Jabra Elite 3 Review: The Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds

In recent years, it’s become common to see manufacturers charge between $300 and $400 for top-tier wireless earbuds. Many of these are great, but it's a far cry from the days where evening spending $50 on headphones felt like a lot. After all, the ones that came with your iPod weren't *that* bad, right?

While Jabra hasn't quite gone as low as $50, its new Elite 3s fall on the other end of the pricing spectrum. You'll pay just $119, making some of the cheapest wire-free buds we've seen to date. Not only are the Elite 3s not going to break the bank, they’re way better than you’d expect.

To start, the Elite 3s sound great. They're naturally not the same caliber as a pair of earbuds that cost two or three times as much, but the Elite 3s offer a lovely day-to-day listening experience. You get enough detail to prevent music from sounding muddled - even on heavily layered tracks - and there's enough bass to give the buds a bit of oomph. The Elite 3s well and truly perform above their price tag.

The Elite 3s are also super comfortable. They pair a subtle design with a lightweight build, which makes them great for longer listening sessions and exercise. They're rated IP55 for water-resistance, so you can also take the buds to the gym without worrying about sweating up a storm. Rather than relying on touch gestures for playback controls, the Elite 3s have nice clicky buttons on either bud.

Battery is hard to fault, with the Elite 3s lasting up to seven hours per charge. With the included case, you'll get a total of 28 hours before you need to plug in.

As a cheaper pair of wire-free buds, the Elite 3s naturally make a couple of compromises. While we've seen earbuds as cheap as $149 with noise-cancellation, you won't find it here. That being said, the Elite 3's in-ear fit means you'll still get some noise isolation. There's also no wireless charging, which many cheaper wireless buds are now starting to feature.

It's also worth noting the Elite 3s don't support multipoint Bluetooth. You can only pair them to one device at a time, rather than two like more expensive Jabra buds. While it's unsurprising given their budget status, keep it in mind if you regularly swap your wireless headphones between devices.

These aren't big deals for the price. The only omission that genuinely bugs me is the lack of auto-pause. If you remove an earbud, whatever you're listening to will keep playing. Having been spoilt by other wireless buds, the Elite 3s' lack of auto-pause has certainly been an adjustment. There have been times where I've taken out the buds while listening to a podcast, only to come back and find I'm ten minutes further in than I thought.

Niggles aside, the Jabra Elite 3s are easy to recommend if you're after a cheap, reliable pair of wire-buds that feel like should cost more than they do.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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