Jabra Elite Active 75t review

Jabra already makes some very good real wireless headphones, including the Elite 75t, a choice of PCMag editors. For $ 20 more, the $ 199.99 Elite Active 75t gives a boost in the durability and portability departments, making it an even stronger purchase for gym enthusiasts, or anyone else looking to looking for waterproof earphones with a super secure fit. Everything else stays the same, from a powerful, bass-rich sound signature to an adjustable equalizer via one of the best companion apps we've tested. All of this makes the Elite Active 75t worth the extra $ 20 and another choice of editors for real wireless headphones.

Design

Available in black, black and copper or blue models, the Elite Active 75t headphones are among the safest pairs we've tested, despite the lack of extra-adjusted accessories like the ailerons. They come with three pairs of silicone tips of small, medium and large sizes.

Both headphones have push buttons with variable functions. The left ear button decreases the volume when it is pressed and held down, skips a track when it is pressed twice or goes back when it is pressed three times. One press toggles HearThrough mode (which uses ambient microphones to allow you to hear your surroundings), or mutes the microphone during a call. The right ear button controls playback or handles phone calls with a single touch. A long press increases the volume and a double press calls your phone's voice assistant.

Let's talk about the improvements: first, the headphones have more grip and stay even better in place than the already secure Elite Active 75t. The extra-secure fit also provides additional passive acoustic isolation – the headphones will really block out surrounding noise to a noticeable extent.

The main improvement, however, is the IP index (protection against penetration). The previous model has an IP55 rating. The Elite Active 75t is IP57 certified. These numbers may seem close, but their difference is not necessarily obvious if you are not familiar with the IP classification system. The first digit of each index is a 5, that is the number of protection against solids such as dust and dirt. They are therefore identical on this front. The second number is where improvement comes in. A rating of 5 for liquids is decent, but not excellent – that means the headphones can handle things like light splashes and perspiration. Note 7 here means that the headphones can be submerged in a meter of water without problem, so you can rinse them in the sink, wlisten to them in a heavy downpour, or even soak them in water to clean them.

The Jabra Sound + companion app for Android and iOS has a customizable five-band equalizer in addition to several user presets (as well as a separate equalizer for phone calls). The app also allows for several custom settings, such as one-touch access to Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, or allowing you to choose whether you want to pause or play automatically when a headset is took of. The headphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and support the Bluetooth AAC and SBC codecs, but not AptX.

Jabra estimates the battery life to be around 7.5 hours, with a charging case offering up to 28 hours of extra time, although your results will vary depending on your volume levels. These battery statistics are identical to the Elite 75t.

Performance

Internally, a 6mm speaker in each ear offers a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout", the headphones produce an absolutely thundering depth of bass in one way or another without completely upsetting the balance of the mix. Those who prefer a more balanced sound signature with less noise, will probably want to go back a bit in the equalization of the application.

Bill Callahan's "Drover", a track with much shallower bass in the mix, gives us a better idea of ​​the overall sound signature. The drums are indeed thundering here, so bass lovers and those motivated by booming bass will be delighted. The presence of high frequencies is also excellent, and Callahan's voices and acoustic sounds get crisp treble. Recalling the lows of the app can turn booming things into full, round and natural.

On "No Church in the Wild" by Jay-Z and Kanye West, the bass drum loop receives a lot of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain most of its punch. We also hear the hiss and crackle of the vinyl advancing somewhat in the mix – there are a lot of high-frequency tweaks and carvings happening here. The sub-bass synth hits that beat the beat are intense, with some of the closest responses to a subwoofer you'll hear through a pair of headphones. And yet the voices are delivered in a crisp, clear sound, although it sounds like they're fighting against the bass if you boost the bass slightly.

Orchestral tracks, such as the opening scene by John Adams & # 39; The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get more bass boost than most listeners will want, so you'll probably choose to recall the bass somewhat in the app. However, brass, strings and upper register voices keep their place in the spotlight.

The network of MEMS microphones offers excellent intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we were able to understand each word we recorded clearly and clearly, with little to no Bluetooth distortion. There was even a small presence of bass in the recording. During calls, the headphones also do a great job of transmitting your voice through the speakers: you can hear yourself clearly and therefore tend to speak less loudly.

Conclusions

We think the Elite Active 75t headphones are worth the $ 20 premium over the standard model thanks to an extremely secure and fully waterproof design. How do they behave against the 250 AirPods Pro? Well, do you want in-ear noise cancellation and seamless integration with your iOS device? If that's the case, the AirPods Pro have the advantage. If it is a better IP rating, a more secure in-ear adjustment and an application with audio and operational customization, Jabra has the advantage and wins our choice of publishers. If these two models are too expensive, we still recommend the Elite 75t, a little cheaper, or, for much less, the $ 80 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air.

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