First unveiled at CES a couple of years ago, Jabra Elite 85H are the Danes latest entry into the world of over-ear-headphones that look set to challenge the behemoths that occupy this space.
Compared to the high-end offering from the competition, the Elite 85H is competitively priced at anywhere between €169 – €249 on t’interwebs. You can currently find them on Amazon for €169.
Certainly a Looker
The second you open the box, you know you’re looking at a premium headphone offering. They come in three colours, titanium black, gold beige and navy blue. The headband along with the ear pads are covered n the outside with that feels like a denim sort-of-material.
On the right ear cup, you have a physical volume up and down button. On the left ear cup, there’s an ANC button that can activate and deactivate noise cancellation. There’s also the option to activate what’s called “Hear Through” mode which allows you to better hear your surroundings.
The fact that I’m Irish and live in Ireland means I have to think about potential water damage to my electronics. Because if you didn’t know, it rains an ungodly amount here. Thankfully, Jabra decided to put a nano-coating on precious components to make the headphones waterproof and is clearly confident in that design. So much so that they give you a 2-year manufacturers warranty straight out of the box. Although you will have to register your headset with Jabra.
The ear cups fit very comfortably on your ears and even after 2-3 hours of use, I didn’t find them to be uncomfortable as a lot of other headphones and earbuds are after heavy use. They fit tightly around your ears and block out most surrounding noise even without ANC activated. However, deeper noises like cars driving by will pierce it. There’s plenty of padding around the headband as well so you won’t have to worry about the plastic shell rubbing off your head.
Sound Quality
The Jabra Sound+ App is a must-download once you connect your headphones through Bluetooth. This allows you to customise your listening experience through your phone rather than through the buttons on Jabra Elite 85H.
In the app, there’s a bunch of options to change how you’re listening depending on the environment you find yourself in. So whether you’re on the commute to work or just listening in the general public, you’ll get a great listening experience. You can also change the music preset from the app with option including bass boost, speech and treble boost.
Obviously, with Jabra Elite 85H costing anywhere from €169- €250 you’d expect great sound quality and they do not disappoint. Perhaps a little bit more natural bass without having to adjust it in the app wouldn’t go a miss. But, I would have these up against the upper echelons of Sony, Bose and Sennheiser.
One of the most innovative functions of the Elite 85H is that it has head sensors built-in. So, if you’re listening to Spotify, the second you remove Jabra Elite 85H from your head it will automatically stop the music and restart when you put them back on. Auto-pause audio for the win.
Ports and Battery Life
Long live the 3.5mm headphone jack. Thankfully, Jabra decided to keep the headphone jack port and include a wire in the box. You never know when you may need it but with around a 30-hour battery life or 3-4 hours on a 5-minute charge with USB Type C, you should have no panic charging issues. USB Type-C is always a welcome sight when it comes to charging headphones. Hopefully, the days of Micro USB are long gone.
Jabra Elite 85H also work great when gaming. Because a 3.5mm wire is included you’ll have no trouble connecting them to your brand new PS5 Dualsense or Xbox Series X controller. With 3D Audio a part of PS5, you really hear the directionality of sound when wearing Elite 85H from Jabra.
The Bluetooth connection is absolutely fine as you’d expect with Bluetooth 5.0. No problem connecting to either my POCO F2 Pro or my Macbook Pro, and no lag or stutters when listening and watching content.
In Conclusion
Jabra Elite 85H are an excellent offering if you’re looking for a premium headphone set but don’t want to break the bank. Incredibly easy to use and has fantastic battery life. The Jabra Sound+ app makes it so easy for the user to customise their experience.