The Jabra Elite 85t are wireless in-ears. With the previous generation of bluetooth headphones, the Danish brand proved to offer excellent sound quality and a long battery life. You can read whether Jabra improves its earphones with this latest generation in this Jabra Elite 85t review.
Jabra Elite 85t
MSRP € 229, –
Color black, gray, gold
Link Bluetooth 5.1
Battery 70 mAh (earpiece), 500 mAh (charging case)
Weight 7 grams (earpiece), 45 grams (charging box)
Features microphone, IPX4, push button control, noise canceling, ambient sound mode
Load USB-C, wireless
Website www.jabra.nl
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Suitable for work
- Clear sound and call quality
- Lots of functionality
- Negatives
- Less suitable for activities
A few months before this review, I tested the Jabra Elite 75t for a comparison of different bluetooth in-ear headphones. Unfortunately, the Elite 85t earphones came on the market just too late to be recorded. Despite this, Jabra’s 75t earbuds came out well in the test. A distinction was mainly made because the ears are extremely suitable for work. You are of course inclined to use the earphones in combination with your smartphone for a conversation, music or podcast. But of course you can connect the earphones to your laptop just as easily, which is also handy during a Teams conversation. Jabra scored on the points that are important for this: clear sound, a battery that lasts a working day and noise suppression. In that respect, the same check marks can also be placed on this Jabra Elite 85t.
In addition, the Jabra Elite 85t has another handy trick: the earbuds can connect to two devices at the same time. This way you can connect both your laptop and your smartphone and play the sound from both devices.
Small differences
The differences between the Elite 75t and Elite 85t are not that big. In fact. If you were to exchange them, you would hardly notice the differences and the ears are also almost the same in terms of design. The Elite 85t has better water resistance, but that is not visible to the eye.
The Elite 85t is, unlike its predecessor, capable of wireless charging and the charging case has a bit more charging capacity. Furthermore, the microphones have been improved, so that you can use the earphones better during telephone calls and the noise cancellation works better. The speaker size has been increased from 6mm to 12mm, which yields slightly better sound quality. In practice you will hear this through a somewhat more powerful sound.
In practice you therefore also notice little difference. But that is not a bad thing, since the Elite 75t also came out very well in the test.
Fit
The Jabra Elite 85t earphones look businesslike and have replaceable rubber tips, so they should be suitable for every ear canal. In addition to the medium-sized tips, you also get a set of small ones and larger ones. Unfortunately, I had some trouble with the fit myself, but that of course depends on your ear. This kept the ears in place during work or light movement, but I had to be careful when running, for example, that the in-ears did not fall out of my ears. If you plan to purchase earphones for running, make sure that the fit is suitable for you. Or opt for a sports version of earphones. Jabra offers them in the Elite Sport series, for example, but Bose also has excellent headphones for activities with the Sport Earbuds.
Battery life
The earphones come in a compact charging box, which offers enough capacity to charge both earphones slightly more than three times. You can charge the charging box wirelessly or via the USB-C connection.
Of course, the battery life of the earbuds depends on your use. The earphones have noise cancellation and a mode that allows ambient sound to pass through, by amplifying the with the microphones. Using one of the two modes does result in higher energy consumption. Without noise reduction or ambient noise, your ears will last for up to an hour or seven. With one of the modes switched on, the earbuds last about five hours.
Sound quality
The sound quality of the Jabra Elite 85t is fine. The sound is a bit more powerful, compared to the Jabra Elite 75t and you can hear that in the mid and bass tones. The sound is clearly adjusted, so that speech in particular is clearly audible. The ears also offer a lively experience for music. It is nice that the bass sound has not gotten the upper hand. Downside is that some fine details are a bit lost.
You can adjust the ears in the accompanying Sound + app. There is an equalizer available that allows you to adjust the sound for your earphones yourself, which is great if you use the earphones one moment for a Teams conversation and the next for music. You can also go to the app to update the ears.
The sound is clearly adjusted, so that speech in particular is clearly audible.
The app has been remarkably extensive. For example, you can adjust the operation of the earphones completely to your liking, for music control, switching on or off noise reduction and ambient sound mode or accepting a phone call. This operation of the ears is not done by touch, but the ears have a button that you press. This has its advantages, so you can operate the ears with gloves on.
You can also use the app to play so-called soundscapes, such as nature sounds. This allows you to focus extra on your work, for example, without being easily distracted by ambient noise.
Alternatives to the Jabra Elite 85t
If you are looking for earphones that you want to use during work, the Jabra Elite 85t is one of the best options. Of course, there are earphones with better sound quality, fit and noise cancellation. But you also pay more for that. For example the Bose Quietcomfort Earbuds. But you pay more for this. If you also want to use the earbuds more for activities such as running and cycling, it is good to check the fit and possibly look for alternatives. For example, the Oppo Enco X fitted better (for me) and the noise reduction worked better.
The biggest competitor for the Jabra Elite 85t, however, comes from its own stable. The Jabra Elite 75t is also extremely suitable for work and are indistinguishable in design. The biggest differences are in the water resistance and the slightly more powerful sound. If you are in the market for the Jabra Elite 85t, it is definitely worth checking whether the extra price compared to the previous generation is worth it.
Conclusion: Want to buy a Jabra Elite 85t?
The Jabra Elite 85t are earphones that are all-round good. The sound quality, battery life, wearing comfort, app, call quality and noise cancellation are all fine. This makes the ears suitable for both work and on the road. Only the fit makes the ears (for me) less suitable for activities such as running and cycling. .