Jabra Elite 8 Active Review

The Jabra Elite 8 Active buds offer better noise cancellation than their predecessors, the Elite 7 Active. They don't sound quite as dramatic and expansive as the earlier version but create a more balanced and incredibly enjoyable soundstage. The fit is just as comfortable as it's always been, making these dust and water-resistant earbuds our favorite choice for active wear.

Performance Comparison

Sound Quality

To test sound quality, our panel of audio experts listened to curated playlists across music genres, from bass-heavy hip-hop to classic, country, and bubblegum pop. Like other Jabra models we've tested, these buds impress with their clear, powerful sound and buttery smooth signature.

The balanced mix works well across a range of genres, from old-school pop ballads like “Misty” by Lesley Gore and R&B pop to “One More Hour” by Anthony Ramos or “Sweatshirt” by Patrick Hizon and EJEAN.

Take the indie pop song “Cherry” by Rally. The percussion is crisp as the drumset kicks in at 0:10, the electric guitar is warm and punchy, and the layered vocals that begin at 0:20 are distinct, creating a stunningly dynamic and textured listening experience. The earbuds' bright and lively sound allows the song's infectious energy to shine through.

“Surefire” by Wilderado also showcases these earbuds' clean, clear profile. Each instrument and vocal layer is easily accessible and complements rather than muddles the others.

The robust basslines are particularly impressive, standing out in EDM and hip-hop tracks like “Come Back Baby” by Pusha T. Even the lowest tones are vivid under the rap verses, and the transition to the George Jackson sample really pops. The mid-bass frequencies are warm and punchy when listening to rock or soul/R&B, like “Sugar Sugar” by Wilson Pickett.

The true mids tones are good too, rich and fully developed with a natural sound, enhancing pop ballads like “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O'Sullivan and dance/pop tracks like “Dance With You” by Alex Gibson.

The lively, vibrant treble rounds out the mix nicely, although they aren't as crisp and full as they are in the highest-rated earbuds. In “Say You Love Me” by Friends at the Falls, the sharp shout of the chorus, “Why don't you say you love me?” (first heard at the 0:41 mark), sounds playful, bright, and full without ever tipping into sharp or tinny tones.

These buds also handle big dynamic leaps gracefully without forcing us to flinch or reach for the volume. This seamless listening experience is — chef's kiss. They maintain their sound quality across volume levels and have enough power for those who like their music loud.

Soundstage

The small size and in-ear placement of earbuds makes it challenging for them to replicate a live music experience, where the band is in front of you with sounds originating from instruments spread across the stage.

As technology improves, some are able to create an expansive audio experience where your music sounds like it's coming from beyond your earbuds. The perceived spatial positioning of music/instruments that your earbuds create is their soundstage.

The Elite 8 Actives create a pretty good one, managing to bring the music out from between your ears and into the real world. Although the sound quality is robust, it lacks the dimension and depth of top-rated options. Even though there was a little less clarity in the soundstage, it still delivered an immersive feeling of hearing the music swirling around us. All told, the Elite 8 Active buds offer a narrower, though still delightful, soundstage.

At the end of the test, we brought in our Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 Head Simulator and its counterpart software, SoudCheck, to map the frequency response curve of these earbuds. Then we compared it to our GearLab House Curve. The resulting data provides objective insight to support our subjective assessments.

As you can see in the chart above, the sound mix profile of the Jabra Elite 8 Active is similar to our idealized House Curve. The Elite 8 Active has lower levels in the high bass and low mid frequencies, is a little louder in the high mids, and a bit subdued in portions of the treble range. Overall, these earbuds deliver excellent sound, though they're not on par with the very best in our tests.

User Experience

These earbuds are among the most effortless to use in our test trials. They provide a comfortable and stable fit, an intuitive app with thoughtful features, and a rough and ready build. They are so user-friendly that you can worry less about wrangling your earbuds and focus on enjoying yourself while working, mountain biking, or hiking.

Comfort

To evaluate comfort, we had over a dozen testers with various ear shapes and sizes try on these earbuds. The results were consistent across the board, and these well-fitting earbuds were among the most comfortable in our testing. Each pair comes with three sizes of silicone ear tips, ensuring a perfect fit for everyone. We could wear them for hours without discomfort or pressure points, even those with sensitive ears.

Stability

Thanks to their excellent fit, these earbuds are also incredibly stable. They stayed securely in place during even the most intensive test, including rigorous headbanging and headstands. Their reliable grip and lightweight design make them ideal for active use, whether you're on a long hike or climbing at the crag. A matte gel finish adds to their appeal by providing a non-slip surface that's easy to handle, even with sweaty hands.

These earbuds boast one of the highest ingress protection ratings in the test — IP68. To decode, these earbuds are completely dust-tight and can withstand immersion in a meter or more of water. We've never submerged them, but we certainly don't worry when we work up a sweat or roll through a short rain shower.

Customization

It's easy to personalize your experience with the Elite 8 Active using Jabra's feature rich and incredibly intuitive app. It works with Apple and Android devices and has a locating function that gives you the earbuds' last known location in case you lose them.

The app gives you some control over the sound profile, letting you equalize (EQ) the mix using presets or your own adjustments. You can also control the active noise cancellation (ANC) (which we'll discuss in the next section). If you need help blocking out the world around you, there is a white noise soundscape setting to promote a calming state or to allow focus.

If you're in a hectic environment and need to hear what's happening around you, there is a pass-through setting that ushers ambient noise past the physical barricade that the earbuds create. But, perhaps our favorite feature is the My Sound Profile. It's a hearing test that then adjusts the sound mix to meet your audio needs. Since hearing loss in certain frequencies impacts how you experience music, we really appreciate this one.

Connectivity

To keep the praise train going, our in-house testing team did not have any notable issues pairing or maintaining a connection when using the Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds. To examine this, we performed an analysis of all 1-star Amazon user reviews and found the percentage of negative feedback concerning connectivity issues out of the total number of reviews for this model. The Elite 8 fared a bit better than average in this area, with a reported issue rate of 0.85%.

Noise Cancellation

The Elite 8 Active buds don't have the world best performance in our noise cancellation testing, though they're much better than previous versions (notably the Jabra Elite 7 Active) and do block out some noise. Noise cancellation is useful when you need to block out annoying background noise to get work done, settle yourself on a loud plane ride, or immerse yourself in music. But, if you just want to rock out during a workout or commute in style, you might not need top-notch noise blocking.

To test these earbuds' noise cancelling settings, we recruited our commercial-grade audio recording and measuring equipment to listen to the buzz of a cafe three separate times. The first time, we played it without the earbuds in place, the second time with them snugly fitted in the head simulator's ears, and the third time with the ANC feature turned on. You can hear the results for yourself in the video below.

You'll notice a steep drop off in the noise level after the earbuds are inserted. That's because they physically block sound, much like an earplug. This type of passive noise blocking works better with high-frequency waves, which are shorter and easier to break up. In contrast, active noise cancelling features work better to block lower frequencies, which tend to be more consistent (think rumbling engines). You can hear that happen here too.

We charted the results of this test using the Bruel and Kjaer 5128-B and its SoundCheck software, as you can see below. The chart — which shows the passive noise isolation that occurs in the second stage of the test and the active noise cancellation in the third — shows us that some funky things are happening here.

First of all, the Elite 8 Active earbuds are stellar at physically blocking high-frequency sounds. Very few models manage to reduce those sounds by over 40 decibels. They keep a fair amount of mid-frequency noise from breaking through, too, but the ANC does a better job of that. It's hit or miss in the bass ranges, depending on the frequency.

What surprises us, though, is that somehow the high frequency blocking with the ANC turned on is worse than when it's turned off, even though you're still wearing the earbuds. You can hear it in the video above. Everything is a bit more muted with the ANC turned on, until you hear those plates crash. Those high pitched noises come screaming right through.

This isn't as much of an issue for the new version, the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2, which blocks more high and low-frequency sounds. The first generation does slightly better in the lower half of the mid-range frequencies. If you need earbuds to help you focus at work or school, it may be worth paying more to get better ANC performance.

Battery Life

Okay, so the Elite 8 Active earbuds didn't stand up to Jabra's thrilling claim of 14 hours of battery life. But, the buds did last almost 12 hours in our testing. That's way more than a full workday and is enough to satisfy most athletes' needs. We tested them by playing music at 75% volume until they ran out of juice. The active noise cancelling feature, which we'll talk more about below) was not on for the test. Running it will drain your battery faster.

Very few other earbuds in the review came even close to this level of battery life, and we really appreciated it in our daily-use tests. Charging the battery less often keeps you focused on your work or workout without interrupting the flow of your motivating soundtrack. This is also one of the few areas where the newer, second generation of these earbuds doesn't outperform the orginials. If you want to max out your battery life, these buds are a solid choice.

A fully charged case provides three battery refills, which means you can enjoy over 48.5 hours without needing to find an outlet. (They charge wirelessly or through a USB-C port.) For a quick hit, 5 minutes of charge time will earn you an extra hour of entertainment.

Call Quality

The Elite 8 Active earbuds are pretty good at making a clear phone call in most reasonable circumstances, and whoever we are chatting with can hear us loud and clear. But, in harsh, loud environments, they can be difficult to understand.

To test this feature, we recorded a woman's and a man's voice reading a script to play through a speaker on our head simulator while wearing the earbuds. We played it in a quiet room, with office noise in the background and the blare of a Subway recording getting in the way. Here are the results.

In our loudest test (public transit), the man's voice is less clear at times, but the woman's voice cuts out for much of the recording. If you're in a super loud spot, we recommend taking these earbuds out and using your phone to make a call.

You can listen to the simulation below to find what these sound like in the office with folks typing, chatting, and making calls of their own. We found that the volume varies a little with the lower registers of the man's voice. The woman's voice comes through clearly and consistently.

In a calm, still environment, both parts came through the earbuds very clearly, as you can hear in the audio recording below. It's easy to hear exactly what's said, whether your voice tends to have higher or lower frequency tones.

Should You Buy the Jabra Elite 8 Active?

We love these easy-wearing earbuds — they are by far our favorite option to wear when we're working out. If you live a busy, active lifestyle, we think you'll love the mix of comfort, rugged ease of use, transportive sound quality, and 12-hour battery life. The pleasant, user-friendly app and good phone call quality don't hurt. If you need decent noise cancelling to keep your sanity while working from home or in an open office plan, these aren't the best option for your needs.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?

If your main goal is to find a great-sounding pair of earbuds that can withstand some abuse, the Jaybird Vista 2 have good sound quality and cost quite a bit less. The main downside is that the Vista 2 buds are bulky and only work well for larger ears. They are hard to wear for an hour at a time, quite the contrast from the Jabra buds' all-day comfort. If you want that same comfort and even better audio quality with slightly better noise cancellation, the Jabra Elite 10 buds don't cost that much more than the Elite 8 Active. They don't have nearly as much battery life, though. If you need earbuds that block background noise well, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra or Bose QuietComfort II are your best bet. Be prepared for gorgeous soundstages at premium prices.