When you’re looking for a great pair of wireless earbuds for the gym, you need something durable that also looks good while blocking out all the racquets. With that in mind, Jabra has done an excellent job with the Elite 4 Active earbuds. These aren’t the most attractive earbuds, but the price is very reasonable for the comfortable fit and IP57 rating you get. The Elite 4 Active also features the latest Bluetooth 5.2 technology, so these headphones should last a long time in your workout bag. On top of all that, the active noise cancellation is very good, something you don’t always get at $120.
Jabra Elite 4 Active
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The Jabra Elite 4 Active might be the perfect earbuds for the gym with their great ANC feature, superior battery life, and durable design. However, the buttons could be better, and there is no in-ear detection.
- Brand: Jabra
- Battery life: 7 hours (21 with case)
- Bluetooth: Yes (5.2)
- Additional Tips: three
- Noise cancellation: active
- Shipping status: Yes
- Codecs: SBC and Aptx
- Intellectual property classification: IP57
- Wireless charging: no
- weight: 5g (37.5g pack)
- price: $120
- Overall good sound quality
- Active noise cancellation is very good
- Rugged design with IP57 rating
- Bluetooth 5.2, aptX and SBC
- Hard buttons require a lot of force
- No AAC support
- There is no ear detection
Design, hardware and what’s in the box
The Jabra Elite 4 Active won’t win any beauty contests, but that’s not really terrible for a pair of active headphones you’ll be throwing away in your gym bag. In terms of design, it’s incredibly simple, with an all-plastic black body that won’t turn heads during your workout. Likewise, the charging case is nondescript, with subtle Jabra branding on the front.
Although these buds don’t feel as premium as pricier options, they’re not cheap or flimsy either. Considering the IP57 rating and plastic body, you get a very durable pair of headphones. These headphones don’t have wing tips to keep them in your ears, but they don’t move much anyway. I’ve personally found that the pre-fitted tips are best for my ears, but there are two additional sets to adjust the fit and keep the Elite Active 4 in place.
I found the earbuds comfortable, even when wearing them for long periods of time. They are light enough not to bother you throughout a full work day of listening. One of my few complaints is the discomfort I feel when using the touch controls. To pause or play a track, you need to apply a lot of force to the earbuds, causing them to rub against my ears in a rather unpleasant way.
As for the charging box, it is fine, although it is a little larger than I want. It’s about the same size as the Sony XM4 case. That wouldn’t normally be a big complaint, but given that the primary purpose of these buds is for working out at the gym or outdoors, you want them to be as portable as possible. The case charges via USB-C, but that’s not as noticeable as it used to be. The lack of wireless charging is understandable but still a bit disappointing.
Sound quality, features and battery life
These earbuds really impressed me with the overall sound quality. At $120, I didn’t go into this review expecting perfect mids and amazing bass, but that’s what the Elite Active 4 headphones deliver. When listening to a variety of music (everything from 2-Chainz to the Rolling Stones), I found these headphones to It offers a similar audio experience to other headphones in the $200 range, like the Jabra Elite 7 Pro. If you’re not the pickiest audiophile, you’ll definitely like the sound profile on these headphones for the price. Additionally, the Jabra Sound+ app is incredibly useful in modifying that audio file for a variety of listening scenarios and preferences.
The Jabra Elite 4 Active supports Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX and SBC codecs. It’s a bit disappointing that AAC isn’t included here as that would make it more attractive to Apple users as well. However, aptX is more important for Android devices, so I had a great experience using these headphones with my Galaxy S22 Ultra and Oppo Find X5 Pro. Adding LDAC or some other higher bitrate codec would have been nice, but I wouldn’t expect that for the price. Google Fast Pair also works flawlessly. Pairing these headphones is almost instant with any Android phone I’ve tested.
Noise cancellation is also strong. Even if you don’t like using ANC, which affects the quality of your tunes, the earbuds fit tightly in the ear canal and offer a decent amount of passive noise cancellation. Turning ANC on adds noticeable attenuation across the audio spectrum. Although these headphones won’t compete with Sony’s high-end ANC headphones, they do a great job considering the much lower price.
These earbuds are missing the in-ear detection feature, which is one of the few glaring omissions. As mentioned earlier, I don’t like the buttons on these earbuds, and it would be nice to pull one out to pause the music. The feature has arrived on cheaper earbuds recently, including Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live and Buds2. Jabra is behind the times here, but I can forgive this shortcoming given how great the rest of the package is.
Microphone quality is good, but nothing impressive. Taking calls is acceptable in quiet environments, but if you frequently receive hands-free calls in noisy areas, these are not the buds you want to use for that. However, it’s hard to complain about this given the price and other attractive features on offer.
Battery life is right on par with Jabra’s claim on the back of the retail box: 7 hours of battery life on a single charge, and I managed to squeeze 7 hours and 20 minutes on average across all charge cycles in my testing. The charging case adds another 28-30 hours of battery life in my experience, so you won’t need to charge it as often. This means that if you can put it in your gym bag, it will likely last for at least a few weeks before needing a charge.
Should you buy it?
definitely. If you’re in the market for a solid pair of gym headphones without spending a lot of money, Jabra has a winner in the Elite 4 Active. The sound quality is better than expected, the IP57 rating gives you best-in-class durability, and the ANC is solid. The battery life is more than enough for several workout sessions a week without having to charge it as well.
There are some downsides to consider, of course. These headphones don’t have a wireless charging case, which may be frustrating for some people. The case itself is also quite large, making it less portable than other options. Neither of these issues are deal-breakers, though I’m annoyed by the lack of in-ear detection. My main concern is the discomfort caused when using the touch controls. If you don’t use touch controls much, this might not bother you. Overall, these buds get the job done during my workout and are worth $120.
But if…
- You want great sports buds with ANC at an affordable price.
- You need IP57 sweat resistance.
Don’t buy it if…
- You need AAC or use iPhone as your primary device.
- You want top-notch microphone quality for calls.
Instructions
Q: How does the Jabra Elite 4 Active compare to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro?
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro launched at $200, but are now available for closer to $150. They don’t have aptX support, but there is AAC and Samsung’s scalable codec, which makes a difference on Samsung phones. You also get wireless charging. However, the ANC isn’t quite as strong, battery life is weaker, and we’ve seen skin sensitivity issues with these buds. They also don’t stay in place like Jabra’s buds.
Q: How does the Jabra Elite 4 Active compare to the Jabra Elite 7 Pro?
The Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds offer excellent battery life and connectivity options like the Elite 4 Active, and call quality is even better thanks to bone conduction sensors. But we don’t think they’re as comfortable as the Elite 4 Active, and the $200 asking price puts them close to the Sony WF-1000XM4 headphones, which sound better and have superior ANC technology.
Q: How does the Jabra Elite 4 Active compare to the Samsung Galaxy Buds2?
Samsung’s entry-level earbuds retail for $150, but you can find them for cheaper. Like the Buds Pro, you won’t get aptX, but Samsung’s AAC and Scalable Codec get the job done. The ANC isn’t as good as the Jabra Elite 4 Active, but the sound quality is on par. Like the Buds Pro, we’ve seen reports of skin allergy issues. Battery life is also down compared to Jabra.
