Jabra Elite 85t vs 75t (2022): Should You Upgrade?

The Jabra Elite 85t’s release is just around the corner so naturally, they will be compared to their predecessor, the Elite 75t.

Are they a worthy upgrade? Should you wait for the Elite 85t or just buy the Elite 75t right now? In this article, we’ll take a look at both wireless earbuds and see how they stack up against each other, to help you decide which one you should go for.

Jabra Elite 85t vs 75t Comparison Chart

Design

The Jabra Elite 85t come with oval-shaped ear tips while the Elite 75t come with rounded noise-isolating ear tips.

The Jabra Elite 85t and 75t are very similar when it comes to design. They both have a compact in-ear build that fits snuggly into your ear. One of the differences between the two is the size of the speaker driver. The Elite 85t have a 12mm driver while the 75t are equipped with a 6mm one. Due to the driver size, the Elite 85t are slightly bigger than the 75t.

Another difference is the ear tips that come with them. Jabra’s Elite 75t come with round-shaped ear tips that fully seal your ear canal, while the 85t come with oval-shaped ear tips that do not create a tight seal.

Both the Elite 85t and 75t can be controlled via physical buttons on each earbud. Both also come with charging cases that come with magnetic closure, for easier opening and closing. The charging case for the Elite 85t is wireless charging enabled–all Qi-certified chargers will work. For the Elite 75t, a separate wireless charging enabled case will be available for purchase.

The Jabra Elite 85t have an IPX4 rating, meaning that they are water, splash and sweat resistant. In contrast, the Elite 75t have an IP55 rating, certifying that they are water, dust and sweat resistant.

Sound Quality

Both wireless earbuds feature ANC, with the Jabra Elite 85t having an “Advanced” version.

The Jabra Elite 85t have 12mm drivers and the ear tips are oval-shaped, thus, will not form a seal. Bigger drivers do not necessarily mean better sound, how they are tuned is more important. Fortunately, the Jabra Elite 85t are tuned to sound good, with a more neutral response than previous Elite models.

Sound quality for the Jabra Elite 75t is good, but it can also be better. For one, the bass can be overpowering. The tuning of the drivers put a lot of emphasis on the bass and while this may be alright for bassheads, some people might not like it. The noise-isolating ear tips don’t help either, as the seal actually contributes to more bass.

Fortunately, Jabra’s Sound+ app has EQ customization features. You can adjust how you like your music to sound. You can also take advantage of the MySound feature in the app to calibrate your earbuds to your sound preferences. All of these are available for both the Jabra Elite 85t and 75t.

As for active noise cancellation, the Elite 85t will have what Jabra refers to as “Advanced ANC.” It is a type of ANC that is designed for earbuds that don’t have noise-isolating ear tips. It has 11 levels of sound, with the highest level featuring full ANC and the lowest level allowing you to hear everything around you, referred to as HearThrough by Jabra. For the Elite 75t, ANC will be available via a firmware update.

Battery Life and Other Features

The Jabra Elite 85t have a longer battery life than the Elite 75t.

Battery life for the Jabra Elite 85t can last up to 5.5 hours when used with ANC and up to 7 hours without. On the other hand, the Elite 75t’s battery can last up to 7.5 hours.

The charging case of the Elite 85t provides additional 20 hours (ANC on) or 24 hours (ANC off) battery life, while the case of the Elite 75t gives up to 20 hours. Both have a quick charge time of 15 mins. for 1 hour of music playback. Clearly, the Elite 85t has the better battery life.

For other features, both earbuds have access to Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. Both earbuds are also compatible with Jabra’s Sound+ App. There are a lot of features on the app, such as EQ customization, control customization and the MySound feature, just to name a few.

Verdict

If you need a pair of wireless earbuds on a budget, the Jabra Elite 75t are a great buy. However, the Elite 85t are worth paying extra for.

The Jabra Elite 85t are a definite improvement over the Elite 75t since they have a better battery life, “Advanced” ANC, bigger drivers, and more. They also sound better, so there really is no reason to get the Elite 75t over them, unless you are on a budget.

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