Jabra, the Danish audio equipment maker has been a critically acclaimed brand when it comes to headphones. However, the brand was much lesser known a couple of years ago, till it ventured into the true wireless earphones category with its Jabra Elite 65t that at the time, were seen as the only legible competitor to Apple’s AirPods. Now, I have used the Jabra Elite 65t since the past couple of years, and have never felt the need to upgrade. So, when I got the chance to use the Jabra Elite 3, I wanted to see how far the brand has come in the TWS segment, and to see if I should upgrade after more than two years of usage. Here’s what I thought:
Now, the Jabra Elite 3 comes as a more affordable offering from the Danish brand as the Jabra Elite-T or Elite Pro series is mostly deemed a bit expensive for the average Indian user, regardless of how good a product they are. The Jabra Elite 3 has been priced at Rs 5,999, which puts them in direct competition with Nothing’s Ear (1) TWS earphones. Now, while the Nothing Ear (1) has premium features like Active Noise Cancellation and wireless charging backing them, is the Jabra Elite 3 better in terms of practicality and audio quality? Let’s find out:
DESIGN
In terms of design, the Jabra Elite 3 looks familiar. Not much has changed in terms of design since the predecessor, Jabra Elite 2. A more premium look, in-line with the more premium Jabra Elite 7 Pro. The earphones have a nice design with a compact case. The earbuds don’t have any stem and are triangular pods with a flat surface that houses the buttons. The buttons are easy to locate, but a little tricky to figure out (more on this later). The case of the Jabra Elite 3 is good in terms of size and design. It’s compact and can fit into any pocket easily, and it comes with a matte finish. The build quality on the case, however, isn’t great and it feels a little flimsy. Jabra has taken a safe approach with the design that has worked for the brand quite well in the past.
AUDIO AND MIC PERFORMANCE
In terms of audio, the Jabra Elite 3 are great. They provide clear audio, with good bass-treble balance. The audio may feel a little bass-heavy to some users, but that can be adjusted from Jabra’s Sound+ app. The earphones support Qualcomm’s AptX HD Audio codec for high resolution audio, and it shows. The highs and lows are absolutely clear and the bass-treble balance is just fine for all kinds of stuff - be it watching movies or TV shows or listening to music. In my opinion, the earbuds sound better than many more premium offerings out there in the market.
There is no Active Noise Cancellation, but the Jabra Elite 3 still isolate sound with their noise-isolating design. The earbuds do seal outside pretty quite well if the fit is snug and there is a HearThrough mode that lets a little bit of outside noise in - you can tell the difference as soon as you activate HearThrough Mode from the button on the left earbud. The earphones fit perfectly in my ear, so there was very minimal outside noise that was being let in. With music or videos on, I could not hear a thing outside, unless the HearThrough mode is active.
In terms of the microphone, the Jabra Elite 3 uses four mics. During my usage, I faced no issues with calling or attending meetings over video calls. In terms of isolating ambient noise as well, the Jabra Elite 3’s mic is pretty decent. The mic quality is good and the Jabra Elite 3 send your audio to the other side quite clearly.
BATTERY AND FEATURES
The Jabra Elite 3 are claimed to offer up to 28 hours of total listening time with the charging case combined. The earphones are said to deliver up to 7 hours of battery on a single charge. In my time with them, I used the Jabra Elite 3 a lot. I plugged these in for my online meetings and continued to listen to music till the earbuds ran out of battery. Throughout my usage, the Jabra Elite 3 easily gave over 6 hours of battery life during continuous usage. With the charging case, the earphones lasted a good three days on average.
Now, coming to features there are several useful ones on offer here. You can use just one of the earphones - this is useful when you’re traveling with someone and want to watch something together. Buttons on the Jabra Elite 3 are soft and don’t force the earbuds deeper into your ear - an issue I have been facing with the Jabra Elite 3 since very long. The controls, however, are a little tricky and take a little bit of getting used to.
VERDICT
So the Jabra Elite 3 looks good, and is very easy to use and handle. The design has been given some thought regarding the size and materials used (fits in all pockets and doesn’t scratch - winner). The audio, as I said above, may be the best in this segment in my opinion, and there is no lack of features, except premium features like ANC and wireless charging. However, these features don’t make or break a set of earphones. What makes it is good audio quality, design, and a long battery life. The Jabra Elite 3 excels in all three of these. So if you are looking for a set of TWS earphones at around Rs 6,000, the Jabra Elite 3 surely won’t disappoint you.
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