switch to. For instance,
SmartSound will detect whether
you’re on public transport and dial
the ANC all the way up to drown
out unwanted noise. If you’re alone
in a quiet room, ‘In private’ mode
will kick in and automatically switch
off ANC and HearThrough in order
to conserve battery.Public address
Arguably the most useful mode,
however, is ‘In public’, which lets in
just enough noise to allow the user
to hear announcements, sirens and
other noises they should probably
be paying attention to.
This all works remarkably well,
though the Elite 85h will vocally
announce mode changes as they
happen, which can be a little
distracting – particularly on a train
ride, where SmartSound tends to
flip-flop between ‘Commute’ and
‘In public’ modes every few
minutes. Thankfully, these headset
prompts can be switched off in the
Sound+ app’s settings.
Voice assistant support is also
integrated, allowing users to make
full use of Siri, Google Assistant and
Amazon Alexa.
Battery life is remarkable, with a
full charge proving 36 hours of
playback with noise-cancelling
switched on, and a staggering 41
hours with it switched off.
Additionally, 15 minutes of charging
is said to give you five hours of
battery, which is mighty impressive.
When you consider that Jabra’s
Elite 85h headphones are the
company’s first attempt at
premium wireless ANC cans the
result is quite commendable.
We can’t wait to see what the
company’s next premium ANC
headphones will accomplish. QDespite lacking aptX support, the
Elite 85h sound roughly as good
as Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II.It’s also worth mentioning that the
headband itself has been pre-
tensioned, allowing for extended
use without feeling intense
pressure on your noggin.
Look closely on the right ear cup,
and you’ll see a set of very subtle
control buttons. The larger
fingertip-sized indentation lets you
pause or play your music, as well as
answer calls, while the tiny dots
above and below that button allow
you to raise and lower your music’s
volume with a short press and skip
tracks with a long one.
The Elite 85h’s USB-C charging
port can be found on the bottom
of the right ear cup, along with the
unit’s 3.5mm Aux port and a button
for muting your voice during calls.
The left ear cup, on the other hand,
keeps things relatively simple,
sporting only a single button that
lets you cycle through ANC modes
for when you don’t feel like taking
your phone out to change them in
the Jabra Sound+ app.
You may have noticed that we
didn’t mention a power button –
that’s because the Elite 85h
headphones don’t have one.
Instead, the cans will automatically
turn on when the cups are turned
in towards each other, and turn off
again when you’ve flattened them
out. Music will also pause on its
own whenever you take the
headphones off your head.
Jabra also offers a two-year
warranty against rain, sweat and
dust, which should somewhat put
your mind at ease when it comes to
the Elite 85h’s durability.Can you hear this?
In terms of its noise cancelling
functionality, the Elite 85h
headphones offer a variety of
modes, referred to by Jabra as
‘Moments’, which let the user
choose from four different levels ofnoise cancellation – Commute, In
private, In public, and of course, no
noise-cancelling at all.
Alternatively, you can also create
your own ANC profile, which lets
you manually adjust music EQ
settings, presets and whether you
want to turn on HearThrough,
which lets outside audio in.
Taking things a step further, Jabra
has employed sophisticated
‘intelligent adaptive technology’ to
adjust its level of ANC depending
on your surroundings with its
SmartSound mode.
When set to active, SmartSound
will use AI for real-time scene
analysis of sounds coming from
your environment. Essentially, this
lets the app know which ANC
mode it should automatically“Jabra’s first attempt at a pair of premium
wireless ANC headphones is an absolute winner”
Upgrade
Jabra Elite 85h
August 2019 | |^85
KEYFEATURES
Jabra Elite 85h
Supplier http://www.jabra.co.uk
Battery life Up to 36 hours (ANC on)
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C,
3.5mm cable
Weight 296g
Warranty two years