I got an another great opportunity to test out new Jabra Elite 7 -series earbuds: Jabra Elite 7 Active and Jabra Elite 7 Pro. My previous check on Jabra’s were 85t buds. On longer term I noticed that they didn’t fit my ears that well, no matter which ear piece size I tried. During the winter 85ts fell off my ears a few times and I didn’t even want to start thinking to use them when bicycling. For walks, commuting and inside they were excellent though. I was lucky because earlier this spring Jabra sent me these Elite 7 buds for testing.
Some Elite 7 Pro Tech Specs
ANC, option to choose hear-through as well
4 microphones, VPU (bone conduction sensor) Jabra Algorithms
Noise reduction on calls
Wind noise reduction
Up to 8 hours music, up to 30 hours with the case , fast charge
USB-C + Wireless charging
Bluetooth 5.2
IP57
Fore more tech details, please see Jabra’s product page
Some Elite 7 Active Tech Specs
ANC, option to choose hear-through as well
6 microphones
Noise reduction on calls
Wind noise reduction
Up to 8 hours music, up to 30 hours with the case , fast charge
USB-C + Wireless charging
Bluetooth 5.2
IP57
Fore more tech details, please see Jabra’s product page
As can be seen from specs, there isn’t too much difference when it comes to technical specs. They are even in quite close to each other at the price range ($160-$180).
When unpacking their boxes you can have the quality experience already at that point. This is a personal opinion of course, but I like the way Jabra uses packaging (recycleable) to bring out key messages.
And if you haven’t used Jabra’s before you get easy instructions to follow. Of course install Sound+ app to your phone when taking these into use so you can personalize your buds.
And to keep the easy experience going, when unfolding the box you have even more instructions how to set them up.
Active version is themed on yellow and Pro -version got professional grey look.
Usability
There are several key usability features that are important for me. First: they need to fit securely to my ears and both Elite 7 versions do accomplish that with full points. It was a delight to notice after 85t. The worry about earbud falling was taken away, Elite 7 buds ear piece and overall design is a great match with my ears. Also the carrying/charging case is smaller than before so it fits my jean’s coin pocket better. From outside you don’t see any different between Active and Pro cases. Buds snap to cases easily with magnets. For size comparison I took some photos with 85t box compared to Elite 7 cases.
Case comparison: Jabra Elite 7 Pro, Elite 7 Active and Jabra 85t. What has changed between 85t and Elite 7 is the box design and size.
Elite 7 cases are very slim and functional.
Case comparison:Jabra 85t vs Elite 7 Just for fun: Samsung Galaxy Buds (1st version) vs Jabra Elite 7 Pro case. Both are very close to each other at the case size.Too bad for Samsung, but Elite 7 series is vastly advanced and better compared to it.
Overall and the TLDR; on Elite 7 series case: it is smaller and better designed than 85t had.
When comparing actual buds it can be seen that Elite 7 buds are much smaller than 85t. And this is a big factor – new buds don’t stick out of ears as much as before. They are more light as well. Much more pleasant to keep in ears for hours at the time.
Size comparison: Jabra 85t (left bottom), Jabra Elite 7 Pro (top) and Jabra Elite 7 Active (right)
And what is important that 85ts had an elliptical ear-piece while Elite 7 series are back to round versions. Round ones fit my ear much better and provide a secure connection so these don’t fall off.
When taking buds to use, make sure to use Sound+ app to get a good fit and personalized ANC experience.
My Experiences and conclusion
I have to say I am overall quite happy with these buds. First – they fit to my ears well and don’t fall off – and second the audio quality & battery life is really good. I don’t think it will be up to 8 hours with ANC on, but it won’t be far off from that either. I did a a few flights and train travels with Pro version during the testing period and I had no battery issues. Since I put them to the case whenever it made sense I didn’t have any low battery situations – even short breaks at the case will charge buds quite a good amount. ANC was great and it muted much of plane/train and other ambient noise – in fact more than I thought it would do. The better fit to ears also helps to reduce ambient noise. I was very happy to see this with small buds.
For just in-case situation I had Surface Headphones 2+ with me but I found out that I didn’t need them at all – it was easier just to use Elite 7 Pro buds. I might feel different if I were to use these for 6+ hours in a row (long flight) or noisier environment but these travels that took a few hours at the time worked just fine. Using hear-through by pressing the left bud is excellent invention – I don’t have to take buds off my ears to talk with someone. I configured hear-through mode to mute music while using that.
I tested Elite 7 Active buds while doing outdoor activities, such as walking or bicycling. They pick up wind noise when bicycling and ANC can’t counter all that away. The solution was turn up the volume for music, until the wind noise moves to the background. Catching the wind noise is probably a combination of wind direction, bicycle helmet and bud design on those parts it extends from ear. It is good to also check that if you have ANC on or not. A few cases I was cycling without ANC (didn’t check when put them on) and naturally wind noise was higher then. Using the default option of left bud you can switch between ANC and Hearthrough. You can also define if you want to mute media volume when using hearthrough mode, or just activate it. Via Sound+ app you can also define if you want to add Off-mode to the left bud so it would cycle ANC, Hearthrough and Off. To me ANC & Hearthrough are enough – I don’t need off mode or if there is a special situation where it would be useful I can turn it on via Sounds+. Jabra Elite 7 Active has a matter black surface (my version) so they don’t shine out of ear and can be “stealthy” in that sense.
For talking I didn’t have much issues that I didn’t expect. Canceling noise while talking can’t do magic because there isn’t a boom mic present. There is always some level of surrounding noise. Overall talking experience (on the other end) was what expected. These do cancel plenty of the noise, but there is a limit. On my end it was very easy to have conversation in various places.
The big question is: which one of these I would buy? Perhaps that would come to the color variations that are available and choose from there. These both are so good and meet my expectations that I might just look at the price and the color that pleases me more. Pros do look good and business-like so you will very likely see me using Elite 7 Pros. Especially since are rated IP57 for water & sweat I don’t have to worry about rain when using these.
As can be seen, Jabra Elite 7 Pro don’t stick out of ear much. Quite a small little buds.
And yes, you can pair these to the computer using Bluetooth. Microsoft Teams and home office was much more pleasant in a hot summer day (no air condition at home office room) when using buds instead of my usually favorited over-the-ear headset. Teams, music, meetings, calls – not bad at all. And keep in mind that these are not, not even Pro version despite the name, business line devices. It doens’t mean these wouldn’t work – but they are not Microsoft Teams certified if you are looking for that. They work pretty well without certification – but I did not give them extensive testing on that part because I do have Teams certified devices that I prefer to use when doing meetings. Hot summer days were the exception to this one.
Jabra Elite 7 Active & Pro: Great lightwight earbuds with good ANC & great battery life for mixed needs and use cases.