Jabra Elite 85h review
A jack of all trades and the supreme master of connectivity.
If you are looking for a pair of higher end Bluetooth over-ear head phones, might I suggest the Jabra Elite 85h? They are not the absolute best in any traditional headphone category. They are not the most comfortable headphones that I have ever worn (those would be the Philips Fidelio X2’s). They don’t have the best ANC that I have tried (those would be the Sony WH1000XM4). They don’t have the best sound-stage (again, the Fidelio X2’s [unfortunately this is because they are wired, open backed headphones, which makes them a poor choice for everyday/at the office use]). The thing that makes The 85H’s worthy of consideration is their Bluetooth pairing combined with their top 5 performance in every other category.
The 85H’s pair very easily. Unfolding the headphones turns them on and makes them attempt to pair with your device. The first time you do this when you turn them on, they go into pairing mode without needing to press any buttons. You just go to the bluetooth menu on your phone and select them from the list. Their app is also first rate. It has a fully customizable EQ and ANC mode menu. This can also be set to judge the type of noise around you and select the ANC mode it deems most useful. For instance, if someone comes up to you and speaks to you, it will detect that the voice is aimed at you and put the ANC in “hear-through” mode that passes external sound to you via the microphones.
The best feature though, for me, is the seamless way that they will connect to 2 devices. Many sets of headphones claim to do this, but they don’t do it well. These are literally the first headphones that I have tried (I have tried a lot of headphones) that actually do it well. You simply pair it to a second device like you do the first, and it just works. You get media from the one you most recently told to play media. So if I am listening to Audible on my phone, then sit down to work at my computer, I press play on Spotify on my computer so that I can focus on my work, and it pauses the media on my phone and plays the media from my computer. You get notification sounds from both. If I am listening to something via my phone and I get a Teams call on my laptop, I answer it on my laptop and it pauses the media on my phone for the duration of my call on my computer, then when the call is over, it resumes the media on my phone. When you take off the headphones and fold them, they turn off. Then when you put them back on, they turn on and attempt to connect to the two most recent devices that are in range. For me, this has quickly become an essential part of my work and home life.
Our of 10:
Comfort: 8
Sound: 8
ANC: 7
Connectivity: 13
Phone call quality: 10
Price: $249.99