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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Comfort
    3. Controls
    4. Breathability
    5. Portability
    6. Case
    7. Build Quality
    8. Stability
    9. Headshots 1
    10. Headshots 2
    11. Top
    12. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Sound Profile
    2. Frequency Response Consistency
    3. Raw Frequency Response
    4. Bass Profile: Target Compliance
    5. Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
    6. Treble Profile: Target Compliance
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation - Full Range
    2. Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
    3. Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
    4. ANC Wind Handling
    5. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Wired Connection
    2. Bluetooth Connection
    3. Wireless Connection (Dongle)
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PlayStation Compatibility
    6. Xbox Compatibility
    7. Base/Dock
  10. Comments

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless vs Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Fairphone Fairbuds
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2

Tested using Methodology v1.8

Updated Oct 23, 2024 01:40 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v1.8

Updated Mar 31, 2025 08:01 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Picture

Variants

  • Fairbuds (Black)
  • Fairbuds (White)
  • Elite 8 Active Gen 2 (Black)
  • Elite 8 Active Gen 2 (Coral)
  • Elite 8 Active Gen 2 (Navy)
  • Elite 8 Active Gen 2 (Olive)

Our Verdict

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2

The Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 True Wireless are better headphones for most people than the Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless. The Jabra have a better mic, have longer battery life, and are more stable. That said, the Fairphone's real-world noise isolation is about as good as the Jabra's. So, if you're annoyed that consumer companies don't make repairable earbuds but also value superb noise isolation performance, the Fairphone are a good choice. And if they break, most of the Fairphone parts are user-replaceable, including the batteries.

0 

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Black
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
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Coral
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
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Navy
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
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Olive
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
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Main Differences for
Neutral Sound

Threshold 

0.10

Neutral Sound 

6.4
7.8

Treble Profile: Target Compliance 
 

1.9
9.1

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance 
 

7.3
9.5

Peaks/Dips 
 

6.9
7.7

Bass Profile: Target Compliance 
 

9.5
9.0

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Design Picture 2
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Design Picture 2

Type  

In-ear
In-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless

Transducer  

Dynamic
Dynamic
Show text

Comfort 
 

7.0
7.5

Comfort Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Comfort Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.03 lbs
0.02 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

0 lbs
0 lbs
Show text

Controls 
 

7.6
8.0

Controls Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Controls Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Controls Picture

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
Not OS specific

Ease Of Use  

Good
Decent

Feedback  

Decent
Good

Call/Music Control  

Yes
Yes

Volume Control  

Yes
Yes

Microphone Control  

No
Mute/Unmute

Channel Mixing 
 

No
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

On/Off
On/Off

Talk-Through 
 

On/Off
On/Off

Additional Controls  

Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Show text

Breathability 
 

Breathability After Picture  

Avg.Temp.Difference  

Portability 
 

9.4
9.5

Portability Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Portability Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Portability Picture

 

1.2" (3.1 cm)
1.2" (3.0 cm)

 

1.6" (4.1 cm)
1.1" (2.8 cm)

 

0.8" (2.0 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)

Volume  

1.55 in³ (25.42 cm³)
1.08 in³ (17.64 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

No
No
Show text

Case 
 

8.0
8.0

Case Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Case Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Case Picture

Type  

Hard case
Hard case

 

2.6" (6.5 cm)
2.6" (6.5 cm)

 

2.6" (6.5 cm)
1.9" (4.7 cm)

 

1.1" (2.7 cm)
0.9" (2.4 cm)

Volume  

7.07 in³ (115.83 cm³)
4.47 in³ (73.30 cm³)
Show text

Build Quality 
 

7.5
8.0

Build Quality Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Build Quality Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Build Quality Picture
Show text

Stability 
 

7.5
8.0

Stability Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Stability Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Stability Picture
Show text

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Angled Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Angled Picture

Side Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Side Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Front Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Front Picture

Rear Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Rear Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Top Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless In The Box Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 In The Box Picture
Show text
Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Sound Profile  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Normalization Frequency 
 

500 Hz
750 Hz

Bass Amount 
 

-0.5 dB
2.0 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-7.7 dB
0.3 dB
Show text

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

9.1
8.8

Consistency L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Consistency R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

0.19 dB
0.25 dB
Show text

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Profile: Target Compliance 
 

9.5
9.0

Bass Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

2.2 dB
2.9 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

20 Hz
20 Hz

Low Bass 
 

-0.83 dB
2.6 dB

Mid Bass 
 

-2.7 dB
3.29 dB

High Bass 
 

2.11 dB
-0.01 dB
Show text

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance 
 

7.3
9.5

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

2.63 dB
0.75 dB

Low Mid 
 

2.74 dB
-0.27 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

-0.36 dB
0.13 dB

High Mid 
 

-2.71 dB
1.14 dB
Show text

Treble Profile: Target Compliance 
 

1.9
9.1

Treble Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

9.11 dB
1.93 dB

Low Treble 
 

-8.77 dB
1.23 dB

Mid Treble 
 

-6.34 dB
-0.91 dB

High Treble 
 

-20.92 dB
-4.94 dB
Show text

Peaks/Dips 
 

6.9
7.7

Peaks/Dips Graph 
 

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

1.7 dB
1.31 dB

Dips 
 

2.51 dB
1.47 dB
Show text

Imaging 
 

8.7
8.9

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.28
0.24

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

2.19
2.52

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

1.02
0.73

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

1.26
1.17
Show text

Passive Soundstage 
 

0.8
0.4

PRTF  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless PRTF
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Distance 
 

N/A
N/A

Openness 
 

1.6
0.7

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

1.7
0.9
Show text

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0
2.0

Virtual Soundstage  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Virtual Soundstage
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No
No

Speaker Modeling 
 

No
On/Off

Room Ambience 
 

No
No

Head Tracking 
 

No
No

Virtual Surround 
 

No
Dolby Audio
Show text

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

7.6
8.0

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

0.406
0.213

WHD @ 100 
 

0.132
0.108
Show text

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

V65
1.0.8(1033)

Power 
 

On
On

Connection 
 

Bluetooth
Bluetooth

Codec 
 

SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz

Test Instrument  

Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B

EQ 
 

Main
Neutral

ANC 
 

On
On

Tip/Pad 
 

Silicone (small)
Silicone (small)

Microphone 
 

Integrated
Integrated
Show text
Isolation

Noise Isolation - Full Range 
 

8.4
9.3

Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Noise Cancelling  

Yes
Yes

Overall Attenuation 
 

-21.91 dB
-25.39 dB

Bass 
 

-18.70 dB
-18.87 dB

Mid 
 

-24.73 dB
-26.32 dB

Treble 
 

-22.67 dB
-32.40 dB
Show text

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios 
 

9.2
9.3

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Airplane Noise Attenuation 
 

-21.94 dB
-22.08 dB

Airplane Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Office Noise Attenuation 
 

-20.36 dB
-20.40 dB

Office Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Street Noise Attenuation 
 

-23.19 dB
-24.95 dB

Street Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Show text

Noise Isolation - Voice Handling 
 

Female Voice 1 
 

Male Voice 1 
 

Female Voice 2 
 

Male Voice 2 
 

ANC Wind Handling 
 

ANC Wind Handling Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

ANC Wind Noise 
 

Show text

Leakage 
 

8.5
9.2

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

30.13 dB
25.65 dB
Show text
Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

Yes
Yes

In-Line 
 

No
No

Boom 
 

No
No

Detachable Boom 
 

No
No

Mic  

Yes
Yes

Recording Quality 
 

0.0
6.7

Microphone Frequency Response  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Microphone Frequency Response
See details on graph tool

Recorded Speech 
 

LFE 
 

N/A
126.99 Hz

FR Std. Dev. 
 

N/A
4.86 dB

HFE 
 

N/A
7,346.09 Hz

Weighted THD 
 

N/A
1.887

Gain 
 

N/A
-17.28 dB
Show text

Noise Handling 
 

4.2
8.0

SpNR  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless SpNR
See details on graph tool

SpNR 
 

N/A
12.54 dB

Noise Gate 
 

N/A
Always On

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

4.0
8.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

4.5
8.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

Show text
Active Features

Battery 
 

6.0
7.6

Battery Type 
 

Rechargable
Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life 
 

4.9 hrs
7.9 hrs

Additional Charges 
 

4.2
3.0

Total Battery Life 
 

25.5 hrs
31.6 hrs

Charge Time 
 

0.9 hrs
1 hrs

Power-Saving Feature 
 

No
Auto-Off Timer and Standby Mode

Audio While Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Passive Playback 
 

No
No

Charging Port  

USB-C
USB-C
Show text

App Support 
 

6.0
8.0

App Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless App Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 App Picture

App Name  

Fairphone
Jabra Sound+

iOS  

Yes
Yes

Android  

Yes
Yes

macOS  

No
No

Windows  

No
No

Equalizer 
 

Graphic + Presets
Graphic + Presets

ANC Control 
 

No
On/Off

Mic Control  

No
No

Room Effects 
 

No
No

Playback Control 
 

No
No

Button Mapping  

No
Yes

Surround Support 
 

No
Yes
Show text
Connectivity

Wired Connection 
 

0.0
2.7

Cable Picture  

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless Cable Picture
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

No
Yes

USB Audio 
 

No
USB-C

Detachable 
 

No
Yes

Length 
 

N/A
2.62 ft (0.80 m)

Connector 
 

No Wired Option
USB-C

Latency - Analog 
 

N/A
99.9 ms

Latency - USB 
 

N/A
98.1 ms

Recorded Latency 
 

N/A

Recorded Latency Connection  

No Wired Audio
USB
Show text

Bluetooth Connection 
 

6.1
8.3

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.3
5.3

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

2 Devices
2 Devices

Quick Pair (Android) 
 

No
Yes

Quick Pair (iOS) 
 

No
No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

141.08 ft (43.00 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)

Latency - SBC 
 

459 ms
274 ms

Latency - aptX 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality) 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - LDAC 
 

N/A
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Codec  

SBC
SBC

AAC Support 
 

Yes
Yes
Show text

Wireless Connection (Dongle) 
 

0.0
0.0

Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - Dongle 
 

N/A
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

No
Audio Only

Wired USB 
 

No
Audio Only

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No
Show text

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

No
Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
Audio Only

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

No
Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No
Audio Only

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No
Show text

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

No
Audio Only

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

No
Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No
Show text

Base/Dock 
 

2.2
5.2

Type 
 

Charging Case
Wireless USB Dongle + Charging Case

USB Input 
 

No
Yes

Line In 
 

No
No

Line Out 
 

No
No

Optical Input 
 

No
No

RCA Input 
 

No
No

Dock Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Power Supply 
 

USB-C
USB-C
Show text

Check Price

Black
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Searching
Finding store
Coral
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Searching
Finding store
 
Navy
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Searching
Finding store
 
Olive
Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Searching
Finding store

Fairphone Fairbuds True Wireless

Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2

Comments

  1. Comparison

Fairphone Fairbuds vs Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2: Main Discussion

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