Back in 2020, I rated Jabra’s Elite 85t flagship earphones as the best all-round buds of the year.
I haven’t got to test their successor, Elite 7 Pro, yet, but I’ve been putting the firm’s newest earphones Elite 4 Active through their paces in recent months.
They bring active noise cancellation (ANC) to affordable true wireless earbuds that also include IP57 durability protection.
This means they have decent dust resistance and the ability to withstand being dropped in a metre of water for 30 minutes.
Read more: Klipsch T5 II Sport fitness earphones review
The sleek stem-free, wing-free, design provides a good level of noise isolation and a more secure fit than you might expect. And the Elite 4 Active look discrete in your ears.
The charging case is oval shaped and would fit in most pockets easily.
There are three sizes of silicone ear tips in the box and as usual it’s best to try out all of them to ensure you get the most snug fit as this impacts on both audio quality and ANC.
The outside of each earbud houses a button to control music playback and phone calls, volume, noise cancelling mode and activate your digital assistant.
Smartphone app
Elite 4 Active are compatible with the Jabra Sound app, in which you can create a custom EQ and download firmware updates.
It also includes a Find My Jabra function to find the last location where your earbuds were connected to your device.
Audio quality is better than you might expect for the price point even though the buds only support the aptX and SBC codecs. Bass is potent but not overwhelming, and mids and tops are sufficiently pleasing if lacking a little in brightness and clarity.
ANC is also effective, perfectly decent for the price you are paying but obviously not of the market-leading standard of Sony’s WF1000xM4 in-ear buds.
Microphone quality on Elite 4 Active is acceptable too.
Android users get Google Fast Pair but even though the buds use Bluetooth 5.2 there is no multi-device connectivity.
On the downside, there is no in-ear detection to auto-pause your music when you take an earbud out and there is no wireless charging.
Verdict
Overall, Jabra Elite 4 Active are a great all-round set of fitness earphones.
Pricing and availability
Jabra Elite 4 Active cost €99 (reduced from €119) at Harvey Norman.
Key specs
Dimensions: 20.85 x 20.49 x 27.3mm (earbud)/ 28.4 x 38.9 x 64mm (case)
Weight: 5g per earbud, 37.5g charging case
Colours: Black, Navy, Mint
Speakers: 6mm drivers
Calling: Four microphones, noise reduction tech
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
Audio codecs: aptX, SBC (no AAC)
Ambient sound modes: Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), adjustable transparency mode
Battery life: Seven hours (with ANC off) in buds, 28 hours with charging case
Dust/water resistance: IP57-rated
