JabraElite 8 Active - Best, Most Advanced HearThrough Sports Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds - Comfortable Secure Fit, Military Grade Durability, Active Noise Cancellation, Dolby Surround Sound - Navy

Worthy of hyperbole—these are the best pair of in-ear headphones I’ve ever owned. I’ve had them (in navy blue) for over a year now and use them every day. I basically live in them. I really do love these, so here’s a scorecard explaining my reasons why:- SOUND: A The sound is fantastic, crystal clear and I like the dual-mode option for noise canceling. Sound wise, only B&O beats these in my experience and Jabbas half the price.- CHARGE: A+ | The charge is relatively generous and most importantly, consistent and reliable, ie you know what you’re getting. For context, the Jabba’s here give you (2) devices to charge/drain; you have technically the charge on the pods themselves which I’d estimate lasts ~5-6 hours of continuous use, as well as the charge on their little pod case. I usually charge the case itself every week or two, and that’s based on using them daily for 1-4 hours/day. I really appreciate that I don’t need to have the pod case with me at all times, and can leave the case at home to charge while wearing them out with no problem. I trust the charge indicator light (green/orange/red) in the actual case to be an accurate gauge, so anytime it’s orange and/or red I charge the case. 1-2 hours total charge time is all you need but I think you can get away with less. Given how frequently I use these, it’s pretty impressive that the battery charge health has maintained the same runway they’ve had since I first got them. No random battery drains ever.- PAIRING: A+ | The pairing is glitch-free and syncs across multiple devices as I’m moving in and out of different Smart environments (that matters to me.)- FIT: A | I’m highly active with small ear drums and usually have a problem keeping in-ear buds in place especially when working out, walking and running. These not only fit perfectly, (do bother to get the right attachment size figured out eh?) they’re also comfortable, sweat, rain and snow resistant. Yup. That’s unheard of.- MOBILE APP: B- | I mean, the mobile app works, and I appreciate that it lets me technically track/geolocate my Jabba EarPods on a map but frankly if I’m missing one or both pods I’ll know it immediately and probably cry about it while retracing my steps until I find them again. It’s happened a few times, and I’ve found the app to be a moot-point in moments of “Find my Jabbas,” but that’s not a big deal. The app should be secondary to the actual audio tech here, and that’s exactly what Jabba has done. If you want to geek out on all the bells and whistles for an accompanying mobile app, sorry to say it but this ain’t it for you.Why I’m Converted?I’d been a loyal audible fan of Harmon Karden headphones both in-ear and over-ear, and when they exited the US retail market recently I knew I had a lot of research to do before trusting another brand. I hate AirPods and frankly think Apple should just leave sound design and wearable audio to experts and brands that specialize in that like Bang & Olfsen. I researched the heck out of Jabba before I purchased these, and I’m so glad I did. I’m picky, and they pass my test with flying colors; and critically, I’m writing this review well over a year-in, so they’ve held up over time.I think what you get for the price is best-in-class. This is the first and only set of Jabba in-ear pods I’ve owned, but will undoubtedly buy more from Jabba in the future.[A request for the team at Jabba: Would love to see some elegant over-ear headphones from you guys, something delicate and attractive that I can take off and wear around my neck almost like jewelry when not in use, but still seriously solid and totally immersive when I slip them on over my ears. The weight and feel should be balanced which I think Jabba does well in general. No fuss, but functional and attractive. If you could crack that in the Over-ear headphone category I’d be yours forever. Food for thought ;) I digress.)

Every review I read about these said that the 10s were a massive step up from the 8s. Being that I've learned that reviews are 1) very subjective, and 2) tend to push the higher priced/sponsored option, I decided to buy both these and the 10s and experience them for myself. Here's my experience so far:-Fit- The 8s fit better in my ear than the 10s. Perhaps I should say more snug. I find them both comfortable, but the 8s fit a bit deeper in my ear and feel more secure. The 10s have a triangular shaped ear tip, so finding the right tip size to get them to seal properly for ANC. The 8s have a more standard style ear tip, so it's easier to get a seal for me. The one downside is that there is ever so slightly more of that occlusion effect where it feels like you have something plugging your ears, but its very, very minor compared to my older 75ts. I regularly worried about the 10s falling out, although they never did. I never once worried about the 8s, and I knew they were secure always.- Sound - I'll acknowledge that the 10s sound a bit brighter, but they didn't have the same low end fullness that I like in the music that I listen to, that is until I tried the different ear tip sizes. I found that the 10s were a bit more shrill on the high end, even after I EQ'd them. The EQ certainly helped. The 8s had fullness without the harshness, though weren't quite as detailed. Listening to them side by side, I can certainly say that I heard just a bit more detail in the 10s, but it wasn't such a difference that it felt like a revelation like most of the big reviews were saying. I could FEEL the music more in the 8s than I could in the 10s. The 10s may be technically superior, but I liked the 8s better. The 10s are closer to the AZ60M2, with a slight edge going to those.-ANC- This was a weird one for me. Typically, I'm able to use the ear tips that come preinstalled as my ear tip size of choice. With the 8s, I had no problem out of the box. The ANC was very solid, and actually was among the best I've personally tried (Airpods Pro 2 are still the top dog here IMO, and I have no intention of buying the Sony XM5s or Bose earbuds, so I cannot compare to those). Initially, I though the 10s ANC was weak. Once I changed out the tips though, it was much, MUCH better than I'd initially experienced. In using them side by side, I'd say the ANC is neck and neck, with a slight edge actually going to the 8s. I'd read a lot of people claiming that the ANC on the 10s were so much better than the 8s, but that has not been my experience at all. To my ears, they are almost identical.All in all, I really like these. I thought the difference would be more significant given the price difference, but to me, they are extremely close. The question you have to ask is whether or not those minor differences are worth the price increase.

UPDATE - The left earbud (and sometimes the right) is failing to charge. This is a known issue to Jabra that they have failed to correct. It can be improved by (not making this up) putting a little paper in the inside of the lid and then putting a rubber band around the closed case to ensure contact. Ridiculous for a $200 set of earbuds. If you buy these get a warranty!———————-I’m a big fan of Apple and have owned many pairs of AirPod Pros and AirPod Pro 2s but they kept falling out of my ears…. I lost one at an airport, dropped more than one in the sink or toilet, etc. I tried different 3rd party tips that didn’t work much better and compromised either the sound or the ANC or both.So, although I don’t think high-fidelity when I think Jabra , I decided to give these a try.They stay in my f***ing ears! Hallelujah! Years of crap sound because the buds never fit properly are over. Not only do they sound better (because they actually fit) but I can sleep in them, which I do with earbuds every night.The ANC isn’t as good as the AirPos Pros nor is the Spatial Audio but I’ll trade both of those for a secure fitting earbud with very good sound quality. Although I am not a sound engineer. I am a former professional musician and I have a lot of nice audio gear and speakers and even AirPods Max and these are really really good with pretty flat response but with good quality low end.Big ear hole people rejoice! Buy these!