Today the market offers a huge variety of headsets. You can choose a device with one earbud or two, with a removable or foldable microphone, with or without lighting. But what if you want a top-end device that offers the most features, no matter the cost? Then I advise you to pay attention to the Jabra Evolve2 85.
As befits a premium device, the Jabra Evolve2 85 offers a nice package. In the box you will find a handy case for transporting the headset, which, in fact, stores the device. There is also a Bluetooth adapter (USB-A or USB-C, depending on the version), a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable for wired connections, and an adapter for use on an airplane. There is a pocket inside the case where you can store all the accessories.
Jabra Evolve2 85: Design and construction
Jabra Evolve2 85 looks not very catchy, but at the same time stylish. The finishing uses high-quality materials that are pleasant to the touch and do not collect fingerprints. The headset is quite large and weighs 286 grams. But at the same time, the device sits very comfortably on the head. This is largely due to the soft foam used in the ear cushions and headband padding.
The left ear cup contains an on / pair switch, a button to toggle noise canceling modes, an LED indicator, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. In addition, there are two connectors for charging the device using a special charging base (can be purchased separately for $ 50). On the right cup there are buttons for controlling playback and volume control, a Microsoft Teams button (it may also be unbranded) and a microphone boom with a Mute button, which discreetly hides in the cup (in the lowered position, the microphone turns on automatically, when raised, it turns off). By the way, the boom is rotatable, so you can adjust the position of the microphone for yourself.
Each of the Jabra Evolve2 85 bowls also has Busylights that glow red when you are on a call, or purple when you are using Microsoft Teams. In general, the headset leaves a very pleasant impression after use, the only thing you can find fault with is that the buttons on the right cup are loose, which is why you can hear a little rattling when you try to find them.
Sound and microphone
Jabra Evolve2 85 is equipped with ten microphones at once for maximum speech quality. There are four analog MEMS microphones and six digital MEMS microphones. The former are in the aforementioned boom, which is hidden in the right bowl, and the digital microphone array is used when, for example, you are on the go and the boom is hidden. It is really comfortable to communicate with this headset – the interlocutor hears you perfectly, without any external noise.
Jabra Evolve2 85 is UC-certified, which means you can count on stable operation with all popular UC platforms (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya, etc.). Moreover, if your main tool for communicating with colleagues is Microsoft Teams, then you can choose exactly the same version of the headset as we have in the review, which is fully adapted and optimized for MT. You can customize the Teams button on the right earcup to answer calls on MT, navigate to different screens, bring MT client from background to foreground, and more. At the same time, the indicator on the right earcup will glow purple if your device is ready to join an MT meeting, a call is missed, or there is voicemail.
In terms of technical characteristics, the analog microphone has a sensitivity of -35 dBV / Pa, digital: -26 dB FS / Pa. Frequency response analog: 5-20000 Hz, digital: 100-8000 Hz. To connect to sound sources wirelessly, Bluetooth 5.0 is used. There is support for SBC and AAC codecs, HSP v1.2, HFP v1.7, A2DP v1.3, AVRCP v1.6, PBAP v1.1, SPP v1.2 profiles. Two devices can be connected to the Jabra Evolve2 85 at the same time via Bluetooth.
Obviously, a headset for such a price should not only be able to transmit sound of high quality, but also be able to reproduce it well. For this functionality, the Jabra Evolve2 85 is responsible for 40 mm speakers with a frequency range of 20-20000 Hz (100-8000 Hz in call mode). The headphones show themselves with dignity when listening to music and watching movies. There is good detail and depth of the scene. While active noise canceling is on, there is little loss in quality, while ANC does its job well and minimizes external sounds so you can focus on work or play. The user also has access to the HearThrough mode, which skips sounds when ANC is on and allows, for example, to have a conversation without removing the headphones.
Software and autonomy
The Jabra Direct (Windows / macOS) and Jabra Sound + (Android / iOS) applications are available to access various headset settings and update software. Both desktop and mobile applications contain a large number of settings. The user can change the equalizer, adjust the operation of the noise canceling mode, enable the automatic headphone detection function on the head (pause music when you take off the headset and continue playing when you put it back on), set a timer for sleep mode, adjust the microphone behavior and much more. Plus you can see the battery level of the Jabra Evolve2 85.
By the way, the battery life is another strong point of the headset. The manufacturer claims up to 37 hours of listening to music with ANC off (up to 32 hours with ANC on). In talk mode, the device should last at least 20 hours (ANC on / Busylight on), and a maximum of 30 hours (ANC off / Busylight off). You can charge your Jabra Evolve2 85 via USB-C or using the charging station. Supports fast charging – 15 minutes is enough for 8 hours of battery life.
