Jabra Elite 65t

Jabra has been scoring hits recently with over-ear headphones, and currently offers both the 2018 Elite 65t and the newer but pricier Elite 75t. How do they stack up?

Jabra has come to the personal audio market by way of its long expertise in all things Bluetooth, including a claim to having made the first ever Bluetooth headset. As part of the GN Group it is also a sister company to ReSound, a company with its expertise in smart hearing aids and other tiny things that go in your ear.

No surprise, then, that Jabra has excelled in the Bluetooth in-ear bud space, entering early and scoring great acclaim with these Elite 65t true wireless buds which were launched in 2018, and are now available in three shades — titanium black (above), gold-beige (they called them beige?), and our favourite, the copper black shown in their charging carrycase below. Blue and red versions have also been seen, but aren’t currenty listed by Jabra Australia.

While the Elite 65t is still available at $249, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s only an additional $50 to move up to the latest 75t design, see opposite. Yet the Elite 65t still has plenty of boxes ticked as far as practicalities go, especially at the lower price. The buds themselves are light, made from plastic, each with a small protrusion housing a microphone. The right bud has a button for call answering, pausing and playing music, and for allowing ambient noise in or out; the left has buttons for volume and track skip.

When not in use, the Jabra Elite 65t buds sit in the charging case, which is nicely compact, although there’s no magnetic connection so you have to make sure you orientate them correctly before closing the lid. The earbuds automatically turn off when placed in the case, and also usefully turn themselves on when removed, something not all earbuds do. This useful function means they will likely be paired and ready to play the moment they’re in your ears.

You can even use only one earbud at a time, though it must be the right one, which is the ‘master’, if you want to take calls with a single earbud.

There’s enough power in the earbuds for five hours’ listening, and the case can do two recharges, for 15 hours total. Usefully a 15-minute charge gives a claimed 90 minutes of battery life — enough to get you through the morning commute from a quick saving charge as you get ready for work. In the box with the buds are three sets of tips, the charging/carry case and the USB cable for powering up the case. We went with the largest of the tips on each bud (not necessarily the best choice for a big head; our biggestheaded tester uses small tips), and found that the Elite 65ts fitted comfortably in our ears without ever feeling insecure.

Connection to a phone proved simple — these really are buds which ‘just work’ and are easy to use, with practicalities such as phone calls handled intuitively without fuss, as you’d expect from a company long making well-regarded Bluetooth earpieces. We had the Elite 65t buds up and running quickly, and suffered drop-outs only very rarely.

Their sound quality is balanced, with a slightly warm tilt. Highs are rolled off so music never sounds harsh, and while there’s no great sparkle in the presentation, no real dynamism, there’s still a good amount of detail in the highs, while bass has good impact and extension. Music is relayed faithfully, though without the musicality of the Bose SoundSport Free, say, and the equaliser in the app can correct things somewhat, though you can’t EQ for passion.

We enjoyed these buds as a workaday commuting bud, with their ease of use and reliability scoring highly, while their sound is enjoyable, if not matching the leaders here.