Home Wireless Earbuds Ultimate Ears Drops Vs. Jabra Elite 5

A Review By Comparison of the Ultimate Ears Drops Vs. Jabra Elite 5

Last updated on Apr 19, 2023   7 min read
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Ultimate Ears Drops

Ultimate Ears Drops

Reasons why you might like the Ultimate Ears Drops

Overall Score 6.0 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Battery Life of 6 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 2 only
  • Has Ambient Sound Mode
VS
Jabra Elite 5

Jabra Elite 5

See price on Amazon

Reasons why you might like the Jabra Elite 5

Overall Score 5.7 Represents average audio ecosystem compatibility score.

  • Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating of IP55
  • Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)
  • Battery Life of 9 hours
  • Has Usb Type-C
  • Number Of Microphones of 6 only
  • Has Ambient Sound Mode

A summary of the review by feature comparison

Category Features Ultimate Ears Drops Jabra Elite 5
DESIGN ingress protection (ip) rating IP55
weight 10g
has no wires or cables
wingtips included
sweat resistance
is dust proof and water-resistant
has stereo speakers
SOUND QUALITY has active noise cancellation (noise control)
has passive noise reduction
driver unit size 9.2mm 6mm
lowest frequency 20Hz 20Hz
highest frequency 20000Hz 20000Hz
sound pressure level 110dB/mW
POWER battery life 6hours 9hours
battery life of charging case 9hours 27hours
charge time 2hours
has wireless charging
has a battery level indicator
CONNECTIVITY has usb type-c
bluetooth version v4.2 v5.2
maximum bluetooth range 10meters 10meters
has aac
has aptx adaptive
MICROPHONE number of microphones 2only 6only
EXTRAS has ambient sound mode
has find earbuds feature
supports fast charging
multipoint count 2only
has a mute function
control panel placed on a device
warranty period 2Years
has voice prompts
travel bag is included
See price on Amazon

A breakdown of the review per specifications

Design

Ingress Protection (Ip) Rating

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5 IP55

IP ratings is the rank of protection given by an enclosure, against solids and liquids. In the format of IPXX, 'X' represents a number The first value of the IP rating refers to protection against solids such as dust, while the second refers to resistance against liquids (water).

Having a value of IP55, the Jabra Elite 5's rating is read as, the first value of 5 denotes that ingress of dust is not totally prevented but dust does not enter in harmful quantities to interfere with the correct operation or impair safety, and of liquids that they can withstand medium pressure jet that's 6.3mm diameter, similar to garden hose from any angle for 3 minutes at a distance of 2.5 to 3 metres.

Weight

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5 10g

Jabra Elite 5 have a weight of 10g . We prefer a lower weight best for the reason that lighter devices are easier to move with.

Has No Wires Or Cables

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

True wireless devices have no cables connecting any part of the device together, Ultimate Ears Drops are true wireless for this case since they don't have wires. This is a major difference since wireless earbuds have cables connecting the 2 earbuds together.

Jabra Elite 5 also is true wireless since it doesn't have wires connecting the pair of earbuds .

Wingtips Included

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops have wingtips, these are reserved for workout earbuds and come as an optional add-on to each silicone ear tip for a more secure fit.

Sweat Resistance

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops are resistant to sweat

Jabra Elite 5's resistance to sweat makes both devices ideal for use during long-distance running, marathons, cardio sweat workouts , etc

Is Dust Proof And Water-Resistant

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops are both dustproof and water-resistant.

Has Stereo Speakers

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops have stereo speakers, what this means is that Ultimate Ears Drops's speakers deliver sound from separate channels on both left and right sides, creating a richer sound and a better listening experience.

The Jabra Elite 5 also have stereo speakers

Sound Quality

Has Active Noise Cancellation (Noise Control)

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

ANC makes use of advanced kind of tech to actively counter noise. How it works, it detects and analyzes the sound pattern outside and inside the earbud and after inverts the soundwaves to cancel it out. Simply put, it's like having +1 (noise) and adding -1 (counter sound by the device) to make zero which results in a reduced level of noise.

The Jabra Elite 5 have Active Noise Cancellation allowing you to listen at lower volume levels, causing less ear fatigue as you don't need to crank up the device volume to outcompete background sounds.

Has Passive Noise Reduction

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops stay well in place, this creates an acoustic covering that reduces your environment sounds well as preventing the device sound from leaking out at the same.

Both of these devices have passive noise reduction which means that both tone down ambient noise without using ANC to cancel it out.

Driver Unit Size

Ultimate Ears Drops 9.2mm
Jabra Elite 5 6mm

Ultimate Ears Drops have a unit size of 9.2mm in diameter, the bigger the unit the more powerful, and can produce better bass. A driver unit is the component that makes sound in the device, its size corellates with the loudness of the device.

Jabra Elite 5 driver unit is 6mm in diameter, which implies that they have a smaller driver unit than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 3.2mm , as many tend to believe that driver units of a bigger size automatically produce better sound quality.

However, large drivers usually have difficulty producing high frequencies so yes, larger drivers are capable of generating louder sound, but this does not mean that they deliver better quality sound.

Lowest Frequency

Ultimate Ears Drops 20Hz
Jabra Elite 5 20Hz

Ultimate Ears Drops's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, low-frequency response measures if and how well a particular audio device produces low audible frequencies and if it makes any changes to the signal on its way through.

Jabra Elite 5's lowest frequency is at 20Hz, this implies that both devices can make sound with equal bass

Highest Frequency

Ultimate Ears Drops 20000Hz
Jabra Elite 5 20000Hz

Ultimate Ears Drops's highest frequency is at 20000Hz, high-frequency response measures if and how well an audio device produces high audible frequencies and if it adjustments to the signal on its way through.

Jabra Elite 5's highest frequency is at 20000Hz, this implies that both devices produce equal treble

Sound Pressure Level

Ultimate Ears Drops 110dB/mW
Jabra Elite 5

SPL, is the pressure level of sound, in decibels, dB, Ultimate Ears Drops's measurement is 110dB/mW. Devices with a higher sound pressure level are generally louder when supplied with any given audio source.

Power

Battery Life

Ultimate Ears Drops 6hours
Jabra Elite 5 9hours

Ultimate Ears Drops's battery life is 6 hours, these last longer than 5 hours of listening which is considered average for a single charge. A device's battery life is commonly given by the manufacturer, and with longer battery life, you get to use it for longer and have to charge the device less often.

Jabra Elite 5's battery life is more than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 3 hours . Every time you recharge your earbuds, they get a little less listening time. The effect is barely noticeable at first, but over time, your wireless earbuds will have shorter listening time.

Battery Life Of Charging Case

Ultimate Ears Drops 9hours
Jabra Elite 5 27hours

This is given by the vendor, and the Ultimate Ears Drops's case has a charge of 9 hours. A charging case with more battery hours enables you to recharge your earbuds on the go several times before having to recharge the case itself.

Jabra Elite 5's charging case has a battery life of 27 hours, more than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 18 hours

Charge Time

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5 2hours

It requires 2 hours to fully charge the Jabra Elite 5's battery. It is highly adivsable to fully charge the battery before using the earbuds when they have been in storage for extended periods.

Has Wireless Charging

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops, the device supports wireless charging. To charge the device, you simply place down on a compatible charging pad.

Jabra Elite 5 also support wireless charging, take note of the charging standard of a device.

Has A Battery Level Indicator

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops have a battery level indicator, an indicator alerts you when the device has a low battery. Its lights indicate the charging status of your earbuds and case.

Jabra Elite 5 too have a battery level indicator, charging indicators enable you determine the charging state of your earbuds, whether fully charged, or the battery is running low.

Connectivity

Has Usb Type-C

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops have USB TYPE-C, a standard connector for transmitting both data and power through a single cable.

Jabra Elite 5 too have USB TYPE-C. This USB-C plug comes along with most current electronics.

Bluetooth Version

Ultimate Ears Drops v4.2
Jabra Elite 5 v5.2

Ultimate Ears Drops have Bluetooth version of 4.2, Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard that allows data movement between devices placed in range, using short-wavelength, ultra-high frequency radio waves.

Jabra Elite 5 has a Bluetooth version of 5.2, newer than that of Ultimate Ears Drops . Newer versions provide faster data transfers.

Maximum Bluetooth Range

Ultimate Ears Drops 10meters
Jabra Elite 5 10meters

Ultimate Ears Drops have a 10meters distance connecting via Bluetooth.

Jabra Elite 5 have a maximum range of 10meters, equal to that of the Ultimate Ears Drops

Has Aac

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops support AAC, a codec used for Bluetooth audio. It supports 24-bit audio at 250kbps. Since it uses psychoacoustic modeling, it can provide better results than other codecs at a similar bit rate.

Since its the highest quality codec that any Bluetooth-supporting Apple product supports, the Ultimate Ears Drops will work fine with your MacBook. If you intend on using these with Android you need to pay even closer attention to codec support for if they only have AAC they won't provide the best audio quality possible, ensure that they also support aptX HD, LDAC, or LHDC as well.

The Jabra Elite 5 support AAC as well. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves higher sound quality than MP3 encoders at the same bit rate.

Has Aptx Adaptive

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops support APTX Adaptive, an audio codec for Bluetooth devices that are developed by Qualcomm. It has a variable bit rate (between 279kbps and 420kbps).

Microphone

Number Of Microphones

Ultimate Ears Drops 2only
Jabra Elite 5 6only

The Ultimate Ears Drops have 2 microphones.

The Jabra Elite 5 microphones are 6, more than that of Ultimate Ears Drops by 4 . More microphones record better sound quality and enable the earbuds to filter out background sounds.

Extras

Has Ambient Sound Mode

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops support ambient sound mode, which uses microphones to pass through ambient sound to still be heard even when wearing the earbuds

The Jabra Elite 5 support ambient sound mode as well, it’s useful when you want to listen to music but also be aware of your surrounding, for example when you’re having a jog but would still want to be able to hear traffic.

Has Find Earbuds Feature

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

When misplaced in a room, or can't easily find them in your bag, the Ultimate Ears Drops support the find earbuds feature.

Supports Fast Charging

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops support fast charging. Usually, technologies like Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, are used to lower the time it takes to charge a device.

Also the Jabra Elite 5 too support fast charging. It's very similar to regular charging, just that the battery is filling up much faster. Say, with Quick Charge 3.0, the battery is charged to 50% in just thirty minutes.

Multipoint Count

Ultimate Ears Drops 2only
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops support multipoint of 2 connections, the multipoint feature allows you connect to more than one Bluetooth device and switch between them. Say, you can seemlessly switch calls from one device to another without having to manually disconnect and reconnect.

Has A Mute Function

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops have a mute function, they support the option to mute/unmute a conversation directly from the earbuds.

The Jabra Elite 5 also have the mute function. The mute function means that you unilaterally turn off the earbuds' microphone, but you can still hear the other party talk.

Control Panel Placed On A Device

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

With the Ultimate Ears Drops, so you can easily access the volume control, pause, play, mute, etc whichever functions are supported on the earbuds.

The Jabra Elite 5 too have a control panel on them.

Warranty Period

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5 2Years

Jabra Elite 5 have a warranty period of 2 Years, the period of time that warrant free repair and adjustment services in case of a malfunction occurring under normal use following instruction manuals.

Has Voice Prompts

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

The Ultimate Ears Drops have voice prompts. Automatically receive information via audio messages, say if there is an issue with the connection.

Jabra Elite 5 also support voice prompts meaning the device notifies you when the battery is running low, and you need to recharge them.

Travel Bag Is Included

Ultimate Ears Drops
Jabra Elite 5

Ultimate Ears Drops come with their own special case. Carrying earbuds openly, or placing them inside your bag without a casing can easily damage them.

Jabra Elite 5 too have a case included, which is useful for safe transportation.

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