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Jabra Elite 3
If you’re on the hunt for true wireless earbuds, finding a budget pair that checks the boxes can be hard. If you don’t mind spending $200, you can find something that does a little bit of everything, or you can spend a lot less to get something that handles just the basics. If crossing that hundred-dollar line is too much and you’re intent on something with aptX support, the Jabra Elite 3 may strike just the right balance.
The Elite 3 is the cheapest pair of true wireless earbuds Jabra has ever released. Is affordability enough to justify the buy? We spent a few weeks testing out the Jabra Elite 3, and now we can tell you everything you need to know about it.
Outdoor athletes who want a transparency mode and IP rating may enjoy the Jabra Elite 3. Everyday listeners who want something comfortable that sounds good without breaking the bank may find this is a great spot to dip a toe into the true wireless pool.
Editor’s note: this Jabra Elite 3 review was updated on April 24, 2024, to add new charts and update some formatting.
What’s it like to use Jabra Elite 3?
The Jabra Elite 3 is a pretty simple product, and that’s a good thing. There aren’t a ton of bells and whistles here, which means it’s easy to put the earbuds in and start listening.
Made primarily of plastic, the Elite 3 has a fairly generic look, with a shape designed to nestle into your ear. These true wireless earbuds fit securely, though there’s nothing like hooks or fins for added stability, which means achieving a decent seal is especially necessary — luckily, the Elite 3 comes with additional silicone tips, so finding the right fit won’t be too hard.
The earbuds are IP55 rated, which guarantees protection from jets of water (not submersion) along with dust and small objects. This makes Elite 3 a great option for those inclined to partake in outdoor activities — you won’t have to worry about getting caught in the rain or the dirt and grime of the hiking trail. However, while the buds are durable, the case doesn’t feel terribly sturdy — it’s made of lightweight plastic, and the magnets inside do well, keeping the earbuds in place, but the hinge feels pretty flimsy.
Once you get the earbuds comfortably in, using them is pretty simple. The Jabra Elite 3 features a multifunction touch panel on each earbud (it’s the plate with Jabra written on it), and a series of taps affords a decent degree of control. On top of the usual single, double, and triple-tapping (the right earbud) to control playback, skipping, and going back a song, you can also press and hold the right or left button to raise or lower the volume, respectively. A double tap of the left earbud summons your phone’s virtual assistant. One tap of the left earbud enables HearThrough mode, which uses microphones to filter in outside noise and keep you aware of your surroundings.
How to control the Jabra Elite 3
Here’s a full rundown of the Elite 3 controls:
| Action | Left earbuds | Right earbud |
|---|---|---|
| Action Press once | Left earbuds HearThrough | Right earbud Play/Pause music |
| Action Press twice | Left earbuds Activate voice assistant (when selected in Sound+ app)/ Play Spotify (when Spotify is selected in the Sound+ app) | Right earbud Next track |
| Action Press three times | Left earbuds | Right earbud Repeat or skip back track |
| Action Press and hold | Left earbuds Volume down | Right earbud Volume up |
Should you download the Jabra Sound+ app?
The Jabra Elite 3 uses the free Jabra Sound+ app (iOS and Android) to bring a few additional features, and it’s helpful during the initial pairing process, so it’s definitely worth a download.
Sound+ is pretty simple, and currently, it lets you toggle the HearThrough mode, cycle through EQ presets, and update the Elite 3’s firmware. The app feels like it’s made for more features, given its “edit widgets” button, but currently, it only lets you arrange whether the EQ presets are above or below the HearThrough window. The app also brings Spotify integration and the ability to set your voice assistant to Alexa instead of whatever’s built-in on your Android phone.
Installing the app also activates quick settings controls in the notifications section of your home screen. Just pull down the menu, and you can toggle HearThrough and get a live battery reading.
What Bluetooth codecs does the Jabra Elite 3 support?
The Jabra Elite 3 supports the default SBC codec alongside the high-quality aptX codec. If you’re an Android user, aptX access is great, but iPhone users will have to stick with SBC, as the Elite 3 doesn’t support AAC. It uses Bluetooth 5.2, which means it could one day support the new Bluetooth LE audio standard and LC3 codec.
The Elite 3 maintains a steady connection once it’s paired, but the initial pairing process can be a little bit of a hassle. As a device that supports Google Fast Pair, a connection card should pop up on the screen of your Android device when you open the earbuds charging case, however until you install the app, that process will fail consistently. Once everything’s set up, the earbuds easily and automatically reconnect with your device without issue. The earbuds don’t support Bluetooth multipoint.
How long does the Jabra Elite 3 battery last?
According to Jabra, the Elite 3 can last up to 7 hours on a single charge, and in our testing, we found it got pretty close. At a consistent output of ~75dB(SPL), the left earbud for the Jabra Elite 3 lasted 6 hours, 48 minutes, and the right earbud just a little longer at 6 hours, 55 minutes. This battery life is pretty good for a pair of true wireless earbuds. Jabra also claims that there’s enough for three full charging cycles in the case, bumping overall battery life to around 28 hours, and we haven’t experienced anything to call that into question.
The charging case doesn’t support wireless charging of any sort, but fast charging is available. Just 10 minutes in the case will fill the Elite 3 buds with an hour of playback time.
How well does the Jabra Elite 3 block out background noise?
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The Jabra Elite 3 features isolation performance well within the norms of true wireless earbuds without active noise canceling (ANC). If you have the right size ear tips to establish a decent seal, you shouldn’t run into much trouble in most places with a moderate amount of noise. Busy nearby traffic or loud cafe settings won’t get blocked out much, but that’s not always a bad thing—if it was really a good idea to not be able to hear the noise of oncoming cars, the Elite 3 wouldn’t have included a HearThrough mode, after all.
How does the Jabra Elite 3 sound?
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The Jabra Elite 3 (cyan) actually follows our target curve (pink) quite closely. There’s a little more bass emphasis than we generally look for, but otherwise, the earbuds output nicely emphasized highs and mids. This measurement comes from the default Neutral EQ preset, but in the app, you can pick between easy-to-parse options like Bass boost, Treble boost, and Speech, as well as the more nebulous Energize and Smooth preset. There’s no way to create a custom EQ profile in Jabra’s app for the Elite 3.
Lows, mids, and highs
Music of most genres should sound pretty nice coming through the Jabra Elite 3. Listening to Beside April by BADBADNOTGOOD, pretty much every instrument sounds quite nice, from the crash of the cymbal to the organ sounds that harmonize with the rhythm guitar. The added bass emphasis makes the reverberations of the kick drum and the bass guitar linger a little louder than they feel like they should, but not so much that it makes anything else difficult to hear.
Can you use the Jabra Elite 3 for phone calls?
Given the price, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Jabra Elite 3 microphone sounds pretty average. This true wireless earbud microphone is relatively clear, though it doesn’t do a terribly good job of blocking out environmental noise. It’ll do for a quick phone call, but not much else. Listen for yourself:
Jabra Elite 3 microphone demo:
How does the microphone sound to you?
As of August 31, 2022, most readers who responded to the poll above voted that the Jabra Elite 3 microphone sounds “Okay”. While this isn’t the best result we could hope for in a pair of true wireless earbuds, considering how affordable the Elite 3 is, it’s not too bad.
Hold up! Something’s different:
We’ve made a big improvement to how we demonstrate the microphone performance of products we review. We now use a standardized test setup that plays back pre-recorded phrases from a calibrated artificial mouth in our test chamber, either with or without simulated background noises, simulated reverberant spaces, or artificial wind. This means that samples from every product can be directly compared, which makes it far easier to make meaningful comparisons between products in terms of the raw speech quality or the product’s ability to reject noise.
It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this review (and many others!) once we’re able with improved microphone demos. These will be made obvious in each new sample which begins with the phrase, “This is a SoundGuys standardized microphone demonstration …”
Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted everything out.
Should you buy the Jabra Elite 3?
If you’re in the market for a reliable pair of true wireless earbuds on a budget, you should consider the Jabra Elite 3.
These true wireless earbuds are easy to use, they sound good, and they offer very solid combined battery performance. There’s not much more to them, but for under $79.99, having a lot of extra features was never really on the table. I have concerns about the long-term durability of the case, but most true wireless earbud charging cases have flimsy feeling hinges. The bottom line is this is a great choice for the budget-conscious consumer, especially since they typically go for less than $50 nowadays.
The Jabra Elite 7 Active is an excellent pair of workout earbuds due to its IP57 rating, ShakeGrip earbud material, and excellent fit (at least for our reviewer and test head). The Elite 7 Active case supports wireless charging, can fast charge the earbuds, and has a USB-C input. Unlike the economical Elite 3, the Elite 7 Active has active noise canceling, and this time around, it’s quite good.
Like the Jabra Elite 3, you only get aptX and SBC support, so iPhone users may want to splurge for the Elite 7 Pro instead (AAC and SBC).
Jabra’s made a lot of Elite true wireless earbuds in the last few years, and the Jabra Elite 75t is one of its best. If you have an iPhone and the lack of AAC is all that’s standing in your way, these true wireless earbuds could be for you—the Elite 75t doesn’t feature aptX, but AAC is definitely present. The Elite 75t also brings ANC, though it’s hardly the best around in that regard. On top of that, you get the same IP55 rating, USB-C charging, and slightly better battery life.
The Jabra Elite 3 definitely hews a little closer to our target curve at various points on the frequency spectrum, while the 75t has a more workout-friendly sound with its generously emphasized bass notes. The biggest software difference between the Elite 3 and Elite 75t series is that the latter lets you create a custom EQ in the My Sound+ app.
Price is still a pretty big differentiating, though—the Jabra Elite 3 runs for $79.99 USD, while the Jabra Elite 75t has an MSRP of $149.99 USD, almost double. However, the 75t came out a couple of years ago at this point, so you may be able to find a discount if you hunt around.
Free noise canceling update
IP57 rating
The Jabra Elite 4 is one more pair of Jabra true wireless earbuds. It’s a capable product, and as the name might indicate, it brings some notable iterative improvements over the Elite 3. Most notably, the Elite 4 features active noise canceling, which means it’s much better at dealing with external noise. While codec support and Bluetooth version are the same between the two, the Elite 4 also supports Bluetooth multipoint, which is a nice feather in its cap.
Otherwise, the two products are extremely similar. They look nearly identical. They have pretty much the same sound profile. Battery life is a little better on the Jabra Elite 3, but we measured the Elite 4 with ANC turned on, so that’s to be expected—performance without ANC is likely to be similar or perhaps better. Given the Jabra Elite 4 and Jabra Elite 3 are the same price, it’s hard to imagine going for the older model.
What should you get instead of the Jabra Elite 3?
The Jabra Elite 3 isn’t a terribly Apple-friendly product, so people with iPhones should probably look to one of the myriad options more tailored to their needs first. We don’t love the Apple AirPods (3rd generation) because it doesn’t seal to the ear. Still, true wireless options like the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 and the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) are very reasonably priced and come with support for the AAC audio codec. Both of these options also support setting custom EQ profiles, so they may be attractive if being bound by the presets of the Sound+ app doesn’t appeal to you. If you love the look of the Elite 3 and don’t mind spending more, the Jabra Elite 5 also supports AAC, as well as decent active noise canceling, so that may be worth a look, too.
The JBL Tune 230NC is another great option, and it costs just $99. You get active noise canceling, SBC and AAC support, and a good app with a custom EQ. It does, however, have a stemmed design like the AirPods series, so you might not want that if you’re taking a mask on and off a lot.
Frequently asked questions about the Jabra Elite 3
The Jabra Elite 4 Active is a bit pricier than the Elite 3 and costs $119 USD. With that extra cash, you get IP57-rated earphones with a slightly more ergonomic fit and better battery life. With the Elite 4 Active, you can create a custom EQ profile in the Jabra Sound+ app, something you don’t get with the Elite 3.
If you just want a barebones experience wrapped into a durable, compact package, get the Elite 3. Otherwise, we strongly feel the Elite 4 Active is worth the extra cash.
No, the Jabra Elite 3 is not compatible with wing tips. You get three sizes of silicone ear tips, and that’s it.
Yes, despite the lack of wing tips, the earbuds fit our reviewer and test head quite well. If you have atypically small or large ear canals, however, the earbuds may not stay in place.
The JLab GO Air POP is a cheaper headset than the Jabra Elite 3, retailing at $19. It has an IPX4 rating and an impressive battery life, topping out at around 11 hours. But the GO Air POP won’t give you any extra features in a companion app. That being said, you can switch between some EQ presets using the earbuds’ touch controls. The JLab GO Air POP’s default sound signature places less emphasis on the bass frequencies when compared to the Jabra earbuds, but you can boost it with the Bass Boost EQ preset.