Jabra Elite 10  Headphones Review

The Jabra Elite 10 have a balanced default sound profile, with a touch of added punch and rumble in the bass range. A balanced mid-range ensures instruments and voices sound accurate. Overall, the treble range is well-balanced, but a couple of narrow peaks can make sibilants like S and T sound a bit piercing.

These headphones can also be customized with a graphic EQ and presets in the companion app. These results reflect the headphones' performance with ANC on. Switching it off changes the sound profile slightly. They reproduce more low bass with ANC on, but there's not a huge difference, as you can see in a comparison here.

They have great frequency response consistency. Once you achieve a good, consistent fit, you can expect the same sound every time you use them.

The bass range target compliance is superb. The low- and mid-bass regions are boosted slightly, so kick drums have plenty of thump and punch. But the extra bass never gets muddy or overly boomy.

Their mid-range target compliance is fantastic. Besides a small bump and dip in the low-mids, the region is virtually flat, ensuring instruments and vocals sound clear, present, and suitably detailed.

Their treble compliance is superb, if a little uneven. A dip in the low-treble means vocals can sound a touch distant, while a peak in the mid-treble can render sibilants piercing. For instance, 'S' sounds in songs like Selena Gomez's 'Wolves' can hurt to listen to, especially if you listen loudly. In general, though, the range is fairly well-balanced, ensuring that these headphones will suit a wide variety of genres.

These earbuds have satisfactory peaks and dips performance, meaning they do a decent job of adhering to their own balanced sound profile. The bass and mid-range are particularly well-controlled, but a big dip and peak in the mid-treble make sibilants like cymbals alternately dull and piercing, depending on their pitch.

These earbuds have amazingly well-matched left and right drivers. If paying close attention while listening, you may notice centrally-panned sounds like voices shift ever so slightly across the stereo field, depending on the pitch of the singer. Those tiny shifts are produced by small differences in the phase and amplitude response of the left and right drivers. But, in truth, they're very hard to hear, and we don't expect you to notice those issues during regular use.

The group delay performance is good. These earbuds don't produce any audible group delay issues, so you can expect tight bass and transparent treble reproduction.

The harmonic distortion performance is superb. These earbuds produce remarkably low distortion, even when pushed to unsafe listening levels. You can expect clean and clear audio reproduction.

They have a couple of different virtual surround sound features. Like the Jabra Elite 8 Active, they support Dolby Spatial Sound, which works with all kinds of audio, whether it was recorded in surround sound or not, and gives it a more 3D, immersive feel. However, it's done digitally, and while it simulates a wider soundstage, it doesn't create the same directionality as content recorded in Dolby Atmos.

That said, unlike the Elite 8, they also support Dolby Atmos, which you can activate by switching on 'head tracking' in the app. This feature plays compatible audio in surround sound and is a noticeable improvement over the Spatial Audio feature. Instruments and vocals seem natural and accurately placed in the soundstage, which moves with you when you move your head. Subjectively, the effect is similar to when you use the Apple AirPods Pro or Apple AirPods Pro 2's 'Spatial Audio' feature. However, it only works with content recorded in Dolby Atmos.

These are the settings used to test the Jabra Elite 10. Our results are only valid when you use the earbuds in this configuration.

These headphones are drop-shaped earbuds with flat outside surfaces. Unlike other Jabra earbuds, including the Jabra Elite 8 Active and Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless, they have oblong rather than round ear tips. They come in 'Cream,' 'Cocoa,' 'Gloss Black,' 'Matte Black,' and 'Titanium Black.'

These earbuds have a comfortable fit. They don't sit very deep inside your ears, avoiding the suction feeling you get with some in-ears. The drop-shaped buds fit comfortably. The silicone ear tips are oblong instead of round, which you may find less comfortable.

The controls are physical buttons on both earbuds. They're quite easy to use and can be customized in the companion app. Physical buttons help prevent accidental commands when adjusting the earbuds, but the sound of pressing the controls is louder than if you were using a touch-sensitive surface.

On the left earbud

• Single press: Cycles between ANC on, ANC off, and Hear-Through mode (which lets you hear your surroundings). Answers a call and mutes and unmutes the mic when on a call.
• Double press: Activates voice assistant. Also rejects and ends a call.
• Triple press: None by default, but can be mapped in the app.
• Press and hold: Decreases volume.

On the right earbud:

• Single press: Plays/pauses audio. Also answers calls and mutes/unmutes the mic when on a call.
• Double press: Skip to the next track, rejects or ends a call.
• Triple press: Restarts the track.
• Press and hold: Decreases volume.

These earbuds are very portable, like most in-ear headphones. They can easily slip into purses and most pockets.

The case is small and has a magnet in the lid to keep it closed. There are also magnets inside the case to hold the earbuds inside. It feels sturdy, and it's small, although the Apple AirPods Pro 2 come with an even smaller case.

These earbuds have a great design that's similar in quality to the premium Devialet Gemini II True Wireless. They're made of sturdy-feeling, soft plastic, and the ear tips feel well-made, though they might rip if you aren't careful, as with most silicone ear tips. The earbuds are rated IP57 for dust and water resistance, so dropping them on a dusty street or getting caught in the rain won't break the earbuds.

These earbuds have great stability. Even without stability fins or the non-slip coating that Jabra equips its sports earbuds with, like the Jabra Elite 8 Active, they'll stay in place easily, even if you move your head around a lot.

• Jabra Elite 10 earbuds
• 4x silicone ear tips
• Charging case
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manual

They have excellent full range noise isolation performance. Jabra calls their noise cancelling feature 'Advanced ANC,' which they advertise to be the brand's strongest ANC feature. They do a fantastic job of cutting out mid-range ambient sounds like background chit-chat at the office. They do a similarly impressive job of reducing higher-pitched sounds, like shrieking bus brakes, and bass-range noise, like rumbling engines.

In everyday situations, these buds do a great job of blocking background noise. You can focus on your audio as the rumbles of plane engines and ambient cabin din, alongside cars on the road, are reduced quite well. The ANC doesn't filter out office sounds nearly as comprehensively as background sounds during your commute. For better ANC performance in the office, the follow-up release, the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2, reduce office noise to a greater extent.

These buds have an ANC wind-handling feature. It's meant to reduce the anti-noise produced by the ANC system as wind interacts with its mics. While this feature can help reduce some of the impact of this sound, the angle of the wind can significantly change the noise's volume. It's also worth noting that using this feature can affect the ANC's noise-isolation capabilities.

They have an excellent leakage performance. The loudest leakage is in the treble range, which makes it sound thin and tinny. It's also not very loud, so people nearby can't hear your audio if you're listening to music somewhere like an office.

Recorded speech is clear and understandable, but doesn't sound particularly natural or full-bodied. However, the high distortion in our results is due to the mic's compensation algorithm and doesn't reflect the mic's actual performance. In reality, after a few seconds, the mic adjusts itself, and there isn't nearly as much distortion present. Overall, the mic doesn't sound drastically different from the Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless', but it's a little less full-bodied and natural.

They have a good noise-handling performance. The mic can separate your voice from background sound in moderately noisy places like a busy office or street. It can make your voice sound slightly fuzzy, but it's still understandable. You can still be heard with very loud background noise, like a train or bus going by, but the mic doesn't perform as well in very loud environments as the Jabra Elite 8 Active's.

They have a good battery performance. We measured 7.5 hours of continuous battery life with ANC on, which is shorter than the Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless' battery life but longer than the manufacturer's advertised six hours. However, battery life also varies depending on how you use them. They come with a case that holds about three additional charges. They're also equipped with an auto-off timer and a standby mode to save power when you're not using them, and you can use one earbud while the other charges in the case.

They have a great app. It includes a graphic EQ and presets for sound customization, as well as control customization options. You can access features like Dolby Atmos, in-ear detection, voice assistants, and Spotify Tap, which lets you access Spotify via the onboard controls. The app is quite easy to navigate, and you can see it in action here.

You can't use these Bluetooth earbuds wired. They come with a USB-A-to-USB-C cable for charging the case. However, the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 offer a hybrid wired-to-wireless design that lets you connect analog and USB-C sources via a cable to the case, which transmits the audio wirelessly to the buds.

They have great Bluetooth connectivity. Like the Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless, they support multi-device pairing, which is nice if you want to stay connected with your phone and computer while you work. They only support SBC and AAC codecs, though, and using SBC on PC results in very high latency, so your audio and visuals will fall out of sync. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though. However, they don't support any high-res audio codecs and lack quick-pairing features.

They're fully compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs but can't connect any other way.

They come with a small carrying case with a USB-C port for charging. It also supports wireless charging.