Jabra Elite 85h: Another pair of over-ear headphones with noise cancelling
11.9.2019
Translation: machine translated
The Jabra Elite 85h can do everything pretty well, some things even very well. Nevertheless, it is hardly the device the world has been waiting for. This is mainly due to the strong competition.
The Jabra 85h are over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling (ANC) for around 300 francs. Yes, another one. There are quite a few of them at the moment. Because the somewhat older Bose QC35 II and Sony WH-1000XM3 have now fallen in price to such an extent that they also belong in this class. The Sennheiser Momentum 2 has also been in the mix for some time.and even a Swiss company has launched its own development on the market.
So the question is: What can the Jabra Elite 85h do better than the previous top dogs?
In terms of specs alone, the Jabra model has a few small plus points: It doesn't break straight away if it gets wet and has a very good battery life of 36 hours with noise cancelling switched on. But these alone are not reasons to buy.
The sound
The first impression of the sound is fine. However, a direct comparison with the competition from Bose and Sony reveals minor weaknesses. Jabra's bass is not as powerful as Sony's WH-1000XM3. The treble stands out very clearly - it's too dominant for me, I don't find it quite balanced.
Like Sony, the Jabras app offers a five-band equaliser with which you can adjust the sound. I can therefore attenuate the treble a little to suit my taste. However, I'm not a big fan of equalisers, because I think the sound has to be just right in the basic settings. The lack of impact in the bass, for example, cannot be conjured up using the EQ.
Somewhat disappointing for this price range: The Jabra Elite 85h offers neither aptX/aptX HD nor AAC. This leaves only the standard Bluetooth codec SBC. But even SBC sounds very good if the bit rate is high enough. And with Bluetooth 5.0, this should be the case in most situations.
In addition to Bluetooth, the headphones also offer sound transmission via the good old audio cable. Normally, cable transmission delivers better sound than the standard Bluetooth codec. But not with the Jabra Elite 85h. The sound via cable is far too quiet. When I listen to music on my smartphone, I have to turn up the volume on the headphones so much that it starts to make a lot of noise. It also doesn't work well on a PC or a stereo system that has more power: the audio input is then overdriven and it starts to shake.
In short: The sound is okay, but I think both the Bose QC35 II and the Sony WH-1000XM3 are better in this respect. And the cable connection is nothing more than a stopgap solution if a Bluetooth connection is not possible.
The noise cancelling
The Jabra Elite 85h cancels ambient noise much better than, for example, my Sennheiser Momentum 2. The ANC is quite effective, but not quite at the level of a Sony 1000XM3. The strength cannot be adjusted. However, there is a function called Hear Through. It picks up ambient noise, including your own voice, via the microphones and transmits it to the speakers. The opposite of noise cancelling, so to speak, for when you want to hear what's going on around you. You can switch between these modes quickly and easily using a button on the headphones.
The app offers four profiles for everyday situations - so-called moments - which you can customise to suit your own preferences. A moment contains information on whether ANC or Hear Through is switched on or neither, as well as an equaliser setting. The headphones are also able to switch profiles automatically by analysing the ambient noise. Although this doesn't work too badly, I prefer to switch manually.
On balance, the noise cancelling functions are okay, but not the best I've ever heard.
The operation
If the Jabra can't beat the competition when it comes to sound and noise cancelling, why should anyone buy one? I think: Because of the handling. Because it's great.
When not in use, the ear cups are rotated so that they can be stored in the case to save space. This switches the Jabra off automatically. When you take it out again and turn the shells back, it switches on again.
This is practical. Even more practical: the music pauses when you take the headphones off and continues playing when you put them back on. Apart from a short delay of one or two seconds when taking them off, this works perfectly. If you don't want this, you can deactivate it in the settings.
The Jabra Elite 85h has five physical buttons that are easy to feel and yet unobtrusive in design.
Jabra offers firmware updates via the app. In my case, the update made it possible to switch the headset's voice announcement from English to German. The voice is very pleasant in both languages and the sound quality is decent - unlike the Bose QC35 II.
Making phone calls
Jabra has made a name for itself primarily with headsets for office communication. Jabra has built no fewer than eight microphones into the Elite 85h. The telephony function should therefore be appealing.
During a short test call, I was impressed by the voice quality. Although the voice is rather quiet for the person I am speaking to, it is easy to understand. Filtering out ambient noise also works well. In the app, I can set how loud I want my own voice to be through the headphones and even set up my own EQ for the other party's voice. Optionally, the Elite 85h can automatically answer calls when I put them on - which I would never do.
Conclusion: Okay, but not a hit
You don't have to buy the Jabra because of the sound, but you don't necessarily have to avoid it either. The same applies to noise cancelling. The strengths of these headphones lie in the well thought-out, pleasant operation, as well as some secondary disciplines such as rain weather resistance, battery life and telephony function. For me, the Jabra Elite 85h are all-round solid headphones without any real weaknesses - but also not good enough to be a real threat to Sony and Bose.
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
