Design & Construction

In the blink of an eye, the Jabra Elite lineup have already been dominating the true wireless market for over a year. Some of its competitors have caught up but hardly any have taken the throne yet. To beef up an alternative version of its premium ANC true wireless earbuds, the Elite 7 Pro, Jabra is bringing out its newest member, the Elite 5 this year. Starting off with the design. the Elite 5 earbuds have an improved design aesthetic to the similarly priced Elite 4 Active. However, the earbuds case is takes on the previous generation design from the Elite 4 Active and Elite 3. Most importantly, this new case is way slimmer than the Elite 4 Active and Elite 3, hence it fits just right in a tight jeans pocket. Comparably, it is as small and compact as the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen), Sony Linkbuds S and Beats Studio Buds. 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 before. The Elite 5 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. It takes about 3 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 5 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 5 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 doesn't hit as deep as the Sennheiser CX Plus SE but it definitely as strong as the Sony Linkbuds S. The highs sound decently bright and filled with plenty of details and the mids sound extremely crisp. The soundstage is decent with excellent instrument separation and distinct left and right channels could be heard. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Elite 5 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 full ANC to weak 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. 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. Just below the Sound Equaliser, there are Soundscapes. Basically what these white noises do is to help mask sounds for you to focus. And I have to say, it is pretty cool. They help you focus and concentrate on tasks when you get a little tired from listening to music. There is an entire list of sounds to choose from and my personal favourite has got to be cavern. Lastly, at the bottom, you can edit the position of your widgets to remove or re-arrange your most-used settings. Moving on, you can also update the earbuds firmware, change your voice assistant, customise your MyControls individual earbuds playback and calls commands, register your earbuds for warranty or change the language of the voice guidance. 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 5 does not uses the MultiSensor Voice technology that is found on the Elite 7 Pro, hence its call quality is lags slightly behind the superior Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen). Nevertheless, the Elite 5 still claims its 3rd place title behind the Elite 7 Pro and Active as a strong contender of handling calls. Notably, there are a respectable amount of 6 microphones with 2 internal mics now positioned to capture your voice while drastically reduce wind noise. 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 auto-accept calls using in-ear detection, auto-mute the microphones when you remove the earbuds from your ear and enable or disable Quick Access to Call Settings when you are in the call. You can also enable SideTone which basically feeds the earbuds with your own voice when you talk to another party over the call and control its volume too. 

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the AptX, AAC 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-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the Elite 5 doesn't disappoint. Like the Elite 7 Pro, the Elite 5 is now Qi Wireless Charging capable with either earbuds available for one-sided listening. The earbuds feature Bluetooth Multi-point connection that allows you to connect to 2 devices at any one time so you can listen to mujsic 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

• Ergonomic Fit

• Low Profile

• Customisable Sound Signature

• Personalised ANC

• HearThrough

• SideTone

• Tactile Button Controls For Music Play & Calls

• Excellent Call Quality 

• Find My Jabra Tracking

• Bluetooth 5.2

• AptX Support

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Qi Wireless Charging

• Long Battery Life

• Multi-Device Bluetooth Pairing

• IP55 Dust & Water-resistant

• A Range of Colours

The Bottom Line

In all, the Jabra Elite 5 has a lot to offer as an alternative to its premium option of the Elite 7 Pro. As to why it is still in demand; has got to be its 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 5 is definitely the way to go if you need an essentials everyday earbud with personalised noise-cancelling.