Jabra Elite 75t Review: Massive Bass From Tiny Buds
"With its excellent fit, comfort and battery life, the Elite 75t from Jabra are small but deliver a large bass."
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Should fit most ears
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Full, rich sound
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Very light and convenient
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Very portable
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Outstanding call quality
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Bass can be too much for some
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No hands-free assistant option
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Average battery life
The Jabra Elite 75t are the company's newest and best wireless earbuds. Originally planned for $ 200, Jabra lowered the price to $ 180 shortly before they hit the stores in November 2019.
This puts the Elite 75t in the middle of a crowded category: They are cheaper than a set of normal Apple AirPods with a wireless charging case, but more expensive than those who use a normal case. They're considerably cheaper than the Apple AirPods Pro, valued at $ 249, and yet are $ 20 to $ 30 more expensive than the Jabra Elite 65t, which the company plans to continue selling.
How does the Elite 75t stack up? Do they have enough features to justify a place in this exploding market and are they really as comfortable as Jabra has claimed? We put her to the test to find out.
Crazy comfort
It's true: the Elite 75t are extremely comfortable for real wireless earbuds. If you hate filling your ear canals with silicone, you won't magically become a fan of this sensation. But they're incredibly small, making them sit well in your outer ear and create less pressure in your ear canal to keep them there. Not only is this overall more comfortable, it may also give you the opportunity to enjoy real wireless earbuds if you're having trouble fitting other models.
Rich Shibley / Digital Trends
Unlike most real wireless in-ear earphones, the Elite 75t doesn't come with ear fins – the tiny silicone tabs that anchor a bud and prevent it from popping out. This is because they are small and light enough not to need them. This ultra-low weight virtually eliminates the feeling of bulk that other earphones can create during intense activities such as running. They really go away as soon as you put them in your ears.
Big, bold bass
Given the small size of the Elite 75t, one thing I wasn't expecting was the huge, deep, and resonant bass. When I started it for the first time, I was surprised and started looking for the EQ settings in the Jabra Sound + app. The equalizer was not messed up – it was set to the flat factory profile. The bottom line is that the Elite 75t has been tuned to prefer low frequencies, sometimes at the expense of clear and detailed highs or clear mids.
They are perfect for watching movies – who needs a subwoofer when you have the Elite 75t?
For some listeners, this is a treat. You won't usually find real wireless earbuds with this kind of bombastic bass response. So if you've been looking for buds that can mimic the boom that is usually associated with large over-the-ear cans like Beats Studios, you're here. I will love the Elite 75t. For some genres like jazz and classical, this distinctive low-end warms the sound and lets you feel the deep vibrations of the bass, which is played in a confined space. They are perfect for watching movies – who needs a subwoofer when you have the Elite 75t?
Music fans with a preference for balanced and precise acoustics should look elsewhere. Even after playing extensively with the EQ settings, it was impossible to find a really neutral setting that would allow my favorite songs to be played without prejudice.
Pocket mates
Aside from the bass, one of the first things you notice about the Elite 75ts is how small they are and how small their charging case is. Both were significantly reduced from the 65t, which makes them perfect travel companions, whether you prefer bags or purses or whether you go to work or to training. You just have to look at the Amazon Echo Buds to see how well the Elite 75t fits in your pocket.
Rich Shibley / Digital Trends
The charging case has a lid that snaps into place with a magnetic seal. Even if it should accidentally open, the earbuds are firmly magnetically locked, making it unlikely that the earbuds will get out of control. Fortunately, in this case, you can use the Sound + app to track the location of the Elite 75t and force it to howl high if it gets stuck in the recesses of a sofa or wallet.
I was glad to see the charging case updated to USB-C as this is pretty much the standard for all (non-iOS) phones now, but I would prefer the charging indicator to be in the front rather than the back.
The case isn't as easy to open with one hand as the original AirPods or the super cool Klipsch T5, but we doubt that this will be a deal breaker for everyone.
Push your buttons
Real wireless earphones usually use a variation of touch-sensitive surfaces or good, old-fashioned buttons. The Elite 75t chooses the latter – one on each earphone – and I really like them. They are easy to use, you know exactly whether you pressed them or not thanks to a satisfactory click, and it is much more difficult to accidentally trigger them.
Rich Shibley / Digital Trends
You may need to put a few fingers on the side of your head for better click accuracy. However, I do the job of repeatedly tapping an earphone into my skull to stop my music. You get a wide range of activities – four actions per earbud – with single, double, triple and long clicks.
All important tasks are covered: play / pause, skip / track tracks, answer / end calls, turn HearThrough mode on / off, volume and voice assistant. The only downside is that you can't have a say in what each button does. Every earphone and click combination has a specific action, but Jabra tells us that an update to the Jabra Sound + app in 2020 will activate "MyControls", a function to customize the button function.
It is your call
Jabra has a long history of making Bluetooth headsets with excellent call quality, and the Elite 75t doesn't disappoint. The four-microphone array can easily handle a variety of environments, and callers found it easy to hear me (and me, them).
Frequent voice callers will appreciate that you can use both earbuds or just the right earbud to make and receive calls.
When I first tested the Elite 75t, I noticed the inability to hear itself while I was on the phone with two earbuds. It turned out that I had missed the "Sidetone" function, which enables just that. With the Sound + app, you can not only switch Sidetone on or off using the left earbud, but also adjust how much of your voice gets through. After trying it out, I'm happy to let you know that it works very well and makes the Elite 75t a great companion for phone calls.
Asked and answered
In a similar context, it is also very easy to make yourself heard when you speak to your preferred voice assistant. Pressing the right earphone button twice activates either Alexa or Siri (on iOS) or Alexa or Google Assistant (on Android). As practical as it is, my time with the Echo Buds has made me a hands-free Alexa addict, and I want to be able to call any voice assistant by simply asking for it.
There are many cases where it is more convenient and safer to keep your hands where they are. There may even be emergencies where you simply cannot reach your ears or your phone. If you can say, "Hey Google, call 9-1-1," it can save your life. Jabra, if you're listening, please consider this for the Elite 85t.
Good (not great) battery
Jabra claims that the Elite 75t can last 7.5 hours on a full charge. In our tests, in which the earphones were operated continuously at maximum volume, we were only able to use them for almost 7 hours. Many new real wireless earbuds that aren't made by Apple are better, but it's still a solid upgrade over previous generations, and all the more impressive considering their small size.
The charging case is suitable for almost three full charges, so that you have a total time of approx. 28 hours between the plug-ins. With the quick charge function, you can take an hour with just 15 minutes of charge.
Quite passive
A feature that is becoming increasingly common in real wireless earbuds is active noise cancellation. Sony has it. Apple's expensive new AirPods Pro have it. Even the budget-friendly Echo Buds have it. But the Elite 75t doesn't.
On the one hand, you could argue that these in-ear earphones don't really need them due to their almost complete noise isolation. Because the noise isolation is so good, HearThrough mode offers adjustable microphone sensitivity to make noise when you need to know your surroundings better (or to have your name heard by the barista at Starbucks).
Would noise cancellation be a nice addition? Yes. But you don't need it to enjoy the Elite 75t, especially at its price.
Our opinion
The Jabra Elite 75t is small, but very comfortable and is a good choice for small ears or for those who want to wear earphones for a long time – something that enables their battery life of 7.5 hours. Their bass-heavy EQ is impressive given its size – but not for everyone. Overall, it is a highly portable, high-quality set of real radio buds with user-friendly controls and excellent call quality.
Is there a better alternative?
If you don't mind a slightly larger bud and a battery life of just 5 hours, the Amazon Echo Buds offer more features and less bass-intensive sound for a very reasonable $ 130. If battery life is paramount, you should definitely consider the Samsung Galaxy Buds + for $ 150.
However, if you are an iPhone user, you need to check out the excellent AirPods Pro. They cost $ 70 more but offer amazing noise cancellation, great sound, and go perfectly with Siri. However, none of these earphones can keep up with the water and dust protection class IP55 of the Elite 75t and the excellent ergonomics. If you want even more protection from water, the Elite Active 75t will soon be available with protection class IP57 for $ 200.
How long will they last?
The Jabra Elite 75t has a two-year warranty that is above average. The water and dust resistance corresponds to protection class IP55. This suggests that in the long run, they're at least as robust (if not significantly more) than many of the other real wireless earphones out there.
Jabra's build quality is excellent and the battery is solid (for real radio buds anyway), so they should last for years.
Should you buy them
If you're a fan of bone-shaking bass, you've come to the right place – the Elite 75t are the real wireless earbuds for you. They are also a good choice if you are having trouble fitting the earbuds. If you're looking for a more balanced sound, the Elite Active 75t will be available shortly and offer a less bass-heavy EQ in addition to its better water resistance.
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