Jabra Elite 75t review: the ideal all-around earbuds
The Jabra Elite 75t are true wireless earbuds from Danish brand Jabra. They succeed the Jabra 65t. As earbud enthusiasts, we're familiar with the Jabra name. The price is around €149. What stands out? Balanced sound, HearThrough but no ANC, ideal for working from home, a beautiful design and a comfortable fit. You'll find our test results and verdict in this Jabra Elite 75t review.
In this article
First impressions
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- Case weight: 35gr.
- Earbud weight: 5.5gr.
- Charging case battery: 500mAh
- Multipoint connection: up to 8 devices
- Controls: buttons
- Cable: usb c
- Codecs: SBC, AAC
- Microphone: 4 microphones
- ANC: no
Missing a specification? Let us know in the comments and we'll add it the same day.
The earbuds
When you hold the earbuds, the first thing you notice is their solid build. The earbuds have a metal-looking cover. At 5.5 grams, they're a little heavy. Makes sense: big sound needs a solid housing.
We put the Jabras in our ears and need a moment to get the fit right. You have to twist the earbuds slightly in the right direction to seat them properly. Once you do, you realize just how comfortable the Jabra 75t are. In short: heavy in your hand, light in your ears.
Heavy in your hand, light in your ears.
A nicely compact charging case
When we first held the Jabra Elite 75t charging case, one thing stood out: it's small! That's handy on the go. The charging case has a metal outer rim. It feels very sturdy and premium.
The bottom earbud is the Jabra 85t. It's the successor to the 75t shown above.
The case is so small you almost wonder whether the Jabra 75t will fit inside. The battery capacity is 500mAh. Not huge, but in practice you certainly don't need to charge the case often. Given its size, fitting a 500mAh battery inside is impressive.
Wireless charging: can you charge the 75t wirelessly?
With the Jabra 75t, you can choose a version with or without wireless charging. So far, the version with wireless charging is only available on Jabra's own website. Larger online stores will eventually add that version to their range too. The Jabra Elite 75t Active is an upgrade to the standard 75t and always includes wireless charging. That version costs a little more than the regular one.
To clarify: the charging case is essentially the earbuds' home base. Put the earbuds in the case and they charge. That way, your Jabra 75t are always fully charged when you take them out. Besides charging, the case also protects them on the go. So it's worth always putting the earbuds back in their case.
The three colors available for the Jabra 75t: titanium black, gold and black
Jabra 75t sound
The Jabra Elite 75t sound impressive. You get the full sound you'd expect from earbuds in this price range. Of course, their in-ear design helps. It channels the sound into your ear canal much more effectively. Compare them with AirPods and you'll wonder why anyone still buys AirPods. In our view, the Jabra Elite 75t's sound more than justifies the price.
Personal and balanced
So what's so good about the sound? The best word for it is 'balance'. When you listen to music, the default sound doesn't overdo the bass. The mids come through nicely, and the treble sounds rounded rather than harsh. Balanced, in other words. And the app (highly recommended) has an equalizer that lets you find your own sound balance.
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These earbuds beat every other wireless listening experience we've tested. Where they really excel is balance. No overpowering bass that makes you feel like there's a subwoofer blasting in your ear. Just nicely balanced sound.
Jabra Elite 75t calls and microphone
Do you make a lot of calls with your earbuds? The Jabra Elite 75t are a very good choice. We thoroughly tested the microphone for this Jabra Elite 75t review. The earbuds have 4 microphones, and the person on the other end can tell. They hear you more clearly than when you use your phone itself.
The 75t hold their own even in a noisy car. The person on the other end won't even notice you're in a car. That's because the earbuds can filter out background noise, leaving only your voice for the other person to hear. Clever technology that works well!
With in-ear earbuds, a common problem is that you can't hear yourself. Not hearing your own voice makes talking difficult. And calls too, assuming you have something to add to the conversation.
There are 4 microphones built into the two earbuds! They're not just for calls, but also for HearThrough technology. More on that later.
Controls: buttons that work perfectly
The Jabra Elite 75t have buttons. Buttons on earbuds costing around €160. For a while, touch controls on earbuds were all the rage. The problem with touch controls is that, while they're very fancy, they don't always work properly. And nothing is more annoying than someone speaking to you outside while your touch controls refuse to pause your song.
Jabra chose buttons for these earbuds instead. And they work so well! A light touch is enough to press them. They're very responsive, so you don't need to apply any pressure to control the earbuds.
That's usually the biggest problem with physical buttons: you have to press so hard that the pressure transfers to your ear canal. Not pleasant. Thankfully, Jabra has proved that buttons can work perfectly.
Button functions
- 1x right: pause/play
- 1x left: HearThrough on/off
- 1x both: disconnect earbuds from device*
*It would have been so much better if the buttons kept their individual functions when pressed together. For example: you're walking outside listening to music. Someone says something to you. You want to pause your music (1x right) and turn on HearThrough (1x left). If you do those 2 things at once (press both buttons once at the same time), your earbuds disconnect from your phone. That's inconvenient.
Prefer different functions? You can change them in the Jabra app.
The volume controls work perfectly too. Hold down the button on the right earbud to turn the volume up. Do the same on the left earbud to turn it down. It all works well.
Customize button functions
Thankfully, Jabra's handy app lets you set up all the buttons exactly how you want! More on Sound+ later (the app that lets you customize the controls to your liking).
We've never seen an earbud app this good.
All in all, we're big fans of Jabra's controls. They're smooth and easy to use. Nice work!
HearThrough: ambient sound on demand
In-ear earbuds often have very good passive noise isolation. Just putting in a Bluetooth earbud can block out your surroundings. Sometimes that's lovely. But sometimes it's important to hear yourself, such as during a phone call. If you can't hear yourself properly, talking becomes much harder.
The Jabra Elite 75t have a very good, innovative solution: HearThrough. Press the left earbud to turn it on. Suddenly, you can hear your surroundings clearly. The 4 microphones pick up the sound and play it into your ears at exactly the same moment.
You choose how loud you want to hear your immediate surroundings. At the highest setting, they may sound even louder than they normally would. And trust us: you'll play around with this. You'll talk and listen to how your voice sounds in your ears.
How HearThrough improves phone calls
HearThrough turns on automatically when you receive a call. But only if you want it to. You can set this in Jabra's handy app (tested in this Jabra 75t review). These earbuds don't have active noise cancelling, but we find HearThrough more useful.
HearThrough lets you hear amplified ambient sound through your earbuds. Handy!
You might be thinking: that sounds useful and safe for cycling too! Unfortunately, that's not the case. When cycling, the wind hits the microphones so hard that the sound in your ears becomes distorted. The microphones can't handle the wind well enough. That makes sense. They'd need a windscreen otherwise, and we'd rather not go there.
Do the Jabra 75t have noise cancelling (ANC)?
The Jabra Elite 75t don't have active noise cancelling (also called noise reduction). That's a shame, but we certainly wouldn't consider it a dealbreaker. The fact that the earbuds need HearThrough technology already shows how good their passive noise isolation is.
With passive noise isolation, ambient sound is blocked simply because the earbuds seal your ears well. There's no room for sound to enter your ear canal. And that's definitely the case with the Jabras. Our advice: don't focus only on noise cancelling. But if ANC is an absolute must for your earbuds, look elsewhere.
Multi-connect or multipoint: connect to two devices
The Jabra Elite 75t can connect to several devices. Jabra calls this multi-connect. We know it as multipoint Bluetooth. Whatever you call it, it's very handy! Especially when working from home. One moment you're listening to music on your laptop, the next you're answering your phone. The music on your laptop stops, and your earbuds give the call full priority. Finished your call? Your laptop's music starts playing through your earbuds again. Ideal!
Can you connect the Jabra Elite 75t to a laptop?
You can connect the Jabra Elite 75t to your laptop. On a Windows computer or laptop, here's how:
- Click the notification icon in the bottom-right corner
- Right-click Bluetooth
- Go to settings
- Choose 'new Bluetooth device'
- Open the case and put the Jabra 75t in your ears
- You should now see Jabra Elite 75t (if not, hold down both earbud buttons until you hear instructions)
- Click 'Jabra Elite 75t' and choose 'connect'
Want to use multipoint (multi-connect)? After connecting to your laptop, connect the earbuds to your phone as you normally would.
Jabra's website does say that the 75t are optimized for portable devices, not larger devices such as laptops. They note that some people manage to connect them to a laptop. This is mainly about the button controls and other features, though. We tested it, and connecting to a laptop works like a charm.
Working out with the Jabra Elite 75t
The Elite 75t work surprisingly well for running. For advice on earbuds suited to running, see this article. The earbuds sit securely in your outer ear, so the pressure isn't concentrated in your ear canal. You don't hear them moving or pressing in your ears with every big step. That's perfect for running.
Want to use them at the gym? We think these true wireless earbuds are a very good choice for that too. The passive noise isolation blocks out the thumping workout music in the gym. Only your own music gets through. Perfect!
The Jabra app: what makes it so good
You know the drill: you buy a printer, TV or smartwatch, and while using it you're asked to download 'the app'. You're excited about your new purchase, so you download it. Then you open it and realize it adds nothing for you. The main benefit is for the manufacturer.
Jabra's earbuds also have an app: Sound+. After reading the previous paragraph, you can probably guess we weren't expecting much. Still, we gave it a try for this Jabra Elite 75t review. And it turns out this is the first earbud app we'd call worth its weight in gold.
App interface
First, the app looks good. On Android, you get a handy pop-up when you swipe down on your screen. It shows the battery percentages for your earbuds and charging case. Always useful information.
Tap that panel to open the app. The home screen shows the equalizer, where you can adjust the sound to your taste. You can set HearThrough from 0% to 100%. There are also 3 modes: My Moment, Commute and Focus. Each mode has different features.
The 'Headset' tab lets you configure everything for your earbuds. Want to customize the buttons? You can. Check the manual? You can. See whether an update is available? That's there too! Oh, and you can also see where your earbuds are. GPS helps you find them again. Handy!
MySound: the Jabra 75t adapt to your hearing
MySound lets you test your hearing by responding to a series of beeps. The earbuds then personalize the sound balance for you. A clever feature.
A lot of money has gone into this app. You can tell right away.
Updates
As soon as we opened the app, we saw that a new firmware update was available to download. So the app keeps your earbuds up to date too. Another reassuring thought when buying these true wireless earbuds.
Download the Jabra Sound+ app
You can download Jabra's Sound+ app for Android and iOS.
Jabra 75t review: our verdict
The Jabra Elite 75t are premium earbuds in every way. The sound is beautiful and balanced. They're very comfortable and create a good seal in your ears. In fact, they fit so well that they're great for working out too.
Since testing these earbuds with HearThrough, we don't really want earbuds without it anymore. It's so handy to hear your surroundings whenever you want. We don't really miss ANC because the passive noise isolation works so well.
The 75t are very well suited to calls. The 4 microphones deliver a full sound to the person on the other end. The filtering technology also isolates your voice.
The Jabra app is a must-have. It's the first earbud app we've found genuinely useful. Check battery percentages, configure buttons, fine-tune the equalizer, set the HearThrough level and adjust call settings: it's all in the app.
In short, we're impressed by the Jabra Elite 75t. Definitely recommended.
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- Also check out our article on alternatives to AirPods
- See the 3 best earbuds for running
- Also check out our hands-on look at the Eardopes B6 pro
Have a question after reading this article? Let us know! Your feedback helps improve it. Leave a comment below or contact the editor who tested the Jabra Elite 75t directly via WhatsApp (the green button in the bottom-right corner).
