Jabra Elite 75t - Review | Tech7

   

Jabra Elite 75t - Review:

Ever since the release of the first-ever Apple AirPods, audio companies have been vying to create competent, or better, alternatives. The Jabra Elite 65t was considered one of the most worthy rivals to the first-gen AirPods, especially for those with Android devices or for those whose ears didn’t take too kindly to the one-size-fits-most AirPods design. However, since the release of the Jabra Elite 65t, numerous audio companies have delivered a plethora of worthy true wireless earphones across various price ranges. Finally, Jabra has released a follow-up pair of truly wireless earphones, the Jabra Elite 75t. Priced at Rs 15,999, these earphones are considerably cheaper than the latest Apple AirPods, the AirPods Pro, but skip out on a few contemporary features which the AirPods Pro are equipped with. However, the 75t actually has numerous incremental upgrades over the 65t. Let’s see how these highly-awaited true wireless earphones fared in our review.

Design and Build Quality:

The design of the Jabra Elite 75t has seen a considerable overhaul from the 65t. Not in terms of aesthetics, but definitely when it comes to form factor and portability. Jabra has successfully shrunk the earbuds as well as the charging case by about 20 per cent. The difference is almost instantaneously felt, with the 75t being significantly more streamlined and comfortable. 

The Jabra Elite 65t’s earphones were much clunkier and bulgy and caused some discomfort over extended periods of usage. All of these issues are laid to rest with the shrunk-down, unassuming form factor of the 75t earbuds. Jabra has slashed down the size of the microphone stem and has also made the earbuds less bulky. The result? These bulge out of the ear considerably lesser and also are much, much lighter. The low weight means that you don’t really need silicone wings to ensure the weight doesn’t pull them down. 

• 1x press right: Pause/Play or Answer/End call
• 2x press right (on a call): Reject call
• Press and hold right: Volume +
• 2x press right: Voice Assistant
• 1x press left: HearThrough Mode
• Press and hold left: Volume -
• 2x press left: Next track
• 3x press left: Previous track

Specs & Features:

First off, we’re going to talk about the contemporary features we sorely missed on the Jabra Elite 75t, seeing that earphones that cost half as much or even lesser employ these features. Firstly, Jabra has skipped adding Qi wireless charging support to the charging case. Wireless charging is rapidly becoming the norm for phones and now, true wireless earphones, especially due to the Reverse Charging feature we’re seeing on a few phones now, which will become much more mainstream in 2020. At Rs 15,999, there’s little Jabra can say to justify for giving this nifty and increasingly-prevalent feature the skip.

Next, the Jabra Elite 75t misses out on ANC, which features on some of the most popular true wireless earphones including the Sony WF-1000XM3, Apple AirPods Pro, Amazon Echo Buds and more. Nevertheless, we are still giving Jabra an out here since the passive isolation is nothing short of excellent. We’ve heard ANC headphones that let in more background sounds that the Jabra Elite 75t earphones do. The Elite 75t also misses out on touch controls, but we actually prefer the physical buttons on the Elite 75t over the touch controls on a few true wireless earphones. 

  

Now, let’s get into the good stuff. The earphones come with IP55 water and sweat resistance rating which allows it to shrug off sweat and light sprays. Coupled with the snug and comfortable fit, this makes the Jabra Elite 75t brilliant for gym-goers and runners. However, the upcoming Active version from Jabra could be better, so watch out for that review.

Performance:

In contrast to the Jabra Elite 65t true wireless earphones, the Jabra Elite 75t has a more pronounced bass response. The overall sound signature is warm, crisp and quite detailed. They’re not neutral in any way since the bass and lows are quite boosted on these. The punchy bass response was quite sonically accurate and detailed but could prove to be a bit boomy in certain tracks such as bad guy by Billie Eilish. The thump of the bass beats quite evidently overpowers throughout the track. However, if punchy bass is not your cup of tea, you can easily tune it down in the app using the customisable EQ. Nevertheless, despite being boosted, the bass response is actually quite detailed and crisp.

Unfortunately, the boosted lows and mids do mar the mids, where vocals and even mid-ranged instruments fall prey to auditory masking. Vocals, while clear and precisely rendered in, case sound veiled in bass-heavy songs. This is apparent in Hysteria by Muse, where the drums audibly cloud the vocals. Also, the mids lack a certain drive and enthusiasm unless the volume is set above 60 per cent. Nevertheless, mids are packed with detail when not clouded by overshadowing lows and bass response.

The highs, on the other hand, are not too far extended but they sound detailed and precise. They are usually not tinny or shrill, but at higher volumes (pushing past 80 per cent) you can hear some sibilance in female vocals.

  

                      

• PROS
• Compact case and earbuds
• Punchy yet controlled bass
• Customisable EQ

• CONS
• Auditory masking in the mids
• No wireless charging
• Occasional Bluetooth connection hiccups

                                                                                                                                                                                    

                  

Overall, the Jabra Elite 75t does a good job with audio performance with its punchy bass, clear vocals and precise highs, imaging and instrument separation. However, the auditory masking in the mids can be bothersome and the lags and skips in music playback are definitely frustrating. Still, the stellar battery life, passive noise cancellation and good microphone quality make these earphones a rather lucrative purchase.