Jabra Elite 4 Active BT/ANC earphones for sporty types (AV review)

The Jabra Elite 4 Active BT/ANC earphone with an IP57 rating and generous 2-year warranty is a standout for those who like to work up a sweat. At $179, they won’t damage your hip pocket, and most importantly, it sounds great too.

Jabra has always been a favourite at CyberShack. You can count on great sound, long life (quality) and a high level of user satisfaction.

These are mid-range, sitting below the Jabra Elite 7 Pro (review) and the Active version and above the Jabra Elite 3 earphones (review). You may want to look at the Jabra range because at present (9 May 2022), the Elite 7 Active (usually $279) is on discount at $179 – the same price.

Although in some ways, the Elite 4 Active may be more appealing as it supports the Qualcomm aptX codec and uses Qualcomm’s Hybrid ANC. Sound signature-wise, it uses the same 6m driver and can access Jabra’s excellent App and EQ.

Let’s talk first about Jabra

It is part of the GN Group, established over 150 years ago. It is the only company sharing advanced audio tech to create consumer headphones, professional headsets, and hearing aids. The single-minded purpose – is to make your life sound better.

It is not necessarily a brand you consider against Samsung, Sennheiser, Apple Airpods, Bose, or Sony. But if you don’t, you will miss some class-leading features, great neutral sound signature, and effective ANC (where applicable). They’s fighting words – be warned, it is your peril if you don’t include them.

Jabra Elite 4 Active earphones

Item	Jabra Elite 4 Active
Website	Product
Price	$179
From	Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks or Jabra online
Warranty	2-years (requires registration)
Country of origin	Designed and engineered in Copenhagen and assembled in China
Colours	Black, Navy, Mint
Bluetooth	Qualcomm True Wireless V5.2 to 10m SBC and Qualcomm aptX Multipoint x two devices (remembers six) Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux devices
Battery (claims)	Up to 7 hours (ANC off) 21 hours extra in the USB-C charge case 10 minutes charge for 1 hour
Charge time (case)	USB-C 5V/1A/5W 180 minutes
App	Jabra Sound+ for Android or iOS Firmware update
ANC (Active noise cancellation)	Hybrid requires passive isolation via a good ear tip fit and Qualcomm software reduction from external mics.
Controls	Physical button on each ear is better than touchpads
Sidetone	Yes. adjustable
Hear through	Yes
Voice guidance	Yes
In-ear detection	No
Speakers	6mm 20Hz to 20kHz
Mono mode	Either bud
Personal sound profile	Yes
EQ	Full plus pre-sets
Ear tips	Ear Gel S, M, L
Mic	4 x MEMS
IP	57
Weight (g)	5
Voice assistants	Alexa, OK Google, Siri
Spotify	Tap playback
Fast pair	Google fast pair

First impression – it is a Jabra with similar design cues to the rest of the Elite Family

The key difference to the similarly styled Jabra Elite 7 Pro and Active is full adaptive noise cancelling versus the Elite 4 Active Qualcomm’s hybrid approach. But for 99% of us, full ANC is unnecessary.

Sound – neutral, so it won’t change your music – Exceed

It is a closed-back design that, while it lessens the sound stage width, helps noise cancellation via sound isolation.

The sound stage is in your head (typical of all closed-back) with good separation between left and right. But one thing to note about neutral signatures – they neither add nor subtract from the sound, so if you feed it garbage MP3s, you get garbage sound unless you play with the pre-sets or EQ.

The App EQ works very well with a neutral signature – while you can’t increase the native signature, you can tailor it to a clear vocal or several other pre-sets.

Low-bass 20-50Hz	None
Mid-bass 50-100Hz	Slowly building to 75Hz
High-bass 100-200Hz	Flat
Low-mid 200-400Hz	Flat
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Flat
High-mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low-treble 2-4kHz	Flat
Mid-treble 6-10kHz	Slight decline
High-treble 10-20kHz	Steep decline

You can read more How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key)

ANC – PASS

We can only be subjective, but it is most effective with low-mid to mid – it won’t drown out heavy bass rumble. That is where the Elite Pro 7 comes into its own with adaptive noise cancellation across a wider range, including crying babies and errant, annoying loud children.

Latency – fine for music and movies but not games – Pass

Even though it has a Qualcomm aptX codec, its latency is a little too high for gaming. You need earphones that use the aptX LL (low latency) codec for this.

Hands-free – Pass

The Elite 4 Active is quite good – not excellent – at hands-free in the office, gym, or outdoors. Callers commented on the natural voice. One mic per bud beam forms, and the other feeds in background noise for software reduction. Wind noise is an issue.

Comfort – Pass

We test for eight hours of continuous use and during daily walks and exercise. These are comfortable, and while they don’t have stabiliser fins, they won’t easily pop out.

They require a firm fit, and some may find that a little hot.

Battery – Pass

Jabra’s 7-hour claim (and a further 21 in the case) is accurate and reduces to about 5.8 hours with ANC on it. Charge times are correct.

Jabra Sound+ App – Pass

The Elite 4 Active reflects the capabilities of an entry-level Qualcomm Bluetooth True Wireless chip.

Where it leads is the App, as well as excellent sound isolation. Music quality is on a par with Sony WF-SP800N sports or BlueAnt Pump Air 2 and a lot better than the Pod styles that litter this price bracket.

CyberShack’s view – Jabra Elite 4 Active is perfect for sport

Hell, the entire range is IP57, so they are all good. We love the quality and the App.

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