Jabra Elite 75t – up there with the best

Jabra Elite 75t
9.2

Jabra is not necessarily a name that audiophiles know. Its latest Jabra Elite 75t in-ear, true wireless buds may change all that.

The Jabra Elite 75t has a superb fit (won’t fall out), BT 5.0 true wireless (works further from your phone),  IP55 rated (dust and sweat), 7.5 hours use and 28 hours with the charging case, and best of all is completely compatible with Apple’s Siri, OK Google and even Alexa.

The Jabra Elite 75t is the update to the Jabra Elite 65t that Thomas Bartlett gave 4.6-out-of-5 in his review – high praise indeed.

Well, the Jabra Elite 75t has a better fit, even longer battery life, fantastic volume (more than you need), better bass, clearer hear-through and four microphones for better speech.

Thomas sums up the 65t (and the 75t is better again)

  • Style-wise? I’d choose Jabra.
  • Comfort? Jabra.
  • Sound quality? The Jabra app can tailor sound to your preference.

GadgetGuy likes Jabra – it’s sound heritage is part of the GN Group, established almost 150 years ago. It is the only company sharing advanced audio tech to create consumer headphones, professional headsets and hearing aids. The single-minded purpose – to make your life sound better.

Jabra Elite 75t true wireless in-ear buds

Website here

Price: $299 from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, and where ever you see the distinctive yellow and grey packaging.

Looks and comfort – EXCEED

While we liked the Elite 65t for looks and comfort the Elite 75t are smaller, lighter and less angular – more rounded and fit both the outer and inner ear canal more comfortably. In a jogging session, we felt that they were secure and would not fall out. And they felt cooler than the 65t.

Jabra Elite 75t
They fit more flush with the ear

And while some like dorky AirPod stalks coming out of their ears – we don’t. This is far more discrete.

It comes with Ear ‘Gel’ tips for small, medium and large ear canals. It is compatible with Comply foam True Grip and most other third-party silicon tips (easy replacement).

Each bud weighs a minuscule 5.5g.

Battery – EXCEED

Jabra claims up to 7.5 hours music, so we used them for a day (note the pass-through sound feature is invaluable). Sure enough at the end of a workday, they had about 10% left. Fast charge is 15 minutes for an hours’ use and under two hours to fully charge.

They will turn off after 15 minutes of inactivity (configurable up to 60 minutes) and are instantly on when you tap or insert them. When you remove/replace an earbud, the auto-pause/resume music works (perfect to have a quick conversation but pass through is good as well).

Jabra Elite 75t case

Case charge time (0-100%) is about 2.5 hours with a standard 5V/.5A (2.5W) charger, and the connection is USB-C (.3m cable supplied – no charger). We did try with a USB-C 45W PD-2.0 Belkin charger and charge time reduced to under two hours.

Oh, and the case is now 35g – it has lost a lot of weight.

BT 5.0 – EXCEED

BT 5.0 means it pairs with up to eight devices and can connect to two different ones at the same time. But what is best it that it supports SBC for CD quality and Apple ACC codecs for higher-resolution music.

Theoretical distance from a device is 240 metres (line-of-sight). Jabra only claims 10m distance. Our tests were rock solid to about 80 metres. Compared to BT 4.2 that falls over at 20m this is wonderful and means you should be able to leave your phone in a gym locker.

Sweat and more sweat – EXCEED

IP 55 means dust won’t impair its use and water jets (heavy rain) won’t hurt it. No, they are not for swimming. Jabra provides a 2-year warranty against dust and water if you register via the Jabra Sound+ App.

How do they sound? EXCEED with aplomb

We cannot use test meters on in-ear buds, so it all becomes a matter of the test tracks and making a subjective judgement. Jabra claims a 20Hz-20kHz frequency response.

Out of the box, factory settings (flat) they are lively and bright – a mid-sound signature for clear voice. Having said that my favourite test track is the Blues Brothers Peter Gunn Theme with heaps of bass and it did an excellent job.

But the Jabra Sound + app allows you to adjust bass, mids and treble and its pretty effective. I swear I could hear mid-bass from 60Hz.

Jabra Sound+

But hey, you have to realise that no buds, even those with 6mm transducers can do great bass.

Volume – again subjectively – is more than loud. BT smartphones default to 80dB maximum so as not to blow your eardrums. You can switch this off in Android developer options and push these even higher (Thomas Bartlett says 112dB and he is not one to argue with).

Noise reduction and hear through – EXCEED

What was impressive was improved sound isolation over the Elite 65t (better in-ear canal fit) and you can use the app to set levels of feedback for external noises well – useful for runners and walkers in busy environs.

Perhaps the only Achilles heel is that microphones still pick up a little too much outside noise during phone calls but to offset that are very clear for voice.

User Interface – EXCEED – buttons are better

Call us old fashioned, but a physical button and a satisfying haptic feedback beats touch any day.

Well, each bud but has a push plate enabling tap or tap and hold or multiple taps. After a days use buttons are very intuitive – left is all about volume and right is all about calls or voice control.

To turn on/off the buds – just remove/replace them from the charging case.

GadgetGuy’s take – Jabra Elite 75t is a worthy successor to the Elite 65t

Having both sets on hand allowed us to compare. The Elite 75t is an advance on the 65t, but it is an evolution, not a revolution. Let’s just say that they polished a few edges (literally) off the 65t. You would be happy with either.

For Android users, it is up there with much more expensive products like the $399 Sony WF-1000XM3 although that has ANC and Thomas Bartlett rates it 4.6-out-of-5.

For Apple users, the biggest issue I see is that Apple fanboys/girls/LGBTQ+ are devoted to dorky stalks. They are going to eschew anything else. But they would be wrong to ignore the Jabra Elite 75t and its Siri support.

Dorky Airpods
Dorky – many think so!

Apple Aficionado Val Quinn gives the new $399 Apple AirPod Pro 4.8-out-of-5. Val is right – they have ANC (and accordingly have in-ear canal silicon tips), shorter stalks, vastly improved sound courtesy of the Apple H1 chip and seamless iOS paring. Credit where it is due.

But Thomas Bartlett thinks the $349 Powerbeats Pro (4.7-out-of-5) is a better Apple bet for real-life use.

Well, I think these at 5.5g (each) have everything an Android or Apple user could want and at $299 offer better value and performance than standard AirPods. They score 4.6-out-of-5 – let’s give credit where it is due too!

Jabra Elite 75t
Features
9
Value for money
10
Performance
9
Ease of Use
9
Design
9
Positives
Excellent value for money
Terrific sound and reasonable bass
5.5g – ultralight and very secure fit
Very good sound isolation and in-ear fit
Up to 7.5 hours on a single charge and fast charge too
Beats the hell out of standard AirPods
Don’t be a brand snob – it is up there with the best
Negatives
Only thing missing is ANC and wireless charge, but that would cost $100 more (Apple)
9.2