Product test

Jabra Elite Sport - The better button in your ear

28.11.2016

Translation: machine translated

The latest generation of wireless headphones with integrated fitness tracker is here. Its forerunner: the Jabra Elite Sport. I tested the two plugs in the ear so you don't have to buy a pig in a poke.

Until now, you had the choice of 841 in-ear and 1292 shell headphones at digitec. Soon no more. Not because we are reducing the range on sale, but because Apple, HTC and other smartphone manufacturers are doing away with the headphone connection, which has been in use since 1878. A selection of thousands of headphones is now being reduced to a few hundred, and the trend is rising.

Headphones

Jabra Elite Sport

3 h

So let's take a look at the latest headphones of the future: The Elite Sport from Jabra. I looked at a test model, which according to the manufacturer is not the final version of the device. I will therefore also take a closer look at the final model in due course.

The high-tech button in the ear

Take note of this video. Because Jabra has already achieved something quite marvellous here and replaced a large part of the operating instructions with the video. The only thing missing is the initial pairing with the smartphone. It goes like this:

Plug into the ear
Press Volume Down on the left earpiece and the Circle on the right earpiece simultaneously for five seconds
Follow the instructions given by the lady in your ear

After that, you can add the Jabra Elite Sport as a trusted device and they will connect automatically from the moment you open the small charging case. This worked every time in my test, which lasted about a month. Without errors, without problems.

At the beginning of my test, the Jabra app, which is required for all the fitness functions, did not even recognise the Elite Sport. Support for the device was only added to the app around mid-November. The app could be a little clearer, because the programmers at Jabra have put a lot of effort into it. The app supports many types of training, but groups them into predefined programmes. My favourite is YouVsBarbell, i.e. You against the barbell. This programme contains:

Deadlifts
Cleans
Push Presses
Thrusters

Don't know what that is? No problem, because Jabra has created a YouTube video for each exercise that you can watch at the touch of a button. The deadlifts look like this.

The videos are actually only accessible via the app, unless you have the direct YouTube link. If you want more detailed information about the deadlift, I can recommend the videos by fitness coach Alan Thrall.

This also shows that Jabra is not simply content with a tracker for endurance athletes. The Elite Sport even have an in-built rep counter, i.e. a counter for repetitions. This also explains why the exercises are arranged in programmes. These, of course, utilise the advantages of the app. With the integrated rep counter, you only have to use the headset once to set the circuit and music and then you can power through to the end of the workout without interruption.

Almost passable in everyday use

For the price, the Jabra Elite Sport must be able to do more than just hold their own in the fitness centre. They also have to work in everyday life, because who has the money and motivation to buy two pairs of headphones? Some of you probably do, but not me. I find the headphones quite entertaining during training, but not necessary. I can do quite well without them and until the tracker functions are more suitable for weightlifters, I don't see any great benefit for me personally.

In everyday life, on the other hand, I want good headphones, because the morning noise in commuter traffic is often just too much for me. I enjoy my ten minutes of music in the morning when I can listen to music on the bus. This morning, while we're at it, I was listening to "Scream Out" by The Unseen, based on my listening history on Spotify.

The sound of the Jabra Elite Sport is very good. Rich bass, nice high tones, good noise cancellation. The in-ear headphones probably don't meet the gold standard or redefine the sound of headphones as a device type, but they sound good and are fun.

Only the controls on the earbuds are a little strange. What you need to know for the following paragraph is this: It happened to me exactly once. So, the buttons on the earbuds have to be pressed, unlike the competitor product Bragi Dash, where the developers have incorporated a touch-sensitive surface. I somehow managed to press too hard and hit a nerve in my ear. Nothing happened to me, but it was extremely painful. So be careful until you get used to the pressure point of the headphone controls.

Product test
Bragi Dash - Headphones for the gym, not for everyday use
by Dominik Bärlocher

Nothing for open fields

What gives me much more of a headache, however, are the regular dropouts, because like all Bluetooth headphones I've tested so far, the Jabra Elite Sport are prone to dropouts. This happens in the usual places where the other headphones have also failed. As soon as there is no wall for the Bluetooth signal to bounce off, things get difficult. Put simply, a Bluetooth signal is structured in such a way that the transmitting device simply radiates in all directions, then bounces off somewhere and then hits the receiving device. If the wall is missing or there are surfaces that absorb the Bluetooth signal, the connection can fail. There are a variety of other factors that can affect the strength of the Bluetooth signal, but the places where the Elite Sport will not work are usually those where there are no walls.

This is a music-free zone

If there is a direct line of sight between the transmitting and receiving devices, then the problem is moot, which explains the unspeakable speakers in the bathroom, but how often do you have a direct line of sight between your mobile and your ear in everyday life?

Compared to the Bragi Dash, the failures are shorter and occur less frequently. Since the Dash have been around for a few years and the Jabra Elite Sport are brand new, the technological progress is obvious. I would therefore venture to say that the connection problems will disappear over the coming years.

Time for the conclusion

The Jabra Elite Sport are good headphones for city dwellers and those who use their headphones indoors. In the gym, for example, because the buttons in the ear provide detailed analyses that are more or less accurate. I don't have the counter-test with the Polar watch, but the values that the Jabra Elite Sport gave out are the same plus or minus 10 per cent as the values I got at the time.

But be careful: Even though the Jabra app offers video instructions for exercises that the Elite Sport can track, they don't replace a trainer at the gym. Especially with exercises such as deadlifts, if you don't know how to do them, you shouldn't rely on a YouTube video. Make sure you ask a trainer at your gym. I'm not saying this because the videos in the app are bad, but because every deadlift technique looks different and there are major risks to your health if you do them incorrectly on a regular basis. The keyword here is slipped disc. Please take care of yourself.

In everyday use, the Jabra Elite Sport are good music headphones that only fail in open environments. For everyday use, however, they are absolutely passable.

In short: If you want a good pair of universal headphones and want to dig a little deeper into your pocket, then the Jabra Elite Sport are certainly a good choice.

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Jabra Elite Sport - The better button in your ear

The high-tech button in the ear

Almost passable in everyday use

Bragi Dash - Headphones for the gym, not for everyday use

Nothing for open fields

Time for the conclusion

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