Design & Construction

When it comes to sports earbuds, Jabra has traditionally took a 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it approach, and that is true with the new Elite 7 Active. After 6 iterations and continuous successful launches, Jabra is yet again putting themselves ahead of the competition. The ever-popular Jabra Elite 7 Active is here to the succeed the Elite Active 75t. The Jabra Elite 7 Active now streamlines the design of the previous generations with a even smaller build and improved features. In fact, I was surprised at how slim the case is when I first unbox the Elite 7 Active. It is as small and compact as 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. The case and the earbuds of the Elite 7 Active have a matte coating that wraps around the entire earbud themselves. This is known to be the main difference between this model and the Elite 7 Pro where ShakeGrip, a liquid silicone rubber compound holds the earbuds more securely in the ear without the need for ear wings, The ingenious material feels soft to the touch while keeping button press as tactile as the original Elite 7 Pro. There is a USB-C port at the front of the case with an LED indicator to notify you of the case charge when closed. As for the earbuds, they are now much 16% smaller than the previous Elite Active 75t. Instead of touchpads, Jabra went with trusty old school buttons that work really well without actually jamming the earbuds into your ears when you press them. 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 enable Active Noise Cancellation, HearThrough or Passive Noise Isolation while a double press will bring up Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri. 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 need to pair a second device, you can hold down both earbuds for 3 seconds to enable Bluetooth pairing. It takes about 2 and a half 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 1.2 hours of playback with a 5 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 7 Active boasts an IP57 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 7 Active has the exact same sound signature as the Elite 7 Pro. 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 hits 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. The mids do sound extremely crisp especially with the initial MySound tuning that is found in the Jabra Sound+ app that really help to configure the sound to your ears. The soundstage is quite as wide as the Sony WF-1000XM4 but still far from the best, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. The instrument separation is excellent 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 7 Active 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 Energise. Different presets do work well with different music genres and I personally prefer the energetic 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, register your earbuds for warranty or change the language of the voice guidance. Some of the great notable features are MySound, MyFit and MyControls. Let's start with the best, MySound. MySound is an audio test that is performed using a series of tones to test your hearing abilities and compensate for your dedicated profile creating a personalised sound signature to optimise your listening experience. Meanwhile, MyFit does a simple fit check of each earbud to determine the optimal EarGel size by playing a multi-tone to detect if there is a sound leakage. 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 7 Active does not uses the MultiSensor Voice technology theat is found on the Elite 7 Pro but the call quality is still on par or slightly better than the Apple Airpods Pro. claiming it 2nd place title behind the Elite 7 Pro as the strong contender of handling calls. Notably, there are a respectable amount of 4 microphones, covered with a SAATI Acoustex mesh for wind protection. In the settings, you can enable the earbuds to play a mute reminder tone to notify you in case you accidentally muted the microphone. Next, you can change the sleep mode from a range of timings from as short as 15 minutes to 8 hours or totally disable the function. You can also enable SideTone which basically feeds the earbuds with your own voice when you talk to another party over the call and you may change that volume individually as well. Lastly, there is the call equaliser which is kind of overkill when you think about it. There are 3 presets of Default, More Treble, or More Bass. Now, Jabra is really taking user experience to the next level with a plethora of features in its app.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the basic 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 8 hours per use with ANC and HearThrough and up to 11 hours without both; together with the charging case, you are able to achieve up to a maximum of 30 hours with ANC and HearThrough and 42 hours without them both. The package also comes with a USB-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the Elite 7 Active doesn't disappoint. Like the Sony WF-1000XM4, the Elite 7 Active is now Qi Wireless Charging capable. And even better, this time, either earbuds allow for one-sided listening as well. 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 with ShakeGrip

• Low Profile

• Customisable Sound Signature

• Personalised Audio Profiles

• Customisable Call Quality Settings

• Excellent Call Quality

• HearThrough

• SideTone

• Tactile Button Controls For Music Play & Calls

• Find My Jabra Tracking

• Bluetooth 5.2

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Qi Wireless Charging

• Long Battery Life

• IP57 Dust & Waterproof 

• Multi-Device Bluetooth Pairing

• A Range of Colours

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CONS​​​​

• No AptX Codec Support

 

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Jabra Elite Active 7 Active has a lot to offer on in terms of features and functions. The top features why it is so sought-after in a saturated market of true wireless earbuds has got to be its sound quality, waterproof design, noise-cancelling 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 7 Active is definitely the way to go if you need a sports-focused earbud with the prowess of a noise-cancelling champion.