Jabra Elite 85t

 My airpods have seved me well since 2017, but this winter they started failing to work when cold outside. I figured it was time to replace them. I started reviewing the top-of-the line products out there, and quickly narrowed down the list to three candidates. Bose probably has the best active noise cancelling, otherwise Apple Airpods Pro and Jabra Elite 85t comes out pretty equal. I never liked the Bose design, and with rumors of  new AirPods Pro coming in April, I decided to go for the Jabra.

I have Jabra Elite 85h in the office for comminication, and I like them a lot. The software, especially on mobile devices, for setting up the sound options is really good compared to Apple. 85t uses the same software.

My biggest concern were the fit. You don't get to try buds, and you don't get to return them. In that sense, the Elite 75t active would have been a safer choice as they are lighter and a more snug fit. When I tested the 85t for the first time, the software told my the fit was not optimal so I changed from the default to the bigger plugs (buds comes with three sizes). With this set, software was happy, and the fit felt good.

The ANC is great; audio quality is fantastic so I believe when commuting (I hardly ever take public transportation) these must be fantastic. Equalizer lets you shape audio the way you like it.

Button control is probably the best feature. With my AirPods, tapping worked well with my iPhone connected. Unfortately, this did not work with my Fenix 6X watch. The 85t works perfectly, and this is a huge benefit when running.

Jabra Elite 85t titanium black

In these COVID-19 times, there is a lot of communication over Teams etc. For a full working day, the 85h over-ear earphones gets a bit warm and uncomfortable. For this reason, I wanted to check the functionality of the 85t. Firstly, it is very annoying that the Jabra software on computers require a Jabra dongle to connect. I have an old Jabra Link 360 in the office, but for my MacBook with only thunderbolt ports, you don't get to configure the connection.  For phone and video calls, the first impression of the 85t is that they do not work well. Try talking to yourself with passive sleep or motorcycle earplugs and you see what I mean. ANC off is worst. The best is hear-through mode, and this can be configured in software. However, both 85t and 85h switch to ANC during calls. There is a feature called sidetone that adjusts how loud your own voice sounds that probably can be tuned to improve the experience.

All in all, I am really happy with my 85t. I can't wait to go running with them. As for making phonecalls I don't think they will be used much in the office. I tried them with a motocycle helmet on, and that did not work at all. It will be interesting to see how well they work on an airplane.