Jabra Elite 85t Review

I've had the pleasure of using the Jabra Elite 85t in ear headphones for a year now. And the short story is I love them!

They are wireless, Bluetooth headphones that are designed for calls and listening to music, either on the go or sitting at your desk.

In 2020 I was using the Jabra Elite 75t headphones and will be referring my experience of the Elite 85t headphones versus those in some areas.

Setup

As with any Jabra headphones setting up and pairing to your phone or laptop/PC is easy and straight forward. Again using the Jabra Sound+ App  on my phone (or Jabra Direct on my PC) has allowed me to personalise how I want the headphones to sound, check on the battery level and perform firmware updates on the headphones.

Sound Quality

The call quality of the Elite 85t is as good as you would wish for and expect from Jabra range. There have been no issue when I've been walking outside and using the headphones to make a call.  I can hear the person on fine and no one has complained about the microphone quality from my end.

In terms of listening to music I do love these headphones.  Of course if you are a true audiophile then you might disagree with me, but as an all round in ear headphones these are great.

From listening to my Spotify Wrapped up favourite hits or the latest episode of my favourite podcast they suit my needs.

Noise Cancellation

For me this feature either works or doesn't. The noise cancelling works as you'd want and expect.  You can hide out the noise from people around you, or let it in when you need it.

I've sat listening to podcasts on my headphones in the same room as my husband while he watches TV and the TV noise hasn't come through or distracted me at all.

Equally, when I've been out walking I've had the noise cancellation feature turned off and been able to hear the noise around me for safety reasons while still being able to hear my music.

Do Jabra Elite 85t stay in ear?

The short answer to this is yes.  When I was using the Elite 75t headphones I was regularly worried about the headphones falling out my ear.  This is NOT an issue with the Elite 85t.

I have complete confidence in the Elite 85t staying in place.  I've tried them while sitting at my desk, walking and even cycling and they've been fine.

Battery life

According to the specs that Jabra have released the Elite 75t is supposed to have a better battery life than the Elite 85t.  For me the battery life of the Elite 85t is amazing.  

The headphones themselves hold a charge then the case holds a charge, so I've found I can go a week of lunch time walks using my headphones without having to reach for my charging cable.

Is it worth upgrading to Elite 85t?

If you already have the Elite 75t or something similar you might be wondering if it's worth the upgrade to the Elite 85t.  For me, the answer is yes.  They've fixed the issue of the Elite 75t falling out your ear.  They've also made little changes by moving the indicator light on the charging case to the front.

Is 85t better than 75t?

This one is a hard one to answer, as I think it will be different for everyone depending on their use case of the headphones.  

• The Elite 75t are lighter than the Elite 85t.
• The Elite 75t are rated IP55 which means they are dust and can resist a sustained, low-pressure water jet spray.  The Elite 85t are rated IPX4, which means they are resistant to water splashes from any direction.
• The microphone on the Elite 75t is only a Dual MEMS (microelectromechanical systems).  Where as the Elite 85t has 6 x MEMS.
• Battery tests say that the Elite 75t has a better battery life overall over the Elite 85t.
• The Elite 85t takes less time to charge than the Elite 75t.

So as I said, it'll depend on what you features are important to you or what are needed by you.

Overview

These are probably my second favourite Jabra headphones.  My favourite are the Jabra Evolve2 85, which I use for work when I'm at my desk and the Jabra Elite 85t are my go to for when I am on the move.