At IFA 2022, Jabra is announcing the new $149 Elite 5 earbuds. Serving as the company’s midrange pair of buds — akin to something like the older Elite 75t — these will offer up to seven hours of continuous playback with active noise cancellation turned on. They also feature multipoint Bluetooth for two simultaneous connections, IP55 dust and water resistance, and codec support that includes aptX, AAC, and SBC.
The Elite 5s contain 6mm drivers and customizable EQ. As for the design, Jabra says they’ll provide “a discreet, comfortable, and compact fit.” The earbuds share a teardrop shape that’s similar to the rest of the current Elite series and have six mics onboard for enhanced voice call performance with wind suppression. You also get bonuses like Android Fast Pair, Windows Swift Pair, plus Google Assistant and Alexa integration.
“Today’s fast-paced society is decreasing attention spans while increasing the potential for distraction, making it more and more difficult to zone in on what’s important,” said Calum MacDougall, senior vice president at Jabra. “These versatile earbuds are perfect for those who want to immerse themselves in music, are socially oriented, and virtually connected.”
I can’t say I’ve ever heard someone base their earbuds pitch around society’s shortening attention spans, but hey. If you’re a little mixed up on where Jabra’s current lineup stands — this company sure makes a lot of earbuds — here’s how it looks with today’s addition of the Elite 5.
- Elite 7 Pro $199.99
- Elite 7 Active $179.99
- Elite 5 $149.99
- Elite 4 Active $119.99
- Elite 3 $79.99
That’s a lot of products in similar pricing territory — especially when you consider how often Jabra’s earbuds are on sale. Each has its selling point if you go by the company’s website: in the case of the Elite 7 Pro, that’s “revolutionary” voice call performance, whereas the Active models focus on a secure fit and durability. And the Elite 3 buds remain our favorite pick for under $100.
It still feels a little crowded to me, but the Elite 5 earbuds do offer a nice balance of features for the price. The only question is whether they can stand out against better competition than ever before. It’s hard to buy a lousy set of earbuds for over $100 these days, and that wasn’t necessarily the case several years ago when Jabra was the default AirPods alternative.