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Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds

8
£199.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Excellent secure fit and exceptional battery life, although not as good with wind noise as some out there
Small and subtle design
Good sound quality
Stay comfortably in the ears
Impressive battery life
Highly customisable via app
Wind rush sounds are not as muted as others
Weight: 
1g
Contact: 

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The Jabra Elite 7 Pro is a good set of earbuds that sits well in the ear, provides impressive sound quality, and offer battery life that's longer than any others we've seen so far. However, wind rush sounds aren't as muted as some rivals manage.

Jabra has been making increasingly impressive earbuds – I was particularly impressed by the Jabra Elite Active 75t earbuds last year – and these continue the trend.

The sound quality is very good, with clarity throughout the range. I used these to listen to a lot of music (off the bike) and spoken word (on it), and found no noticeable limitations in sound quality on either. They are not as bassy as some, such as the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EQ earphones, but around the same as AirPods Pro and the Beats Fit Pro. Essentially these are impressive, and only real audiophiles would be left needing anything more.

The Elite 7s feature a HearThrough mode and noise cancelling. The noise-cancelling is good, although not class-leading. I used these frequently in the office and on public transport and it successfully blocked out most background noise; certainly enough for me to be able to clearly hear calls or listen to podcasts without being distracted by anything else.

The HearThrough mode is also fairly good. Off the bike I can quite easily maintain conversations with the earbuds in, which is one of the key requirements of the feature. On the bike the HearThrough lets you sense enough of what's happening around you to feel safe whilst riding, and I could detect cars and other bikes passing me. You can also use just a single bud if you prefer.

2022 Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds 4.jpeg

However, on the bike the wind rush noise suppression isn't as good as others, with the Beats Fit Pro and AirPods Pro being the best in class, in my opinion. That being said, they are still better than many and more than capable. I could quite easily listen to podcasts or audiobooks whilst riding still.

The auto-pause feature means that, if you remove one (or both), you don't miss anything or waste battery.

Connections

Pairing these initially takes a few seconds, and once done they connected automatically (to either my laptop or phone) every time I put them in my ears. In hundreds of hours use I never had the connection drop.

2022 Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds 3.jpeg

You have a simple two-button setup – one on each bud – and each button allows three functions via multiple presses. There are some non-programmable functions that you cannot customise, for instance, when you hold down the right button it turns the volume up and when you hold down the left button it turns the volume down.

Jabra does a companion app for Android and iOS, which allows some customisation such as in which buttons you use to toggle modes or activate your assistant, and to change the sound through an equalizer. The app can send firmware updates to the earbuds too.

Poke 'em in, go!

For me, the most impressive element of these earbuds is the fit – they're the most secure I have found bar the Beats Fit Pro, but they have an additional ear hook. Among 'regular' earbuds, these are probably the best.

The app has an interesting feature called MyFit, which can help you select the right size of earbud to attach – it plays a funny sound and presumably uses the external mics to pick up leakage, and it actually works very well. At the very least it had my nerd brain getting very excited.

> road.cc's Best Cycling Gadgets and Accessories of the Year 2019/20

The IP57 dust/waterproofing is impressive (it can handle actual immersion), and some incredibly sweaty rides, followed by some incredibly wet rides, caused no issues whatsoever.

Battery life

Jabra claims eight hours, which is broadly what I found when using them. I could wear them on my commute in, then for most of the day in the office and only need to put them back in the case to charge by mid-afternoon. They have a quick charge feature – five minutes will give you an hour of use – so if you find yourself on a very long ride and run out of juice, it's not the end of the world.

The case gives enough charging for up to 30 hours of earbud use, and consistent use over a few days worked out to me charging the case about once per week.

2022 Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds 2.jpeg

Charging can be achieved either wirelessly or via USB-C cable. Wireless charging times vary based on the quality and power of the charger you're using, but from a USB-C Cable using a USB-C plug (up to three times quicker than USB plugs), you can charge the case from empty in around two hours.

These times are all impressive compared to others in the same price band. The Beats Fit Pros give six hours per charge and 18 hours from the case, whilst the AirPods Pro last 4.5 hours and get 24 hours from the case. The Jabras even beat the more expensive Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EQs, which have a 6-7 hour charge in the buds and 20 hours in the case.

Value

At £199.99, these seem bang on for what you're getting, and the price compares well with rivals.

The direct competitors are undoubtedly the Apple AirPods Pro at £239, and the Beats Fit Pro at £199.99. The AirPods offer less battery life and a similar sound quality, but they work brilliantly across multiple Apple devices and the transparency modes are better for riding. Similarly, the Beats offer equal sound quality and less battery, but again with greater usability on Apple devices.

Overall

I was very impressed by these earbuds. The fit is unmatched for regular earbuds, the app is useful and battery life is very good compared to anything else we've tested so far. Usability is also very good, if not quite as smoothly integrated across Apple devices as official products inevitably are. If you don't care for Apple though (or ear hooks), these are great.

Verdict

Excellent secure fit and exceptional battery life, although not as good with wind noise as some out there

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Jabra says: "So we've reinvented true wireless technology to give you better sound quality, clearer calls, longer listening times, and more flexibility in when, where, and how you use it. Simply put, to give you more freedom."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Active Noise-Cancellation (ANC)

Yes

HearThrough

Yes

Noise isolating fit

Yes

In-ear pressure relief

Yes

Speaker size

6mm / 0.2in

Speaker bandwidth (music mode)

20Hz - 20000Hz

Speaker bandwidth (speak mode)

80Hz - 8000Hz

Audio codecs supported

AAC, SBC

User hearing protection

PeakStop

Compatible software and/or apps

Jabra Sound+

Sound+ features

MyControls, MyFit, MySound

Voice assistant enabled

Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant

Alexa Built-in

Yes

Form factor

In-ear true wireless earbuds

EarGels

Large, medium, small

EarGels material

Silicone

Mono mode

Yes

Music time total (earbuds and charging case)

Up to 30 hours

Music time (earbuds)

Up to 8 hours

Talk-time

Up to 6 hours

Corded charging

USB-C

Sleep mode

Yes

Wireless charging

Yes

Charging time

Up to 150 minutes

Fast charge

5 minutes will give up to 1 hour

Battery level after 30 min of charging

Up to 50%

Standby time

Up to 292 Days

Battery type

Rechargeable lithium-ion battery

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.2

Bluetooth profiles

A2DP v1.3, AVRCP v1.6, HFP v1.7, HSP v1.2, SPP v1.2

Operating range

Up to 10m / 33ft

Paired devices

Up to 8 devices

Auto pause music

Yes

Auto on/off

Yes

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

They feel well made. I dropped them a few times (both in and out of the case) and they didn't scratch or break.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Good sound quality, very impressive battery life, and sit well in the ear - although wind noise when riding is louder than some rivals.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

They seem well made.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
9/10

These sit very comfortably and securely - I used these on some very rough terrain without any issues.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Very well; they're comfortable, sound great, and have long battery life. On the bike the wind rush is greater than with, say, the AirPods Pro, but I've definitely used worse.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The fit; these are probably the best fitting earbuds I have used so far.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Wind noise - they're perfectly usable on the bike, but others do it better.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

At £199.99, these seem bang on for what you're getting, and the price compares well with rivals. The direct competitors are undoubtedly the Apple AirPods Pro at £239, and the Beats Fit Pro at £199.99. The AirPods offer less battery life and a similar sound quality, but they work brilliantly across multiple Apple devices and the transparency modes are better for riding. Similarly, the Beats offer similar sound quality and less battery, but again with greater usability on Apple devices.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

These are comfortable and sound great both on and off the bike. The HearThrough is effective (although does suffer from wind noise) and the battery life is the best we've used so far. Overall, I am impressed.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 33  Height: 6 ft  Weight:

I usually ride: CAAD13  My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,

George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between. 

Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.

Add new comment

3 comments

Avatar
Steve K | 1 year ago
0 likes

How does the HearThrough mode on in ear headphones like this compare with bone conduction earphones for hearing what's going on around you?

Avatar
V4Vanquisher replied to Steve K | 1 year ago
0 likes

Bone conduction headphones are more natural-sounding as compared to the HearThrough modes offered by in-ear headphones. Jabra Elite 7 Pro's HearThrough mode is better than the other ones I have used in the past though. 

Avatar
Steve K replied to V4Vanquisher | 1 year ago
0 likes

Thanks - I'll stick with bone conduction then.

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