Home » Jabra Elite 45e Hands-on, First Impressions

Jabra Elite 45e Hands-on, First Impressions

Written By Joey Maceda
Published • December 27th, 2018
AccessoriesAudioHands-on
1

The bluetooth in-ear headphones space offers many choices for consumers, from proprietary products such as Apple’s AirPods, to something like the Jabra Elite 45e. It’s an all-around pair of in-ear headphones that offers functional design, solid connectivity, and great sound quality. Let’s check it out and see if any of those hold true.

Design-wise, we’re getting a connected band type unit that hangs around your neck. Along the length of the wire, we have the earbuds themselves, a dedicated microphone module with a mute button, a module with the inline volume and Bluetooth controls, and a module that looks to contain the rest of the 45e’s circuitry.

The part of the unit that rests on your neck is actually quite cleverly designed, as it uses something called “memory wire”, which will conform to the shape and contour of your neck over time.

The earbuds are quite big, but this is largely due to the use of silicone wingtips. Speaking of those, there are a total of three sets of wingtips and eargels included in the box, in three different sizes. The box also includes a microUSB cable for charging.

On the stem portion of the earbuds, we have a magnet so that both sides can stick to each other for easy storage. This is a common trend in most Bluetooth in-ear headphones, and is always great to see.

The Jabra Elite 45e has a very solid, functional design that doesn’t disappoint. I like the smooth matte finish of all the components, as well as the way it fits in my ears. It’s very snug, and even more comfortable.

Now talking about connectivity, it’s great. We get Bluetooth 5.0, which is available on a lot of flagship smartphones right now. On my Google Pixel 2, the first time connection took about 15-20 seconds, but after that, it’s pretty much instant.

The range is great too. If for some reason, you have to be 20 feet or so from your phone, then that shouldn’t be an issue. Line of sight is important though, as walls and doors will break the connection pretty quickly. Another cool thing about the magnets mentioned earlier, is that putting them together deactivates the Bluetooth connection. However, reconnecting is just a simple matter of separating the magnets again.

As for sound quality, I really can’t complain. There is clarity in the mids and highs, and for hip-hop songs with heavy bass, you can feel the lows as well. However, this is not the case with the default EQ setting.

Using the Jabra Sound+ app, I was able to fine-tune the EQ to get an all-around profile, but there are presets available for common situations/genres of music. The app itself is pretty good too, providing a simple but intuitive interface, and a load of features other than the EQ.

You also get EQ presets specifically for your commute, a selection of ambient noises to listen to, access to the Amazon Alexa voice assistant, and Find My Jabra in case you misplace your headset.

For call quality, voice is clear on the receiving end, as long as you have good cellular/internet connection, depending on what service you are using to call. As for the microphone, my partner for the test calls reports that while it is clear, it’s not noticeably clearer than my phone’s regular microphone.

Overall, the Jabra Elite 45e is a very solid all-around in-ear headset that can be a great companion whether you’re commuting, exercising, or just listening. All promises are delivered with great design, connectivity, and sound quality. For its price tag of PHP 6,999USD 119INR 10,111EUR 114CNY 869, it offers a lot, so I would say it’s priced very fairly.

Jabra Elite 45e designJabra Elite 45e earphonesJabra Elite 45e first impressionsJabra Elite 45e hands-onJabra Elite 45e philippinesJabra Elite 45e reviewJabra Elite 45e sound quality

Latest smartphones

Realme 14x

realme

Philips S7710 Omni 10

Philips S6310 Essence 20

OnePlus 13R

OnePlus

Energizer Ultimate U6G

TNT Panalo Phone 5G

Tecno Megapad 11

Tecno

Ulefone Armor 27

Ulefone

Realme Neo7

realme

Honor 300

Honor

Joey Maceda

Joey is YugaTech's Video Production Manager. He constantly puts effort towards his aspirations to be a filmmaker and journalist... when he's not riding his bike, playing games on his PC, watching anime, cooking, and petting his dogs.