What makes Jabra Elite 4 a set of versatile sound cans

Wireless earbuds are everywhere. People wear them during jogs, while working from cafes, making video calls at home or office, and listening to music or streaming movies while cutting out all distractions. There are a few things you need to look for while shopping for sound cans — perfect fit, decent noise cancellation and acceptable control over sound settings. The Jabra Elite 4 has been in for review for a few weeks and, at a glance, it looks unassuming but they work well, offering enough tech chops for the money spent.

Light and well-designed

I have very little to say about the case that contains the earbuds. A few things that work in favour of the earbuds include its size, which is not too small (though the case is on the smaller side), making it easy to take them out of the ear canals, and it’s light, meant to be worn for hours. There are physical buttons on the side, which makes it easy to access the various controls. It’s hit-or-miss when it comes to touch-driven earbuds. The Elite 4 is perfect.

ANC and hear through

For connectivity, you have Bluetooth, fast pair and swift pair, which means you can instantly connect with your PC, laptop or smartphone.

The earbuds do well when it comes to cancelling out lower frequencies and cutting just about enough higher frequencies to make the experience enjoyable. I have been using the sound cans with Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and ANC is quite good when you are at 50 per cent (or above) volume. The ANC is strong enough to cut out most traffic noises and is comfortable on the ears; you won’t get that vacuum-y feel. Further, the level of ANC can be controlled from the app.

For ANC to be effective, there needs to be a good set of eartips. The ones that come attached to the earbuds are good enough for most ear shapes but you can swap them out for the two other sets in the box. The quality of the silicon is good and it creates a nice seal.

As important as ANC is the hear-through mode which allows ambient noises to stream in. It’s particularly helpful when you go for runs and want to hear what’s happening around you. The sounds you hear appear natural and just about enough ambient noises stream in.

Connected with ANC and hear through is battery life. With the case, you will get 22 hours of playback with ANC or 28 hours ANC off. That should be enough to take you through the day.

The app is well-designed and is rich in functions

The earbuds are light and can be worn for hours

Two extra sets of eartips come in the box

Sonic foundry

The earbuds have been designed for those who like listening to music now and then and also for those who like to have enough adrenaline-pumping music in the gym. There is enough bass but it doesn’t distort the overall feel. Hip-hop and pop music fans will not have any issues with this pair. What’s great about the earbuds is the app support it enjoys. The equaliser is good enough and there are plenty of options to choose from.I kept things smooth and enjoyed a bit of Mariah Carey hitting the high notes in Emotions or playing it cool in Always Be My Baby. Then things went a few notches higher with Bill Withers and then I moved to Barry White and his deep vocals. Remember, You’re My First, My Last, My Everything? No matter the genre, the output is quite good, especially the vocals — warm and free of distortion. The neutral EQ will work for most but go ahead, a little bit of tweaking can “spice up” the ears. The app itself is well-designed. The functions are not overcomplicated.

Let’s talk about call quality. While calling from a cafe, the person at the other end could hear me clearly without picking up too many background noises. It’s not AirPods level clear but that doesn’t mean it’s mediocre. It’s good and I have used this for a few video calls; works perfectly well.

Should you buy it?

What’s missing? I would have liked an in-ear sensor. When you take off the earbuds, the music doesn’t stop playing automatically. Second, the case can easily pick up fingerprints. If you are wondering about how it stacks up against the Elite 4 Active, I like the buttons on the Elite 4. There are no high-res codecs on the Elite 4 (you get Qualcomm aptX and SBC) but the sound is well-balanced.

What are some of the options you can look at? Samsung Galaxy Buds2 is a contender. JBL Live Pro 2 is another one. Nothing Ear 2 is also in the ring.

Leaving quibbles aside, Jabra Elite 4 goes easy on the ears, offers multipoint connectivity, has a good soundstage and comes with a much-loved equaliser. These are versatile earbuds.