Nearly 2 years ago, Jabra released the excellent 65t series. These wireless earbuds were renown for not only holding their ground against AirPods, but being a clear favorite to many in the industry. Engineers at Jabra have apparently been quite busy and have pushed for even further performance and quality with their latest model, the Elite Active 75T. Will these be the new benchmark for wireless earbuds?
Listening to your Customer Base
This is the first point I would like to hit on for the Elite Active 75t series. They are a direct result of Jabra taking notes of complaints and wish lists from their customers. Miraculous things happen when manufacturers don’t just assume what customers want, but proactively engage and research into what their target audience is asking for. Better bass…you got it; precise audio customization through an app…sure; waterproof you say…why not. It’s obvious Jabra set very high expectations from their team and yet, they achieved their goals with resounding success.
Efficient and Elegant Design
The Jabra Elite Active 75t, coming in at $180, have been treated with a special coating on both earbuds as part of their waterproof and sweat-resistant capabilities. They magnetically snap into place when stored, which means they aren’t going anywhere unless you intentionally pull them out. It closes with a satisfying snap, thanks to a magnetic hinged cover. They come in three different colors including: Titanium Black, Navy and Copper Black. Future colors are coming, such as Grey, Sienna and Mint. Jabra sent us the Copper variant and I love the contrast it provides against the flat black base of the earbuds.
Aesthetically, they are pretty close to their predecessor, but are over 20% smaller than the Elite Active 65t. This series is also now waterproof, sweat-resistant and dustproof; sporting an impressive IP57 rating. This means these can be submersed up to 1 meter underwater without consequence. I’m not sure anyone will swim with these, but hypothetically it could be done.
Fitment is absolutely on point here as well. It comes with three different silicone tips to experiment with so you can dial in a perfect match. I strongly encourage everyone to try each one out. I felt the smallest one to fit the easiest, thinking this would be my favorite. However, as I tried all three to check out the sound and fit differences, the original ones that come stock on the earbuds had a strong edge in the bass delivery and overall range of sound. Trust me it’s well worth the time and effort as you’ll be shocked by the difference in sound that each one offers (as everyone’s ear is unique).
Once inserted, they stay seated and are highly comfortable. The weight for this model was reduced as well by .19 ounces in an effort to prevent fatigue from setting in after wearing them for an extended amount of time. Battery life is a huge concern with any wireless device and the Jabra has cranked up the audio performance of this model to an astounding level, all while still delivering close to 8 hours on a single charge via USB-C. Compare that to less than 5 hours on AirPods. These time measurements are also taking into account you are pushing these earbuds at a mid to high level for consecutive hours. We have found it easy to get a full days use out of these without a problem.
The four on-board microphones have also been revised here. They have repositioned their placement with one in the back and front of each earbud. This helps to eliminate ambient sounds within your surroundings, giving your music and phone calls much more clarity in noisy environments. Once your pair these with your Android or Apple device, it will automatically connect once you remove the earbuds from their case…nice.
Push Button Audio Adjustments
Controls are simple, effective and precise thanks to physical controls. The right earbud is in charge of the play and pause features (one press). Holding down this button will increase the volume. It is also responsible for answering calls (one press). You can access Alexa, Siri and Google Play by pressing the right button twice.
The left earbud enables or disables HearThrough by holding down the button. This feature allows you to hear what’s around you if you wish. To skip a track, simply push the left button in twice and you can go backwards one track by pressing it three times. To lower the volume, hold the left button down till you reach the desired level.
The Boss at Bass
For those that enjoy hip hop, rap, trap, instrumental mixes and other genres that feature a strong bass presence, the Jabra Elite Active 75t are going to be your new favorite by a very large margin. The amount of deep, guttural bass notes these wireless earbuds are capable of are nothing short of incredible. I’ve never heard earbuds even come remotely close to the range and low drops that the Elite Active 75t’s are capable of. Bassoholics are going to be in love with these things.
We pushed these earbuds to the max with some some of our favorites including “I Disagree” by Poppy, “I Dream in Lines” by Astronoid, “Truth to the Weak” by Fire from the Gods, and “The Offering” by Sleep Token to name just a few. I found myself just playing so much of my library on loop because I was just in disbelief that this was coming through wireless earbuds.
“I can’t begin to explain the voodoo that the mad scientists have pulled off behind the scenes at Jabra with the Elite Active 75T series. You can crank these guys up loud as you want and the sound only grows bolder, more complex in its execution and unrivaled in its unrelenting pounding bass; all without a single line of distortion.”
Dialing in your soundstage has never been easier or more flexible thanks to the Jabra’s Sound+ App. This allows you to customize your audio experience depending on your environments and locations. It features a 5 band equalizer to finely tune in your sound preferences. Touch each point on the line graph to adjust the bass, mids and treble range. Save these profiles once you get it perfect for each music genre. The versatility and customization this app provides cannot be understated.
It also comes with a few more tricks baked in such as SmartSound which can automatically make adjustments for you based on background noise and you can also activate HearThrough to enjoy your tunes while still being able to be aware of your surroundings. It is a wonderful software suite that adds another layer of functionality and value to this phenomenal audio experience.
Conclusion
Jabra has demonstrated many things with the Elite Active 75t. First, they clearly payed attention to what their customer base wanted in a future revision. Their team not only delivered on those wishes, but somehow rose above the highest of expectations; coming through with the best wireless earbuds yet of 2020.
Their Sound+ App is a wonderful addition and helps to dial in near perfect profiles for all of your favorite music genres. From high quality parts to elite audio performance, this undoubtedly raises the bar for what we thought was possible in the wireless earbud form factor.
