Jabra’s new earbuds bring premium features at a budget price

Jabra has announced new wireless earbuds and you’ll probably be shocked at the list of premium features you get for under $100/£100. 

The Elite 4 spec sheet includes the kind of things you’d normally have to pay more for including quick pairing, Bluetooth Multipoin and Spotify Tap. All of this and more with a price of just $99/£99/€99. 

Granted, that is $20/£20 more than the Elite 3 but the earbud’s predecessor was missing one key feature: active noise cancelling (ANC). That’s now fixed on the Elite 4, although it’s a simple feedforward system with just mics on the outside listening for the noise. 

More expensive buds also have mics on the inner part to monitor the result to then make further adjustments if necessary as well as offering a wider frequency range of reduction. Still, this is a common way of doing things at this price range. 

The earbuds do have a total of four mics for calls and there are 6mm drivers providing the sound. Users can make tweaks to the audio profile within the Sound+ app. 

It’s features like Bluetooth Multipoint and Spotify Tap that are rarely found in cheap earbuds. The latter was only recently added to Sony’s flagship WF-1000XM4 model by way of a firmware upgrade. 

The technology allows you to keep the Elite 4 simultaneously connected to two different devices and seamlessly switch between them for different tasks – eg, swapping between your phone and laptop for music and video calls. 

Spotify Tap makes sure you can carry on listening where you left your previous session, even if it’s been a while and would normally get forgotten. Swift Pair and Fast Pair are also onboard to get the Elite 4 paired with compatible Android and Windows devices with minimal hassle. 

Jabra says the Elite 4 offer a total of 28 hours battery life (with ANC off), with the earbuds lasting five and a half on a single charge. There’s an IP55 rating so they are protected against dust and water – although are not fully waterproof. 

You can get your hands on the Jabra Elite 4 now at $99/£99/€99 from the official store with a choice of four colours: Dark Gray, Navy, Lilac and Light Beige. 

The Elite 4 will go up against some very good rivals at the same price point including the Google Pixel Buds A and Nothing Ear (1). See more options in our best budget wireless earbuds chart.