Jabra Elite 85t vs Bose SoundSport Free (2021): Comparing True Wireless Earbuds

Another day, another pair of true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation—and this time around, it’s the new Jabra Elite 85t, the successor to the well-reviewed Elite 75t.

The new iteration builds on the previous generation with new features and a revamped design, but how does it compare to other old but popular models such as the Bose SoundSport Free? We put the two side by side to help you decide which one you should get and whether modern Bluetooth headphones are worthwhile or not.

Jabra Elite 85t vs Bose SoundSport Free Comparison Chart

Model	Jabra Elite 85t	Bose SoundSport Free
Price	Check Price	Check Price
Design	Semi-open	In-ear
Controls	n/a	Physical and voice
Active Noise Cancellation	Yes	No
Transparency Mode	Yes	No
Water and Dust Resistance	IPX4	IPX4
Battery Life	7 hours or 5.5 hours with ANC on	5 hours
Charging Time	n/a	2 hours
Wireless Charging	Yes	No
Release Date	November 1, 2020	2017
Colors	Titanium, Gold	Black, Midnight Blue, Bright Orange, Ultraviolet

Design and Build

The in-ear Bose SoundSport Free have better passive noise isolation than the Jabra Elite 85t’s semi-open design.

Going by its appearance alone, the Elite 85t are unmistakably Jabra. However, they’re now semi-open, a departure from the Elite 75t’s in-ear design. What that really means is their tips won’t be crammed into your ear canal. By the same token, they won’t make a tight seal, so noise isolation won’t be as good as before since some sound will manage to leak through. That’s where active noise cancellation comes in to “compensate” (more on that in a bit).

The Bose SoundSport Free are opposite in the sense that they’re in-ear headphones. One takeaway here is they have better passive noise isolation because of that. And as their name suggests, they have a sporty design, but they’re also on the bulky side, which is one of the biggest complaints about them since they tend to jut out of your ears.

Audio Performance

The Jabra Elite 85t can keep outside noise out better with its active noise cancellation.

At the time of writing, the Jabra Elite 85t have yet to hit the shelves, so it’s hard to tell how they’ll sound exactly. But with the info at hand, they’ll at least perform better than their predecessor. For one thing, each earbud has a 12 mm driver under the hood for improved audio and three microphones. For the record, that all adds up to six microphones, four of which are for noise canceling.

Speaking of, Jabra calls the Elite 85t’s active noise cancellation Advanced ANC, which is basically a version of the technology made for earbuds without the noise isolation you’d get from in-ear headphones. It has 11 levels of sound, ranging from complete noise canceling to full transparency mode to let surrounding sounds pass through, which the company aptly named HearThrough.

The Bose SoundSport Free don’t have active noise canceling, so you’ll have to rely on their passive noise cancellation to keep unwanted sounds out. At any rate, they provide decent audio with an emphasis on bass, which makes sense since strong winds tend to dissipate it, and the earbuds are made for outdoor use, after all.

Battery Life and Other Features

You’ll get a longer battery life out of the Jabra Elite 85t.

On a single charge, the Jabra Elite 85t are rated to last up to 5.5 hours with active noise cancellation on, going up to a total of 25 hours with the charging case. With active noise cancellation off, those numbers will increase to about 7 hours and 31 hours, respectively. The earbuds will also come with a wireless charging case, so there’s that.

Meanwhile, the Bose SoundSport Free won’t win any awards here. For starters, they last up to 5 hours at a time and get an additional 10 hours of battery life from their charging case, which totals to 15 hours. They don’t support wireless charging either. Still, they’re pretty par for the course for 2017 earbuds.

Both have an IPX4 water resistance, meaning they can withstand sweat and splashes. Thing is, the Jabra Elite 75t have an IP55 rating, and to put two and two together, the Jabra Elite 85t is getting a downgrade on this front.

Verdict

The Jabra Elite 85t’s modern features bring the Bose SoundSport Free‘s outdated features to light.

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Jabra Elite 85t True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds,...

$229.99

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Bose SoundSport Free, True Wireless Earbuds,...

$249.00

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Clearly, the winner here is the Jabra Elite 85t. They have active noise cancellation, transparency mode, wireless charging, and longer overall battery life than the Bose SoundSport Free. But that’s more or less expected since they are newer models.

Also, that doesn’t mean the Bose SoundSport Free aren’t worth getting anymore. With the price drops already rolling out, they’re affordable true wireless earbuds that make for an excellent workout companion.

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Last update on 2021-07-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API