. It's nice because, unlike traditional headphones, you can still make and receive calls while listening.
For voice calls via the bluetooth function, I was again pleasantly surprised at how clear my voice was. Even when using just one earbud, I could hear clearly and so could the person on the other end. The microphones work dynamically, with half being for capturing voice and the other half being responsible for capturing sound to be cancelled out. They automatically swap back and forth so that the microphones can select optimal sound. Even with music playing in the background, the sound quality wasn't diminished.
Advanced Fitness Tracking
The fitness features are perhaps my most favorite thing about this phone. Being wireless, I don't have to worry about the wires catching on the workout machines. The built in monitoring functions pair with a powerful app that not only tells you how you're performing, but provides personalized coaching and goal setting as well.
For cardio workouts, you can take 15 minute tests that will tell you how much oxygen your body is using. The VO2 score is an indicator of overall fitness level and can be used to watch your improvement over time. Paired with the app, it considers your age and gender in giving you a snapshot of how you're doing compared to others. It will also tell you the time you spent with your heart rate in the cardio, intense, and maximum zones. The results are very consistent and just to be sure, I took the VO2 test several times to ensure the scores matched. It does seem as if the overall rating standard- fair, good, or excellent-is a bit tougher than other fitness monitors. An "excellent" rating on the FitBit Charge is equivalent to a "good" rating on the Jabra Elite.
There are other tests as well. The Cooper Test tracks how far you're able to run in 12 minutes and assigns an endurance score based on the results. There's also the heart rate tracker, which tells you accurately what your resting heart rate is. It will even map your runs on your phone's GPS and you can change to other activities for bicycling and walking.It will provide you with pace estimations, based on your history, so you can get an idea of how far you can run in a given time. It's great for predicting marathon finish times.
The app includes circuit training programs with descriptive names, such as Upper Body Pump, Cardio Core, and Belly Burn. The workouts combine bot gym equipment and body weight resistance workouts. It gives you the exercises in the circuit and counts the number of reps for each. There's also a freestyle mode, where you can tell the earbuds to just track whatever workout you're doing.
Although the Jabra Sg app competes well with stand alone fitness apps, you're not forced to use it if you don't want to. The earbud's heart rate monitor will pair with other popular fitness apps and track your information there.
Battery Life
Three hours of stand alone battery life may not seem like a lot at first. However, when you consider than wireless tech devices are notorious for having a short battery life, three hours becomes pretty impressive. Jabra advertises a battery life of up to 9 hours total, but this is only when used with the charging case. The charger is portable so you can carry it while on the go and will give you two extra charges. It's a neat solution for extending the battery time, but the downside is if you need that much wireless time, it may not be convenient to recharge it. Three hours won't carry you through a marathon run and stopping to charge isn't always the best option.
The case contains a micro USB port that you put the headphones into. 15 minutes of charge time will give you another hour of wireless function. The Jabra Elite Sport headphones will automatically tun themselves off and on during the charging process. The case itself is small and compact, and protects the headphones well even if it's accidentally dropped.
Waterproof
The waterproof feature is what one should expect from a pair of sports headphones. Sweat during intense workouts won't effect performance. The earbuds are rated IP63, meaning they can withstand being submerged in a meter of water for 30 minutes before failure. Like any electronic device, this doesn't mean you should wear them swimming but rather is a feature than can provide some assurance. Jabra Singapore backs up the rating with a solid three year warranty. You have to register the product for it to be eligible.
Our User Reviews:
The following feedback are based on real user reviews collected from people who've bought them from us.
Pros
- Exceptional sound quality
- Fast charging
- Snug fit
- Good battery life
Cons
- "Hear Through" technology may pick up some wind noise on windy days
- Battery won't last through an entire 'ironman' marathon
Should You Buy The Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Headphones?
The Jabra Elite Sport earbuds are among the most technologically advanced sport headphones you can get. They do exactly what the manufacturer claims they will and are super convenient. It also has a lot of super cool on board functions related to fitness. These are ideal for someone that works out on a regular basis and likes to track their fitness levels. Having the additional ability to connect to any bluetooth device, they can also be used in other settings.
The battery life can be a pro or a con, depending on your fitness activity. For someone like me, they are perfect since my workouts typically don't last more than three hours. The only activity where the battery didn't make the cut for me was on a 6 hour mountain bike ride. However, it's easier to recharge them riding a bicycle than it would be for a marathon runner. I didn't notice the earbuds picking up any wind, so I suspect this may be a situational occurrence that varies depending on the weather conditions. Overall, my verdict is highly favorable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.