So right now I feel that both sony and jabra are the in the process of releasing their
new generation of earbuds.
Specifically, Sony’s newer generation of earbuds have smaller and more manageable cases…
and Jabra’s earbuds now moving away from a hero and sidekick connection set up.
But today, we’re going to checkout the Sony WF-C500 and the Jabra Elite 3’s… two very
budget friendly options.
Now when it comes to pricing…
the Elite 3’s have a retail price of $80, and they like to go on sale for $76…
I personally have not seen them go for any cheaper.
Where as the WF-C500 have a retail of $100… but these like to go on sale for $68.
Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two earbuds up, they’ll be linked
down below.
Now first lets talk about these cases cause they are very different.
Now both of these cases are decently small for everyday carry…
however, the Sony’s case is much more noticeable when its in your pocket than jabra’s case
cause this case is thicker and overall has more surface area to it.
Where as the elite 3’s case is much easier to slip in and out of your pocket.
But one major difference between these two cases from a usability standpoint is the lid…
the elite 3’s lid is much easier to open and close…
Where as Sony’s case has a friction lid that locks in place when its fully opened
and it snaps closed when you shut it.
Overall, I think the Jabra Elite 3’s case has the better user experience here.
Its a little easier to slip in and out of your pocket, and the lid is easier to open
and close.
And when it comes to charging both of these cases… both of these cases can only be charged
up through their USB C ports… neither of these two cases have wireless charging which
I think is okay for entry level earbuds like these.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Elite 3 have a combined advertised battery life
of 28 hours with their Ambient mode turned off.
The earbuds themselves can go for 7 hours…
and the case can supply an additional 3 charges.
Overall, the elite 3’s have above average battery life cause your mid tier earbuds in
2022 all try to shoot for around a combined battery life 24 hours.
But then there are the WF-C500’s which have an advertised combined battery life of 20
hours…
its doable, but it is pretty far off from the 28 hours that you will get with the elite
3’s.
However, the thing the WF-C500’s have going for them is their stamina… the earbuds themselves
can go far as long as 10 hours.
But what’s really holding these earbuds back is that their case can only supply one
charge.
So yeah, battery life wise… the jabra Elite 3’s are the clear winners here and this
alone could be a deciding factor for a lot of people.
Plus the elite 3’s do have a slightly more manageable case with a slightly better user
experience to it.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves.
Now both of these earbuds are in ear earbuds and both of these earbuds fit like your standard
pair of in ear earbuds like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2.
As in, they go into your ear canals a decent amount.
They don’t go in slightly deeper into your ear canals like lets say the WF-1000XM4’s…
and they aren’t shallow fitting like lets say the AirPods Pro, Jabra Elite 85T, or even
the Beats studio buds.
Now overall, both of these earbuds fit well and you can wear both of these earbuds for
extended periods of time… specifically cause both of these earbuds are using your standard
silicon ear tips.
Neither of these two earbuds are using foam ear tips which I personally fine get very
itchy and unbearable after like 15 minutes of use like the foam ear tips found on the
WF-1000XM4’s.
Now even though both of these earbuds fit well and they both passively block out a decent
amount of noise cause they both create a good seal with your ear canals…
I would mainly recommend both of these earbuds for casual use.
Even though the WF-C500’s are rocking an IPX4 rating and the Jabra’s are rocking
an IP55 rating… making them decent options for working out… these earbuds do like to
wiggle out if you’re moving around a lot… and especially when you’re jogging.
Now when it comes to connectivity…
with both of these earbuds, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone.
So if you just want to use one earbud at a time, you can use either on it doesn’t matter.
And this is the connection set up that we expect to see on our earbuds nowadays.
Now this is a bog deal for jabra, cause up until very recently all of their earbuds were
using a hero and sidekick set up.
And in general, I think its great that entry levels earbuds like these have this kind of
connection set up… cause usually budget earbuds do tend to use a hero and side kick
set up.
And overall, I would mainly recommend that these earbuds be used with one primary device.
Both of these earbuds can only be connected to one device at a time… and they aren’t
as seamless to jump from one device to another like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2 or Beats Studio
Buds.
And its also very important to keep in mind that
even though the more premium Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s got a firmware update that allows
them to be connected to two devices at the same time… from the looks of it… it looks
like Jabra will be reserving that feature for their more premium products.
But overall, when it comes to performance both of these earbuds have zero latency across
the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether your using an iPhone or
an android device… but when it comes to audio codecs, things get a little interesting
here.
The WF-C500’s have support for SBC and AAC… pretty standard.
Where as the elite 3 have support for SBC and APTX.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these earbuds.
Now both of these earbuds sound good enough to get the job done and they both sound good
for entry level earbuds.
However, as with most entry level earbuds, both of these earbuds have a bass heavy sound
signature.
But thankfully both of these earbuds have a customizable EQ.
And with both of these earbuds, I like to lower the bass and raise the mids on them
so that vocals are easier to hear… but I also like to lower the treble on them, cause
the highs on both of these earbuds can get a little distorted at times.
However, I am going to have to say that the Sony’s sound a little better than the Jabra’s.
The Sony’s sound just a touch less shallow… and their bass does resonate a little more.
But honestly, your average user isn’t going to notice these nuanced differences.
Now when it comes to your media controls, both of these earbuds are using physical buttons…
which some people will really like.
Now you can do things like skip through your music, activate your voice assistant and adjust
the volume of your music.
However just keep in mind, you cannot customize the layout of these buttons like you can with
more premium earbuds.
I also gotta point out that neither if these two earbuds have proximity sensors…
so neither of these two earbuds are going to automatically play or pause your music
if you take them out of your ears or put them back in.
And I personally feel that this is a major inconvenience.
But given that both of these earbuds are very competitively priced entry level earbuds…
I think I can let it slide.
However, one feature that the Elite 3’s really has over the WF-C500’s is that they
have an ambient mode.
And an ambient mode is especially useful if you’re commuting… or if you’re simply
sitting at your desk and working…
if someone calls you, you’re still going to be able to hear them.
Now this isn’t the best ambient mode… but it is decent enough and it is highly welcomed.
And finally here’s the microphone test.
Now this has never been a strong suit for both Sony and Jabra… but they have been
improving.
Now in a quite room, the WF-C500 sounds decent… but I can sound a little robotic.
Where as with the jabra’s I sound a little less robotic… and my voice has more amplification
to it… which I personally like.
Now when it comes to blocking out ambient noise… the Elite 3 are doing a good job
of blocking out this road noise while also elevating my voice.
Where as with the Sony’s even though these earbuds are doing a good job of blocking out
this road noise…
I can sound a little choppy and robotic.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, its the same thing.
These earbuds are doing a decent job of blocking out this chatter… but I can sound rather
robotic.
Where as with the jabra’s these earbuds are letting in more chatter in… but my voice
is still elevated and it doesn’t sound as choppy.
So overall, I do think the jabra’s have the best preforming microphone here… but
I would still recommend that you use these earbuds while in a quieter environment.
But with all of that being said…
I think the Jabra Elite 3’s are decidedly the better pickup over the Sony WF-C500’s.
From a usability standpoint, they have a much longer combined battery life, they have a
better case that is less noticeable while it is in your pocket, I also prefer how their
lid opens, these earbuds have the better performing microphone and more importantly…
they have an ambient mode, which is super convinete either if you’re commuting or
simply working from home.
The WF-C500 are also a decent pick up and they sound a touch better… but over all
the Jabra Elite 3’s are going to give you a better bang for your buck.