Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2  Headphones Review

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 are great for sports and fitness. Despite the lack of stability fins or over-ear hooks, their contoured shape and slightly grippy silicone coating ensure the earbuds comfortably stay in place. Kitted out with an IP57 rating against dust and water, there's no need to worry about spilling your water bottle on the earbuds or taking them on a dusty desert climb. Their tactile button controls mean you don't need to concern yourself with gestures or whether you tapped hard enough. At the gym, their ANC helps with focus, while the adjustable HearThrough mode lets you mix in as much of your environment as you want for safety when exercising outdoors. Their battery lasts long enough to handle many trips to the gym, but if you're doing an ultramarathon, they'll need a recharge.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 earbuds are very good for office usage. Their lightweight, ergonomic shape means you can wear them comfortably for hours. They're very effective at reducing how much noise around the office reaches your ears, like keystrokes, HVAC hum, and chit-chat. Their multi-device connectivity makes switching between your phone and work PC easy. While their microphone is only alright-sounding, it handles background noise really well, so you can use it in an open office layout for work calls, and the app has dedicated call controls and a sidetone mix you can adjust. Unfortunately, their battery runs a bit shy of most work days, so you probably can't wear them for the whole day without a quick recharge.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 are unremarkable for wireless gaming. They're not really designed for gaming, so you lose out on full-featured PC software and console support. If your device is compatible with the earbuds, updated firmware provides lower-latency LC3/LE Audio connectivity, but the connectivity with this codec is finicky. Besides the standard Bluetooth connection, which has high latency and can interfere with your gameplay, you can use their 'smart case.' The 'smart case' lets you connect to compatible sources via USB-C or a standard headphone jack and use the buds wirelessly; though the latency is much lower, it's still noticeable. When using the 'smart case,' you can only receive audio, so your teammates won't hear you through the mic. The mic works over standard Bluetooth. That said, they're comfortable earbuds, and the mic is alright.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 are fair for wired gaming. Their hybrid design uses the 'smart case' so you can connect via USB-C or standard 1/8" headphone jacks to the case's USB-C port while using the buds wirelessly. Unfortunately, this design can only send audio to your earbuds and turns off the microphone, so your team won't hear you without an outboard mic. While the USB-C connection is reliable, the analog adapter is fussy. The latency is just high enough that you'll notice it in fast-paced games. These are comfortable earbuds, and their sound profile conveys clear soundtracks, effects, and speech.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 have very good audio reproduction accuracy. They don't deviate much from their balanced sound profile, apart from some small inconsistencies in the treble that can cause sounds like cymbals to jump out of the mix. Still, the bass and mid-range are well controlled, and the whole response adheres closely to our target curve. The left and right drivers are also decently well-matched in both phase and amplitude, so objects are correctly panned in the stereo field. Group delay performance is good, and they also don't distort much at all, even at unsafe listening levels.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 have amazing noise isolation. They do an especially good job blocking out bass-range sounds like rumbly train engines, although their mid-range performance isn't as strong. Still, the sounds of chatty coworkers are noticeably reduced. They also do a good job filtering out high-pitched sounds like fan whine, and don't leak much audio.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 have a decent microphone. While the mic does an adequate job capturing your voice, it can make you sound a touch piercing, with bright and present sibilants. On the plus side, the noise handling is very good. In areas with consistent loud noise, like when sitting on a train, your voice is clearly distinct from any noise around you. That said, the system struggles a bit more with sharp and sporadic noises, such as car doors slamming. In those cases, you can end up sounding a bit muffled.

The Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 have outstanding frequency response consistency. So long as you take the time to get a good fit, you can expect consistent sound with every wear.