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The $229 Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds cost more than their excellent predecessors but easily justify their price with dynamic audio, good active noise cancellation (ANC), and an intuitive companion app. In addition, they are fully sealed against dust and water and come in a highly durable case that can transmit Bluetooth LE audio from whatever source you plug it into. They easily earn our Editors’ Choice award for runners and the exercise crowd in general. But if you don’t need earbuds for working out, the $249 AirPods Pro are our top pick for Apple users and the $299 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds offer the best noise cancellation.Design: A Durable Build With a Top-Notch CaseAvailable in Black, Coral (pink), Navy (blue), or Olive (green), the Elite 8 Active earbuds have a matte silicone finish. They come with three pairs of circular eartips that ensure a secure, comfortable fit. Internally, redesigned 6mm dynamic drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. For comparison, the $279 Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 earbuds have larger 10mm drivers that cover the same frequency range.
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(Credit: Tim Gideon)
The Elite 8 Active earbuds are compatible with Bluetooth 5.3, use the AAC and SBC codecs, support Google Fast Pair, and offer multipoint pairing with up to two devices. Streaming from the charging case gives you access to the LC3 codec as part of the LE Audio package, though the earbuds do not support that codec by themselves.Each earpiece has a flat, clickable control surface. I’m glad to report that pressing it doesn’t shove the earbuds deeper into my ear canal. By default, a single press on the left earpiece toggles the ANC and HearThrough (transparency) modes, while two presses summon your device’s voice assistant. Google Assistant can work hands-free, though all other voice assistants require a button press. A single press of the right earbud controls playback, two clicks skip forward a track, and three taps navigate back a track. The triple-click gesture is not active for the left earpiece by default, but you can enable it and customize many of the other controls in the app. A long press and hold adjusts the volume (left for down and right for up). Otherwise, a single press on either side answers calls and two presses rejects or ends them. During a call, tapping once mutes or unmutes your mic.
An IP68 rating means the earbuds are completely dustproof and waterproof. Neither dusty trails, heavy rain, nor poolside splashes should affect their performance. They also have MIL-STD-810H certification, which means they can handle drops, vibration, and other abuse. Most noise-cancelling true wireless models have just an IPX4 rating, so this is an outstanding level of protection. Impressively, the charging case is quite rugged, too, with a dust- and splash-resistant IP54 rating. Jabra even claims that both the earbuds and case are saltwater-proof, so beach days shouldn’t be a concern. For comparison, the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 earphones have a slightly inferior IP57 rating and a non-durable case.Design-wise, the case has a flip-top lid with a status LED on the front and a USB-C port for the included USB-C-to-USB-C charging cable on the bottom—the case can still stand upright when you flip it over to charge. The cable is generous in length and cleverly loops a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter around the end. Wireless charging support further solidifies it as one of the best cases I’ve tested to date.
(Credit: Tim Gideon)
But the standout feature of the case is its ability to transmit Bluetooth LE audio (including via the LC3 codec) to the earbuds from a variety of sound sources over a USB-C or 3.5mm connection. This is a game changer if you frequently want to connect to gym equipment, TVs, or in-flight entertainment systems. To test this feature, I plugged the case into an iMac’s headphone jack, a small synthesizer’s 3.5mm output, and an iPad’s USB-C port. Once you plug in the cable, you simply need to press the button on the case to establish a connection between it and your earbuds. The connection worked without issue in each scenario, though I did notice minor latency with the synth. This delay didn’t bother me, but it’s worth pointing out if you intend to use this feature for gaming or recording. The cases for the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 and the $399.99 Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 can also transmit audio.Jabra estimates that the Elite 8 Active earphones can last roughly 8 hours with ANC on or 14 hours with ANC off per charge and that the case holds between 24 (ANC on) and 42 hours (ANC off) of additional power. Your results will vary depending on your typical listening volume level; these numbers have not improved since the previous version. The company doesn’t specify how long it takes to charge the earbuds or case fully. App Experience: Comprehensive and IntuitiveThe Jabra Sound+ app (available for Android and iOS) has three tabs at the bottom. The default page offers all the important options, so you can mostly ignore the Discover and About Sound+ sections. The latter two provide Jabra news, tips on how to use the earbuds, and the ability to buy other products from the company.The top of the main screen shows an image of the earbuds, along with battery life readouts for each earpiece and the case. Below that is a Sound Modes section for switching between the ANC and HearThrough modes, or turning both off. The app provides five levels of adjustment for the HearThrough mode but none for the ANC mode.Next up is the Spatial Sound section for adding a Dolby Audio-based effect to audio mixes. It’s off by default. In the Music Equalizer area, you can create a custom EQ with five bands. It works effectively, though I would have preferred actual frequency labels rather than generic Bass, Mid-Range, and Treble descriptors. Further down is the Music Presets tile, which has Bass Boost, Energize, Neutral (the default), Smooth, Speech, and Treble Boost options. You can use these as a starting point for EQ adjustments if you want.
(Credit: Jabra/PCMag)
Finally, in the Soundscapes section, you can play various ambient sound loops to focus or relax. The default is Ocean Waves, but Babbling Brook, Rainy Day, and Songbirds are among the other options, along with less natural sounds like White Noise and Ventilation Fan. To access the Settings section, tap the gear icon in the upper right corner. Here, you can install firmware updates and switch the double-tap gesture on the left earpiece between voice assistant access and Spotify Tap. Furthermore, you can change the name of the headphones, enable wind noise reduction, and customize the on-ear controls. Otherwise, you can change aspects of the call experience (automatic mic muting, sidetone, and EQ) and enable the location-based Find My Jabra feature. Some options are a bit buried. I expected to see the wind noise reduction feature in the Sounds Mode section and the ability to add an off option to the ANC/HearThrough cycle in the section for customizing all the other on-ear controls. Once you find these settings, they are easy enough to use and understand.Noise Cancellation: Mostly ImpressiveSomething strange happened during my evaluation of the Elite 8 Active Gen 2’s noise cancellation. It started off by dialing back much of the low-frequency rumble from a test recording and then completely eliminated it about 10 seconds later without me even adjusting my head. But the more times I restarted the earphones to confirm this behavior, the more times the results varied—sometimes they were merely above average and sometimes they were truly excellent. Against the same test recording, the AirPods Pro performed stronger to begin with but never reached the peak efficacy of the Elite 8 Active Gen 2. Meanwhile, the class-leading Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds consistently delivered results in line with the best of Jabra. When I tried playing a more complex recording from a busy restaurant, the Jabra earbuds reliably wiped away the lows and mids but let much of the higher-frequency noise through. The AirPods Pro worked much more effectively in this scenario. I’m impressed that Jabra’s earphones compete so closely on the lower-frequency recording, though Apple and Bose are still better overall.
(Credit: Tim Gideon)
Jabra’s HearThrough mode provides a reliable way to monitor your surroundings. Some hiss is audible at its highest level, so I recommend using the setting just below that if you want the most accurate representation of your environment. The Natural HearThrough mode eliminates the noise of wind hitting the mics—it worked quite well against a powerful fan in testing.Sound Quality: Dynamic and AdjustableDolby Audio is a harmless inclusion. At best, mixes benefit from a slightly fuller room sound. At worst, tracks can suffer from weird artifacts, such as an ugly slapback-like delay. The reality is that most music will sound worse with it active, but it’s easy enough to switch on and off if you want to try it out. Note that the Elite 8 Active earbuds don’t include Dolby Atmos or head-tracking, unlike the Elite 10.I can confirm that the EQ works well for adding some bass emphasis or tweaking the other frequency ranges to taste. There’s just a slight delay between making changes and hearing the result. For my evaluations below, I restored the default sound signature and turned off the spatial audio feature. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earbuds deliver a powerful low-frequency response. I don’t hear any distortion at high volumes, and the lows still pack some thump at moderate settings.
(Credit: Tim Gideon)
The drivers have no problem reproducing the sub-bass at the 34-second mark of Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty.” These deep bass synth lines come across with a subwoofer-like rumble. The various vocals sound crisp and never seem to compete with the sub-bass for space.The drums on Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass, get some additional heft but never sound unnatural. Callahan’s baritone vocals get an ideal mix of low-mid clarity and high-mid richness, while the acoustic strums and higher-register percussive hits are bright and detailed. Although the earbuds scoop the mids at times to achieve their focus on balance and clarity, the bass response is just right for pushing you through workouts.On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower-register instrumentation takes a step forward in the mix, but things still sound relatively natural. The crisp, higher-register brass, strings, and vocals remain the focus.The six-mic array works well. I could clearly understand every word from a test recording on my iPhone thanks in part to the reduction of background noise. The only downside is that the mics sometimes slightly clip the beginnings of sentences. This tendency doesn’t impact the ability to understand speech, however, and the signal level is quite strong.Verdict: Your Best Buds for Working OutWith balanced audio and strong noise cancellation, the highly durable Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 earphones are a great option for exercise. Their customizable companion app and handy charging case go a long way toward justifying their price. If you’re fully invested in Apple’s device ecosystem, the AirPods Pro are our Editors’ Choice winners for their seamless connectivity and still have a decent IP54 durability rating. Meanwhile, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds have a slightly less impressive IPX4 rating but are the earphones to get if you want the absolute best noise cancellation. But if you work out a lot and want the best buds for the job, Jabra gets enough right with the Elite Active 8 Gen 2 to earn our Editors’ Choice award.
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