Josh Hendrickson
We called the Jabra Elite 75t true wireless earbuds the best true wireless earbuds you can buy at the beginning of the year. The new $229 Jabra Elite 85t improves on that by adding Active Noise Canceling (ANC), wireless charging, and an oval fit that’s semi-open to prevent ear pressure and pain. Oh, and the Jabra Elite 75T earbuds? They’re getting an update to add ANC too!
The Jabra Elite 85t build on the earbuds that came before them by adding ANC so you can block out the world around you. Additionally, the 85t buds sport 12mm speakers for powerful bass and clear sound (at least as much as you can get out of true wireless earbuds).
The switch to an oval shape means the 85ts are semi-open, which should prevent ear pressure from bothering you. But it should also give you a better seal without cramming them down your earholes so much, which means a more comfortable fit.
You can adjust how much noise canceling you get. If you prefer to a silent world, you can do that, or you can let in everything. But if you just want to cut some background noise, that’s an option too. The earbuds earn an IPX4 rating and have one-touch access to Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant.
Jabra says the earbuds will last 5.5 hours with ANC on, and charging them in the case will get you to 25 hours of playtime. Skip ANC, and you’ll get a total of 31 hours of playtime with the case. One of our bigger complaints about the 75t get addressed too—the 85t’s case has wireless charging.
Speaking of the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds, there’s good news if you already have a pair. Jaba plans to update both the Elite 75t and Elite Active 75t with new firmware to enable active noise canceling. So you don’t have to upgrade just to pickup ANC. And ANC comes standard in the Elite 75t series starting October.
The Titanium/Black Jabra Elite 85t three wireless earbuds will release November 2020 for $229. If you’re willing to wait until January 2021, you can grab them in Gold/Beige, Copper/Black, Black, or Grey.
