I think Jabra is the most underrated manufacturer of headphones and earbuds on the market today. And, not to spoil the surprise, but the Elite 4 Active is an excellent complete package product. The biggest knock against them is their self-inflicted branding. I think a lot of people might be disappointed by these earbuds if they’re expecting ones that are especially geared toward “active” use or that are made for sports and exercise.
Your mileage may vary with the fit, but for me, times of movement and going on runs were filled with constant worry about whether the earphones would fall out. As strange as it may sound, Jabra Elite 4 Active work best for inactive people.
TL;DR
Pros:
Comfortable in-ear for extended periods of listeningThoughtful features and useful mobile appStrong ANC and a decent HearThrough mode
Cons:
Less-secure fit while exercisingNo ear detection to pause audio on removal
Jabra Elite 4 Active Sound
The Elite 4 Active are fairly generic on first glance. There’s nothing that stands out about their appearance. That’s probably why I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by their sound. That impression quickly changed, however, after popping them into my ears.
My first long stint with them was using the Elite 4 Active for a night of uninterrupted work, sitting on the couch. The ANC feature was strong enough to block out distractions. Even with light chatter around me and the TV on, I was able to focus on and hear the music I was listening to, without needing to turn the volume above 25-percent. Even after extended time with the earbuds and using ANC in different environments, I remained impressed with their noise-blocking ability.
The Jabra Sound Plus app has a music equalizer to allow you to customize its sound. In general, I kept it on the neutral setting for testing, but its Energize and Bass Boost presets do offer appealing sound profiles.
Keeping the EQ flat, music still sounds robust and full. Low-end bass in songs booms enough, but maybe more importantly, the midrange is clear and present. Often the middle frequency range can get overshadowed in favor of the highs and lows, but that’s not the case here. When listening to the Weeknd’s new album, the bass was rich and the synth was vibrant. I loved listening to this new collection of songs using the Jabra Elite 4 Active.
Even with ANC off and the HearThrough mode on, providing transparency, music sounds satisfying. If I have any complaints about HearThrough, it’s that I do wish it provided a tiny bit more awareness of surroundings. Currently, it’s good, and it’s way better than not having the feature, but it’s just not quite as good as Apple’s transparency mode on AirPods Pro. (As a note, there is a setting that can be turned on to pause music when HearThrough is activated.)
You can toggle between ANC and HearThrough with a press of the left ear button. It doesn’t look like a physical button, but it does have a very tactile feel when clicking it. Pressing the button on either earbud shoves it further into your ear. It may be a minor concern, but it’s not a great feeling.
These earbuds do work well for audio or video calls. I was satisfied with the microphone quality when hearing it back through voice recordings.
Running With Jabra Elite 4 Active
The first time I slipped these earbuds in, I was thoroughly impressed by how well they fit my ears. The curves of the black plastic matched the shape of my ears well. The fit has been comfortable, but it has almost never felt truly secure. If I lean heavily to one side or another or move around at a quick pace, the seal is broken and they occasionally come out.
There are multiple size rubber ear tips, but the larger ones caused more pressure and weren’t as comfortable as the middle size for me. (They also didn’t fix the secure-fit concern.) And, just to be clear, I encountered no issue with the earbuds coming out while I sat or casually walked around. The problem was with the earbuds being dislodged when running or doing an activity with lots of movement. Interestingly, this would have been less of an area of focus if these weren’t called Active—but they are.
If these do fall out, the audio will keep playing. If you take one earbud out to talk, you’ll need to pause the audio if you don’t want to miss what you’re listening to, because there’s no ear detection here. This is a disappointing feature not to have because it’s often so convenient, but its absence isn’t a deal breaker. (There’s also no wireless charging on the case, either, but again, not a deal breaker.)
My first run with the Elite 4 Active was for 30 minutes to make ensure I had plenty of time to sweat with them. These are IP57 water-resistant, so the moisture shouldn’t phase the earbuds—and it didn’t. But I wanted to see how slippery sweat contributed to their fit.
The left earbud slipped out pretty quickly before sweat could be an attributable cause. The right one stayed in for my entire first run, and the left one didn’t come out a second time. I still had to constantly push these ones back in and readjust them so they wouldn’t come out, unlike other fitness-focused earbuds or headphones, like the Beats Fit Pro or the Shokz OpenRun Pro.
Even after more runs, these were not my go-to earbuds, because I dreaded devoting any ounce of effort to the device I put in (or around) my ears. When I’m exercising, I want to focus on clearing my mind or sink into the audio I’m listening to. I also used the Elite 4 Active on a rowing machine. They were fine in this context, but I had largely the same concerns. They always felt like they were close to falling out, even if they might not have been.
I initially thought that double-pressing the right button to skip songs would be hard or a problem while running, but it wasn’t. It worked as well as any other skip button I’ve tried. Also, I had HearThrough on while running outside to remain aware of my surroundings, and I never noticed the wind rustling sounds that sometimes happen when earbuds use the microphones to allow more sound in.
The battery life was excellent in my use. I don’t have much to say about it because their 7 hours of listening time was much longer than I could take in a single session. Jabra advertises that the case can provide the earbuds with a total of 28 hours of battery life.
Should You Buy Jabra Elite 4 Active Earbuds?
The Jabra Elite 4 Active, with their well-rounded sound and strong ANC, are impressive wireless earbuds, especially for their launch price of around $120. These are absolutely worth buying and would make great earbuds for music listening, daily work use or traveling.
The only concern I have is for people who need these primarily for exercise and the times they want to be active. Personally, I wouldn’t buy these for that sole reason. Fit isn’t universal, so there’s a chance these will work for some people to run, row or lift weights, but that just wasn’t my experience.
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