Jabra released two excellent pairs of noise-cancelling true wireless earphones last year, the $200 Elite 7 Pro and the $180 Elite 7 Active, both of which boast strong sound quality, above-average active noise cancellation (ANC), and a fully waterproof design. The company’s latest pair, the Elite 4 Active, are more affordable at $119.95, but don’t skimp on features, with an IP57 waterpoof rating, solid noise cancellation, and good audio quality. That said, Anker’s $129.99 Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earphones remain our Editors’ Choice in this price range, offering more adjustable noise cancellation and slightly better sound out of the box.
Good Controls and Durability
The Elite 4 Active earphones are available in black, blue, or white. The earpieces are a little chunky, but the extra surface area helps them stay put in your ear without any additional fit aids, such as earfins. And despite their bulk, the earpieces don’t feel heavy. Jabra includes three pairs of silicone eartips in small, medium, and large sizes.
Internally, 6mm drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. The earphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.2 and support the AptX and SBC Bluetooth codecs, but not AAC. That means that, on iOS devices, you’re stuck with the SBC codec, which isn’t ideal for high-fidelity listening.
The outer panels of each earpiece feature non-mirrored controls. Pressing the button on the left earpiece once switches between ANC and HearThrough modes, pressing it twice summons your voice assistant or enables Spotify Tap, and holding it down lowers the volume level. On the right, a single press handles playback, a double press skips forward a track, three presses navigates back a track, and holding it down raises the volume. One press on either ear also answers calls (or mutes your voice on a call), while two presses ends or rejects incoming calls. This control scheme may sound a bit complicated, but is intuitive in practice. You can also customize and adjust the controls via the companion app.
An IP57 rating here puts most competing noise-cancelling earphones to shame, including top-tier models from Bose and Sony. The first number means the earpieces are nearly dust-tight, while the second indicates that they are waterproof to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes. Sweaty workouts, heavy rain, and rinsing the earpieces off under the faucet are all fine. However, because the charging case isn’t waterproof, you need to fully dry the earpieces before you dock them for charging.
Jabra estimates the earpieces last roughly seven hours on battery and that the case can provide an extra 21 hours of charge. That said, your results will vary based on your volume levels and use of ANC.
App Experience and Noise Cancellation
The Jabra Sound+ app (available for Android and iOS) is one of the better-designed apps in the true wireless realm. It enables you to update the firmware as well as adjust certain functions and settings, such as how much of your voice you hear when on a call. The app also lets you adjust the level of the ambient mics in HearThrough mode, plus access Alexa and Spotify Tap integrations, though that last feature is available only for Android users (as is Google Fast Pair). Most notable is the app’s adjustable, five-band EQ with presents, which is particularly useful because the default sound signature here benefits from a bit of tuning.
You can also personalize the ANC experience via the app. Be careful with these settings; if you set them up incorrectly, you may inadvertently minimize the ANC’s effectiveness (though you can always reset the settings back to the default). Adjusting these parameters is a bit like sweeping through an EQ filter—it’s not about how loud the surrounding noise is, but about dialing back certain frequency ranges. As a result, the settings that work well in one noisy spot might not work well in another that has different noise.
The earphones deliver solid noise cancellation for the price, but your experience will depend on how you set up your ANC preferences. The default ANC settings were the most effective in testing, dialing back powerful, low-frequency rumble (like what you hear on an airplane) with relative ease, and significantly tamping down the lows and mids from a recording of a busy restaurant with dishes clanging and boisterous conversation. However, the highs in this recording made it past the ANC circuitry more easily. Most ANC pairs struggle with higher-frequency noises, but more expensive models, such as the $280 Sony WF-1000XM4, fare better in all of the above scenarios.
Strong Audio Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver powerful low-frequency response that will appeal to bass lovers. At top, unwise volume levels, the audio doesn’t distort, and at more moderate listening levels, the lows still sound full and robust. The lows seem to match the highs moderately well, which points to some sculpting.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, better reveals the sound signature. The drums on this track can sound overly thunderous on bass-forward in-ears, but here, the lows simply sound full, without veering into unnaturally heavy territory. Callahan’s baritone vocals get some additional low-mid richness, but the boosting and sculpting in the high-mids and highs is prevalent. This bright, rich sound signature isn’t ideal for purists seeking accuracy, but there aren’t many competitors that emphasize accuracy in this price range.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain some of its punchiness, but we notice a bit more boosting in the highs, with the vinyl crackle and hiss taking a notable step forward in the mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat come across with solid depth, but don’t sound overwhelming. Of course, you can dial up (or trim) the lows via the app to your preference. The vocals on this track sound clear and free of sibilance.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound crisp. We note additional anchoring in the lows, but nothing that throws off the balance of the mix—the higher-register instrumentation still takes the spotlight.
We tested the four-MEMS mic array with the Voice Memos app on an iPhone. The mics sound fine, but we noticed some typical Bluetooth audio artifacts in the mix. Call quality shouldn’t be an issue on a reliable signal.
Affordable Noise Cancellation in an Exercise-Friendly Build
Jabra’s Elite 4 Active earphones deliver quality audio performance and ANC, plus an app that allows you to tweak both of those aspects somewhat. We also like their durable build quality and secure fit, though we would have liked to see support for the AAC Bluetooth codec. As mentioned, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earphones deliver more adjustable noise cancellation and slightly better sound quality by default, earning them our Editors’ Choice in this price range, though it’s a very close call. Jabra’s Elite 7 Pro earphones offer better performance all around, but cost nearly twice as much at $199.99. If you’re looking to spend less, we also like Anker’s $79.99 Soundcore Life P3 earphones, but they aren’t quite as waterproof or effective at cancelling out noise.
