Design & Construction

With many companies busy churning out their flagship true wireless earbuds, it is easy to overlook the benefits of the other side of the spectrum. Now, budget-friendly options often leave a bad taste in terms of performance but that is hardly true with the Jabra Elite 3. In fact, I think it is the opposite, proving itself to be a really promising choice for those on a budget. The Jabra Elite 3 simplifies the design of the previous generation Elite Active 75t. The earbuds case is of a similar size to the Elite Active 75t, small and compact like the Apple Airpods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4 and the Marshall Mode II. Like all true wireless earbuds, the earbuds dock in fairly easily and will not fall out when the case is flipped since there are magnets inside to keep them secure. There is a USB-C port at the back of the case with an LED indicator in the front to notify you of the case charge when closed. As for the earbuds, they are now much more ergonomic than the previous Elite Active 75t. The Elite 3 uses trusty physical old-school button to keep button presses tactile. For controls, a single press on the right earbud will play/pause your music, a double press will skip forward and a triple press will skip backward; holding it down will increase the volume. Moving to the left earbud, a single press will enable or disable HearThrough while a double press will bring up Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri or play music from Spotify instantly. It is important to note that the Spotify Tap Playback feature is only available on Android. Meanwhile, holding it down will decrease the volume. For calls, there is yet another set of control that does the same command on either earbud. A single press will pick up the call and a double press will end the call. When you are in a call, a single press will mute/unmute the microphone. Similarly, the volume can be increased by holding down the right earbud and decreased when holding down the left earbud. It takes about 3.5 hours to charge both the case and the earbuds from a dead battery. However, if you are in a rush, there is always quick charge which will allow for 1 hour of playback with a 10 minutes charge. Both earbuds bear the Jabra logo and have subtle LED indicators that will only light up when necessary such as in situations like recharging or pairing them. In normal usage of music playback or calls, they never light up to attract unwanted attention. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone EarGels to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Like all sports earbud, the Elite 3 boasts an IP55 dust and water resistance for those intense workouts or rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind. The earbuds also do a great job at resisting fingerprints smudges.

​

Sound Quality

To start things off, the Elite 3 has a bass-boosted and energetic sound signature. The bass response is deep, punchy, and tight. It never managed to distort at loud volume and never bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. It doesn't hit as deep as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 but it definitely as strong as the Sony WF-1000XM4. The highs sound decently bright and filled with plenty of details and the mids sound extremely crisp. The soundstage is its too wide but the instrument separation is excellent with distinct left and right channels being heard clearly. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Elite 3 works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz after you fiddle with the customisable sound settings in the Jabra Sound+ App available for download from the App & Play Store. In the app, you will first see Sound Modes which allow you to quickly enable or disable HearThrough. However, the HearThrough feature cannot be adjusted for its intensity level. Overall, the passive noise isolation seal is tight without any ambient sound leaking in when there is music playing. HearThrough is Jabra's version of Transparency Mode to allow you to hear your ambient surrounding sounds so you can always hear the next train announcement or traffic noise to stay safe. If you prefer the faster way of removing one earbud to hear someone, the earbuds does not have an automatic play/pause feature unfortunately. Next, you will find Sound Modes which you can choose from the presets. There are presets like Neutral, Speech, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Smooth, and Energise. Different presets do work well with different music genres and I personally prefer the energise preset. There is a lack of a customisable sound equaliser though. Lastly, at the bottom, you can edit the position of your widgets to hide or re-arrange your most-used settings. Moving on, you can also update the earbuds firmware, change your voice assistant and register your earbuds for warranty. If you ever lose your earbuds, you can always use the Find My Jabra feature to trace it back. In other settings, you can also see your earbuds technical information or contact support straight from the app itself. Lastly, the most wow-ed feature of Jabra products is the call quality. In calls, the Elite 3 does not uses the MultiSensor Voice technology that is found on the Elite 7 Pro but the call quality is slightly behind what can expect from the Apple AirPods Pro. This enables the Elite 3 to claim its 4th place title behind the Elite 7 Pro, Elite 7 Active and the Elite 4 Active as the strong contender of handling calls. Notably, there are a respectable amount of 4 microphones positioned to capture your voice. You can also enable SideTone which basically feeds the earbuds with your own voice when you talk to another party over the call.

​

Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the AptX and SBC codecs together with Bluetooth Version 5.2. The earbuds also automatically power on/off when docked and taken out from the case. The battery life peaks at 7 hours per use and up to a maximum of 28 hours with the case. The package also comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the Elite 3 unfortunately doesn't have that. It is good to know that either earbuds allow for one-sided listening and the headphones' connectivity to the app is perfect as it is able to detect my headphones when its already connected via Bluetooth all the time. If you try to watch videos or movies with these, they do not have any latency.

​

PROS​​

• Durable Construction

• Ergonomic Fit

• Low Profile

• Customisable Sound Presets

• HearThrough

• SideTone

• Find My Jabra Tracking

• Bluetooth 5.2

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Tactile Button Presses

• Long Battery Life

• IP55 Dust & Waterproof 

• A Range of Colours

​

CONS​​​​

• No Multi-Device Bluetooth Pairing

• No Wireless Charging

​

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Jabra Elite 3 is a promising true wireless earbud amongst a saturated market of budget-friendly options. Where it truly excels has got to be its sound quality, waterproof design, long battery life as well as overall user experience. It is indeed a seamless and hassle-free experience that Jabra has nailed after going through so many iterations of earbuds. The Jabra Elite 3 is definitely the way to go if you need a simple everyday earbuds with all the essentials as well as a range of colours to express your personality.