My friend is a die-hard fan of Taylor Swift. Recently, she bought two tickets to ‘Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Cinema’, and she’s been bugging me to accompany her to the event. As someone who rarely listens to Taylor Swift’s songs, she asked me to keep the artist’s playlist on every single time, so that I can join in singing the songs during the event later. Coincidentally, the Jabra Elite 4 also landed in my hands exactly a few days before the D-day. With the price at RM529, I hope the earbuds will give a good time listening to Taylor Swift songs!

Design and Comfortability

Consumers have four colorways to choose from, which are Dark Gray, Navy, Lilac, and Light Beige (which I am reviewing). The charging case looks slightly bigger compared to other models that I have used, but it can still fit in my pocket. The design for the casing and the earbuds itself is nice, but I won’t consider it as premium. I got to take a look at other models such as Jabra Elite 7 Pro, and felt like it is less premium compared to the 7 Pro. 

As a hijabis, I am pretty particular when choosing my earphones or earbuds, because it might hurt my ears if I were to wear it with a hijab for a long time. Hence why I always end up with headphones instead. But, the Jabra Elite 4’s buds feel pretty comfortable even when I wear it with my headscarf and hijab. I’d say that the Jabra 4 Elite is quite a game changer. But, I notice that the right one sometimes moves a little too much with my hijab on, that it needs readjustment from time to time. 

Control Customisation

For the control customisation option, it took me a while to get used to the function of left and right earbuds. I did some research online to help me get through it faster haha. After getting comfortable with it, I would say it is quite limited. The listening modes are doing great, but for me, I noticed a slight delay when switching between them. But generally, it is still reliable especially for earbuds that can be considered as budget friendly. For reference, here’s the list of functions for each earbud. 

Left Earbud:

One Press: Activates ANC or HearThrough, answers phone calls, mutes/unmutes the microphone, plays/pauses audio.

Two Presses: Activates voice assistant, ends/rejects phone calls (Android only), resumes the last played Spotify track (or plays a recommended track when the Spotify app is open), skips to the next track.

Three Presses: Not Applicable.

One Press and Hold: Decreases volume.

Press and Hold for Three Seconds: Enter pairing mode.

Right Earbud:

One Press: Answers phone calls, mutes/unmutes the microphone, plays/pauses audio.

Two Presses: Ends/rejects phone calls.

Three Presses: Skips to the previous track.

One Press and Hold: Increases volume.

Jabra Sound+ App

I was able to try out the apps that were made specifically for this brand – Jabra Sound+ app. With a rating of 4.7 over 5, this app is quite good. I also realised that I can learn the earbuds’ function on this app, phew.. Went through a lot of hard work to Google it up online. What I really like about this app is its function to search the device. I always misplace things, and with this size, it can be hard to find it sometimes. But with this function, I should be less worried now. You can download the app on Play Store (for Android), and Apple Store (for iPhone), and try it out later. 

Battery Life

Last weekend, I went hiking with my friends, thus I am able to test out its battery also, together with the comfortability of these earbuds when working out and jogging. Apparently, after approximately 4 hours, the Jabra Elite 4 is still surviving. It also works wonders when I am hiking, and does not slip away even when I am sweating, and makes a lot of movement. Don’t worry, I already used the Jabra Elite 4 when I went for a jog too, quite a good experience for me.  I would recommend this for sports or gym enthusiasts looking for budget-friendly earbuds. 

Sound Performance

For the sound performance, the Jabra Elite 4 did really well. The quality of the sounds provided is satisfying and it blocks out noise quite well. But if you are really particular about noise blocking, probably you will notice a few amount of attenuation to surrounding noise. 

One advantage of these earbuds is their design, which allows the ear tips to create a tight seal deep within the ear canal. This passive isolation alone significantly reduces ambient noise. Even without ANC activated, most external sounds will be perceived at only about half to a quarter of their original loudness.

When I enabled the ANC feature, I noticed that I gained an additional noise reduction. Personally, I think it is useful for commuting or situations where I need to block out more noise.

Furthermore, the Jabra Elite 4 Active offers a HearThrough mode, which channels external sounds into the earbuds. It can keep me aware of my surroundings. The app allows me to adjust the amount of external noise added, and I can decide whether activating this mode will pause my music or not. This feature is particularly handy for outdoor activities, while the ANC excels in busy commuting scenarios. Both ANC and HearThrough modes offer customizable intensity or volume adjustments, allowing me to fine-tune my listening experience according to my preferences.

Design: 4 / 5

Comfortability: 4 / 5

Control Customisation: 3 / 5

Jabra Sound+ App: 4 / 5

Battery Life: 5 / 5

Sound Performance: 4 / 5

Overall Rating: 4 / 5