Jabra Elite 85t: The Best ANC Earbuds. Period.
One look at the 85ts and you know they’re a Jabra product as it retain the same design language from their previous earbuds. It is a bit thicker and heavier than the previous 75t earbuds but still retaining a small footprint weighing in at only 0.12lbs w/ the case. You got a semi-open design w/ small speaker grills, oval bud cushions, and circular buttons. It even has sensors to auto-pause when you take the earbuds out.
Although it isn’t waterproof, it does have an IPX4 rating to handle a little bit of rain drizzle or a few splashes. The charging case is a square-ish finish w/ rounded corners. They’re on the larger side of earbuds cases but not bulky while still being pocketable. Those circular buttons we previously discussed previously are multi-functional buttons on the Jabra logo. Each button on each bud that allows you to play/pause media, skip/restart media, take calls, cycle through ANC or HearThrough modes, and access your virtual assistant.
When placing them in my ears, it feels like they could be a bit more snug but it works. You just place them in your ears & that’s it. No twisting or anything to help the fit or nothing. They can stay put as long as until the battery dies w/ ease. This is even through putting my masks on/off, chewing gum, eating, & more. In other words, the Elite 85ts are super comfortable.
Jabra is utilizing 12mm drivers to deliver the sound and spoiler alert: it does an amazing best-in-class kind of job. I mean really good, full, & loud audio w/a full soundstage & the perfect amount of bass + clarity. All of this while utilizing SBC + AAC codecs only. Good job Jabra. You even got Bluetooth 5.1 w/ a 33ft range that holds up pretty good. And the joys of multi-point Bluetooth that can connect to up to 8 devices & 2 devices at the same time. The Jabra Sound companion app allows you to adjust the sound via its own equalizer along w/ accessing all of the levels of ANC.
It should be no surprise that Jabra's ANC capabilities on here are superior but the audio is here as well.
And speaking of ANC, Jabra equipped these w/ a dedicated ANC processor inside as well as 6 on-board mics w/ ANC taking advantage of 4 of them. The other 2 are to combat wind when taking phone calls. Combined, this makes up their fully adjustable advanced ANC. Jabra quotes 11 levels of ANC going from off to HearThrough to full ANC that’s all controlled via their easy to use Jabra Sound+ app. The ANC here is amazing as it can block out a lot of noise + sound – even better than the AirPods Pro. My only real nitpick here is that the HearThrough setting works well but sounds a little artificial rather than being natural sounding.
The 85ts are doing a little bit better than other noise-canceling earbuds in regards to battery life. You get 5 and a half hours of juice w/ ANC on in a single charge + up to 25 hours total w/ the charging case. That gets better as per usual when you turn ANC off. Those numbers go up to 7 hours of juice + up to 31 hours w/ charging case.
The case itself charges via USB-C as well as through Qi wireless charging. However, USB-C is the faster way to go as wireless charging on the slightly slower side that will take 3 and a half hours to charge. You do have fast-charging available as a 15-min charge gives you an hour of juice. But keep in mind that it does take 2 & a half hours to charge fully from being dead.
The Jabra Elite 85ts set a new high bar in earbuds.
The Jabra Elite 85ts are just better than the competition in damn near every way. Better sound quality, better ANC capabilities, multi-point Bluetooth connection, and better battery life than other ANC earbuds. Other ANC earbuds seem to not check all of these boxes as of yet while Jabra is hitting them right now w/ ease. These retail for $230 which is around the ballpark of the competition retails. But if the 85ts sound great but looking for a slightly cheaper option, I would recommend the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds w/ 4-mics + ANC as well that retails for $180 but is on sale often.
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