Review Jabra Elite 7 Pros and why I won't be using them for a while - Woud Ombare

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I have been using these Jabra Elite 7 Pros that I recently bought for approx. 26K from Jabra. These are my fourth pair of Jabra earbuds. I haven’t used other brands yet. The photo above shows the Jabra Elite Active 65T (Left) and the Jabra Elite 7 Pros (Right) just below my Google Home.

First: My earbuds use case.

My morning starts with wearing earbuds and I don’t remove them up until the moment I get to the car. I use google assistant or Alexa to get me some music or podcast playing via Spotify or Amazon Music. Then I jump into my morning workout (sometimes jogging, indoor bodyweight exercise or swimming), then I jump into the shower with the earbuds still on, dress up with the earbuds on and finally have breakfast when listening to some form of entertainment. When I hop into the car, I leave one earbud on and return the other to the case so that I can catch up with calls and whatever comes through my phone. Up until when I meet people that I know - at that point, I put both earbuds in my case and store them safely.

I also do video calls on my earbuds and answer a ton of calls on my earbuds. On weekends my earbuds are usually within arm’s length and at any point when I use public transport (If I leave my house late, I usually hop into those Swivel rides). I use wired headphones when I am sitting at the computer, but I also have some other SoundCore Bluetooth headphones that I usually pack in my luggage.

To meet my personal requirements earbuds must be really small not to obstruct me while doing stuff like showering or dressing up, they must be waterproof at least IP57, not to mention they should have great Bluetooth connectivity coz I am always moving away from the source device.

Then they should have decent sound and have an equalizer app for android. There are many headphones that can do the technical stuff, but most are huge like the Sony 1000XM4 or Bose earbuds. If you look critically only the Jabras can serve me well.

One last thing I have come to appreciate is the transparency mode that Jabra offers and refers to as HearThrough. Once enabled on my earbuds, I can talk to people and hear them clearly without necessarily removing the buds. This has now become common in other copycat earbuds but Apple, Technics, Master & Dynamic, Bose, and Jabra have really good and realistic transparency modes.

What I like about these over other Jabra earbuds I own.

First, the size feels even smaller than the elite active 75t which I posted here - but have now gifted a friend. They are significantly smaller than the elite active 65ts which I have posted alongside the Jabra elite 7 pros (see pictures for size comparison). The Jabra Elite & Pros come with bone conduction technology and 6 microphones which make improve call clarity and quality especially in noisy environments.

The ANC is toilet but the HearThrough is fantastic. The other things are more or less the same, the app is the same etc. The size is really nice, and I am sure even a gym rat like @kijanamrefu would approve of these for the gym environment. Photo below is a comparison of the Jabra Elite Active 65t (Left) and the Jabra Elite 7 Pros (Right)

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Why I won’t be using the Jabra Elite 7 Pros.

You see for me as a highly technical and geeky person, technology must serve me. These earbuds do not have multi-point pairing. Multipoint allows you to connect two devices at the same time. I usually have my phone connected to my earbuds all the time so that I do not miss a call when listening to music or other stuff. some of you may ask why I don’t move everything to the phone. Well, I love keeping my phones simple, only the absolutely essential stuff stay on my phone. The rest move to the computer, tablet or smartwatch.

Most of my music is on the Samsung Galaxy tab S7 or Amazon Music or Spotify. Most smart services are linked to my tab and not my phone. So, for me to enjoy these earbuds I need them to be connected to two devices (Phone + computer/ Phone + Galaxy Watch/ Phone + Tablet) at the same time. My elite active 65Ts have multipoint connectivity so they will still be my go-to earbuds for a while, up until Jabra sorts this mess.

I still plan to buy serious ANC headphones like the Sony XM4s - Btw the price on black Friday was incredibly competitive and I should have bought them at the time. But ANC can wait for now and it’s not a priority. In short, don’t buy these for active noise cancellation.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of earbuds can be very subjective. However, everyone will appreciate a clear and full sound. These are not bass-heavy but I consider the bass to be sufficient though it won’t beat decent headphones. The sound signature is balanced, and the earbuds can get really loud. I am comfortable listening to these anywhere between 40 to 80% loudness. At full volume, these are really loud and uncomfortable. However, the sound does not get distorted as compared to my 65ts. The 65t have a good sound and are very well supported by the Jabra App. If anyone wants to see the app they can ask me to screenshot in the comments section.

Good News

Jabra announced at CES 2022 that they will bring Multipoint connectivity to the elite 7 pros. So, I will shelve these until that update is available. It’s nice to own products that are featured at CES and are flagship products for a company. Anyway, let me end this review here, I need to install some keycaps I bought recently (Ziko hapo kwa picha) on my mechanical keyboard. I will engage you in the comments below.

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Thank you for the ebrufucation.

Anyway, I couldn’t believe that Jabra managed to outdo Sennheisers’ momentum earbuds. I watched a few comparison videos and it largely matches what you are saying albeit with fewer nuances.

Techies huko YouTube are really praising these things.

What I’ve learnt about reviews is that reviewers can be biased best way is test them yourself at a store if possible but hizi vitu because we’re a 3rd world country only option is blindly buy.

They are really nice but I know there are a couple of earbuds that rank higher than these in terms of sound quality. The Momentums CX plus are fantastic and were cheaper than these Jabras but lacked a decent IP rating. Also I can’t buy earbuds with touch controls coz they get messed up by water. Operating touch controls with sweat can be challenging. I think this tech is yet to mature.

Not really, reviewers get granular and try to split hairs. If you buy the soundcore liberty 3s or Bose Quite Comfort or the luxurious Master & Dynamic MW08. They will all be impressive. The reviewers are right. Even my old Jabra 65t sound decent.

Good thing durability is not something to be concerned about in 2022 so you shouldn’t go just after Sony or Apple. The top brands are durable.

Just look at your usecase and select the best for you. For me the number one priority is size followed by IP rating.

Also of great concern is the app…some apps are poorly designed. Soundcore and Jabra have fantastic apps but this is according to reviewers. You can check the companion apps yourself and see of you’ll be okay with the level of customization and the equaliser.

I’ll give you two options: One, you can gift me the pair that you’re getting rid of:D or you can sell it to me for a reasonably fair price. I need an upgrade and my needs are pretty basic. Mainly to receive calls and a little music here and there. Currently using Jabra headset Talk 35.

Watu wa headphones na earphones tukae side gani?