Elite 5 Titanium Black
Impressive Start, But Wouldn't…
15/10/2022 01:22
After a bit of a delay, finally picked up my Jabra Elite 5's after being away travelling. I opened the packaging and got to work testing out the earbuds:
Packaging: It seems silly to comment on a product's packaging, it's a topic often mocked on social media when someone is doing an unboxing video. I would commend Jabra for putting a bit of effort into their packing though! The vast majority of is recyclable cardboard, no unnecessary plastic inserts or trays that would just end up in the ocean. The packaging is kept to a minimum, is well thought-out and adds to the premium feel of the earbuds.
Setup: Figuring out how to work the earbuds was very smooth and easy, I had them paired and listening to music within minutes of first opening up the box. I've been impressed with how quickly they reconnect to my numerous different devices, even after both the earbuds and the paired device have been powered off. I was also impressed by the range of the Bluetooth connection. I was able to listen a laptop playing a podcast upstairs in my bedroom, then go down to the kitchen or the back garden without any interruptions to the sound, like what would have happened with my previous cheap pair of Bluetooth earphones. I was also happy with the sound, I'm no audiophile, but the quality of the sound output sounded fine to me, plenty of volume and bass as far as I was concerned.
Unfortunately, that is where the good feedback ends. Within days of opening the box, my Jabras developed a faulty with the Active Noise Cancellation/Hearthrough features. Whenever these features are activated, a continuous noise can be heard, I would liken it to listening to a 'stormy beach' sound effect from a film. The volume of this noise increases the longer the earbuds are in use and is most annoyingly noticeable when listing to spoken word media, like a podcast for example.
I really wanted to like the Jabra Elite 5 earbuds, there's clearly a lot of effort been put into producing a slick, ergonomic product. The fact that my earbuds developed a fault within days of being purchased is disappointing though. I paid a premium price to get premium features like ANC, the fact that these features are effectively unusable on my earbuds would mean I wouldn't recommend purchasing these to a friend. Jabra have agreed to replace my earbuds under warranty with a new pair and are keen to get back my faulty earbuds for 'testing', which makes me suspect there may have been a faulty batch produced somewhere.
WillDucie1
Brighton , Spojené království
Age: 39
Gender: Female