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Jabra Elite 45h review

Listen for days at a time.

Jabra Elite 45h

The Jabra Elite 45h is a great set of on-ear headphones for casual listeners who prioritize compactness and microphone quality above everything else. Despite some sound quality drawbacks, this is one of the best on-ear headphones under $100. Listeners who want the best on-ear audio quality should consider the AKG N60NC.

What we like

Battery life

Portable design

Warranty protects against rain and dust

Microphone quality

Google Assistant and Alexa support

What we don't like

SBC and AAC only, no aptX

Hard to differentiate and reach buttons

Bluetooth multipoint unreliable

No headphone jack

Jabra has a horse in nearly every race when it comes to consumer audio, and the Jabra Elite 45h is a great addition to the company’s portfolio. This pair of lightweight on-ear headphones is meant to accompany you anywhere and does just about everything well enough. Microphone quality is very good and battery life is the best we’ve tested, but some users may find it hard to justify full-fledged headphones when plenty of excellent wireless earbuds exist.

After spending two weeks with the Jabra Elite 45, we can confidently inform you of all its pros and cons.

Editor’s note: this Jabra Elite 45h review was updated on October 20, 2022, to update the formatting, add to the Alternatives section, and expand the list of buying options.

About this Jabra Elite 45h review: We tested the Elite 45h over a period of one week using firmware version 2.3.9. The company provided the unit for this review.

Who should get the Jabra Elite 45h?

General consumers will appreciate these reasonably priced headphones. For less than $100 USD, you get great microphone quality, long battery life, and a portable design. Commuters may want to get the Jabra Elite 45h for its unobtrusive design, bass-heavy sound, and long battery life. Remote workers whose days are filled with conference calls will get a lot of mileage out of this headset.

What’s it like to use the Jabra Elite 45h?

Jabra’s on-ear headset is for the everyday listener, and the design reflects that: this is easy to transport. The Jabra Elite 45h is covered under a two-year warranty, which includes dust and water protection. While you may not want to do multiple intensive workouts while wearing the Elite 45h, you can skate by with some light exercise.

To stow the headphones in a bag, swivel the ear cups and insert the flattened headset into the neoprene pouch. Although the pouch isn’t protective against hard drops, it does protect the headphones from scuffs. The all-plastic construction may be unappealing to some, but it keeps the headphones lightweight and more affordable than alternatives with premium construction.

Synthetic leather wraps the memory foam ear pads, which are labeled with an “L” and “R” for easy identification. Jabra used a soft-touch rubberized material for the headband cushion, which is moderately comfortable. Despite the featherweight design, it takes just over an hour for throbbing ear and head pain to kick in—this happens whether or not I wear glasses.

How do you control the Jabra Elite 45h?

Rather than use touch controls, the right headphones houses buttons. Nestled near the headband, the buttons allow users to control playback, volume, and call interactions. A front-facing button on the other side of the ear cup lets you access your smart assistant of choice, be it Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa. Pressing this during a call mutes your microphone. A final toggle at the base of the ear cup, near the USB-C input, may be pushed forward to manually initiate pairing mode or switched to power the Jabra Elite 45h on and off.