So the Jabra Elite 4 Active are jabra’s latest entry ANC earbuds… now even though these earbuds are marketed as a pair of workout earbuds… I feel that a lot of people are going to consider these if theyre looking at more main stream options like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2 or the Beats Studio Buds… So lets see how the jabra elite 4 active stake up.
Now regarding pricing… the elite 4 have a retail price of $120… not bad at all… where as both the Beats Studio Buds and Galaxy Buds 2 have a retail price of $150… still pretty reasonable if you ask me. However… both apple and Samsung like to put their earbuds on sale for around $130 from time to time. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Elite 4’s go on sale as well. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these earbuds up, they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets address these cases because these three cases are very different from one another. Now all of these cases are decently small and they aren’t too noticeable when they're in your pocket. Making them great for everyday carry earbuds. However, I do have to say that the Elite 4’s case is the least noticeable case here cause of its shape… this case just slips in and out of your pocket a little easier than the Galaxy Buds 2’s case. And then there’s the Studio Bud’s case which is decently thin… but it does have a rather large foot print. However the main differentiating factor about all of these cases is that the Galaxy Buds 2’s are the only earbuds here that have wireless charging. Where as both the Studio Buds and Elite 4’s only charge via their USB C ports. So defeneity, if you’re someone that has a phone that supports power sharing, or if you’ve already invested in multiple wireless charging mats… you’ll want to keep this in mind.
But now lets talk about battery life… the Galaxy Buds 2 have an advertised combined battery life of 29 hours with their active noise cancelation turned off. The Earbuds themselves can go for 7 and half hours and the case can supply 3 additional charges. However, if you were to use these earbuds with their active noise cancelation turned on… they have a combined battery life of 20 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 5 hours plus those 3 additional charges.
Now the elite 4’s are in the same ball park when it comes to battery life. They have a combined advertised battery life 28 hours with their active noise cancelation turned off… and they have a combined battery life of around 22 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on.
And finally there are the beats studio buds which struggle to keep up here a little bit… they have an advertised combined battery life of 24 with their active noise cancelation turned off… and they have an advertised combined battery life of 15 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on. And personally I do find this a little ironic because they have the largest case here… and I also think that its ironic that even though they have the largest case here… they also don’t have wireless charging.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Regarding fit these earbuds do fit rather differently from one another. Now both the Galaxy Buds 2 and Elite 4’s fit like your standard pair of in ear ear buds. As in they go into your ear canals a decent amount. However the Elite 4’s do go into the your ear canal just a little deeper than the Galaxy buds 2. Where as the studio buds are a pair of shallow fitting in ear ear buds. So they don’t go in as deep as these other two earbuds. Which results in a more natural and comfortable fit. Now personally I do prefer the fit of the Studio buds here… but since these earbuds are more shallow fitting they do like to wiggle out the most here. But nonetheless personally I would mainly recommend all of these earbuds for casual use. Neither of these earbuds would be ideal for working out because they do like to wiggle out.
But now lets talk about connectivity, on all of these earbuds each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you jut want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And this is the connection set up that we expect to see on our earbuds nowadays. And this is especially a big deal on the Jabra’s cause it has taken Jabra a while it implement this.
However if you’re a Samsung power user you’re going to be able to hot swap between all of your Samsung devices with the Galaxy Buds 2 thanks to seamless ear buds connection.
And with the Studio Buds you can also very quickly switch between multiple bluetooth devices without having to put these earbuds into pairing mode every time you one to switch from one device to another. Where as with the jabra’s they aren’t as seamless.
However, when it comes to performance… all of these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or and android device. And when it comes to audio codecs both the Galaxy Buds and Studio Buds only have support for SBC and AAC… where as the Elite 4’s have support for SBC and APTX… which is a little surprising… but if you’re an android user, you’re going to be able to take advantage of APTX.
But now let's talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Now both the Galaxy Buds 2 and Studio Buds sound great for entry level earbuds. Now personally I think the Galaxy buds sound best when they're set to their dynamic EQ. Out of these box these earbuds can sound a little bright. But while in their dynamic EQ the mids and highs get a little relaxed and the bass comes in stronger. But its very important to keep in mind that you can only use this app if you’re using an android device… the Galaxy Buds 2 don’t have an iOS app.
But overall I do prefer how the studio buds sound over the Galaxy Buds 2. With the studio buds, these earbuds sound more open and their bass resonates much more. Leading to a much more dynamic and simply put more fun listening experience. Where as with the Galaxy Buds 2 they just don’t sound as open and even though their bass does resonate a good amount when set to their dynamic EQ… its nowhere near as dramatic as the Studio Buds.
But then there are the Elite 4’s… now these earbuds also aim for a bass heavy sound signature just like the Studio Buds… but unlike the Studio Buds, the elite 4’s sound very shallow… they sound narrow… and the treble on these earbuds can get distorted at times. Where as that isn’t an issue with these other two earbuds. So simply put… the elite 4’s sound good enough to get the job done… but both the Galaxy Buds 2 and Studio buds are going to sound noticeably better than the Elite 4’s. But if you want the best sound quality here… then personally I would recommend the Studio Buds. Yes they have a lot of bass… but it is clean, and since there is an adequate amount of emphasis on the mids, the vocals don’t get over powered or shallow.
But now lets talk about the media controls on these earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 2 are the only earbuds here that have touch pads. And these touch pads are fairly accurate and theyre easy enough to use. But both the Elite 4’s and Studio Buds have physical buttons… and this could be a deciding factor for some people, cause some people just don’t to use touch pads on their earbuds. However… if you are able to master the touch pads on the Galaxy Buds 2… you are going to be able to do more from your earbuds. Besides being able to skip through your music and toggle your ANC settings, you will also be able to adjust the volume from your earbuds if you turn on the tap the edge feature.
However, I do have to point out that both the Elite 4’s and Studio Buds don’t have wear sensors… so that aren’t going to automatically play or pause your music if you take them out of your ears or put them back in. And I do feel that this is a major inconvenience… and I defneitly feel that the Elite 4’s and Studio Buds should have proximity sensors cause this is a very common feature for earbuds in the price range.
Where as the Galaxy Buds 2 do have proximity sensors… but these earbuds will only pause your music if you take both of your earbuds out. They should pause your music as soon as you take one earbud out… but at least they have proximity sensors at least.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now right off the bat I am going to have to say that these earbuds don’t block out anywhere near as much noise as the big boys. Because when it comes to ranking there are the Sony WF-1000XM4’s which block out ton of noise… albeit they do have a slight advantage because of their foam ear tips which can get itchy. Below them are the Jabra Elite 85T’s which also block out a ton of noise while being more comfortable so I do prefer them. Below them are the AirPods Pro and Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which I feel as neck and neck. Below them are the Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s, Below them are the Beats Fit Pro… And below them are the Galaxy Buds pro.
Now below the Galaxy Buds Pro there are the Jabra Elite 4, below them are the Beats Studio Buds, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2, and below them are the Sennheiser CX plus. Now over all, Jabra does active noise cancelation on their earbuds very well… and the Elite 4’s do manage to block out a little more noise than the Studio Buds and Galaxy Buds 2. But if active noise cancelation is very important to you… then I would recommend that you go with the Jabra Elite 85T. They block out a ton of noise without getting super itchy like the Sony WF-1000XM4… and they have a much more reasonable case, unlike Bose’s earbuds.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past, I only use the active noise cancelation on my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me is the quality of their ambient mode. Now the ambient modes on all of these earbuds are very good. They all sound fairly natural and very little hissing in the background… However I am going to have to say that the Studio Buds have the best performing ambient mode here cause it sounds the most natural and they also do the best job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
But finally here’s the microphone test… now all of these earbuds have a decent enough sounding microphone for phone calls while in a quite room.
Now none of these earbuds are super focused on my voice like lets say AirPods
But nonetheless the microphone on all of these earbuds is decent.
However, I do feel the Jabra’s do the best job of dealing with ambient noise here. Now even though these earbuds do let in a noticeable amount of road noise… you can still hear my voice pretty well.
Where as with the studio buds… even though these earbuds are trying to reduce this road noise… my voice sounds very shallow and there’s some static in the background.
And with the Galaxy Buds, these earbuds are also trying to reduce this ambient noise… but my voice sounds very robotic.
Now when it comes to blocking chatter… these earbuds sound a little better… but I still sound very robotic. And sometimes my voice can get choppy.
Then there’s the Studio Buds where my voice sounds a little shallow… but it doesn’t get choppy.
But finally here are the jabra Elite 4’s which are letting in more ambient noise… but you can hear my voice better. So personally I do think the jabra’s handle ambient noise here the best… because these earbuds aren’t trying to over do it when it comes to your voice isolation.
But with all of that being said… if you are trying to choose between any of these earbuds, then I feel that you should stick with either the Beats Studio Buds or Galaxy Buds 2. The Beats Studio Buds have the best sound here because their bass is very strong and clean… but the mids are also well pronounced… so these earbuds don’t end up sounding shallow like the jabra’s. The Studio Buds are also good options if you’re a power user, they also have the best sounding ambient mode here, and they also have the most comfortable fit here. Then there are the Galaxy Buds 2 which have a relatively small case… they have a fairly long battery life, and theyre the only ones here with wireless charging. The Galaxy Buds are also the only earbuds here that have touch pads… which allows you to have more control over your music and and earbuds from the earbuds themselves… although their touch pads aren’t 100% accurate. So you will have to put up with some mistakes here and there. But finally there are the Jabra Elite 4 Active… overall these earbuds are decent… they sure did surprise me with their microphone performance… they have really good battery life… and they block out the most amount of noise here… but for me it is a little hard to recommend these earbuds over these other two earbuds cause they aren’t the best sounding. They can sound shallow, their bass can get over powering and their treble can get tinny at times.