Jabra Elite Sport – wireless headphones for your basic headphone needs (music, podcasts, phone calls) and an integrated fitness app for the athletic, yet nerdy, folks. I fall somewhere in the middle – I’m a distance runner and sometimes need the entertainment to get me through. But I’ve also not historically been super high tech about my stats; just give me distance, time, and elevation and I can shrug off the rest. I wouldn’t have thought I could have it all from a set of headphones, but truth be told, these things are pretty sweet.
The headphones:
I am a person with option-anxiety. Give me too many choices and my eyes glaze over and I lose interest (and patience) quite quickly. I like things to be plug-and-play. These headphones, right from the box, overwhelmed me. They came with three sets of ear gels, three sets of foam tips, and three sets of ear wings, each in large, medium, and small sizes, so I had to spend some time meticulously fitting and comparing to find the right combination for my ears. Luckily this is a one-time exercise. To properly take advantage of the HearThrough feature (allows you to still hear music, but also allows ambient noise such as traffic, other people, etc. into the headset), you’ll really want to find the perfect fit, so take the time to get there. I am not overly sensitive to noise, nor am I an audio snob, so you’ll have to read a few more reviews or try them out yourself to judge the sound quality. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for me, as long as I can hear the lyrics, I think it sounds good and these headphones give me that and more!
Once you’ve found the sweet spot with the various accessories, the set-up is really quite simple. A quick pair with the phone and they’re working like any headphone should. I can answer calls with just one word (or press of a button), I can summon Siri, adjust volume, skip songs, and everything else you’d expect. Easy as [store bought] pie. For a few days I would pack around the short “quick start guide”, as I could never remember if it was the left or right earpiece that controlled the power and the double tap feature for noise reduction, but that was quickly sorted. A downside of the fit for me is that they look quite bulky. I wore them in the office for a conference call and at one point a colleague asked “What’s in your ear?”, as they are not as discreet as I’d hoped. Despite this, running in them is a dream. Even on a windy bridge, I’ve not had any issues with feeling as though they’d fall out my ears, lost forever in the Willamette.
In addition, they are waterproof (plus have a 3 year warranty against sweat damage if you register)! They can be submerged in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. So, since I had a few weeks of non-running due to injury, I took them to the pool for deep water running. Being in the pool, for me, is horribly boring, so I was excited to have some entertainment in the water. With my phone in a Ziplock bag nearby, I had no issues with connectivity or control. Granted, my head was above water (I wasn’t doing laps with them), but knowing I wouldn’t damage them with wet hands was a huge plus! More than that, running in the rain should be without issue as well!
The app:
Through the headphones, the Jabra Sport Life app can be used to track performance (i.e. time, speed, distance, pace and pace predictor, steps, cadence, calories, heart rate, heart rate zone, VO2 max estimation, rep count, audio coaching, and recovery time). That’s more than I need (option anxiety, remember?) but really quite cool if you like to collect data.
Additionally, the headphones are able to read heart rate through a clinical-grade in-ear heart rate monitor, which is really useful for proper training. It’s also compatible with other popular third-party apps, such as Strava, RunKeeper, Runtastic, Endomondo, and MapMyFitness.
So, between so much capability in two nickel-sized earpods, constantly sending data to an app, you’re probably wondering: how long do these things last? The battery life is a promised 4.5 hour day, but luckily the carrying-case is also the charger. If the case is fully charged, you’d get an additional 2 charges (9 hours) out of it. The iPhone shows a battery life indicator, so you know when your time starts to run out. To be honest, in the two months I’ve been testing them, I’ve run out of battery only once. I charge them up every few days and that seems to be enough for me. I may have a bigger hassle with it as my mileage ramps up but for now, it’s been a non-issue.
If you’re shopping around for a good gift for your athletic friend or are looking for a new pair of quality headphones for yourself with all the perks of a decent running watch, consider the Jabra Elite Sport headphones. They’ve recently dropped in price and are a great addition to any runner’s gear collection.
Details / Specs:
Products & Price:
- Elite Sport ($179.99) – Amazon link ($149.99)
- Color options
- Black
- Lime Green/Grey
Specs (from website):
-
Water proof up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes
-
Talk/music time (with or without tracking): Up to 4.5 hours continuous play time
-
Charging case provides additional 2 full charges (i.e. up to 9 hours)
-
Bespoke bass enriched speakers with 20Hz to 20kHz frequency range
-
Passive noise cancellation
-
HearThrough providing external ambient noise into earbuds for awareness
-
Jabra Sport Life app compatible for Apple iOS and Android
More about Jabra:
We make life sound better.
Every day, our intelligent sound solutions inspire people in ways they never thought possible.
We inspire athletes, old and young to push boundaries and beat their best, thanks to our innovative sports headphones with real-time voice coaching and intelligent apps helping you stay motivated and in the zone.
At work, we empower you to be even more productive. We can help you concentrate more, communicate and collaborate better, and make conversation easier. We do this by helping you block out noise and delivering crystal-clear sound.
We also enable you to enjoy the music you love while you’re on the move, with rich and immersive sound. And you can effortlessly switch to making a call and back again. All with total clarity.
It’s our life’s work to transform lives through the power of sound.
Thank you to Jabra for providing us with a sample pair of headphones. Please read our transparency page for info on how we do our reviews.
