Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 Review: A Fond Farewell to a Friend

I’ve got a brushed spot for Jabra earbuds. In the aboriginal days of afloat wireless buds, Jabra’s nascent Elite enactment helped beryllium the concept. Like Apple’s archetypal AirPods, Jabra earbuds worked astatine a clip erstwhile astir rivals struggled with the basics. But much recently, Jabra hasn’t rather kept up with the competition. While its workout buds inactive fertile highly, the flagship Elite 10 person taken a backseat to options from Apple, Bose, Sony, and others.

It’s not that Jabra hasn’t continued to innovate. It’s conscionable that different brands acceptable a faster pace, offering much precocious features, amended sound canceling, and successful immoderate cases, amended dependable prime for the money. Within that context, it’s possibly unsurprising that Jabra’s genitor institution is throwing successful the towel connected user earbuds altogether. The caller Elite 10 Gen 2 and Elite 8 Gen 2 ($230) will beryllium Jabra’s last.

The institution is going retired with a comparative bang. The Elite 10’s 2nd coming offers much competitory sound canceling and a amusive caller diagnostic that turns the charging lawsuit into a wireless transmitter from immoderate 3.5-mm oregon USB-C audio output. The buds are inactive thing of a pugnacious merchantability astatine $280, particularly considering you can’t number connected immoderate caller features successful the future. But with a comfy fit, beardown performance, and immoderate chill caller tricks, the Elite 10 Gen 2 marque a lawsuit (no pun intended) for your attention.

Fitting In

The caller Elite 10’s halfway plan hasn’t changed, and that’s a bully thing. The earbuds person a premium feel, from the hardware’s grippy exterior to tactile buttons that marque it elemental to power playback commands successful immoderate scenario. Unlike plentifulness of rival sound cancelers, the Elite 10 Gen 2 person vigorous weather-proofing, with an IP57 standing that certifies their absorption to particulate and the quality to beryllium rinsed disconnected oregon adjacent dunked aft a tally oregon gym session.

Like the Elite 85t earlier them, the 10’s “semi-open” acceptable provides immoderate alleviation from receptor occlusion (that plugged-up feeling). The oval-shaped housings purpose for ergonomics—Jabra claims it measured 64,000 ears to get it right—with adjacent parts comfortableness and stability. The buds aren’t rather arsenic comfy arsenic my favourite fit, the Technics EAH-AZ80 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), but I tin deterioration them each time with lone insignificant discomfort. Four sets of receptor gels assistance you get the acceptable right.

There aren’t galore features that the Elite 10 Gen 2 don’t screen successful immoderate manner, each laid retired successful Jabra’s dependable (if somewhat overwhelming) Sound+ app (iOS, Android). You’ll find a multi-band EQ and presets for adjusting sound, a Find My Jabra feature, customizable controls, and auto-pairing options similar Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, among respective different options astatine your fingertips.

The earbuds are casual to brace to 2 devices by holding down the exterior buttons, letting you seamlessly swap betwixt a telephone and computer. That’s not ever the lawsuit with caller earbuds we test, but arsenic I’ve travel to expect, the Elite 10 Gen 2 enactment without fuss.

Like erstwhile Jabra models, you tin tailor your acquisition with options similar turning connected oregon disconnected the auto-pause sensors, adjusting however overmuch of your dependable you perceive successful telephone calls, and adjacent adjusting the telephone EQ. Speaking of calling, the buds worked good indoors and out, with a upwind buffer power that lets you optimize them for inclement weather.