Jabra Evolve3 85 review
I’ll confess to being a bit of a fan of Jabra earphones and earbuds already, the tiny in-ear ones I use to go running are the only earbuds that relentlessly agree to Bluetooth-connect to my Amazfit smartwatch, my two different brands of smartphones and my laptop – they just work well, which is all I ask.
Checking out the latest Jabra Evolve3 85 headset was an appealing option.
These “cans” would probably have to be classed as “over-ear”, but they’re only just over the ear (unless you’re our gracious King, in which case they’re on-ear, apologies your majesty) so you don’t walk around looking like an airport runway employee with ear defenders on.
This is actually (apart from the sound and all the functionality) the best thing about the Jabra Evolve3 85, they’re just so surprisingly slim, which makes them really appealing for long haul flights in my view (I have one of those AirFly connector things for making your airline seat Bluetooth, but they’re flaky and hard to establish a connection with), especially as the Jabra Evolve3 85 package comes with a hard-wired cable option for use in a plane.
Currently priced at around £400 on Amazon, this headset’s main features include technology that isolates a user’s voice for sharper call clarity, the company’s own Jabra Advanced ANC™ adapts to cancel background noise for music and calls, and enhanced Spatial Sound.
NOTE: The product set is broken out as Evolve3 85 (over-the-ear) and Evolve3 75 (on-the-ear) and both have what the organisation defines as “contemporary Danish design”, so that’s nice.
ANC – active noise cancellation
The ANC (active noise cancellation) is good, but I will confess I’ve heard (or, well, no heard) better on other devices (a well known speaker and headphone manufacturer starting with a B for example)… on the first day of use I walked through Clapham Junction wearing the headphones and I could still hear the traffic – and yes, I had have ANC turned on by using the new Jabra Google Play app as well.
Having said that, once I started up Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love and the bass kicked in, I had to retart the track as it felt so “real” that I needed to hear it again to enjoy it.
Evolve3 is AI-ready and built to integrate smoothly with whichever generative AI assistant of the user prefers with voice access to AI lets you work on the go without typing, with more than 96% voice pickup accuracy across environments and 99% in open office.
Enterprise ready
The company positions this product at the enterprise level for daily use in the office – there is no boom arm and the product weighs about as little as an apple. It is the company’s slimmest-ever design that folds neatly into a compact pouch.
The rapid charging option gives 10 hours of power in just 10 minutes – so that’s all-day battery life, instant pairing via Fast Pair, and no need for a dongle, quite nifty.
NOTE: A full battery charge provides battery life that lasts up to 25 hours of calls or 120 hours of music, which is five days.
Enterprise-grade encryption protects conversations, full UC certification ensures platform compatibility, and Jabra+ makes it easy to manage, update, and support devices remotely.
Sidetone, SafeTone, Peakstop
Other noise/sound features include Jabra’s Sidetone (for more natural conversations), SafeTone (for consistent listening levels) and PeakStop (to block sudden loud sounds) so there’s a lot of embedded software in there behind the hardware.
According to Jabra, “Evolve3 features Jabra ClearVoice, a combination of deep neural network (DNN) technology and Jabra’s multi-mic algorithms. Inspired by how the human brain filters noise in a crowded room and leaning on technology from GN’s group-wide capabilities, the DNN model processes layers of sound data to distinguish the user’s voice from surrounding noise without the need for a visible boom arm.”
NOTE: Sidetone helps users sound more natural by feeding just the right amount of their own voice back into their ears, reducing the instinct to speak too loudly in quiet spaces.
“In today’s hybrid world your work and life converge into one and with Evolve3 we deliver a real step-change in user experience of a professional headset,” said Calum MacDougall, president at Jabra. “This series brings together industry-leading voice technology, a design you want to wear and seamless integration with the tools and platforms you rely on every day both professionally and personally.”
Jabra workplace study
In a related note, Jabra released new research this month to suggest that poor meeting design and unreliable technology have created a two-tier workplace for UK and global businesses alike, with remote participants feeling excluded from discussions and left at a disadvantage compared with colleagues in the room. More than half (51%) of UK workers confess they forget to involve remote participants during meetings, while around half (55%) of remote attendees struggle to hear people in the room and 48% report difficulty identifying who is speaking.
Globally, the problem is even more pronounced; nearly half (46%) of knowledge workers around the world say they have felt “second-class”, talked over or left out during hybrid meetings. Similarly, 55% of hybrid participants say they feel excluded, compared with just 38% of people in fully remote meetings.
“We’ve treated bad meetings as an irritation, not a financial risk,” commented Holger Reisinger, senior VP Jabra Enterprise Video Business Unit. “If your people are dreading meetings, you’re already paying the price – and it’s a clear signal that organisations need to completely rethink and re‑envision their meeting culture, supported by technology that lets everyone be clearly seen and heard.”
Jabra’s research estimates that the cost to UK businesses is a staggering £2.7 million a year for a company of 2,500. This is the equivalent of £1,079 per employee in lost time based on disruption rates for meetings against national salary data.
Overall… Jabra continues to be one of the more media-vocal brands out there and its products are always nice to open, easy (the company would say “intuitive”) to use and (important for me) eminently easy to connect (even when you establish three, four or five Bluetooth connections across your device family), they also sound really good – so these “cans” definately do what it says on the tin.
