Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds review: Audiophile’s paradise on budget

Name: Jabra Elite 3
Item: Jabra Elite 3
Author: Shweta Ganjoo

The Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds are one of the best earbuds in their price segment in the market right now.

By: SHWETA GANJOO
| Updated on: Nov 29 2021, 14:45 IST

Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)

Danish brand Jabra is known for its pitch perfect headphones. Over the past few years, it has earned quite a reputation for its TWS earbuds by offering a mix of features at varying price points. The only thing missing from its portfolio was a pair of low-cost TWS earbuds that offered a diverse feature set and the same quality sound that we have come to love over the years.

To fill this gap, Jabra launched the Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds at a price point of INR 6,999. The newly launched Jabra Elite 3 comes with an impressive feature set, which includes support for Qualcomm aptX HD audio, 6mm drivers, IP55 dust and water-resistant coating and a run time of around 28 days when bundled with the charging case. All these features make it look great on paper. But the real question is, is it equally good in terms of performance as well? We will try to answer that and more in the review below. So keep reading...

Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds: Design

The Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds feature a design that is quite similar to the Elite 7 Active and the Elite 7 Pro TWS earbuds. It features a compact yet premium design that is tucked inside a charging case with a matte finish and a subtle look.

Inside, you will find triangular earbuds sans a stem. These earbuds have a flat top with on-board controls in the form of physical buttons instead of a touch panel. This means that you will have to press the buttons to get these earbuds to do anything. Single pressing the right bud plays/pauses music, while pressing it twice or thrice can take a track forward or backward. And pressing and holding the right button turns up the volume. Similarly, single pressing the left bud turns the ambient sound on or off, double-pressing activates the voice assistant and pressing and holding the left bud turns the volume down.

In usage, the Jabra Elite 3 are extremely comfortable to wear and they don't tire your ears even on prolonged usage. It certainly helps that they come with IP55 dust and water-resistant coating, which makes them immune to sweat spells that you might have or occasional splashes of water.

image caption — Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)

Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds: Design

Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds: Performance

As far as audio is concerned, the Jabra Elite 3 is keeping up with the legacy of its predecessors in terms of audio quality. The sound is crystal clear and incredibly balanced. I love old country music and I have listened to dozens of songs from the yesteryears -- Take Me Home by John Denver, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Angels Robbie Williams, I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden and Hero by Enrique to name a few. What I like about the Elite 3 TWS earbuds is that I could hear every guitar string and even the background singers' voices clearly.

I also listen to EDM classics like Faded by Alan Walker and my favourites Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams and I was astonished to see...rather...hear how it managed to produce booming bass sound with the right preset. You can also get the right setting based on your music choice from Jabra's Sound+ app. Coming to videos, watching videos is also a delight thanks to support for Qualcomm's AptX HD, which is particularly helpful for people like me who watch shows and movies while working (shh!).

As far as call quality is concerned, the Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds offer a decent sound quality while making calls. The sound is not as clear as you would hear while listening to music and you hear a mild roar in the background. It almost sounds like you are on a microphone. That said, they get the job done without any hiccups at all. And there are supportive features that more than make up for this tiny flaw. For instance, Elite 3 TWS earbuds automatically switch to the HearThrough mode when you are on a call, which keeps you aware of your surroundings. It also ensures that you don't yell when you talk. Other than that, there are easy controls that let you connect or disconnect from a call with the tap of a button.

Lastly, battery life. The Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds claim to offer up to 28 hours of total listening time with the charging case combined. The earphones, as per the company, deliver up to 7 hours of battery on a single charge. During my time with them, I used them excessively for work-related calls, group calls with my family and watching movies and shows for hours together. I wore them until the battery ran dry. During my use, the Jabra Elite 3 provided a battery backup of over 6 hours on continuous usage.

Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds: Conclusion

For the final verdict, I would say that the Jabra Elite 3 TWS earbuds are one of the best earbuds in their price segment in the market right now. They are comfortable to wear and resistant to water and they offer excellent sound quality, especially if you like more balanced sound. It is true that they don't come with Active Noise Cancellation feature and they don't offer auto pausing once an earbud is taken out, but if you can look past these things, Elite 3 can be a good addition to your collection.

Rating

4 out of 5

Price

INR 6,999/-

Product Name

Jabra Elite 3

Brand Name

Jabra

Pros