Jabra - Elite 10 Gen 2 Dolby Atmos Noise Cancelling Wireless In-ear Headphones with Smart Case - Titanium Black

Ever since the move to MP3 I’ve generally been dissatisfied with the sound sound quality. Sure I can have my entire library at all times but I’ve never had an experience really replicating CD sound quality… until now. Using dolby atmos, combined with apple lossless format has finally reproduced the quality I’ve missed. Bravo!

If you’ve used and loved Jabra Elite wireless headphones in the past, you may be surprised to learn that the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 will be this product line’s final release as the company plans to shift away from consumer devices. However, it seems Jabra’s saved the best for last and improvements in the Elite 10 Gen 2 include enhanced noise cancelation, better transparency mode, and more precise voice isolation during hands-free calls thanks to the its 6 microphones and adaptive noise detection. It also gains the ability to use its charging case as a wired audio transmitter. This latter feature gives the ear buds an extra edge in terms of device compatibility since these can be used with devices that have USB-C or 3.5mm audio-out but not Bluetooth, like treadmills and entertainment systems on airplanes. The Elite 10 Gen 2 comes in various colors which all have a soft, matte finish that looks sleek without feeling slippery in the hand. The single LED indicator on the front of the case communicates remaining battery life and activity status, for example Bluetooth pairing, charging, and updating. The case can be charged via the included USB-C cable or on a Qi wireless charger. The buds will charge automatically while stored in the case and have a battery life of around 6 hours with ANC (active noise cancellation) enabled plus an additional 3.5 full charges from the case for a total of 27 hours of use or 36 hours with ANC off. The headphones power on and off automatically when removed or placed in the case, and you can view their individual power levels as well as that of the case in the app. It takes around 3 hours to fully charge the ear buds and case but only around 5 minutes to gain an hour's worth of use. The charging cable also comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, so it can be plugged into various audio-out ports for audio streaming; just press the button on the case after connecting it to a device, and you’ll hear a tone confirming that it’s connected. Since these ear buds use Bluetooth 5.3, streaming is lag-free for perfectly synced audio when watching video, and with Bluetooth Multipoint, you can connect with two audio source devices at the same time. The ear buds themselves have a lightweight, secure, and contoured fit. While I generally find ear buds start to hurt my ears after about an hour, the curved shape of the soft silicone EarGel sleeve along with the four sizes included allowed me to find a fit that was comfortable over longer listening sessions. They also sat securely in my ears during use, even during workouts, despite not penetrating very deep into the ear canal. They have an IP57 waterproof rating which can resist being submerged up to 30 minutes at a depth of 3ft, though the two-year warranty also protects against failure from dust and water. The default sound sculpting from these ear buds is slightly bright with full sounding but not rumbling bass. In general these sound clear and well-rounded with excellent sound placement and stereo separation. There are preset EQ profiles designed for things like speech, treble, and bass boost, or create your own custom EQ curve with 5 adjustable ranges from bass to treble. There is also a separate EQ setting for calls. With ANC activated constant droning noises around you are dampened fairly well with little to no hissing white noise when connected over Bluetooth. However, some line noise may be introduced when using the case as a transmitter. Alternatively, stay aware of your surroundings by enabling HearThrough (transparency) mode which allows you to listen to your surroundings while playing your music or podcast in the background. This mode also amplifies voices which helps if you're listening for announcements or having a conversation. Jabra’s Sound+ mobile app allows settings personalization including a custom name for your headset, enabling “spatial sound” (virtualized 3D surround sound) with or without head tracking, controls for calls and media like play/pause, track skipping, voice assistant trigger and switching ANC modes. Volume adjustments will always be executed using a 1-second press on the right and left ear buds to raise and lower volume respectively. However, note that the buttons on the outside of the earpiece have to be physically pressed in as they are not touch or swipe sensitive. Sidetone allows you to hear your own voice in the headset with adjustable volume during calls but can be turned off. Spatial sound works for games, movies, and music giving you an immersive feel by adding more depth and dimension. Just note that if you’re listening to Dolby Atmos content, you’ll want to turn spatial sound off as it can distort the intended audio placements and muddy the sound. I found the head tracking feature interesting since it adjusts the 3D soundscape as you turn and move your head, keeping instrumentation fixed in space, so for example, if you turn your head to the right the sound will move into your left earpiece which would be “facing” the audio source. However, note that if you face a different direction for more than 5 seconds, the soundstage will move and re-center around you. With head tracking off, the sound maintains directionality and spatial positioning relative to you so will always sound the same even if you move about. The ear pieces can be used individually by simply leaving the second one in the case, though you may need to change your phone’s settings for stereo mixing, and you won’t have access to the unused ear piece’s physical controls. For voice assistant options I was able to select Google or Android default, like Gemini, but not Alexa; on iOS devices, you should be able to select Siri. You can quickly activate the voice assistant by double-clicking the left button. These headphones have calm soothing voice prompts which are clear but a bit low volume when you're listening to something. The headset employs Jabra’s PeakStop hearing protection protocols to prevent acoustic shocks that may damage your hearing. It can also serve as a white noise machine, producing an endless loop of relaxing sounds like songbirds, waterfall, waves, etc. ‘Find my Jabra’ can help you track your headphones by displaying its last known location on a map (requires access to mobile GPS data). Overall, the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 is a comfortable and versatile set of true wireless ear buds that work well in variety of situations from listening to your jam during a workout, to watching streaming content or taking calls on-the-go. Noise Cancelling and HearThrough performance are both quite good, and you'll be able to use the case for streaming wired connections. The battery life is fair, but can last you all day so long as you take breaks to put them in the case to charge.

There are a whole lot of in-ear ear buds and they normally do the same thing but some brands just make better products. I have Sony, Samsung and now these Jabra ear buds and I am pleasantly surprised by what these can do in such a small form factor. :::General Thoughts::: Opening the box for these was a simple experience nothing too crazy. In the box you will find the earphones, gel tips, and a usb cable. Although I am not too sure of my cable as it is an auxiliary to usb type c and how it could be used with a pair of wireless earbuds. - Setup & Features - Downloading the Jabra Sound + app is what lets you setup the headphones and it all took less than five minutes to do. I really like the app because it can do so much. I can customize the touch controls on the buds, change the sound settings, like ANC, Spatial Audio (head tracking) I never experienced spatial audio and with these headphones, they are good, I cannot say how good they are because I do not have anything to compare them to. Windows does have its own version, but I never really got it working, so I cannot really compare the two. Just so you know, I have a Samsung S24 Ultra it supports Bluetooth 5.3 and that is exactly what these headphones use. There was an update that was available almost immediately and it took a while to download to the device and install. I feel that the interface for the Sound + app is very user friendly and it looks good in fact I like it better than the Gear Manager for my Samsung Buds which just looks so plain in comparison. You will see what I mean in the photos I attach. - Sound - I did not expect these to sound as good as they do it is amazing putting these in your ear and hearing the ANC kick in immediately. Make sure you use the right sized ear tips to get the best seal to prevent noise from getting in our out. You can change the ANC options as well to suit your liking and I turned on the wind feature so that it does not pick that up in an environment like that. I like the spatial audio feature I tested it out on Spotify while listening to audio books, and on YouTube and Crunchyroll and lastly Netflix. Out of the four it is only Crunchyroll that does not support spatial audio. I enjoyed my experience because some movies, tv shows are best uninterrupted. I was very surprised with the call quality; I would like to compare these to my buds pro 2 and I must admit that I do not have faith in ear buds and call quality. But these Jabra sound great and the individuals on the other end heard me clearly without complaints of being muffled but this is while I tested on my android phone. In Windows, it was an average call quality because of the Bluetooth version and Citrix and the latency it introduced on the devices you use in that work environment. I can not really fault Jabra for that, though. This can not be said about my Samsung Buds Pro 2 call quality. There was always a complaint; it was hit or miss, and it was annoying. Battery life is as advertised with these I really like the wireless charging feature, and I like the quick charging feature too. Of course, these will not last all day like over-the-ear headphones but they are great at what they do. This is a first for me, as I could not find anything to complain about or anything that irritated me. I do not like the word perfect because nothing is perfect but these are awesome and sound great and for my use, they check all the boxes and they cost about the same as their competitors. One thing I will say is that I do not use this while being active because for me, these are not useful in situations like that where I have to worry about losing or dropping them. Overall, I like these I do not know what the previous model sounded like, as these are my first but I am happy with my new ear buds. I think you would be too if you decide to pick these up.