Matthew Miller/ZDNET.
I have always listened to music while running and doing sports. Hence the importance to my lifestyle of having wireless headphones with exceptional sound. But above all which resist an extreme level of perspiration. I’ve put many headphones in my ears over the past two decades. But those from Jabra remain among the best thanks to their reasonable prices, performance, excellent call quality and comfort.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been training with the new Jabra Elite 8 Active wireless in-ear headphones, which the company bills as “the world’s toughest headphones.” So I put them to the test.
The Elite 8 Active are the first pair of Jabra earbuds with a ShakeGrip design that I’ve tried. This is a coating over the entire earpiece that is soft to the touch. The earpiece itself has a contoured shape, optimized to fit securely into the ear.
I sweated profusely. And yet the headphones remained firmly in place throughout the race
I paired the Elite 8 Active to my Garmin Enduro 2 sports watch and went out for a quick run. As it was hot and sunny, I sweated profusely. And yet the headphones stayed firmly in place throughout the entire run, while still playing my rock playlist perfectly. I also tested the Elite 8 Active with the Apple Watch Ultra and a Coros Apex 2 Pro and noticed perfect reading performance.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET.
The Jabra Elite 8 Active features adaptive hybrid active noise reduction, the second highest level of ANC technology at Jabra.
It works very well and without completely drowning out noise, which allowed me to run without problems with these headphones in the city. Spatial sound is also provided by Dolby Audio.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET.
The flat surface on the outside of the earbuds serves as a single, double, or triple press function control button
The Jabra Sound Plus app is available for the Elite 8 Active on Android and iPhone devices. I highly recommend you to install and use it to get the best audio experience. The application allows you to know the battery status of the earbuds, switch between sound modes, adjust the equalizer, customize the control buttons, install firmware updates, …
The flat surface on the outside of the earphones serves as a single-press, double-press, or triple-press function control button. They are very easy to trigger and use while running or doing other more active exercises, which is great.
The Jabra Elite 8 Active are very light (5 grams each) and can be used together or alone. In terms of battery life, the earbuds can last up to eight hours when ANC is on and up to 14 hours when it is off. The charging case allows for up to three additional full charges. And also ensures fast charging: five minutes allows up to an hour of listening. And what’s more: the case charges wirelessly.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET.
Three microphones in each earpiece
Phone calls remain an important part of my professional and personal life, so the ability to make and receive calls when I’m on the go is a factor to consider. With three microphones in each earbud and background sound algorithms to improve clarity, the Jabra Elite 8 Active are a great solution for calls while working out.
Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity also supports multipoint, making it easy to pair the earbuds with up to 10 devices scattered around my desk if I want.
ZDNET’s buying advice for Jabra Elite 8 Active headphones
For those looking for headphones optimized for an active lifestyle, the Jabra Elite 8 Active are almost perfect. I don’t see anything missing from the spec sheet and, after using the headphones for several sessions, I am convinced that these are the best workout headphones currently available on the market.
Although you won’t sweat with them on, these headphones are perfect for use in bad weather and environments that are often too harsh for standard audio products.