Our Verdict
Decent for mixed usage. The Jabra Elite Sport are good headphones for working out with a customizable sound. They come with a variety of tips and fins, but the larger sizes are not the most comfortable so they won't be the ideal truly wireless pair of headphones for all listeners. On the upside, they isolate well enough for commuting, and they have easy to use controls. They also barely leak which is good for noise-sensitive environments like the office. Unfortunately, they have too much latency for gaming and watching movies, and their slightly bulkier design is not as stable as some of the other in-ears.
- Stable and breathable for sports.
- Good range and wireless connection.
- Good customizable app.
- Not as comfortable for everyone.
- Sub-par microphone.
Average for neutral listening. The Jabra Elite Sport have a decently balanced mid-range and a good bass that packs a punch but slightly overpowers instruments and vocals. Unfortunately, the higher frequencies are a little recessed which makes instruments and vocals feel slightly distant an lacking in detail. Overall, they should sound good enough for most, but their slight lack of clarity and poor soundstage (due to their small closed back earbud design) won't be ideal for more neutral listeners.
Above-average for the commuting. They will easily fit into your pockets and come with a great case that makes them quite portable. They also passively block enough noise for commute and travel, although they won't be the ideal headphones for louder environments. They have a decent control scheme and they barely leak so you can mask some of the ambient noise by turning your volume up. Unfortunately, they are not the most comfortable headphones to wear on long trips, especially when using the larger stability fin sizes.
The Jabra Elite Sport are great headphones for running and working out. They're stable, breathable, lightweight and portable with a fairly easy-to-use control scheme once you get used to it. However, their size and stiff stability fins make them a bit uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time and slightly less stable than the other truly wireless in-ears we've reviewed. They won't move much while in your ears but you may have to adjust them somewhat frequently to get a more comfortable fit, or when using the controls which sometimes breaks the seal that they create within you rear canal.
Above-average for office use. The Jabra Elite Sport isolate well enough for an office environment and they barely leak. This makes them suitable to use in a quiet office. However, they do not have many connection options and have a bit too much latency for watching videos. Their design may also get a bit fatiguing after a couple of hours of continuous listening depending on the shape and size of your ears.
Below-average for gaming. The Jabra Elite Sport have a sub-par microphone, and a bit too much latency to be suitable for gaming. They're Bluetooth only headphones that will not be compatible with your consoles.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated May 31, 2018: Review published.
- Updated May 29, 2018: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Compared To Other Headphones
The Jabra Elite Sport are decent headphones for most use cases and do especially well for sports. They have a tough, rugged in-ear design that's a bit bulkier than most but should be durable enough to last you a while. They have a decent but slightly sharp sound, and they come with a great sports-oriented app that gives you a lot of tracking data for your workouts. Unfortunately, their size and stiff stability fins will not be as comfortable as some of the other truly wireless in-ears compared below. They also do not isolate as much in loud environments but should block enough noise for most commutes, especially if you're playing your music at higher volumes. See our recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best headphones under $200, and the best wireless earbuds for working out.
The Jaybird Run Truly Wireless are slightly better headphones overall when compared to the Jabra Elite Sport Truly Wireless. The Jabra have a more rugged, durable design with better controls. They also have a better case that's sturdier and a lot more compact than that of the Jaybirds. The Jabra also have more sports-oriented features with their app, a longer battery life, and better controls than the Jaybirds. On the other hand, the Run have a more comfortable in-ear fit that most will prefer over that of the Jabra. They also have a better default sound quality and come with a more streamlined app that delivers a good EQ, so you can better adjust them to sound the way you like.
The Jabra Elite Active 65t Truly Wireless and the Jabra Elite Sport Truly Wireless each have their own advantages, and one pair may suit you better based on your priorities. The Elite Sport have a more stable, durable, and rugged design for physical activity. They also offer more health tracking features. On the other hand, the 65t have a sleeker design that some may prefer over the Sport. The 65t also have a better isolation performance.
The Jabra Elite Active 75t Truly Wireless are much better truly wireless in-ears than the Jabra Elite Sport Truly Wireless. The Elite Active 75t are significantly more comfortable, especially for smaller ears, and have a better-balanced sound profile, longer battery life, and improved mic quality. The Elite Sport isolate more noise, though, and are compatible with the Jabra Sport Life app which has training features that aren't available with the Active 75t.
The Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless and the Jabra Elite Sport Truly Wireless have about the same performance overall. The Bose have a more comfortable earbud fit that you can wear for a lot longer than the Jabra. They also have a much better default sound but do not have an EQ like the Jabra. On the upside, the Jabra have a more rugged design, better controls, and a more compact case that will easily fit into your pockets, unlike the Bose. They also have more customizable options and more sports-optimized app that gives workout data. The Jabra are slightly better sports headphones overall and isolate better in noisy conditions, but do not sound as good as the Bose even with a good EQ.
Test Results
The Jabra Sport have a rugged looking design that matches their sporty aesthetic. They are slightly bulkier than most truly wireless designs, although not as large as the Elite 65t. They also come with a more premium, sturdy looking case that's compact enough to fit into most pockets. They do not come in as many color variations as most sports headphones, but their understated color scheme and rugged appeal will work for most, even if they do not look as premium as other truly wireless designs in or below their price range.
The Jabra Elite Sport are decently comfortable if you use the right tips and stability fins for your ears. The earbuds are a little bulky so they won't fit the contours of your ears as well as some of the other truly wireless designs like the Samsung Gear IconX. But on the upside, they come with a great set of foam tips that are covered in a more durable coating than typical Comply foam tips. Unfortunately, the biggest issue with their comfort level comes with their stability fins. They do not yield as much as some of the other stability fins/wing tips we've tested, which will cause a bit of soreness and fatigue especially with the bigger sizes that make these headphones not as comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Using the smallest fins does somewhat mitigate this issue but won't be as stable for listeners with larger ears, which a little disappointing.
The Jabra Elite Sport have a decent control scheme with physical buttons. However, the layout of the controls forces you to push the earbuds against the notch of your ear canal which is not ideal. On the upside, they provide all the necessary controls; call/music, track-skipping, and volume buttons. The right earbud has the power/play/pause/and calls button as well as a dedicated app button for health tracking. If you double tap the power button, you will enable the hear-through mode and if you press and hold when powering on it will trigger Bluetooth pairing. The left earbud is for volume control and track-skipping so pressing once on the "+" button turns up the volume and if you hold skips to the next tracks. Similarly pressing the "-" button turns down the volume and rewinds tracks.
Like most other truly wireless in-ears, the Jabra Elite Sport are very breathable headphones suitable for more intense sports. They do not cover your outer ear, which will remain cool no matter the physical activity you're doing. Their larger earbuds, like the Elite 65t, trap a bit more heat within the notch when compared to more typical in-ear designs, but it's a negligible temperature difference that won't make you sweat more than usual.
The Jabra Elite Sport are very portable headphones. They will easily fit into your pockets despite being a bit bulkier than most. Like the Elite 65t, they are on the larger side of truly wireless designs, but they're still compact enough that they won't be a hassle to carry around on your person. They also come with a good charging case that doesn't add much bulk and will easily fit into your pockets.
The Jabra Elite Sport come with a much better case than the Elite 65t. It's slightly larger and denser but also flat, so it's not a hassle to fit into your pockets like some of the other turly wireless charging cases like the Jaybird Run's or the SoundSport Free. It easily fits into most pockets, and unlike the 65t's case, the lid doesn't pop open at the slightest impact, which is great for keeping the earbuds secure when they are in your gym bag or backpack. Overall, it's a tough, hard case that will protect your headphones from drops and impacts and minor water damage although the case is not water resistant like the earbuds.
The Jabra Elite Sport are well-built and decently durable but not as polished or as premium-looking as some of the other truly wireless designs, especially considering their price range. The ear buds feel sturdy, dense and won't break from a couple of accidental drops. They're rated IP-67 sweat and water resistant. The case is much better built than that of the Elite 65t and protects the headphones from impacts and drops. However, their build does not feel as premium as some other truly wireless designs below their price range like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless or the Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless especially when you remove the stability fins.
These headphones are stable enough for sports. They have a more traditional design than the Elite 65t and come with stability fins and a couple of memory foam tips to help you find a secure fit for the gym. They're stable enough for more intense exercises once you get the right combination of tips and fins. However, the fins are a bit uncomfortable at times which may force you to adjust the ear buds somewhat frequently. The buds also move around a bit when using the volume controls which breaks the seal within your ear canal and causes the fit to change which also requires readjusting. Overall they won't fall out of your ears for most activities and workout routines but the somewhat constant need to adjust the earbuds is a bit disappointing unlike some of the other truly wireless headsets we've tested like the Gear IconX or the JBL UA True Wireless Flash.
- Jabra Elite Sport Headphones
- Earbud tips (x6 sizes)
- Stability Fins (x3 sizes)
- Charging case
- USB charging cable
- Manuals
The frequency response consistency of the Elite Sport is excellent. If the user is able to achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, then they should be able to get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones. However, if a proper and air-tight seal is not achieved with these headphones, the user will experience a significant drop in bass delivery.
The Elite Sport have a good bass. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 10Hz, which is excellent. Also, low-bass, responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy genres, is over our neutral target by more than 3dB. This gives a bit of excess thump to the sound, which some may like. Additionally, mid-bass, responsible for body and punch, and high-bass, responsible for warmth, are overemphasized by at least 4dB. This makes the overall bass of these headphones a bit heavy and muddy.
The Jabra Elite Sport have a great mid-range. The response is quite flat and even, but with a tilt favoring lower mids. The overemphasis in low-mid thickens vocals and adds a bit of clutter to the mix. The 2dB underemphasis in mid-mid and high-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments towards the back of the mix by giving more emphasis to the bass range.
The treble performance is about average. Low-treble and mid-treble are under our neutral target by at least 3dB. This negatively affects the brightness and detail of vocals and lead instruments. The peak around 11KHz could make vocals and cymbals noticeably sibilant (sharp and piercing on S and Ts).
The imaging performance is average. The weighted group delay is at 0.13, which is very good. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were very well-matched in phase response, which is important for creating a cohesive stereo field. However, our test unit showed a significant amount of mismatch in amplitude and frequency response. This skews the stereo image to one side and hurts the accuracy of the placement and localization of objects (instruments, voice, footsteps), in the stereo image.
It should be noted that this mismatch could be unique to our test unit and the one you buy may or may not have this issue.
The soundstage is poor. This is because creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependent on activating the resonances of the pinna (outer ear). The design of in-ears and earbuds is in such a way that fully bypasses the pinna and doesn't interact with it. Also, because the Jabra Elite Sport have a closed-back enclosure, their soundstage won't be perceived to be as open as that of open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless or the Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless.
The isolation performance of the Jabra Elite Sport is decent. In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sits, they isolate by more than 11dB, which is decent. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they reduce outside noise by 14dB, which is above-average. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they achieve more than 33dB of isolation, which is good.
The leakage performance of the Elite Sport is excellent. The significant portion of the leakage is concentrated in a narrow band in the treble range. This results in a leakage that is very thin sounding. The overall level of the leakage is very quiet too. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages at around 22dB SPL and peaks at 28dB SPL, which is way below the noise floor of most offices.
The microphone of the Jabra Elite Sport is sub-par. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will sound noticeably thin and muffled. In noisy situations, it will do decently in moderate situations but will struggle to fully separate speech from background noise in loud places, like a subway station.
The recording quality of the microphone is sub-par. The LFE (low-frequency extension) of 486Hz indicates that speech recorded/transmitted with this mic will sound noticeably thin. The HFE (high-frequency extension) is at 3.4KHz, which results in a speech that is lacking in detail and noticeably muffled.
The integrated microphone is mediocre at noise handling. In our SpNR test, it achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of 17dB. This means that it will be able to separate speech from ambient noise in moderately noisy environments to a decent degree, but will struggle in loud situations.
The Jabra Elite Sport have a decent battery life of 4.9 hours with an additional 2 charges in the case for a total of about 14 hours of playtime on average. This should be enough to last you throughout the whole day, especially if you take breaks. They also benefit from a quick charge feature that gives you about 1 hour of playback from a 20-minute charge. It's not the fastest quick charge feature but does come in handy in some situations. They also automatically turn off after 1 hour of inactivity but it's considerably longer than most truly wireless headphones and wastes a bit of power.
The Jabra Elite Sport comes with a different app than the Elite 65t and offers more features. It's a more sport-oriented app that tracks your heart rate, reps, distance covered, Vo2 ratio and more. It also has a built-in coach but unfortunately, the coach is not as developed as that of the Samsung Gear IconX. On the upside, it also provides a good graphic and a basic preset EQ, to adjust the sound of the Elite sport. You also get community/social media features, sidetone options and hear through settings. Overall, it's a good app that delivers a lot of features and is only lacking an auto-off timer option. Unfortunately, the app's design is not the most intuitive. There are a bunch of menus, and you have to go through a few tabs before getting to the headphone settings (where you can find the graphic EQ). If the interface was better, the app would be much higher on the list of best companion apps/software.
The Jabra Elite Sport only connect to other devices via Bluetooth. They do not support NFC or simultaneous multi devices pairing. On the upside, the Jabra Elite Sport remember the last synced devices for auto-pairing when you open the charging case and overall they are fairly easy to pair with phones and most Bluetooth devices.
The Jabra Elite Sport have about 210ms of latency, which is slightly better than the 65t but will still not be ideal for watching a lot of video content or gaming.
These are truly wireless in-ears that do not have an audio cable or a wired connection. If you want a decent sounding and stable in-ear with a wired connection, we would suggest the Mee Audio M6 PRO or the 1More Triple Driver In-Ear.
