Jabra impressed us with its Elite 85t earphones, earning high marks for their strong noise cancellation and tunable audio performance. At $199.99, Jabra’s new Elite 7 Pro earphones are priced to compete with the top ANC (active noise cancellation) true wireless models on the market. This time around you get not only quality ANC and audio performance, but both are adjustable to taste. And while most of the wire-free noise-cancelling earphones we test are water resistant at best, this pair is fully waterproof, making them well suited for runners and anyone else who needs rugged ANC earpieces. Ultimately, Sony’s $280 Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones earn a higher rating and our Editors’ Choice award for their class-leading ANC performance, but it’s easy to recommend the Elite 7 Pro if you’re looking for a waterproof design.
A Durable Design
Available in black, black and gray, or gold and beige designs, the Elite 7 Pro earpieces are tiny. They ship with three pairs of eartips in small, medium, and large sizes, and fit securely without the aid of earfins.
The charging case is also small. Its flip-top lid reveals the charging docks, while a tiny battery status LED sits above the USB-C charging port. Jabra includes a USB-C-to-USB-A charging cable in the box. The case can also charge wirelessly with Qi-enabled accessories. While the surface of the case doesn’t have much grip, it’s still less slippery than the one you get with the Apple AirPods Pro.
Push-button controls on the outer panels of the earbuds make for relatively easy operation. A single press on the left earbud toggles between ANC and Hear Through modes, while a double press on the left earpiece summons your device’s voice assistant. The right earpiece offers playback and call management controls, including a double press to skip forward a track, and a triple press to return to the previous track.
Simply put, the IP57 rating here trounces competing models. Most noise-cancelling true wireless pairs are rated IPX4, in which the X essentially means “untested for dust,” while the 4 means that the earphones can withstand light splashing and sweat. The Elite 7 Pro’s rating means the earpieces are fully waterproof and nearly dust-tight. They can be submerged underwater up to a meter for up to 30 minutes. Although Bluetooth doesn’t work underwater, you don’t need to worry about subjecting these earbuds to rainfall or sweat and running them under a faucet for cleaning. This is what we expect from sports-focused in-ear models, but not from those with ANC. Keep in mind the IP rating doesn’t apply to the case, so the earphones need to be fully dry before docking.
Jabra estimates that the Elite 7 Pro earbuds will last up to eight hours per charge, but your results will vary depending on your volume level and ANC usage. The case holds an additional 22 hours of charge.
Internally, 6mm drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. The earphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.2; they support the AAC and SBC codecs, but not AptX or LDAC.
Jabra Sound+ is a one-size-fits-all Android and iOS app for various headphones. In the case of the Elite 7 Pro, it lets you update the firmware, adjust on-ear controls, and integrate Amazon Alexa as the voice assistant (a double tap summons either Alexa or your device’s default assistant). You can also choose from various EQ presets or customize the sound on your own, and there’s an option to check the fit of your earphones. The app is also where you customize your ANC experience.
Strong, Customizable Noise Cancellation
The Elite 7 Pro earphones can offer solid noise cancellation, but it’s difficult to describe their effectiveness the way I typically do, because the experience depends heavily on user-selected options. If you want to customize your ANC to your current environment—inside an airplane versus, say, a loud coffee shop—the app’s fader works quite well. This tool adjusts a filter that cuts certain frequencies and allows others through.
For a loud restaurant, I found the best ANC setting was the default or one notch lower on the slider. At this level, the earphones dial back a healthy swath of the lows and mids, though most of the higher-frequency content can make it past the ANC circuitry. For deep, low-frequency rumble such as what you hear on a plane, the fader also works best in this same position. You can even adjust the left and right balance of the earbuds, in case one ear needs more ANC than the other. Beyond these personalized settings, you can simply adjust the overall intensity of the ANC with a master fader on the app’s main screen.
See How We Test Noise-Cancelling HeadphonesSee How We Test Noise-Cancelling Headphones
These customization features are unique and will surely appeal to plenty of users, but others might simply want an option that delivers optimal ANC out of the box. The aforementioned Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones are hard to beat in this regard. Although the Elite 7 Pro did well with our test suite, none of its adjustable fader settings could compete with the default setting on the WF-1000XM4 in-ears (as well as the $280 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds), which dial back notably more low-frequency rumble.
Jabra’s Hear Through mode (which lets you hear your surroundings without removing the earpieces) works quite well. You can toggle between ANC On and Hear Through modes once you set up the ANC in the app, as well as adjust the levels with a fader.
A Slightly Sculpted, But Pleasant Sound Signature
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, such as The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones produce a powerful low-frequency response that will appeal to bass lovers who don’t want to sacrifice balance. At unwise volume levels, the lows don’t distort, and at more reasonable volumes, the bass still feels powerful.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Elite 7 Pro’s sound signature. The drums on this track get a little extra bass depth, but don’t sound overly thunderous—the earbuds produce a full, round bass drum sound with a rich low-mid delivery for Callahan’s baritone vocals. There’s plenty of high-mid presence in the mix, too, lending a brightness that sounds very sculpted. The earbuds are best characterized as having a balanced sound signature with boosting on both ends, but the midrange sounds somewhat scooped out. The drivers are responsive, however, and you can use the EQ to boost lows to insane levels, restore the midrange, or dial back the bright highs as you see fit. With this flexibility, it’s possible to sculpt the sound signature to most tastes.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives plenty of high-mid presence, accentuating the punch in its attack somewhat, but what I hear more of is the high-frequency vinyl crackle and hiss. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the come across with a serious body. At the default EQ setting, the lows are deep—boosting bass can take things to seriously intense levels if that’s your preference.
Orchestral tracks, such as the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound crisp, bright, and slightly boosted in the lows. The lower-register instrumentation takes the slightest step forward in the mix, but the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals assert themselves more here.
Clear, High-Quality Mics
The earphones use an array of six MEMS mics, which offer excellent intelligibility. In using the the Voice Memos app on an iPhone for testing, I could understand every word clearly, without any notable Bluetooth distortion or other obvious audio artifacts. Even better, I detected a hint of low-frequency response, a rare feat for true wireless mics.
However, the best part of the mic experience is how clearly you can hear your voice while speaking (this is adjustable in the app). As a result, you’re less likely to resort to talking loudly or yelling, which makes for clearer calls for the person on the other end. The mic works well in the wind, too.
A Rugged Take on Noise-Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds
Jabra’s Elite 7 Pro earphones deliver powerful audio and work with EQ that you can tune to deliver everything from thumping bass to a relatively accurate, balanced output. The noise cancellation also works well and can be adjusted in ways you can’t on most competing models. Ultimately, Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earphones deliver the best true wireless noise cancellation we’ve tested, with the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds coming in at a close second. And the AirPods Pro remain a top choice for iPhone users thanks to their seamless pairing with iOS. But if you’re looking for a pair better built for running and other physical activities, look no further than the Elite 7 Pro.
