At this point, it would be an understatement to say that there are many wireless headphones to choose from. There’s something to be said for a competent platform-agnostic pair that takes a more feature-specific approach rather than relying on ecosystem tricks, which is precisely what Jabra aims to do with the Elite 8 active.
Like its lauded predecessor, Jabra’s Elite 8 Active is designed with fitness enthusiasts in mind. They feature adaptive ANC and eight hours of playback per charge, along with Jabra’s ShakeGrip coating, which helps secure them during rigorous exercise without the need for wingtips. This time, however, they also have an above-average IP68 rating and meet the military specification standard for rugged electronics, meaning they’ve passed a series of durability tests to ensure they withstand extreme temperatures, impacts, and high amount of other factors.
The Elite 8 Active also checks all the basics. They support multipoint, wireless charging, and a standalone mono mode that lets you use either earbud on its own, making them a pretty well-rounded pair overall.
Best Buy, like every retailer out there, is already gearing up for the holiday shopping season with a series of planned sales events, some of which will go against Amazon’s Prime Day event in October. This year, however, the retailer is also introducing some deals and discounts in the form of Best Buy Drops, which will be available in limited quantities weekly through the My Best Buy app.
To start the new Drops program, Best Buy is selling he Apple Watch Ultra 2 with an indigo Alpine Loop strap for $729 ($70 off)—the first discount we’ve seen on Apple’s new smartwatch outside of Amazon’s $20 discount.
What’s more, if you sign up for the retailer’s premium membership plans, My Best Buy Plus or Total, you can get an additional $10 off. But to be prepared for today’s impending deal, you need to open the Best Buy app and click “Drops” in the bottom row, where you can opt to receive a push notification that will let you know when the Ultra 2 deal goes live. You’re just Available while supplies last, so you may need to purchase it immediately once the app notifies you of its availability.
If you haven’t had a chance to delve into our review of the Ultra 2, know that this year’s model is more iterative than revolutionary. The second-generation Ultra includes a brighter display and a bit more processing power in the form of Apple’s new S9 SiP, which enables built-in Siri processing, more power savings, and Apple’s unique “double tap” feature . It also comes with watchOS 10 and features a second-generation ultra-wideband chip, allowing for more accurate tracking in case you lose your watch.
