Jabra Elite 7 Active Review: Most comfortable True Wireless Earbuds with ANC

Jabra’s True Wireless line is one of the most successful in the class. The Elite 75t is one of the smallest and best true wireless earbuds out there was launched in 2019. Last year’s Elite 85t flagship with active noise cancellation went the other way, with a large speaker and, as a result, a huge housing. The new Elite 7 Active is the successor to the Elite 75t in this regard, and the device has become even smaller. What else? Find in this Jabra Elite 7 Active review below.

Jabra Elite 7 Active specifications

• Type: in-ear, wireless
• Speaker Size: 6mm
• Audio codecs: AAC, SBC
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
• Wireless range: up to 10m
• Smartphone app: Jabra Sound+
• Headphone frequency range: 20-20,000 Hz
• Waterproof: IP57
• Paired devices: up to 8 devices (not simultaneously)
• Voice assistant support: Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant
• Bluetooth profiles: A2DP v1.3, AVRCP v1.6, HFP v1.7, HSP v1.2, SPP v1.2
• Microphones: 6 pcs. MEMS
• Microphone frequency response: 80-8000 Hz (talk mode)
• Active Noise Cancellation (ANC): Yes
• Standby time: up to 292 days
• Music playback time (earbuds): up to 8 hours
• Total music playback time (earbuds and charging case): up to 30 hours
• Wired Charging: USB-C
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Charging time: up to 150 minutes
• Quick charge: 5 minutes will give up to 1 hour of playback
• Package contents: earbuds, 3 sets of ear tips, user documentation, charging case, USB-C to USB-A cable, warranty booklets
• Dimensions: 19.5 x 16.3 x 18 mm (earbud), 40.3 x 25.3 x 69.6 mm (case)
• Weight: 5.5g (earbud), 44g (charging case)

Jabra Elite 7 Active Review

Design

So, the new Jabra wireless earbuds are as round and ergonomic as the Elite 75t, but the body has become even smaller. With its size and discreet fit, created by Jabra after studying the ears of thousands of people, the Elite 7 Active is arguably the most comfortable true wireless noise canceling earbuds on the market. In addition, Jabra has developed new earGels tips for each shape with different outer wall thickness and a rounded tip, which also have a positive effect on comfort during extended use.

The multifunctional buttons are now teardrop-shaped and occupy the entire front surface of the earbuds. Yes, if you were waiting for the sensor, Jabra stayed true to the proven mechanical buttons – alas. All functions can be reassigned, but we will talk about this later.

The design of the charging case has changed, it has become wider now, the charging port (USB-C) has been moved to the front, but most importantly, it now supports wireless charging. The device’s battery life is at an all-time high – about 8 hours with noise reduction and almost another day with the charging case. A five-minute quick charge will give you an additional hour of use.

Each weighs 5.5 grams, and the dimensions have become 16% smaller. At the same time, during our Jabra Elite 7 Active review, they do not spin out and do not fall from the ears. The ear tips are made from Jabra’s ShakeGrip liquid silicone rubber material. They allow the device to stay securely in any position. There are shades of Black, Mint, and Navy to choose from, and our Jabra Elite 7 Active review unit comes in Black.

Active Noise Cancellation

The Elite 85t was the first Jabra wireless earbuds to offer a hybrid ANC system. The Elite 75t got ANC with a firmware update but didn’t have an additional microphone, so the technology isn’t as impressive. The Elite 7 Active is somewhere close (but closer to 85t) in terms of noise reduction efficiency and the naturalness of the transparent mode. The levels of operation of both modes, the order in which they are switched on, and other parameters are configured using the Sound+ smartphone app.

It should be noted that the Elite 7 Active has good passive noise isolation, which drowns out ambient sounds quite well even before turning on ANC, especially if you turn up the music. But when compared to the headphones’ ability to recreate silence in loud environments (without listening to music), the Jabra’s noise cancellation falls slightly short of the class leaders, the Bose QuietComfort earbuds, and the Sony WF-1000XM4 (REVIEW).

Microphones and other features

Jabra’s Elite 7 Active allows you to receive and answer phone calls, which they do quite well. On the body of each earbud are two microphones on the outside and inside with a special mesh to protect against wind. Call quality is good, and extraneous noise during the call will almost not be heard by your interlocutor.

The Sound+ app has a bonus in the form of different modes: the sounds of white noise, waterfall, sea waves, or a busy city. It will allow you not to be distracted by extraneous noise and focus on work. There is also support for voice assistants for Android smartphones. You can quickly locate the information you need or make calls without taking your phone out of your pocket. Supported by Amazon Alexa and Google Assistants.

Sound

The Jabra Elite 7 Active comes with 6mm drivers, which can be adjusted using the equalizer in the Sound+ app. And here, it is worth doing in advance – with the default settings, the sound is not the most balanced. The bass is powerful and tangible, but often sounds too heavy and grabs everyone’s attention.

The My Sound test will help you tune the sound to your taste. After that, the upper frequencies will sound clear and detailed, and the sound stage will amaze with volume, unusual for such compact headphones. You can change the intensity of High, Medium, and Low – manually or by selecting one of the presets.

Comparing the new Elite 7 Active with the Elite 85t, the 85t sounds similar in listening but is slightly more expressive and spacious. True, this is noticeable only with careful head-to-head comparison.

In any case, it’s a pleasure to hear from the Elite 7 Active, no matter which genre you have chosen – the bass-charged dub on the latest album The Bug: Fire or the gentle vocals of Emma Ruth Rundle under the piano sounded equally convincing. The earbuds did not give up even in the heavy and extreme music of Mortiferum – the instruments do not merge into a mess, the dynamics are good.

Battery life

Jabra promises us 8 hours of battery life on a single charge with the Elite 7 Active with ANC and 10 hours without noise cancellation. Taking into account all the charges in the case, it turned out to be about 30 hours – an excellent result. The fast charging function will allow you to get an hour of playback in 5 minutes of being in the case.

There is a Sleep mode to save energy. It will disconnect the headphones from the source if they are not in the case and away from the smartphone for 15 minutes. If you do not use the headphones for 30 minutes, they will also go into this mode.

Final line

The Jabra Elite 7 Active are Jabra’s latest in-ear best true wireless earbuds for sports. Their design is similar to the previous model. However, the dimensions have become smaller and a more secure fit in the ears is provided by the ShakeGrip tips.

We advise you to adjust the sound yourself, then its quality will be as excellent as possible. The Jabra Sound+ app has good active noise cancellation, a transparency mode, and some useful features. There are no problems with battery life, and in general, these are excellent earbuds for all lovers of active training.

The new Elite 7 Active is the smallest, most comfortable, and flexible TWS active noise-canceling earbuds ever from Jabra. Of course, there are the best Bluetooth earphones with more powerful ANC, with a more advanced sound, but they are all, as a rule, more expensive than Jabra. It cost $179.99 on Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, and Amazon.co.uk. In this price range, the combination of qualities and benefits of the new products is excellent.