Jabra Elite 75t review
Here we go again with another pair of wireless earbuds to add to the ever-growing list of options. Thankfully, the Jabra Elite 75t is better in every way. We initially spent three weeks with the Elite 75t to find out all that there is to know about the earbuds, but the Elite 75t has been replaced by the Jabra Elite 7 Pro earphones. If you’re able to find the Elite 75t in stock, and for a good price, it’s still a solid pair of wireless earbuds.
Editor’s note: this Jabra Elite 75t review was updated on Feb 28, 2023, with microphone poll results and answers to frequently asked questions.
- People that want the quality of AirPods, but don’t want AirPods. While the AirPods Pro is great, it’s also way more expensive. If you want most of the convenience without the price tag, just get these. Not to mention, the discreet design here looks much sleeker.
- iPhone users. The Jabra Elite 75t earbuds work on Android, iOS, and Windows, but the only high-quality Bluetooth codec they support is AAC, which is great for iPhone users.
- Professionals who want everyday commuter buds. The small size, HearThrough feature, and isolation make these a great option for anyone looking to listen to audio on their commutes.
- Anyone looking to try noise cancelling. Jabra announced a free noise cancelling update to its Elite 75t series of earphones when it announced the Jabra Elite 85t. The Elite 75t is a less expensive way to try true wireless ANC earbuds.
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What’s it like to use the Jabra Elite 75t true wireless earbuds?
The Jabra Elite 75t case is small and easy to pocket.
When it comes to the actual design of the earbuds, they’re only slightly redesigned when compared to the previous model, the Jabra Elite 65t. Where those had a slightly longer “stem” design pointed towards the mouth of the user, the Elite 75t earbuds instead opt for a small curved section that looks more discreet. It still fits in the ear comfortably though, and comes with three sizes of ear tips so you can hopefully find the perfect fit for you. I can wear the Elite 75t while running and exercising without the need to adjust them. While they don’t feel as secure as something like the Powerbeats Pro with the around-ear design, they’re not bad at all.
The charging case is also super easy to handle thanks to its small size, which is something it has going for it when compared to the aforementioned Powerbeats Pro. The case flips open easily and snaps shut perfectly securing the earbuds every time (unless you drop them, which I did once and had to chase down a rogue earbud). But making these buds a part of my everyday carry wasn’t hard to do at all. The case helped it fit right into my pocket along with my wallet and keys without taking up too much space or getting in the way.
The earbuds magnetically click into place to begin charging.
Durability also gets a good score here as the Jabra Elite 75t features an IP55 rating. This means that you don’t have to worry about rain or sweat damaging them while you’re out and about. I’ve used these for a few weeks for my runs and haven’t had any issues with sweat damaging them, though if you want to get even more fitness functionality you should definitely check out the Jabra Elite Active 75t. With the regular 75t earbuds though, they’ve held up to weeks of sweating with no issues.
The case and the earbuds are made of the same kind of soft plastic, which doesn’t give them the most premium feeling in the world but it also means they’re insanely lightweight. Each earbud only weighs about five grams and I don’t have any problems with comfort. Both buds fit in my ears perfectly, and the inclusion of the standard sizes of ear tips means that you’ll hopefully be able to find a similarly comfortable fit.
How do you control the Elite 75t?
The playback controls are all easily accessible via the buttons on the side of the earbuds.
Playback controls are also very simple with these earbuds, though like I mentioned there was a slight learning curve to remember which combination of button presses and holds does what. With a new update via the Jabra app, you can customize the controls how you see fit. So you can customize what happens when you single, double, or even triple tap.
Should you download the Jabra Sound+ app?
Then there’s the Jabra Sound+ app which you can use to EQ your music and customize the HearThrough experience (more on that later), though I found it wasn’t really necessary to really enjoy these buds. Jabra also included a small hearing test that you can do as well which will auto-EQ your music based on the results. Unfortunately, it won’t tell you what the results of that test are, but it’s still nice to see the company take hearing tests seriously given that everyone has slightly different sensitivities.
The Jabra Elite 75t earbuds come as a pair, it’s all or nothing.
Unfortunately, if you lose a single earbud you’re going to have to buy an entirely new replacement pair. I know this because I went through the entire process myself after accidentally dropping my right earbud onto the subway tracks on W 110th in New York City. Lucky me. But as per our ethics policy this meant that I had to replace the pair with my own money. Thanks a lot morals. It’s not a complete waste though as now I can update this review to fill you in on the process. You’re welcome!
Replacing your earbuds is actually fairly simple:
- The first thing you should know is that you can’t replace just a single earbud. It’s all or nothing here. So you ‘re going to need to buy a replacement pair which you can get from Jabra from $82.99. It comes with free express shipping too which is nice, so you won’t have to wait too long.
- Once you receive your replacement pair you have to go into the settings of your phone or tablet and forget the previous pair of Jabra Elite 75t.
- Put the new Jabra Elite 75t earbuds into old charging case and let them charge.
- Once they’re charged, then you can pair them to your device as if they’re a brand new pair. Just open up the charging case and remove the earbuds. From there you can just pair to them in your Bluetooth settings like normal.
Do the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds stay connected?
The Jabra Elite 75t rocks Bluetooth 5.0 which is nice, but unfortunately the only Bluetooth codecs it supports are AAC and the standard SBC codec. This is good for iOS users but problematic with Android phones as AAC doesn’t seem to play well. If you were hoping for aptX for your Android, you’re out of luck. But you can always go into the developer options on your Android device to manually switch the codec over to SBC if you’re experiencing issues with AAC.
The Jabra Elite 75t charging case snaps shut and can easily opened.
I don’t have too many major issues though I do notice there are a few quirks. In roughly three weeks of testing, there was only one occasion where the audio began glitching to the point that I needed to take them out and put them back in the case, but that hasn’t happened since. While the connection strength wasn’t perfect and I did notice some hiccups over a few weeks, they usually resolved themselves instantly and I didn’t need to do anything at all.
One issue that I’m unable to resolve is switching between my iPhone and iPad Pro. The Elite 75t is supposed to stay connected simultaneously to two devices, but in trying to jump onto a video meeting on my iPad after pausing the music on my phone I just cannot get the headphones to connect. Time to experiment mid-meeting is limited, so I reach for my wired earbuds instead. This is one of those moments that inevitably reminds me how seamless this exact transition is with a pair of AirPods Pro. To be fair though, every other time that I transition from my phone to my iPad when listening to music or podcasts it works perfectly.
Using the Jabra Elite 75t is, thankfully, super easy. While the initial pairing process isn’t going to be as pretty as with a pair of AirPods, it’s still not difficult at all. To pair, all you have to do is hold down both buttons simultaneously for three seconds. Then you can pair two smartphones at the same time—one more smartphone than I currently have—but if you have to switch between a bunch of devices that could be a huge plus for you.
What’s the battery life of the Jabra Elite 75t?
The Jabra Elite 75t charges via USB-C which is nice.
Jabra claims that the Elite 75t earbuds will get you around 7.5 hours of constant playback, with the case providing up to 28 hours of playback. For our battery tests, we make sure to play music on loop at a constant output of 75dB which is just below the recommended output to avoid damaging your hearing.
Running this test, we find that the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds manages 7 hours and 14 minutes which is still pretty impressive. Of course, if you listen to music on max volume, first of all you should read this, second of all it will likely die much quicker. It’s definitely an above-average battery, and it charges via USB-C as well as an added bonus.
How good is the noise cancelling and isolation?
The noise cancelling is a nice touch, but not very effective.
A few months after the Elite 75t series’ debut, the company released a significant software update which added active noise cancelling (ANC) to the featureset. This is a huge, unprecedented update but it didn’t quite make the waves some listeners expected. Noise cancelling is a nice feature to have, but you won’t notice much of a difference as you toggle it on or off. Isolation with the Jabra Elite 75t earbuds is fine for a pair of true wireless earbuds. It’s obviously not going to block as much outside noise as larger over-ears but it does a decent job by itself.
One thing worth mentioning here is that the Elite 75t also has a HearThrough feature, which is basically the complete opposite of noise cancelling. It’s also something I find super useful. When you turn it on the built-in microphones actually let outside sounds in so that you can hear what’s going on around you.
It works just like the transparency mode that you’ll find on the AirPods Pro, but I forgot how good the Jabra Elite 75t is at doing this too. It even amplifies the sound a little, enabling you to hear even better than you would normally. A single tap on the left earbud turns it on instantly and it lets you hear everything from what the conductor of the train is saying (always that the train is being held by the dispatcher, thanks MTA) to the soft rustle of my jacket as I walk. Like I said, it’s really sensitive and pretty cool.
Hold up! Something’s different:
We’ve made a big improvement to how we demonstrate the microphone performance of products we review. We now use a standardized test setup that plays back pre-recorded phrases from a calibrated artificial mouth in our test chamber, either with or without simulated background noises, simulated reverberant spaces, or artificial wind. This means that samples from every product can be directly compared, which makes it far easier to make meaningful comparisons between products in terms of the raw speech quality or the product’s ability to reject noise.
It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this review (and many others!) once we’re able with improved microphone demos. These will be made obvious in each new sample which begins with the phrase, “This is a SoundGuys standardized microphone demonstration …”
Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted everything out.
What do the Jabra Elite 75t sound like?
With a little under-emphasis in the mids and a bump in the lows, it’s a pretty consumer friendly sound.
The sound quality of the Jabra Elite 75t is good, but it doesn’t blow me away. The low end is exaggerated enough to make the bass notes of my favorite songs just a little overbearing in everyday use, but that same emphasis made these indispensable on my runs. The rumbling bass in the song Going Bad by Meek Mill is exactly what I need to power through to the end of my runs. Is it accurate and clean? Absolutely not. The bass is overbearing, but that’s the point.
The Jabra Elite 75t sounds bass-heavy by default, but you can adjust this in the Sound+ app.
Mids definitely suffer a bit and Miguel’s vocal in Where’s the Fun in Forever sound slightly overwhelmed by the rampant bass, but I find the highs are surprisingly great here.
How’s the microphone on the Elite 75t?
The all-black Jabra charging case is small and sleek, making it just as portable as some other top models.
Jabra products are known for having good microphones, and the Elite 75t is no exception. I didn’t have any complaints from people when using these for phone calls and the wind cancellation works great too. As you can hear from the sample clip below, there really isn’t much to complain about here.
As of Feb 28, 2023, 51% of voters conclude the Elite 75t mic is “good”, with a fairly even split rating it as “okay” and “perfect”. For true wireless earbuds, that’s a good rating.
How do these sound to you?
6284 votes
Should you buy the Jabra Elite 75t?
So should you buy the Jabra Elite 75t? Well, nowadays, it’s hard to find the Elite 75t for a reasonable price. As of May 30, 2022, you can only get it from third-party sellers on Amazon for $205 USD or more, which is much more than it first retailed for.
Listeners who like everything about the Elite 75t should really look for the Elite 7 Pro or Jabra Elite 4 Active instead. Both sets of earbuds are very durable, fit well, sound good (though bass-heavy), and have excellent features within the app. We generally like Jabra’s earphones because they’re feature packed and reasonably priced.
Jabra Elite 75t
All prices listed in USD unless otherwise specified. Prices may change over time, and vary by region. Unfortunately, we cannot list Amazon prices on the site, as they vary greatly by currency.
Amazon
$149.00 at Best Buy
$149.00 at Target
What about the Jabra Elite 85t?
Once you start using the Elite 85t, you’ll want to take them everywhere.
The Jabra Elite 85t is outdated now but has an IPX4 rating rather than the Elite 75t’s IP55 rating. You get better noise cancelling above 100Hz and better overall isolation from the Elite 85t earbuds. The Elite 85t also supports automatic ear detection. The battery life on the Jabra Elite 75t is a few hours longer than that of the Elite 85t. Both sets of earbuds support quick charging as well. As for sound quality, it is comparable between the two headsets, but the Jabra Elite 75t has a much stronger bass boost than the Elite 85t which can make it hard to hear detail from your music.
What should you get instead of the Jabra Elite 75t?
An IPX4 rating means splashes, sweat, and humidity won’t kill your earphones.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 is one of the best set of noise cancelling true wireless earphones around, handily outperforming the Jabra Elite 75t series and even the Apple AirPods Pro. Every good pair of ANC earphones starts with effective isolation, and the WF-1000XM4 has that in spades thanks to the memory foam ear tips and software-powered ear tip fit test.
While Sony’s audio products aren’t known for their durability, the Sony WF-1000XM4 has an IPX4 rating so you can freely exercise as long as you stay out of the pool. All told, the Sony WF-1000XM4 isn’t for everyone: it’s extremely expensive, but if you have money to burn or just budget wisely, this pair of buds will last you years to come.
You can also check out the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3, with its superior sound quality and ANC capabilities. The handy app and Sound Zones mean you can create automatic settings for different spaces. Like the WH-1000XM4 it has an IPX4 rating, so it’s not as water and dust resistant as the Elite 75t, but it ought to survive your daily jog.
The Jabra Elite 4 Active is a solid all-around performer for athletes and us common folk alike.
Finally, Jabra has rounded out its own selection since the Elite 75t introduction. For the Android user who wants a higher IP rating and the better codec quality of aptX, check out the Jabra Elite 4 Active. It has upgraded Bluetooth 5.2 for greater efficiency, similar app support, and better-sounding default frequency response. The lower price is a nice bonus too.
Frequently asked questions about the Jabra Elite 75t
Both earbuds feature the same hardware and sound the same. The Elite Active 75t has a greater IP rating, IP57, rather than IP55. Both ratings are more than sufficient for the majority of tasks you can throw at them. Unless you’re planning on running a triathlon in the desert and then during a rainstorm, buy whichever you can find for cheaper.
No, you can only control the volume of both earbuds simultaneously on the Jabra Elite 75t. Like with most true wireless earbuds, you can’t have one earbud louder than the other, though you can use one earbud at a time while the other remains charging.
Resetting your earbuds may resolve any problems you are having with your earbuds. First, take the earbuds out of the charging case and ensure they are on. Then, simultaneously press and hold the buttons on both earbuds for 10 seconds until the LEDs flash purple. Delete the previous pairing of the Jabra Elite 75t in your Bluetooth settings on your device, and then repair the headset to your device.
