Jabra Elite 45h review: Worth spending Rs 9,999?

Jabra Elite 45h review: Bless those who believe reviewing a pair of headphones is fun! For me, it’s more pain, especially while staying at home most of the day. It’s a phase during which I have developed a soft corner for TWS. Why? They are comfortable and allow you to move around more freely. Yet, they can never match the sound quality and battery life offered by over-the-ear headphones. Last month, I had the chance to test the Sony WH-CH710N and this month, got the Jabra Elite 45h which is positioned in the same sub-Rs 10,000 segment. So, here is our full review of the Jabra Elite 45h. 

Jabra Elite 45h review: Design and Comfort  

Jabra has done a good job on the design and the headset certainly looks more premium than what you pay for it. The headphones were launched in a single black colour option in India and are up for grabs on Amazon India. A large part of the body is made up of good quality plastic, certainly better than what was used on the Sony WH-CH710N. 

The earcups feature cushions made of PU leather material which is really soft and comfortable. The headband also has a soft cushioning which means it prevents the band from pressing against your head. 

The band size is adjustable and you can change it as per your comfort. Despite that it was slightly lose, at least for me, often slipping during jerky body movements. Even when I would look down or bend to pick something up, the headphones tended to slip. To hold them tight, will definitely need some effort.  

The design adopted by Jabra allows you to twist the earcups and lock them over the ear, which blocks a lot of external sound. This becomes important because there is no support for Active Noise Cancellation here. 

For easy controls, you get several buttons on the headband. On the right earcup, there are buttons for playing/pausing media, adjusting volume, turning the headphones on/off or putting it into pairing mode. There is also a Type C-USB port for charging and a dedicated button for activating the voice assistant. 

Jabra Elite 45h review: Performance and Sound 

The Jabra Elite 45h comes with 40mm drivers that offer a frequency response range of 20Hz to 20kHz on the Music mode, while on the Speak mode, the drivers have a range between 100Hz to 8,000Hz. The headphones also have support for Jabra Sound+ app, which allows you play around with the music equaliser. The app also handles firmware updates for the headphones. 

For connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.0 and multiple device support. This means that you can connect the headphones to two devices at the same time, playing songs from one at a time. If you happen to have more than one smart device at home, this feature comes in really handy, as it did for me. 

Jabra has provided one-touch access to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri  

The headphones sound decent for the price, but could have been better in certain departments, especially the bass. Otherwise, the sound is loud, clear and manages a good balance of mids and highs. 

A ‘Shayad’ from Pritam and Arijit Singh sounds soothing to ears. The vocals are not overlapped by the instruments playing in the background. The sound was detailed in tracks like The Girl From Back Then by Kings Of Convenience, adding to the charm of the gentle track. 

However, the bass often took away the bite from the track. For example, a Heer by Nucleya doesn’t sound as raw as it is. But, a lot of listeners might appreciate this as the drops don’t hit your ears hard. 

I also watched a few episodes of ‘The Loudest Voice’, which is by the way, a highly recommended show. The dialogues sounded great. Now, I am not sure if it was Russel Crowe delivering those powerful monologues as Roger Ailes in his impactful voice or just the headphones!  

Let’s say, it just worked.  

Jabra Elite 45h review: Battery Life 

Everything else aside, what you may actually want to buy the Jabra Elite 45h for is its exceptional battery life. The headphones claim to offer 50 hours of battery, which means you can basically charge them, leave the charger at home and go on a two week trip. Oops, that’s not the world we live in anymore.  

I have been using the headphones for about 10 days now and haven’t had to charge them yet. The battery life remains at about 50 per cent despite consuming about 8 hours of media, listening to few hours of music and taking some calls, which is exceptional.  

The battery also supports fast charging via USB Type-C and is claimed to provide up to 10 hours of usage in just 15 minutes of charging time. 

Jabra Elite 45h review: Final Verdict  

The Jabra Elite 45h are a handsome pair of headphones that are perfect for those running on a budget. They look great and have a very impressive battery life. Also, one more thing I liked the Jabra Elite 45h for is their relatively compact form factor which makes them easy to carry around. 

The sound quality is decent, but not great. Also, the absence of Active Noise Cancellation is something that you should consider.  

You can buy the Jabra Elite 45h for its long lasting capabilities but if it’s the ANC you are after, do check out Sony WH-CH710N that are priced at Rs 8,999.