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 8 Active. After countless iterations and continuous successful launches, Jabra is yet again putting themselves ahead of the competition, the ever-popular Jabra Elite Active series is getting an update again, this time with the Elite 8 Active. Comparing it directly to its predecessor, there are some changes to the fit on the earbuds to streamlines the design of the Elite 7 Active. Although the buds are slimmer, I found that the Elite 8 Active did not fit as well to my ears as the Elite 7 Active. It relies more so on the ear tip to secure the buds in my ears than the back portions of the buds itself. However, its entirety is still coated in 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 10. Jabra still chose to rely on trusty physical 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. Moving onto the case, that is probably the biggest change from the Elite 7 Active. Its design has switched from the pill-shaped case of the Elite 7 Active to the more conventional top-opening earbuds case. Arguably, the new case is slightly slimmer and definitely as small and compact as the Apple AirPods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Marshall Motif ANC 2. 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 bottom of the case with an LED indicator in front to notify you of the case charge when closed. 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 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 8 Active boasts an IP68 dust and water resistance for the earbuds and an IP54 rating for its case. To step it up, the Elite 8 Active now passes the military-grade testing standards for thermal, shock, dust and water tests to keep up with those intense workouts or rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind.

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Sound Quality

To start things off, the Elite 8 Active has a slightly improved yet similar sound signature as compared to the Elite 7 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 hits doesn't hit as deep as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 but it definitely as strong as the Sony WF-1000XM5. 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-1000XM5 but still far from the best, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3. 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 8 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 ANC, HearThrough or turn off all settings for passive noise isolation. Howeverm this time the ANC cannot also be personalised to your liking from strong to weak 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 Dolby Spatial Audio For Media switch where you can enable or disable the setting. Personally, I found that the Spatial Audio added a ton of reverb to the mix. There was no sign of a wider soundstage or openness in the instrument separation. Indeed, more work is needed via software updates to tune it in future. Fortunately, the Sound Equaliser is still present for you 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 Energise 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. There is the option to switch between Spotify Tap or Voice Assistant options upon a double press on the left earbud, but do note you can only enable one choice at any one time. 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 8 Active uses 6 MEMS mics together with a protective wind-protecting mesh to keeps its call quality on par with the superior Apple AirPods Pro (3rd Gen). 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 as well as enable Quick Access to Call Settings when you are in the call.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the latest and greatest Bluetooth Version 5.3 together with the basic AAC and SBC codecs. 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 14 hours without both; together with the charging case, you are able to achieve up to a maximum of 32 hours with ANC and HearThrough and 56 hours without them both. The package also comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and Qi wireless charging capable. Either earbuds allow for one-sided listening with perfect connectivity to the app as the app was able to detect my earbuds all the time. The earbuds also support Google’s Fast Pair feature that enable effortless Bluetooth pairing with your Android devices. These are further enhanced with Swift Pair on a Windows 11 laptop, desktop PC or tablet as pop-up pairing guidance will appear on compatible devices when pairing mode is selected. 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 8 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 8 Active is definitely the way to go if you need a sports-focused earbud with the prowess of a noise-cancelling champion.