Jabra is a brand that we have been using and reviewing for some years now and they are a favourite here in techbuzz because they are consistent and the brand is strong and they like to innovate and each year for any brand it gets harder to improve on the previous and with competition rife and in an oversaturated market for true wireless earbuds it is a tough game to play and with three new pairs of earbuds this year from the brand it did give others something to think about having all tiers covered at entry mid tier and high end.
The Jabra Elite 7 is one of their high end offerings and quite similar to the Elite 7 Pro and for me always an exciting time to test a product as I have been a huge fan of their earbuds and they have been a high end offering but as mentioned Jabra have tackled the entry and mid level tiers, they have been always a strong winner in the high end market so how does the new Elite 7 stack up this time..
UNBOXING THE ELITE 7 ACTIVE
Design, build and fit.
Jabra have changed the design language here and all of their new earbuds, it is clean simple and works and nothing too outlandish either, the profile is also good for size and they fit well with a good seal once using the right tips which is a must wearing any earbuds. They have a more flat appearance than older models however they have a good seal.The buttons are clicky and tactile and work 100% and some prefer this over the touch option for me either is fine but I tend to lean towards the buttons option.
Setting up
The setup is simple as always, in almost all cases an update is due out of the box which takes a few minutes and you are good to go to get the latest features on your earbuds and you should update anytime you are prompted to do so, then head through the app to personalise to your needs, you have headset settings My Fit which is important My Sound My Controls etc. See below for what you will expect to find. And with them latest update you can now get multipoint connection. This is crucial for those who work on two devices.
Controls are quality and work each time, again Jabra have the clicky button effect which I like but the thing is you can change the settings to what suits you best and this is great as there is many settings here available which makes it much better than custom defaults you tend to get on other earbuds this should be the same for all earbuds in my opinion.
Sound
The sound is always the key factor in these reviews and one argues everyone’s ears differ which is correct but when testing earbuds on such a regular basis it is not hard to find what is rubbish and what is not, the Jabra soundstage has always been a great one, highs lows and mids are great and with my usual testing regime they have done a really impressive job with no lag latency noted, again you have the custom EQ here to play with, they can be used individually too which is great, the ANC is also now adjustable and to the max is the way to go but I found the ANC not quite as strong as previous models and perhaps a software update might fix that but overall strong enough and better in quiet environments. It was hard to tell the difference here between these and the 7 Pro being honest.
Conclusion
If you want a great pair of earbuds check these out the days of overpriced alternatives are long gone and the same applies to Apples prowess here, some still might find these still too expensive but you have to pay to play here given there is cheaper earbuds out there now with much of what you find here but it is the overall experience here in one package you will get here that wins for me. However with the 7 Pro out there and the new Elite 4 there is much on offer at all price tiers here and the 7 Pro has a slight bit more to offer.