Design & Construction

The Jabra Elite lineup of earbuds has got to be the most comprehensive range of true wireless offerings. Now, it is overpopulated with yet another new product launching every quarter of the year. For first-time buyers, picking one can be really hard if you are just casually browsing and unfamiliar with the options. This year, the Elite 4 is launched to possibly be the successor to the Elite 3 but is it a better deal than the Elite 5? Well, there is only one way to find out. Diving straight into the design, just like the Elite 3, 4 Active and 5, the earbuds share the same generic compact top-opening case design that has been tried-and-true. Comparing sizes, the Elite 4 case is much more similar to the Elite 3, such that their heights are the same but it is slightly wider in side profile. When placed side to side with the Elite 4 Active and 5, it is shorter and slightly slimmer than the 4 Active but nowhere as thin as the Elite 5. However, all these are just minute differences that can hardly affect the average user as all of them are as compact as they can get, fitting into tight jeans pockets with ease. Comparably, it is as small and compact as the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen), Sony Linkbuds S and Marshall Motif ANC. 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 designed closer to the Elite 4 Active that is a little larger than the Elite 5 more ergonomic shape. Awkwardly, the buds do touch the antihelix of your ears which none of the other Jabra earbuds do and feels much larger than the Elite 4 Active. By far, I would say it is over-engineered to create a new fit that unfortunately fares worse amongst the rest of the Elite lineup. Fortunately, there is no wearing fatigue and the feeling does gradually wears away but it is hard to forget that you have the top of earbuds touching the contours of your inner earlobe. Notably, the Elite 4 still uses trusty physical old-school button to keep button presses tactile and responsive. Now for the 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 cycle through Active Noise Cancellation, HearThrough or Passive Noise Isolation while a double press will bring up Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri or play music from Spotify instantly. 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. If you remove the earbuds from your ears, the music will not stop playing as there is a lack of in-ear detection sensors that would automatically pause your music. 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. Even though the Elite 4 isn't a sports earbud, it 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 with a matte finish. 

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Sound Quality

To start things off, the Elite 4 has a similar sound signature as the Elite 4 Active. Well-defined, balanced and energetic is how I would describe it. 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 hit as deep as the Sennheiser CX Plus SE or the Marshall Motif ANC. The highs sound decently bright and the mids sound crisp. The soundstage is pretty average with little instrument separation but there was distinct left and right channels. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Elite 4 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 change the Noise Cancellation settings from ANC; HearThrough and turn off all settings for passive noise isolation. The ANC can also be personalised to your liking through a short test where the earbuds will let you increase or decrease the cabin pressure of the ANC so that you are comfortable as well as the left and right balance. However, the ANC lacks a detailed adjustment range where you can change from weak to stronger ANC. HearThrough is Jabra 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. There is a slider that allows the control of how much noise to let in. If you prefer the faster way of removing one earbud to hear someone, the earbuds will automatically pause your music, and that you may turn off if you don't want it enabled. Next, you will find the Sound Equaliser which you can choose to customise your very own or choose from the presets. There are presets like Neutral, Speech, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Smooth, and Energize. Different presets do work well with different music genres and I personally prefer the energize preset. Lastly, at the bottom, you can edit the position of your widgets to remove or re-arrange your most-used settings. Soundscapes are unfortunately removed from the app too. Moving on, you can also update the earbuds firmware 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 4 does not uses the MultiSensor Voice technology that is found on the Elite 7 Pro, hence its call quality is lags lengths behind the superior Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen). In calls, the Elite 4 uses 4 microphones to capture your voice however, the mics are not tuned to filter out background and wind noises. Hence, it is recommended for use in quiet spaces or for quick calls only. You can also enable SideTone which basically feeds the earbuds with your own voice when you talk to another party over the call. In the settings, you can enable or disable Quick Access to Call Settings when you are in the call. 

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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. With ANC on, the battery life peaks at 5.5 hours per use and up to a maximum of 22 hours with the case. This can be further stretched to 7 hours per use and 28 hours with the case without the use of ANC. The package also comes with a USB-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the Elite 4 unfortunately don't not have Qi Wireless Charging. However, either earbuds are still available for one-sided listening. Fortunately, Bluetooth Multi-point connection is supported so you can connect to 2 devices at any one time to listen to music on your laptop and take calls on your phone. 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 in audio transmission.

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PROS​​

• Durable Construction

• Customisable Sound Signature

• Personalised ANC

• HearThrough

• SideTone

• Tactile Button Controls For Music Play & Calls

• Find My Jabra Tracking

• Bluetooth 5.2

• AptX Support

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Long Battery Life

• Multi-Device Bluetooth Pairing

• IP55 Dust & Water-resistant

• A Range of Colours

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CONS

• No Qi Wireless Charging

• No Soundscapes

• No In-ear Detection

• Uncomfortable Fit

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The Bottom Line

In all, the Jabra Elite 4 is a decent entry-level successor to the original Elite 3. As to why it is still in demand; has got to be its energetic sound quality, water-resistant design, personalised noise-cancelling as well as overall app interface. It is indeed a seamless and hassle-free experience that Jabra has nailed after going through so many iterations of earbuds. The Jabra Elite 4 is definitely the way to go if you need an essential everyday earbud with decent noise-cancelling.