(NEW) Jabra Elite 5 Bluetooth Hybrid ANC Earbuds

Bought these mainly to get multi-connect tech, which no one else but Jabra seem to consider important. But was enamored by claims of much better sound than my 75Ts, which at the mo are so battery-degraded, they can't hold a charge more than a couple of hours. These were on sale, so bit... Have a pair of earbuds I intensely hate for their painful ear retention, shoddy build quality, wonky feature set, and inability to reliably charge when plugged in... but whose sound is still after 5 yrs, amazing in comparison to every other earbud save $500-in-ear-monitors I've tried: the Tronsmart Apollo Bold. What a waste of a bill... but its sound has begrudgingly kept me from throwing it away all these years despite flaws. So a far more reputable European product, claiming similar fidelity yet features I liked in the 75T only improved? Gave it a try... More bass than the Elite 7 Pros? If there is I can't find it. Yes I've noodled in the Sound+ app -- barely-perceptible change in sound no matter how I change the EQ. Back to back with the crappy Apollos, not even a comparison. Still falls out of my ears no matter the earcups, despite the loss of mass vs. 75T; that were another letdown. So much for all those ear canal scans -- maybe scan more non-European ears? There is some good. The confusion the 75T has with pairing, connecting only for calls and not audio 4 of 5 times, needing cradle / uncradle to solve... has vanished with the Elite 5, thank effing God. Doesn't remember my laptop or phone tho so must be manually connected, thus not as useful as the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1, another set long in the trash for its showstopper flaws. But the features it does bring, all seem to work much less cynically than other earbuds, esp the Sino-made ones. Don't fully regret spending what I did for these earbuds. But ignore the marketing; it's no game-changer for sound. Getting 7 hrs of battery life vs. the 75T's 5 hrs, higher build quality with features that are well-conceived and well-executed, are more practically why I looked for these in the first place... but can also see why they're heavily discounted. For calls and such and a *barely-perceptible* bit more bass, these are fine if you can't find the Elite 7 Pro at a similar price. But not if you're looking for in-ear monitors at a cut rate price, or want to workout in them. Suppose that's why there's an Elite 7 Active ⭐️⭐️⭐️_ _ --- UPDATE 04 NOV 23: Despite a lackluster initial impression, perhaps the *lack* of features has made this model more reliable than the 7 Pro -- I've had a lot of problems with the 7s that do not at all manifest on these 5s. Pros (since 18 Aug 23): - far more reliable charging; has never failed to charge when cradled - far more reliable and faster connection, both to single-source and multiple sources - far more reliable delivering sound vs. 7 Pros, esp playing YT playlists - more agreeable case shape, even if less capacity, vs. 7 Pros (esp fact the charge port is on the back and not the front of the case, so the green LED doesn't light up the room at night whilst trying to sleep; just lay it on the front of the case, LED-down whilst charging, problem solved) - slightly lighter weight apparent when wearing several hours Cons: - slippery; can fall out of my ears laying down, moreso than 7s - less battery life is less battery life; any set of wireless earbuds sold in 2023 should have at minimum 8 hrs of avg. runtime ANC-off before low-chg warning, a full shift at work - far too expensive for how they sound vs. 2023 competition. If they were $99 at launch, I'd have no complaints about pricing, but 30% more? I overpaid... Faaar better than $150 for the 7 Pros... but just okay for the $128 I paid for these, this past summer. For $109, I'd think about it; below $100, I'd recommend them no problem :) --- UPDATE 03 JAN 24: L earbud has begun to stop charging, showstopper, taking yet another star. What's this, not even 6 mos? Doesn't charge to 100% in L earbud anymore, junk. DO NOT BUY... for all its fancy features, not charging to 100% negates them all. ⭐️_ _ _ _