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The Jabra Elite 65t is always at the top of our list of best true wireless headphones, thanks to its excellent battery life (at the time), customization, sound quality, and price. But in recent years, the competition has improved, and Jabra has had to respond. On paper, the new Jabra Elite 75t looks like a mild upgrade from its predecessor, but in use, the changes feel much more critical. The headset and charging case is much smaller, the battery life is making a huge leap and overtaking the competition, and the customization capabilities we enjoyed in the 65t remain. This is our Jabra Elite 75t Review.
However, there’s an Achilles’ heel on the Elite 75t, which has its extremely bass-heavy sound signature. They provide more bass than the Skullcandy Push – which, while impressive, is simply too much and overwhelms the midrange. However, if you’re the kind of person who loves heartbreaking dance music, the Jabra Elite 75t is a worthy upgrade above 65t.
Jabra Elite 75t Review: Design
The Jabra Elite 75t is 20% smaller than the previous Jabra in-ear true wireless headphones, the Elite 65t. That doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it’s a dramatic difference in the hand. While the Elite 65t’s earbuds were simply too big to fit some ears, the Elite 75t’s small earbuds should be small enough to fit just about anyone. Each earplug still has a single button, but the Elite 65t’s volume knob is gone. Instead, a long press on the left earplug increases the volume, while a long press on the right earplug decreases the volume.
Unfortunately, this volume control means that it’s challenging to set the exact volume and we’ve overestimated the desired volume a bit. It’s just easier to change the phone’s volume. Luckily, the playback buttons are intuitive, and you can still call your phone’s assistant, and Alexa users have the option to use it as the default wizard, which can be changed in the app. Speaking of the charging case, it’s now also fully magnetic. Previously, the 65t was kept close to a tab, which was not as satisfying to use as the magnetic lid of the 75t.
Magnets also hold the headphones, so there is no risk of the headphones rolling out of the case. In terms of materials, the Jabra Elite 75t is made entirely of plastic and rubber, giving it a realistic look. They’re IP55 resistant so that they can withstand your sweat in the gym, but they don’t need to be submerged. The Elite 75t is made of plastic, but feels very good to the touch and is grabbable, which helps to discourage drops.
Jabra Elite 75t Review: Performance
Although the design is a considerable improvement, the sound quality takes a step in the wrong direction with too much bass. The amount of bass generated by the Elite 75t is incredible, but it’s also tiring. Big bass isn’t always bad, as we saw with the Sol Republic Amps Air 2.0, which has a good dose of quality bass. But the bass of the Elite 75t isn’t outstanding, blurring the midrange and losing details. (We would go so far as to say that the standard EQ curve cannot be listened to, because it gave us a headache during prolonged use).
Fortunately, the Jabra app has a customizable EQ that lets us choose the bass. By lowering the bass and mid-bass frequencies by 50%, the headphones are closer to neutral. However, this means you won’t be able to access the EQ settings if you use the Elite 75t with devices that don’t support their iOS or Android app, such as your laptop. We wish Jabra had set the 75t to neutral and that those who wanted more bass could boost it with the EQ.
Although the Jabra Elite 75t has no active noise cancellation, the passive noise cancellation works very well. With a good seal, the headphones block most of the external noise, although active noise cancellation would have eliminated more low and high frequency sounds like the drone of an airplane.
Battery Life
The battery life is excellent, with the headphones takes about 7 hours on a single charge, and charging the case can fill the earplugs from flat for an extra 3 full charges. The quick charging function is also fun if you need to refill the headphones in a jiffy. Although the charging case is smaller, it now offers an additional 20 hours of battery life for a total of 28 hours, which is especially impressive when you consider the fact that the 65t’s charging case contained only 10 hours of charge and was significantly larger.
The smaller charging case allows you to put the headphones in your pocket comfortably. When it’s time to charge the headphones, you’ll be treated to USB-C instead of the 65t’s micro-USB port. By using USB-C, you can also charge the headphones quickly, so you can enjoy an hour of playback of only 15 minutes of charging.
Jabra Elite 75t Review: Conclusion
While the bass-heavy setup was disappointing, the Jabra Elite 75t is still a worthy successor to the excellent Elite 65t. The reduction in size and a significant increase in battery life make the Elite 75t a pleasure to use. And while they don’t have the best sound quality and lack active noise cancellation, neither does the fact that they are a reliable pair of truly wireless headphones to use, especially if you frequently call with your headphones on. For more options, check our list of Best True Wireless Earbuds