NEW Gen 2 Jabra Elite 10 / 8 Active - My thoughts 🤔

The New LE Audio Smart Case

I’ve always thought that the Jabra Elite 10s are fantastic and easy to recommend. Even if they’re not the very best in any category, they certainly do everything well enough that it’s something like a safe choice. Plus, they support Dolby Sound, with the Elite 10 supporting Dolby Atmos, and Head Tracking that works with any source.

But barely 9 months later, Jabra launches the next generation of Elite 10 and 8 Actives. They share one common upgrade: the new LE Audio Smart Case. Looks extremely similar to the previous versions but now it has the pairing button in front, and can be used as a transmitter. With the included USB cable and 3.5mm adapter, you can connect the case to almost any audio source without Bluetooth.

The Pros of Smart Case

This gives you tremendous flexibility around which source you want to stream from. Whether the inflight entertainment on planes, an old CD player system or turntable, or even your old TVs that don’t support Bluetooth audio can now stream to the new Elite earbuds thanks to the Smart Case, which is going to transmit to the earbuds over LE Audio.

In a way, this is similar to what B&W’s been doing with the Pi7 S2, so it’s not a new concept. However, the Jabras also allow you to stream Spatial Audio, which isn’t possible with the B&Ws. Also, on the Elite 10, you can even have Head Tracking for a more immersive Spatial Audio experience. We’ll just have to see if there are any advantages or disadvantages in terms of sound quality if we use the case instead of connecting the earbuds directly.

B&W Pi7 S2

Active Noise Cancelling

Both the Elite 10 and 8 Active Gen 2 come with Smart Case, but only the gen 2  Elite 10 is claimed to have double the ANC power of the previous version, using the new Jabra Advanced ANC. On the other hand, the 8 Active Gen 2 uses Hybrid Adaptive ANC which offers 2x the Noise Management, which isn’t the same as saying 2x the ANC strength, so we’ll have to see how different it is.

That being said, I’m quite surprised about how much improvement Jabra is claiming in this regard because the Elite 10 Gen 1 already has fantastic ANC. If this is true, the Gen 2 could actually be among the most powerful noise cancelers on the market. It’s like jumping from super Saiyan 2 to Super Saiyan 3 - without all that screaming. If you watch Dragonball, you’ll know what I mean.

With these upgrades, could it be possible that the Elite 10s and 8 Actives are not just the ‘safe choice’ anymore, but the best choice? After all, the upgrades do come at a cost. Both the Gen 2 Elite 10 and 8 Active costs $30 more than the previous models. Not a huge jump, but those who paid less for the Gen 1 models could heave a sigh of relief.

Anyway, when I get my hands on the review units, you guys will be among the first to know.

Check Gen 1 Latest Prices:
Jabra Elite 10 - https://amzn.to/3EHIp9J
Jabra Elite 8 Active - https://amzn.to/46m41V0

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